Texas Walker Ranger

Sunday, June 27

With the purchase of a Roma Pass, you not only get unlimited bus and metro rides, but you get to tour two of Rome's museums for free. Our first entry was used at the Colosseum. We decided to use the second pass at Castel Sant'Angelo. This Castle was featured in the movie Angels and Demons so it was kind of fun to see the inside. However, we couldn't really tell how much of it was used in the movie. I think if I go back and watch the movie, I will pay close attention to this part...we were able to see the walkway that does exist linking Vatican City to the Castle. The Castle actually was not originally built as a castle. It was built as a tomb for the Emperor Hadrian. However, as time has passed, the castle has been used as prison and as a fortress for popes under attack. Although the inside of the castle was neat (we had to go up a winding passageway and even crossed what looked like a drawbridge), it was really the views of Rome that were most impressive. We had our first real glances of St. Peter's Basilica and Vatican City.

From Sant'Angelo we went back to our bus stop and headed once again to Piazza Navona. Piazza Navona is not only a wonderful meeting place surrounded by restaurants and cafes, but it is where many artists come to sell their art. From watercolors to oil on canvas, contemporary pieces to border-line-cheesy-motel pieces, you can find all sorts of artwork at Piazza Navona. You can even be persuaded to have an Italian weave you a bracelet right on your wrist! As we walked around the Piazza we could also hear the cries of both excitement and frustration from the crowds watching England play Germany in the World Cup.

On our way back to Trevi Fountain (we had visited the night before), we stopped at one of the most delicious gellato places in Rome, Della Palma. Three scoops of gelato later, we were not only much happier but ready to toss some coins into Trevi Fountain. Tradition has it that if you toss a coin into the fountain with your back facing the fountain, it will guarantee your return to Rome. The fountain is a baby considering Rome's standards. It was built in 1762 by Nicola Salvi and features Triton blowing into a conch shell.

To finish our day, we decided to head to another one of Rome's social gatherings, the Spanish Steps. It is called the Spanish Steps because of the Spanish Embassy to the Vatican being in this location for the past 300 years. John Keats lived and died in the pink building next to the Spanish Steps and Lord Byron lived near by as well. The Spanish Steps were buzzing with activity! There were people everywhere! We will say that we have been amazed with the number of McDonald's in Rome. Want a little taste of home, well you can hop into a McDonald's right next to the Spanish Steps or literally right across from the Pantheon. With the amazing food here in Italy, I don't know why you would want to do so, but we did wonder if an Italian Big Mac is the same as an American Big Mac.

Monday, June 28
This is our last day in Rome. We had been asked to go to St. Peter's Basilica by Karielle, Amanda, Nuit, Treyvon, Ken, and Richie. We decided to head out early...well, I think half the tourists in Rome decided to head out early as well! The line and crowd in St. Peter's was overwhelming. The fact that a huge section of the church was sectioned off because of a service that was going to be held did not help matters. However, despite the crowds, the majesty of St. Peter's is breathtaking. The church covers six acres...SIX ACRES! The alter under the dome designed by Michelangelo is covered by a bronze canopy that is the height of a seven-story building...a SEVEN-story building! Besides the building itself, there are so many things to see in St. Peter's including Michelangelo's Pieta. This amazing statue of Mary holding the dead body of Christ was created by Michelangelo when he was only 24 years old. The man was a genius. Although Michelangelo had a huge part in making St. Peter's what it is today, we cannot fail to mention the work of the architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini. It was Bernini who created St. Peter's Square and has been credited to brining the Baroque style not only into the church but into Rome.

Luckily we had made a reservation to enter the Vatican Museum. The line was hundreds of people long and wrapped around the perimeter of Vatican City. We heard a tour guide mention that the people at the end of the line would most likely have to wait 4 hours in the hot Italian sun to get in. We zipped to the front of line with our reservation and were in in a matter of minutes. Per the request of Will, Ana, Richard, Shararyar, and Kelly we stopped in the Egyptian portion of the museum first. We saw an Egyptian mummy, many examples of sarcophagi, a giant pine cone cleverly called 'Rome's pinecone', and many statues in this part of the museum. One incredible piece was that of the head of a statue that was not only 4,000 years old, but still had its orginal paint on it! The Vatican Museum is corridor after corridor of priceless artifacts, sculptures, tapestries, and frescoes. There was so much to take in. We did pause for quite a while in the Raphael Rooms. At only 25 the charming and talented Raphael was commissioned to paint the the personal living quarters of Pope Julius II. This spirited artist even made a "cameo" appearance in the painting called The School of Athens.

As impressive as the works of Rapheal are (and who knows what else he would have created had he not died at an early age) the real gem of the tour was of course the Sistine Chapel. It is hard to imagine that while the talented Raphael was in a room painting his frescoes while being able to stand vertically, the legendary Michelangelo was in the chapel a few yards away six stories in the air painting what has been called the greatest work of art by any one human being. The painting itself is 5,900 square feet. It took him 4 years to complete. I am not even going to attempt to explain the magnitude of this site...there are no words. I will say that the three hours it took to move from the entrance of the museum to the Sistine Chapel were well worth it.

I was so caught up in my history lesson, that I forgot to explain the title of this particular post. We had an hour before our reservation into the Vatican Museum so we decided to grab a bite to eat at a nearby (overly priced, I might add) restaurant. Our waitor was a riot! When he found out we were from Texas, he started spouting out just about everything he knew about Texas! "Brownsville, Corpus Christi, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Cowboys, Houston Rockets, and finally 'Texas Walker Ranger'!" Yep even in Rome Chuck Norris is just as popular as ever!