Friday, March 22, 2013 -- Ancient Rome to the Baroque

We set our clocks early today, so that we could get to the ticket office at the Roman Forum before school groups and tour buses.  We were rewarded when we found no line at all, and a forum that was virtually empty as we began our tour, using an audio guide that we had downloaded to our MP3 players before leaving home.  No matter how many times we’ve been here, the scale and intricacy of the construction and the engineering skill involved leave us speechless; in fact, our amazement probably grows with each encounter!

Overlooking the Forum is the Palatine Hill, home of the rich and powerful of the Roman Empire.  We wandered around, through the remains of their homes and gardens, though much of the area is currently being excavated or undergoing restoration work, common states of being in Rome.  (See our reaction to the Forum (above) and ditto it here.)

After lunch, we joined the masses at the Colosseum, happy to bypass the huge line with our tickets.  Size, scale, engineering expertise – previous comments apply, exponentially.

We walked along busy Via Cavour to the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, one of the city’s pilgrimage basilicas.  Mosaics on floors, above the nave, the arch and the apse, along with two over-the-top papal funeral chapels and a crypt containing relics of the Christ Child’s crib below the main altar all provide for a potent wow factor here.  The present church dates from the fifth century and is on the site of the original church. Legend has it that the site was chosen by Mary herself when she appeared in a dream to the pope, telling him to build a church where the snow had fallen – on August 5^th!! 

From ethereal beauty we moved to the bustle of Rome’s Termini train station, where we picked up tickets for Monday’s travel to Naples.  For the first time in our travels abroad, we came face to face with evidence that American banks are behind the times.  Though we’ve requested it, none of our credit card companies offers “Pin and Chip” technology, which is the accepted standard in Europe, and is necessary to use things like ticket kiosks and some highway toll payment systems.  We were able to use cash, but if any of you are preparing for foreign travel, let your banks know that they need to join the rest of the world in the 21^st century.  Together, we can start a new Occupy Credit Card movement! 

Last stops today were two more churches.  Santa Maria degli Angeli is enormous, and actually occupies just a small part of the Baths of Diocletian.  Just a couple of blocks away, Santa Maria Vittoria is the baroque-est of the baroque, and a testament to the belief that more is more and enough is never enough.  Bernini’s masterpiece, The Ecstasy of St. Teresa, fits right in; it’s melodrama in marble!

With that, it was time to head back to our comfy home across the Tiber and call it another great day moving among the many layers of Rome’s history.