Throwback Thursday #62: Images of Roma

"Traveling is almost like talking with men of other centuries." ~René Descartes

I'm a self-confessed church junkie.  Whether it was skipping class and a party to watch the vigil kept outside Pope John Paul II's death bed when I was in college, or taking pictures of every church (and every cow...I'm an ag girl you know!) in Europe on my last trip, or my desire to invite Cardinal Dolan to a dinner party, it's safe to say I'm a nerd about this stuff.  So watching the Papal Conclave was something I really enjoyed.  (I'm not talking about the fact that I was in court and missed the white smoke, announcement, and introductory speech.....)

The fact that just a few years ago, I was there, my very own feet from the middle of nowhere New Mexico stood in all of these fancy, historic, important places, makes watching even cooler.  I ate gelato in the streets and lasagna in the restaurants where the journalists, reporters, pilgrims and Cardinals are spending their time.  I've taken pictures of the churches in which the Cardinals say mass.  I've stood in St. Peter's Square, where Pope Francis I addressed the people.  I've sat in the Sistine Chapel, where the Cardinals sat and from which that white smoke rose yesterday.  This gives a fun perspective on this event for me.

In honor of that, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite photos from my trip to Rome back in 2009.

The Coliseum

Beautiful side street in Rome

Pizza del Popolo

St. Peter's Bascilica

Drawing of Pope John Paul II called "The People's Pope"

St. Paul statue - Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls

St. Peter

St. Peter's Basilica surrounded by the Saints

Cousin Whitney and me entering the Bascilica

Angel statue on bridge leading to Vatican City

Me in Piazza del Popolo

Street near the Spanish Steps

Sun setting on my last night in Rome

Throwback Thursday #16: Trip of a Lifetime!

"I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.” ~Mary Anne Hershey

Well, you have now been blogged through my entire European adventure. Before we left, my cousin Whitney kept referring to our vacation as the trip of a lifetime---she was right! I feel so blessed to have been at a place in my life where I had the time, money (and a free couch in Switzerland) and ability to spend 10 days in Europe. I feel more blessed to have been able to do this with my two cousins!

I've always thought I had the travel bug, but this trip confirmed that for me. Now that I was able to travel to Europe and see the different cities and cultures and people and scenery....I cannot wait to go back! There are so many other countries that I want to see, but to be honest, I think I would like to go right back to spend another week in a tiny village on the north shore of Lake Geneva. I have never been somewhere that seemed so perfect in my life.

So I leave you with some of my favorite pictures from the trip. I call them "Jumping my way across Europe." There would be more, but it took us a long time to get the timing right. :) That, and Cousin Swiss Mister and Cousin Whitney were horribly embarassed by my insistance that they snap these shots.

Stay tuned for next week.....I have to figure out where Throwback Thursday will be going now that the European Adventure chapter is over. I'm open to ideas and suggestions!

Throwback Thursday #14: Bascilica of St. Paul

“Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” ~St. Paul, Eph 6:13

As I mentioned in my blog about the Vatican, I didn't get the spiritual feeling I expected when I was there. I love going into old churches anywhere.....I find them beautiful and peaceful. The Vatican, while amazing, didn't do that for me. It was crowded, very touristy, and sort of commercial.

However, the Bascilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls made up for that. We almost didn't go---it's way out of the way from anywhere else you want to go in Rome. But, both Cousin Swiss Mister and I really wanted to see where St. Paul was buried, especially since he was such an influential teacher of the Word in the New Testament. So, we load up on the metro and head to the Bascilica.

We get there.....and realize we are in the ghetto. Like seriously scary. We wonder around, while praying we don't get shot, and finally figure out where the church is. An example of the type of neighborhood we were in can be seen here. These would be shards of glass that are placed on the top of the wall surrounding the church. Seriously. Although, if you think about St. Paul's ministry, it seems fitting that he is buried outside the walls of Rome, that he is with the people who are on the outside. He was called to preach the word of God to the Gentiles.....he was used to being out of the limelight, among those on the outside. We happened to come up on the back of the church. This is what we see.

I'm thinking, you have to be kidding me....this is kinda a dump. How could Paul be buried here? Little did I know how amazing it was going to be once we got inside, and found the front of the Bascilica.

The Bascilica is absolutely huge, with beautiful frescas, huge pilars and marble floors. There are several different small chapels inside the one large Bascilica.

The center of the Bascilica is where the tomb of St. Paul is located. As you can see, there is the statue over to top of the tomb, and you can then go down the steps and kneel in front of the tomb itself.
Above is the tomb. The window lets you see right into the marble within which St. Paul's bones lie. The inscription reads PAULO APOSTOLO MART, which means Apostle Paul, martyr. Below is a chain. This is the actual chain that was used to hold St. Paul while he was imprisoned in Rome. Seeing these things with your own eyes, being this close to such an important part of history was amazing.

