Pope Francis, Blessings, and Art: Rome Part III

An Idyllic Vacation

Imagine for a moment the perfect vacation. The sun is shining, the skies are blue, there’s a gentle breeze blowing softly, making the temperature absolutely perfect. Sitting outdoors, you are eating the most delicious food. Fresh and picked at the peak of taste and ripeness, the vegetables and fruits are incredible. Everything is cooked expertly and the flavors complement each other in the most delightful way. There’s the sound of water in the background, be it the sea, a fountain, or a creek. Relaxed and happy, you are simply soaking in a full day of sightseeing and enjoying your holiday immensely.

Now set that aside for a moment. Think back to your childhood when the simplest of things would bring the most intense joy. Ordinary and mundane weren’t possible, everything was extraordinarily amazing from the tiniest butterfly to the biggest tree. Every moment is an adventure and everything is exciting. Now combine those two images. At its best, traveling with a toddler is like that; intensely and unbelievably incredible in every way.

That’s not to say that there aren’t going to be incredibly trying moments but that’s part of life and travel, with or without a toddler. The beautiful thing about toddler problems is that they’re generally short-lived because small children naturally live in the moment. The fact is we can learn a lot from children and bringing your kids along on your journeys will enrich the overall experience, no matter what our culture or general wisdom tells us.

Wednesday General Audience

6am, the alarm startles us awake and we jump to the challenge of heading out the door as quickly as possible. The night before, we’d prepared everything we needed for the morning. We had snacks to serve as breakfast, namely Clif bars, and our water bottles were full. We made our way down the familiar path from the day before to the Vatican and chose the line on the left hand side of the square to wait for the gates to open for the audience itself. The families in line just in front and just behind us were also American and seemed far more unsure of the process than we were. Confident in the instructions from the seminarians combined with Matthew’s advice and my vague recollections of the experience 12 years prior, we waited more or less patiently and assured our fellow queue-mates that we were all in the right place.

Eventually, the line began to move and teenagers in Jubilee of Mercy vests directed the chaos that ensued. Throughout our journey, it became increasingly obvious that basic etiquette surrounding lines is far from set. Some cultures are exceedingly well-disciplined at orderly line formation while others seem to have zero concept of waiting one’s turn, relying on cutting, shoving, and all manner of disruptive and disorderly conduct. In the diversity of the universal church present at this papal audience, there was the full gamut of behavior, making for quite the free-for-all. To their credit, the volunteers did their best to rein in the craziness and soon enough we were at the metal detectors and ready to enter the square itself.

Beyond the colonnade, the square opened before us. Just as the day before, the barricades and chairs were set up in anticipation of the audience. The Swiss Guards were still seating people in the first section on the square level but all of the prime locations along the barricade had been taken. Following Matthew’s advice, we milled about and let Michael wander a bit until they opened the second section and snagged two chairs right in the front row along the path of the pope mobile. As we sat and waited, the square filled in more and more with pilgrims from around the world.

Finally, Pope Francis himself rode into the square atop the pope mobile, waving and smiling. We watched on the large screens until he came into view where we were as he took the path set out by the barricades, weaving through the crowd so that every person present had a moment where he was near their seat. He stopped over and over again to bless babies. As he began his trek down in front of our section, Jason held Michael aloft, hoping to draw the attention of Pope Francis’ entourage. In a moment, one of his escorts took Michael from Jason, brought him over to the pope mobile, and lifted him up. Pope Francis kissed and blessed our sweet baby as we watched in amazement. Unquestionably, this would be the highlight of our Italian adventure. Knowing that professional photographers cover each and every audience extensively and that their photos can be ordered easily afterward, we watched without the anxiety of trying to get the perfect shot or any photos at all. We just drank in the moment. Such a special memory to take back with us and to share with Michael when he is old enough to understand.

Pope Francis kisses Michael (from the camera of a kind woman from Mexico behind us; the official photos are copyrighted.)

Michael was returned to us and Pope Francis continued his journey around the square, driving right past us. He went up onto the raised platform and began his address in Italian. The entire translated address can be viewed here. The Bible passage was from the Gospel of Matthew recounting the calling of St. Matthew, the tax collector. He spoke about the abundant mercy of God and the universal call to holiness. My Italian is shaky at best, drawn from three semesters of Spanish in college and some Duolingo practice before our trip but I was able to easily pick up and understand one particular repeating quote, “there is no saint without a past and no sinner without a future.” Once he had finished his Italian address, a brief summary was addressed to each language group and he had a greeting translated (aside from the Spanish pilgrims who were addressed directly in his native tongue. He specifically spoke to young people, the sick, and newlyweds. His message for youth was this: “dear young people, the Lord Jesus alone knows how to respond completely to the aspirations of happiness and goodness in your lives.” He then blessed everyone and sent special blessings back to the family and friends of those present.

