Rome, Italy: Day 4, Part 1

 Apologies for not posting yesterday. I had a lot to do since I haven't been home for almost two weeks: finishing laundry, going to the grocery, picking up my new porch swing (yay!), cleaning (the less you know, the happier you will be on that account), and other odds and ends. And then, I went to my parents' house for dinner and started feeling really tired. I finished dinner and realized that the world was spinning much faster than usual. Suffice to say, my dad had to drive me home after I laid down for an hour or so. Definitely overdid it. It's like I think I'm in my 20s or something. (That's a joke. You're supposed to laugh. I'm a firm believer and advocate of the fact that age does not matter: everyone needs proper rest.) 

But we don't care about what is happening in the present. We care about what happened in Italy...

First, we went to Castel Gandolfo, the Pope's summer residence...though, Pope Francis does not use it. Since he doesn't go anymore, we normal folk get to tour everywhere.

Just getting there early in the morning, I was able to get pictures without a lot of people around as we waited for our first tour.

 

Already, our legs and feet are sore from walking...and we had to walk up another hill. Indiana is flat. I almost wish it wasn't so I didn't suffer when going anywhere else.

We stopped at a look-out point while waiting for our tour to start.

The lookout point was on Via Palazzo Pontificio. "Via" means "Street" or "Road", though I heard Francesco use the word "Path" too when talking about it.

While everyone was taking multiple pictures from the lookout point, I turned to the right and snapped a few of the actual road, because I liked how quaint it looked.

The lookout point was down a hill, so we had to go back up it to get to the meeting place for the tour, of course. While walking up, I spotted another empty street.

One of the buildings

The cafes in front of Castel. Interestingly, I didn't know, but I actually was taking a picture of the cafe that I had lunch at after the tour inside the "castle" before our bus ride back to our hotel. 

 Castel Gandolfo:

And, yes: I kept thinking of Gandalf from "Lord of the Rings" every time someone said the name. Fr. Bob (one of the priests who were on our pilgrimage with us) mentioned that it was good that Pope Francis doesn't ever come for us because we get to go inside and tour the residence, but it is really bad for the townspeople around it. They have lost a lot of business. When the pope would come in the summer, many people would follow him because he would continue to give his weekly papal audiences there. Fr. Bob hopes that the next pope will come back and then the town can recover a bit.

First tour of the day were the gardens around the papal residence. Most of it was in minibuses, so I apologize for the weird angles and the pictures with people on the other side of the bus in my way. 

I also have to say that Barbara, our tour guide, talked super quickly. If I had to compare it to something, it's like watching a juggler at a circus, but instead of balls, she juggled apples, oranges, swords, and fire torches. You didn't know what she would talk about next or if she would go back to something she had talked about three topics ago. Not only were we swimming in information, but a lot of it didn't register before it became insignificant...especially with an Italian speaking English to American ears. So, I apologize for lack of details.

On one of the roads, there were rose bushes planted for saints. most were not in bloom, but I got a few that did. They were of every color, from what I understand.

More saint roses:

In the garden, the pope's seal/coat of arms is made with flowers. Because we have two popes that are still alive (even though Pope Benedict XVI is not active...ruling...however you want to say it), there are two coats of arms gardens.

I think this one is Pope Francis'. I think.

I think this is Pope Benedict's. And, from what I understood, if/when Pope Benedict dies, Pope Francis' will be moved to here.

 

Ruins that I can't remember why are significant:

More umbrella pines that are all over Rome:

I think "umbrella pine" is a good name for them.

Vineyards:

Olive trees:

This cross was where JPII prayed every time he returned from a trip overseas:

Lots of olive trees and umbrella pine pictures. 

Do I remember what this wall was? No I do not. Did I at the time? Probably not. Again, she talked so quickly.

I think this is Neptune...I think. It's always interesting to me that the pope's kept art from other religions. The respect for other people's history and culture is evident, even though we know that all the gods of them are farce.

We were able to get out at this point and actually try to take decent photos:

I believe this garden (pictures above and below) used to be a private stadium for one of the Roman emperors. And the emperor would sit up here:

Walking farther back, we were shown the entrance into one of the walls around the garden where the townspeople and other refugees took shelter from bombings during WWII:

Inside:

See the alter and cross?

Close-up of one of the rocks:

Overview of that particular garden (I think we're back on the bus now):

The oldest tree at the residence:

Another stop to get out and take pics and stretch our legs:

 

Here's the outside of the bomb shelter we were just at on the right:

I think this pine tree is significant. All I could hear that she said was, "Here's the pine tree..." and then I was lost in her accent and flight of ideas.

So ended our bus tour of the papal gardens. Next, we met up with a new tour guide to walk inside the actual papal residence. Once you enter the main door, you end up in a courtyard where, if you were lucky, you would stand and see the pope during one of his weekly audiences. Right now, however, all the cars and pope mobiles are on display:

I think this is the balcony where the pope would stand:

Lowered my camera a bit so you can see where we came in:

Once again, we had to climb flights of stairs. So tiring. It reminded me of the circular tower Mom and I had to climb in Amboise in one of Francois the first's castles in France.

One of the views of the lake:

The first few rooms we visited had a lot of historical items and clothing. This one had a throne (though I can't remember the real word for it) that the pope would sit on and be carried around on when going everywhere, especially when first elected and going to St. John's and St. Peter's for the first time. One of the popes put an end to this...I can't remember which.