If you get the chance to go to Rome, I would recommend walking up to the front of the Bascilica. Here is what you'll see. It's quite different than the back. :)

Cousin Swiss Mister was so impressed, he shot some video of the Bascilica. I am improving my blogging skills, so I think this will work and you will be able to check it out!

Throwback Thursday #13: Ancient Rome

“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” - Miriam Beard

And finally....the blog about ancient Rome. I say finally, because I know that when everyone thinks about Rome, they think of the Colliseum. Seeing these buildings and ruins was amazing. If you ever have the chance to go to Rome, take it! It will be an experience you will not forget.

This first building is one I had never seen or even heard of. But as we were wondering the streets, we saw this from like 20 blocks away and knew we had to go check it out! It really is one of the most impressive buildings in Rome. Turns out, it is the parliament building. The first picture is a close up of the top of one of the towers. You'll see the second includes Cousin Swiss Mister. He got really sick in Rome and didn't get to do much sight seeing.

Between the parliament building and the Colliseum, there is the Roman Forum. The ruins are absolutely amazing! This area was the center of Roman civilization.

The Pantheon is another really cool structure, located a little out of the way from the rest of the ruins, but worth it. Plus, as you have read about in a prior blog, Michaelangelo's is right next to the Pantheon, and you have to go eat there! Anyway, the Pantheon was built as a temple to the Roman Gods, but for centuries now has been used as a Catholic Church. On Sundays, they have Mass in the building, and you can seen inside.....which would be the second photograph taken below.

Next, we have the Arch of Constantine. It was built to celebrate the victory of Constantine at the Battle of Milvian Bridge. I especially enjoyed seeing this, as I did an honors paper on Constantine, who was instrumental in helping to spread Christianity in Rome.

And here's another arch located one of the entrances to the Roman Forum, called the Arch of Titus.

And finally, the moment you have all been waiting for, the Colliseum. If you knew how long it took me to find someone who spoke English to ask them to take my picture, you would laugh. I finally found an 8 year old girl from Massachusetts who was gald to play photographer!

So the Throwback Thursday blogs about the European adventure are getting close to an end. Next week, I will write about the place I found to be the most spiritual on the trip, the Bascilica of St. Paul. Then we'll have a blog about my morning walking around alone wandering the streets, and then a final blog summarizing the trip. So three to go....stay tuned!

Throwback Thursday #12: Buonna Notte in Roma!

"Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.” ~Maya Angelou

One of my favorite parts of Rome was that you could just wonder around and never know what you were going to come across next. Literally, you could just be walking down the street, turn the corner and there you were at some ancient church, or in front of the Colliseum, or outside of Valentino.

It is a great city with so many different things to see and do! And yes, for those of you who were wondering, it was very safe. Cousin Whitney and I walked around by ourselves from about 7:00 pm until well after midnight and had no problems. Today, I'm going to share three of my favorite "modern" places in the city. Then next week I'll share some of the great parts of ancient Rome.

Piazza del Popolo

This was the closet piazza to our hotel, so we ended up walking through it a lot. But it was really pretty, huge, beautiful architecture, a fountain, and lots of people watching. There were tons of little restaurants and shops along the street leading to the piazza. It's what you think of Rome to be like when you see it on a movie. If I were going to compare it to a city in the US, it would be the most like San Francisco I think....open spaces, pretty, not too many people....

This picture is of a huge rally in the streets that ended up in Piazza del Popolo. These are fans of some soccer team (I'll admit my soccer knowledge is limited to liking to see David Beckham with no shirt on) and they were seriously having like a parade/riot. It was awesome. They were waving flags and chanting and had their faces painted....I have a video of this somewhere. I've got to learn how to upload those!

Trevi Fountain (Fontina de Trevi)

This would be a much more famous, more photographed area of Rome, but that also means way more crowded. Regardless, you have to go to the Trevi Fountain when you are in Rome. You throw a coin in and it ensures you will return to Rome again one day. The architecture and sculpting on the fountain are amazing. We even saw people taking their wedding pictures there! Oh yes, as for a US city comparison...I'd say Washington DC.

The Spanish Steps (and Piazza di Spagna)

Another very popular place in Rome is the Spanish Steps. US City equivlent....New York City. It was something I'm glad we went to see, but we pretty much snapped a few pictures and continued on. There were way too many people, and people trying to sell you junk. But it's a beautiful piazza and this is where all the expensive, high end stores are in the city. Not so much my scene, but glad we went and took pictures there nonetheless.

For everyone who is still waiting to see pictures of the ancient ruins and Colliseum, next week is your lucky week! I think we still have about three more Europe blogs to go. Hope you're not too sick of Throwback Thursday!