Gelato and Lunch

We walked around the Vatican wall to Old Bridge Gelateria and I had a cup of dark chocolate and stracciatella and Jason had vanilla in a cone while Michael slept. We ate as we walked back toward central Rome, enjoying the delicious creamy flavors.

For lunch, we opted for pizza to go from Forno Roscioli and took it over to Campo di Fiori to eat in the midst of their market. I had the most amazing Caprese pizza with fresh mozzarella, perfectly ripe tomatoes, and green basil leaves. Jason had simple Pizza Rosso and Michael munched on our crusts along with some whole milk. We supplemented our pizza with some fresh strawberries and pears from the Campo di Fiori market. Michael had such a fun time chasing pigeons around the square.

100_2909 — Our sweet boy in Campo di Fiori

Rome from the Sky

Everyone has something that’s really important to them about traveling. For Jason, its panoramic views of a place. So we ventured over to the Victor Emmanuel monument to take the Roma dal Cielo elevator for the best 360 degree views of Rome. Unfortunately, Michael decided to be very stubborn, got in trouble with a guard for lingering on a step too long during our climb to the elevator meet point, and had a complete and total meltdown, the low point of which was him slamming his head into the marble floor and getting a nice black bruise as a memento of his tantrum. In light of this, we decided that Michael and I would explore the flat area at the base of the elevator while Jason went on a solo trip to the top. The vista did not disappoint. Rome spread out below all around, cathedral and church domes dotting the cityscape, with the all the landmarks visible from a birds’ eye perspective.

Jason’s view (above), and mine (below)

Coins in the Fountain

Once Jason descended from the sky, we made our way down the stairs to the streets and headed for the Trevi Fountain .Happily, the recent renovations were complete and the entire fountain was visible once again, uncovered from scaffolding and back to its usual chaotic bustle. People were everywhere, and hustlers tried to make money off tourists hawking photos of the iconic coin toss. Jason and I each tossed in a coin to ensure a return trip. Since Michael was big enough not to put coins in his mouth, Jason handed him one too but he refused to let it go. I think ours counted for him too and we’ll all be back one day.

Spanish Steps

Another iconic Roman sight is the Spanish Steps. Since we were in the vicinity, we walked over to them, only to be a bit disappointed since they were under construction and not bursting with color from Springtime azalea blooms as promised in the guidebooks. Regardless, it was on our path and we would have regretted not even trying to see it. Fortunately, the Bernini Barcaccia (sinking ship fountain), wasn’t obscured so we still relished a bit of the feel of the area.

Villa Borghese

Tucked into the far reaches of North Rome are the beautiful, green Villa Borghese Gardens. Within this lovely setting lies the acclaimed Galleria Borghese art museum. Reservations for a two-hour visit are required because they limit the number of patrons in the museum which makes for a much less crowded experience than most museums. Every guidebook raved about this museum filled with Baroque sculptures by the likes of Bernini and paintings by such greats as Caravaggio. However, given the remote location and the numerous other museums we saw, this was something we could definitely have skipped and been perfectly content. We toured the gallery and then ambled about the park for a bit, stopping off at a playground to let Michael run free. This proved a welcome diversion for him and a reminder to that the joy of being a child is easily found anywhere in the world.

Dinner Ambiance

Dinner that night was at the lovely Ristorante da Fortunato, just a brief jaunt from the Pantheon. To take full advantage of the beautiful evening weather, we opted for outdoor seating. Jason had the Tagliatelle Arrabiatta, wide noodles and a deliciously spicy red sauce. I opted for the Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe, a sauce of cheese and pepper which was richer than I might have desired but still yummy. We also split Asparagi Parmigiana and shared an order of berries (perfectly ripe and fresh strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries) for dessert. The wine came by the bottle so Jason took the remaining wonderful Montepulciano d’Abruzzo back with us to the hotel. As we ate, a strolling accordion player stopped nearby and Michael danced and clapped for his musical stylings. While not enjoying the music, Michael entertained himself and us by playing with a spoon.

We returned to the hotel, pleasantly exhausted from all our wanderings in Rome. Pondering all our adventures, we showered and headed off to bed, thankful for the chance to visit Rome and for the surprise personal blessing of our baby Michael.

