Our Anniversary in Rome!!

August 10, 2010

I started the day out by giving Mary Kay a card and small gift. Shopping for the card was difficult. I can’t read much Italian and I really couldn’t find any stores in Assisi or Spoleto. So I picked up the only card I could find in a grocery store we had stopped in, on our way home from Spoleto on Monday. I figured it was the thought that counted. I did write a personal note inside the card. I also found the perfect gift, a charm for her charm bracelet. St. Francis signed all of his letters and other writings with the Hebrew letter “Tau.” It has been taken as a symbol of the Franciscan Order. Many of the teachings of St. Francis can be found in Mary Kay and the way she lives her life. Doing a little translation of the card with our Italian/English dictionary I soon figured out I had bought a baptismal card. It was the thought the counted, right?

We took a high speed train from near Assisi to Rome, arriving around 10:30. We knew that we weren’t going to be able to see all that we wanted to in our 9 hours there, so we bought an on/off bus tour ticket right away. This gave us the opportunity to make 12 stops throughout the city and spend as much time as we wanted. We all went to the Coliseum first. Arriving we found long, long lines to get in. There were many college/20 something age Americans there acting as agents for tour guides. We quickly found out that with a tour you got to bypass the long lines and go right in. We decided it was worth the expense to pass up the lines and have someone tell us about the Coliseum. We had a great tour guide. You could tell he was passionate about the Coliseum. It is quite an architectural structure, especially when you consider the times. The Coliseum took eight years to build. Most of the workers were paid workers, not slaves. However, I am sure they were not paid much. Many of the movies depict the “festivals” held in the Coliseum pretty accurately. The festivals were free to the public, paid for my “candidates” who used it to gain support from the residents. There are four tiers of seating and the lower your status in the community the higher you were seated (much like our stadiums today which places most people according to their ticket prices). It could hold around 75,000 people. There was a stage, but under it is a great labyrinth of tunnels that contained the entertainers, prisoners, gladiators, and animals. They were all separated and brought to the stage through a lift process. The morning entertainment consisted of a variety of things. Various “acts” would be presented. This may consist of animals being released into the arena (most transported from Africa) and shot by archers to the pleasure of the crowd. All of this would lead up to the lunchtime activity of executing the day’s prisoners. Various means may be used, many were crucified on a cross, their bodies pierced so that the birds could come down and eat or other animals would be allowed to eat them. Prisoners received this punishment for nearly any crime. Later in the afternoon the Gladiators would be brought in to either fight each other or animals. Depending upon the mood of the crowd the fight was to death. Just like in the movies the crowd and/or the “candidate” were asked to give thumbs up or thumbs down to determine the life or death of the defeated gladiator. Most gladiators were prisoners who had “signed” a contract with an agent. If they lived a certain number of years they would gain release and be able to go home to their family. The agents made money off of the crowd betting on the survival of the gladiators. The prisoners were often people with little education and skills and usually not in the greatest shape, due to their imprisonment. So to last for five years was not very likely. Those that were released often came back to their “agents” to sign on as gladiators again; because that was the only way they could make money for their family. Many Christians died in that arena. Pope Benedict erected a large cross in the arena in memory of those Christians who lost their life there. During the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday, the pope comes to the arena as the last station. So many emotions – awe, sadness, disgust, and reverence!!

We went on to St. Peter’s from the Coliseum. Quite a turnaround of emotions! We had gotten separated from Sharon and Greg at the Coliseum, but knowing that would be a possibility had all planned to meet at the train station in the evening. The lines of people going into the Vatican were enormous. I can’t even estimate the crowds, again tens of thousands of people. It even looked like it could be a light day, as only about 1/3 of the “corrals” leading into the security area were filled. If planning a visit take some water, be sure you wear the proper dress (females must have shoulders covered and skirts near the knee or pants, and males must not have on shorts), take an umbrella or hat for the sun, wear something as light as possible, and be prepared to stand in a crowd for a long period of time. The security checkpoint is the only real bottle neck. I mentioned that we had lost Greg and Sharon at the Coliseum. After working our way through the lines for at least 30 minutes we finally got close to the entrance of St. Peter’s. We turned around and Greg and Sharon were walking right next to us. That is unbelievable, but very fitting that we met up with two of our best friends before going into St. Peter’s.

 There is just so much to see. We probably should have taken a tour here, also. We knew we only had a few hours, so we went off on our own tour. I believe one note I read said that 125 previous popes and 3 queens are entombed there. One of the side altars was closed except for people who wanted to go in a pray. Of course, we went in. It was the end of Eucharistic Adoration. It was so meaningful to be part of this at St. Peter’s. As we finished going through the Basilica I mentioned that I would like to go up into the cupola at the top of the church. Mary Kay and Sharon wanted to get some cards to mail with the Vatican postmark, so they headed off to do that while Greg and I went to see about going up. It is free to go through the church, but to go up to the cupola it cost 5 Euros to walk or 7 to take and elevator and walk. Now Greg and I are no dummies, so we paid the 7 Euros. We didn’t ask how many steps this still meant. Not a great idea! We came to the elevator and took a ride up four stories, which is probably more like eight in our buildings at home. We came out on top of the church just above the balcony where the Pope greets people and gives his homilies. The steps began from there. Over 350 stair steps plus two thirty foot ramps later we were at the top. This was a major feat. We did have to stop a couple of times to catch our breath. Then viewing Rome and Vatican City from the top was even more breathtaking. However, before going outside we walked literally through the top of St. Peter’s high above the floor. As we walked in we heard an organ playing and then singing started. It was the beginning of mass far below us at the main altar in St. Peter’s. I was able to video tape it with my camera, but I cannot get videos linked to my blog. I am sorry, because the sight with the sound is something I will always remember. The experience was well worth the walk.

We finished just in time to take the bus back to the train station, have a quick anniversary meal at a nearby restaurant, and head back to Assisi. As we were walking to the train, Mary Kay asked how I was going to top this next year? I will really have to think on that one.

Do Something for Others Today!!!