The Vatican experience

The Vatican

San Peters Basilica is grandiose and illuminating. The cupola size, the paintings by the great painter Michaelangelo. The “Pieta” is very pleasing to the eye, the soft forms, the beautiful sad expressions, the delicate way of the mother holding her dead son, the postures and the soft colour of the marble makes one forget its origins, a hard stone transformed and conquered by the master. After all that morbid education we were quite excited and needed some real life entertaining. “The Fontana the Trevi” is a good place to contemplate life from another angle. Young people were soaked, laughing and taking pictures. The weather was fantastic and we too removed our shoes and joint in the fan. We had our ritual pictures taken and then we were taken to San Marino restaurant for more of the same pasta and spaghetti. There were other things on offer but Luisita and I decided that when in Italy do as the Italians do, and had more pasta... We then climbed the “Scalinata Spagna” The Spanish Steps and more shots were flashed by our Australian friend. This was an opportunity to observe the chaotic traffic disorder in Rome from a higher level and marvel as to how people manage to get anywhere on time. From there we walked and saw the King Victor Emmanuel monument, monumental and all in white marble. Inside there is a huge 12 meter high statue of the King sitting on a horse. Near the statue is the tomb of the unknown soldier, guarded by two sentries of honour. The “Forum Romano” one needs to have a good imagination and a liking for broken stones. There was nothing there worth seeing apart from remembering about the passed glory. The Castel San Angelo. This structure was originally built by the Emperor Hadrian (117-138) as his tomb, but in the face of barbarian invasions, Romans adapted it for use as a fortress. Over the centuries, additional fortifications were added as well as a suite of Renaissance papal apartments. During threatening times, popes took refuge here (when things got really bad, there was always Orvieto to fall back to). The statue of the angel at the top of the fortress commemorates a plague epidemic in 509. Pope Gregory the Great had a vision of an angel at the top of the citadel sheathing his sword, and from that time, the plague subsided (thus the name, Castel Sant' Angelo). Rome's view from the top of this castle is excellent. The bridge over the river Tiber, Ponte Sant' Angelo, is the traditional starting point for the pilgrimage route from Saint Peter's to San Giovanni in Laterano, the original Christian church. (The adjacent Lateran Palace was the official papal residence in Rome until 1377.)

The Coliseum structure is enormous and intimidating, to think of a society that recognised as enjoyable the reality of men and women being devoured by lions is an unimaginable scene. I looked at its basement quarters and touched the old stones that saw such criminal acts. Feeling the cold walls in silence y thought, I heard the screems of the victims and the laughter of their oppressors, I shivered.... By the time we reached the hotel we were all very tired. A shower some rest, dinner and to bed as early in the morning the coach was going to be our restricted residence for many hours before we got to Naples. Many miles of solitary agricultural workers never seized to remind me of home were the resemblance to my fellow Spaniards were in every field or village we passed by. They were poorly dressed and their feet badly covered with rubber home made shoes or shoeless. The straw hats were threaded with hay to hold them together before total disintegration. Their trousers were held up in their thin waist with a rough string, their shirts colour could not be defined due to the inclemency of the hot summers. Mostly they were walking to one place or another with their working tools on their shoulders. Women always had an extra weight to carry and it was that of their infants, attached to their waists or holding to their skirts. Some children, although, appeared very young to curry anything at all, were always transporting some heavy tool, basket or another child. Life was hard, the war had taken a toll.Immigration was a blessing as it opened doors that one could have never imagined in ones vicinity. It was a very sad occasion too, leaving the loved ones behind in those sad conditions teared one apart. Everyone's mama in particular...

But deep down you also though of the possibilities of improving everyone's lot with your departure, and you tore yourself away from your mama's embrace