Wednesday 10-9

Day 6 in Rome

Church of John the Baptist just across the Tiber from the Vatican. Just another über- magnificent church in Rome.  

The sculptures, the walls, the pillars the floors and the paintings all took skill, lots of skill.

 

 

I had been told the pope would be blessing at the square, Wednesday at 10:30, but I was careless about the time, and didn’t arrive until there was less than an hour and a half to go. Next time I go earlier. I that point there was no hope.

Castel Sant’ Angelo

Very old, back to the time of Hadrian. It has been a fortress, a palace, and prison and now a museum. Different popes added different things to it. People come and go, buildings take different forms, but here they remain.

The story is that there had been a plague, and in 590, there was an apparition of St. Michael sheathing his sword, and the ended.

There is a great view from the roof

It is raining lightly, but I’m having lunch outdoors. They have tents and plastic walls to protect us. I America outdoor seating is a luxury; here it is a necessity. They do not have enough space to survive with only indoor seating. Bathrooms are always down narrow stairs, and even in nice restaurants, they are nasty looking.

The Staff have shirts that say on the back, “Bebere humanum est ergo bibamus” which I believe means “It is human to drink, therefore we drink.” Makes sense to me.

Interesting salad: lettuce, artichokes, tuna, fresh mozzarella, some other shredded cheese with bread it makes a meal (with wine, of course).

I had forgotten how much I love foreign travel. There is so much to learn, so much to see and so many ways things are different.

Church of St Agnes in Agony, in the Piazza Navona. Such a contrast to the piazza.