Daily stats:

Modes of transportation: 1
- Distance walked 12.3 km = 7.6 miles
Papal audience: 1
Famous sites: 3
Museums: 1

Our Roman Holiday: Part I

A Little Background

Prior to our departure, I had high hopes of reading books and watching movies set in Italy to prepare us for our adventure. In reality, I only read guidebooks and blog posts and we managed to watch a grand total of one movie set in Italy, Roman Holiday. It’s one of my all time favorites. I love old movies and watching Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck explore Rome is always fun but especially so knowing that we’d be visiting those same sites ourselves in the not too distant future. It was Jason’s first time to see the whole movie which made it even more fun.

That’s not to say that it wasn’t time well-spent preparing for our trip. We’d compiled a detailed itinerary with our must-see sights, entry times for reserved attractions, transportation information including connections, hotel information, as well as some additional items that would be nice to see if we had time and the locations of nearby playgrounds. We’d also broken up our guidebook into single city mini guides which could easily fit in my purse or even Jason’s pocket. Then there was the chronologically arranged folder of hotel confirmation, museum reservations, and papal audience ticket pickup instructions. Organizationally speaking, this was our most thoroughly planned trip to date.

Exploring Ancient Rome

Upon our arrival in Rome, our first order of business after checking into the hotel was to find somewhere to eat lunch. Jason perused the guidebook and chose the nearby Enoteca Corso which was absolutely fabulous. An unassuming little shop that only serves lunch, it had a lovely menu of pasta dishes. We were greeted upon entry and shown to a table right at the front. The hostess brought over a high chair for Michael and he proceeded to slam a wine glass down on the table at just the right angle to shatter it completely. So much for a graceful beginning to our journey. Gracious and understanding, the staff cleared up the bits of glass. Keeping Michael’s area wine glass free, we finished the rest of our meal without incident. I went with the Lasagna al Forno which was perfectly cheesy with a delightful sauce and one of my favorite meals from our entire trip. Michael helped me with the lasagna. Jason opted for the fettuccine with tomato and basil and was very pleased with his choice as well. We shared a quarto of their very pleasant house wine.

Under brilliant blue skies, we made our way to the Coliseum. Belly full of delicious pasta, Michael fell asleep as we walked. Despite it being early in the tourist season, there were swarms of people. Gypsies accosted us at every turn hawking selfie sticks. We bought our tickets for the Coliseum and Roman Forum and joined the entry line for the Coliseum. As we waited, we continually heard calls for “English tour, skip the line.” Some of these would-be tour guides would address each tourist personally while others just made a general announcement to the queue. However, the line moved quickly enough and soon we were inside.

Inside, we were struck by the incredible engineering and spaciousness of the place. Its aura of magnificence is tempered by the sad reminder of the countless people who lost their lives there in the name of entertainment. It stands not just as a monument of Roman power but its abuse: Roman brutality and aggression. The blood of the Christian martyrs, the gladiators, and slaves who sacrificed all calls out to all who enter the place, urging us to choose our better selves, respecting all human life as a gift, and living in solidarity with those weakest among us. Each year on Good Friday, the pope leads the Way of the Cross through this place, remembering Christ’s suffering, passion, and death and calling attention to the injustices that we still perpetrate against our fellow human family.

Along similar lines, I’m currently reading St. Thérèse’s autobiography, Story of a Soul, which I highly recommend. St. John Paul II named her a doctor of the Church because of the great value to be found in her writings which speak so beautifully of the love and mercy of God. In his homily upon naming her such, he said, “Among the Doctors of the Church, Therese of the Child Jesus and Holy Face is the youngest, but her spiritual itinerary shows such maturity and the intuitions of her faith expressed in her writings are so vast and so profound, that they merit a place among the great spiritual masters.” Getting back to the matter at hand though… In part of her memoir, she recounts her own visit to the Coliseum. This was during her pilgrimage to Italy when she was not quite 15, the same one where she petitioned the pope to allow her to enter Carmelite convent at 15 rather than waiting until she was 21. She speaks with great admiration and inspiration of the witness of the Coliseum martyrs who sacrificed everything because of the depth of their faith in Christ. “How shall I describe the feeling which thrilled me when I gazed on the Coliseum? At last I saw the arena where so many martyrs had shed their blood for Christ. My first impulse was to kiss the ground sanctified by their glorious combats.” She and her sister, Céline, stray from the designated path over barriers and rubble to venerate the site of one of these martyrdoms where she prayed for the grace to be a martyr for Jesus herself. Love motivated these martyrs to sacrifice everything for Christ. That same love of God inspired St. Thérèse’s “Little Way” and her love and prayer for every person as well as her love and admiration of God’s creation. The martyrs remind us that Love is the most powerful thing on earth. The faith for which they died still lives on throughout the world while the Roman empire who put them to death has long since crumbled.

