from the abstract to the antique...: primo giorno a ROMA

Buongiorno Roma!

On my first day in the eternal city, I woke up early and set out straight for the Vatican. Little did I know it was actually a 3 mile walk from where I was staying...so I stopped for breakfast on the way. I've learned to eat breakfast the Italian way...standing up at a "bar" (which does not just serve alcohol - "bars" serve coffee etc also) sipping an espresso and munching on a warm croissant. While I don't load my coffee up with sugar and cream (I like my coffee black as black gets) like the Italians, I did partake in this breakfast routine the entire time I stayed in Rome! Fun to switch it up sometimes...when in Rome I suppose.

Finally...to the Vatican.

Having been raised Roman Catholic my entire life, it was actually quite touching for me to finally walk inside St. Peter's Basilica. I had a moment when I looked up and thought about the millions of pilgrims who have stood in awe of the place since its completion in 1590. It really was incredible and, unlike many monuments/famous buildings, it actually lived up to the hype. I think I almost got emotional for a split second just thinking I'M HERE!!!!

So amazing to know that Catholics have been having this same experience as me for over 400 years. Even though its construction was the result of incredible taxation and the unholy practice of selling indulgences, which led to Martin Luther's Protestant Reformation, it was still so worth it to make this place look the way it does.

In a word, amazing.

Michelangelo's Pieta lives here.

Although he was from Florence, Michelangelo made a trip to Rome when he was 21. At the time of his arrival, interest in classical sculpture was at its peak and general consensus was that ancient Romans were the apogee of artistic ability...nobody could surpass them. Michelangelo proved them wrong...two years after he received the commission for the piece, he astounded his patron and public alike by producing this masterpiece, one of the most highly finished and emotional pieces he would create during his lifetime.

Michelangelo completed the statue just before the turn of the century in 1598. Upon its completion, it was immediately the talk of the town and he became famous overnight. Representing the essence of Renaissance beauty with its idealized forms, faces, and composition, the pieta was described by a contemporary as "surpassing not only the sculptures of his contemporaries but even those of the ancient Greeks and Romans themselves; the standards by which all art was judged." Interestingly, it is the only work of his that is signed. This is because, allegedly, he overheard somebody talking about it and commenting that it was the work of another sculptor, a Christoforo Solari. That night, he revisited the work and carved his name across the sash that lays on Mary's breast. It is difficult to see it from so far away but I could just barely make it out!

The other key artist inside St. Peter's is Bernini. A product of the baroque theatricality and drama, Bernini produced the baldacchino, which is the large canopy meant to mark St. Peter's tomb (above) but he also did quite a few tombs. The one below is particularly wonderful...the tomb of Pope Alexander VII. A bit over-the-top with the marble drapery, no? How about the skeleton hiding underneath the folds on the right? Still not enough for you? He's holding up a sand hourglass while he head is covered by the folds...a little ridiculous for the funeral of a pope but Bernini had a sense of humor, a taste for the theatrical, and he knew what would appeal to and be popular with the general public. I think this does the trick as far as entertainment goes.

Loved the Swiss guards and their lovely outfits.

Well...enough of that for one day. I came back to go to the Vatican Museum, but more of that later.

For the rest of this day, I hit up major monuments in an effort to get my bearings before doing anything more involved. So, for now, here are a few tourist-y/postcard-y pics I snapped while wondering from one major monument to the next.

Altare della Patria (aka "the wedding cake")