 

Here's the pope that wanted this summer residence and bought the castle:

Can't leave without getting a pic of JPII!

Pope Benedict XVI:

It was weird to me a bit that Pope Francis got the biggest portrait (a landscape oriented one). But whatever...

Moving into the more interesting rooms. This one was either for audiences or for dining...I think.

One of the waiting rooms for visitors:

Room where you'd meet with the pope:

One of the chapels:

Room where the pope would meet with special guests and cardinals (usually cardinals):

Pope's library:

One of the secretary's offices...I think:

Another secretary's office:

The pope's bedroom:

Connected to the bedroom is the pope's personal chapel:

The chair the pope uses to pray in his chapel:

Behind and to the left of the pope's chair is a few seats and kneelers for very special visitors. In the first row, Pope Francis and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI sat beside each other to pray. Pope Francis insisted on sitting with Pope Emeritus Benedict, saying that they were equals. 

I believe this is the music hall:

 

JPII statue at the end of the hall:

That was the last of the rooms we visited...at least, according to my collection of pictures. We then went back to Vatican City to go to the Vatican Museum to tour with Flavia again:

Once again, I'm going to stop while only talking about 1/3rd of a day. Sorry. Been typing for around 2 hours and getting really tired. I get tired of thinking all I did on that tour. I need to take it easy. Back to work tomorrow, so don't expect a post. Pray that it isn't totally exhausting for me.

Rome, Italy: Day 2, Part 3

 Okay, I'm back in the states and ready to start blogging about this past trip again. Sorry for the wait. Being sick and trying not to sound horribly sick in a foreign country on a tour is not easy. Have to constantly deal with the pressure and anxiety of people who may think I have Covid just because I'm coughing a lot to get rid of all the snot in my throat. One of the other tourists has kindly informed me that such people are called 'Covidians' and I shall be using that term from now onward. 

Back to Rome:

The last basilica we visited the 2nd full day of the tour was St. Paul outside the Walls. As a quick reminder, St. John Lateran (the official cathedral seat of the Pope) and this one were not in the city limits of Rome because there were so many pagans when they were built. This one in particular was built "outside the walls" in honor of St. Paul because he was killed there. St. Peter and St. Paul were killed for their faith. Peter was killed inside Rome (I'll go into more detail about that event on the day I talk about visiting the crypt under St. Peter's basilica). Paul, on the other hand, was a Roman citizen and, as such, could not be killed inside Rome; therefore, they took him outside the walls. Hence the name.

Outside facade:

Inside the basilica. All along the top of the walls, there are "medallions" (as Flavia called them) in which you can find all the popes with their names and dates. Everyone kept looking around for empty ones and counting them and saying "Ohhh, there are only 5 left! I guess that's when the world is ending" There were more than 5. I found them all. None of them believed me. Must be either because they only believed what they saw for themselves or they thought I was too young or couldn't count. C'est la vie, I guess. I found at least 11. Flavia said that they'll probably put them other places and make room if needed for more popes.

In this picture, you can see 5 empty ones:

If I remember correctly, under the Pope's main alter (because all these basilica's have a huge alter in the middle where only the pope can say Mass, if you remember) is the bones of St. Paul (well, all except his head. More on this later).

Up above the pope's alter, the heads of St. Peter and St. Paul are kept (at least, I remember Flavia saying both Peter and Paul's head is there...maybe just St. Paul, but I'm 98% positive it's both of them. Then again, when I took a tour down in the crypt (Scavi) under St. Peter's, that tour guide said that there was a skull that was St. Peter's down there. So, ya know...). Don't ask me why. I always have had a problem with us Catholics taking saint's body parts and using them as relics or burying parts of their bodies in separate locations. It just seems disgusting and so disrespectful to me. Just let them rest in peace! I can kind of understand if that's how they died (I think St. Paul was beheaded??) But still...

And don't ask me why there is a statue of St. Peter in St. Paul's basilica. You can tell because he's holding keys. I either missed the one of St. Paul because we were walking really fast, or there isn't one in there of him. On the other hand...I just now realized that it is a bit strange that this basilica has all the medallions of the popes in here. Why this one? I don't know. Would be interesting to find out. Why not St. Peter's or even St. John's??

Had to take a picture of the three popes in my lifetime:

The Easter candle is incredibly huge

I found St. Peter! First on the left:

Above the medallions were paintings and windows.

While going to and from each basilica, we saw many historical places and things in Rome. Didn't get off the bus, though, so forgive my bad pictures.

The Colosseum: 

Rome's Arch of Triumph (Imagine my surprise that Rome has one, just like Paris!):

I forget what this is called, but basically it is a stadium where the emperor and citizens would watch chariot races. All 7 of the Egyptian obelisks (which were taken from them when they were conquered by the Roman empire) were originally in it and the racers would go around them.

A castle:

Gaius Cestius, a member of the Epulones religious corporation, wanted to be buried in a pyramid like an Egyptian. So, I guess I don't have to go to Egypt to see the pyramids. Already seen one:

That about sums up a very long day in Rome. I'll try to get Day 3 out soon.

It was a great trip...but I'm glad to be home in the US where I belong 😊