Heavy and deep as all that history is, the Coliseum is truly impressive. The beautiful arches that have stood for thousands of years give witness to the architectural prowess of the Romans that would not be rediscovered until the Renaissance. Seating 50,000-80,000 spectators, the scale alone is staggering. Not content with simple enormity, it is also very beautiful to behold. Still standing as an enduring reminder of a civilization that has long since fallen, it has a definite elegant grandeur. Romans certainly built monuments to last and built them with style and grace.

After the Coliseum, we went next door to the Forum and ventured through the heart of Ancient Roman life. The triumphal arches and remnants of temples tell the story of the Roman people. The arches commemorate military victories that expanded the empire to amass an impressive area, spanning much of Europe, Northern Africa, and the Middle East at its height. Some of the basilicas (public court buildings) were simply enormous and their remaining columns speak to their gigantic stature. The numerous temples dedicated not just to gods and goddesses but also to deified emperors and empresses give a window into the complicated intertwining of religion and politics in Ancient Rome. Even in the current ruinous state, the Forum is a striking and memorable place to visit. Back when all the buildings and monuments were intact and colorful, it must have been incredibly impressive.

Arch of Titus

Via Sacra

Arch of Constantine

Gelato, Piazza Rotunda, and the Pantheon

With Michael once again awake, we walked back in the direction we’d come to grab our first Roman gelato at San Crispino on Piazza della Maddalena a block from the Pantheon. I selected a cone of my absolute favorite flavor, stracciatella which is a cream gelato with delectable flecks of chocolate. Jason went with a lemon sorbetto cone. Gelati in hand, we found a spot to sit in the Piazza Rotunda just outside the Pantheon. Michael liked the gelato and sorbetto just fine but he devoured my cone. Happy to be free, he ran around the square, chasing pigeons and smiling broadly.

Fortified by gelato/sorbetto/tasty cones, we ventured inside the Pantheon itself. Inside, one’s attention is immediately drawn upward to the magnificent dome with sunlight streaming through the oculus (open air skylight.) This breathtaking dome inspired and served as a model for some of the most famous domes in the world (Bruneleschi’s dome atop Florence’s cathedral, Michaelangelo’s dome of St. Peter’s, as well as the US Capitol dome.) Built as a Roman temple to all the gods, it was preserved as a church dedicated to all martyrs and thus the interior is intact. The colored marble is beautiful and it houses the tomb of Raphael, the famous artist, as well as modern unified Italy’s first two kings.

100_2784 — Inside the Pantheon (note the tourists behind us with the selfie stick)

A Taste of Piazza Navona

We walked over to Piazza Navona and took in the hustle and bustle of the busy square filled with people. Admiring Bernini’s Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the Four Rivers), we viewed the statues representing the Ganges (Asia), the Danube (Europe), the Nile (Africa), and the Rio de la Plata (the Americas). Rising up at its center is an ancient Egyptian obelisk. The buildings flanking the square are lovely too and it made for a nice evening stroll.

100_2796 — Obelisk at the center of the fountain

Caravaggio at San Luigi della Francesi

Between the Piazza Navona and the Pantheon lies the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi (St. Louis of the French) which has a lovely Caravaggio chapel with a cycle of paintings depicting the life of St. Matthew (his calling, his inspiration, and his martyrdom.) There are so many beautiful churches in Rome and this is certainly one of them.

Blessing himself

Caravaggio chapel

Dinner and Jet-Lag

Throughout our afternoon adventures, we’d been enjoying ourselves far too much to feel the effects of our travel. As we returned to the hotel to shower and get ready for dinner, the hours on the plane, the sleep deprivation, and the walking caught up to us. We went to dinner at a quiet little wine bar, Enoteca L’Angelo Divino. It was right up Jason’s alley and he enjoyed every minute of our time there. The quiet ambiance coupled with Michael’s tiredness and readiness for bed only enhanced my own exhaustion so I wasn’t able to truly appreciate the atmosphere or food. We ordered a cheese plate and tried several Italian wines by the glass. For our main dish, I had fonnarelli pasta with an almond pesto and Jason had a vegetable lasagna. Michael was a bit restless and our kind waitress found some little toy figurines for him to play with as we ate. He enjoyed the little centurion, R2D2, and a dinosaur. Eventually though, given the length of the meal, Michael reached his limit and had a meltdown. I completely understood his emotions. It had been a very long day indeed. A wonderful day in Rome but such a long time since we’d really slept. We were all entirely and completely wiped out. We returned to the hotel and were asleep mere moments later.