Our 2nd day in Dahab was spent on a day trip to Abu Galoom (sp??) which included cab ride to Blue Hole (a very popular snorkeling and diving spot), then maybe a 2hr camel ride to Abu Galoom.
Our 2nd day in Dahab was spent on a day trip to Abu Galoom (sp??) which included cab ride to Blue Hole (a very popular snorkeling and diving spot), then maybe a 2hr camel ride to Abu Galoom.
IN EGYPT!!! Sarah and her friend, Ahmed (not same one mentioned in caption), asked me on my first night what I hoped to do while visiting. I mentioned that it would be cool to do some snorkeling in the Red Sea, immediately Sarah’s eyes and face lit up. She asked if I was serious. Um, yes, lol, I wouldn’t mention it otherwise. All other talks ceased as she mentally went through her calendar to try and figure out good dates for us to visit the Red Sea.
Monday morning we were waiting in the bus terminal to begin our day long bus ride headed for Sharm el-sheikh where we hired a taxi to drive us, and this random Japanese girl, to Dahab. I should mention that we almost got left behind at one of the rest stops. Sarah and I had to run after the bus. What an adventure it would have been to be stuck in the middle of nowhere. THANK GOODNESS Sarah and I can run.
Thursday, October 6th
After visiting the museums, we hopped on the metro and headed towards Ostia Antica. Since we had purchased the Roma Pass, we received unlimited use of the public transportation system for 3 days as well as free admission to two sites and discounts on pretty much every other site visited. I’m so glad we made the decision to visit Ostia. I had to restrain myself from running away and exploring everywhere, climbing every step, peaking into every room.
Our day didn’t stop there. We then explored the former Jewish Ghetto and Trastevere and ended our evening with some great pasta and gnocchi—definitely our best meal while in Rome.
The next morning, we had an easy morning walking around Termini Train Station until Teddy left for Vienna and I headed for aiport. I stepped inside the international bookstore to check out an Egypt guidebook which just made me so excited, and so stoked that I was finally headed to Egypt in a few hours.
Last Spring as I began to contemplate a trip abroad, a way to fill my 6 month IRR time, I thought it would be great to visit Egypt and practice my Arabic, hopefully immerse myself to learn more. I planned for 2 weeks visiting Judith, Kaitlin and Susana, and 4 weeks in Egypt. Instead, I spent 4 weeks in Europe and 2 weeks in Egypt. While, I don’t regret the duration of time spent in Europe, I wish I had planned for a month or more in Egypt. I didn’t get enough of the place so I know I’ll probs be returning sooner to Egypt than Europe.
Thursday morning at National Museum of Rome, Baths of Diocletian Museum and the church part too.
captions tell the story
Wednesday still—-St. Peter’s Basilica
St. Peter’s Basilica is huge. I don’t think I’ll be able to say that enough so prepare yourself to hear that a lot.
Read the photo captions for most of these pics’ stories.
The dome inside St. Peter’s Basilica is supposed to be the
Along the ceiling-roof line of the basilica, you can read all the words, recorded in the Bible, that Jesus spoke to Peter. These phrases are written with 7ft tall letters.
I never would have guessed they were that tall…
They look so small when seen from my perspective! Plus the words are only a fraction of the total wall height. THIS PLACE IS SO BIG!!! I’m 5ft tall. The letters are 2 ft taller than me. They are as tall as David Robinson or Luka Mirkovich (Don’t worry if you don’t know him. Wait, a few years till he goes pro hopefully.)
There are lots of things to see in the Basilica. One of the most beautiful was the Pieta. Even though hordes of people come to this Basilica it is possible to find a seemingly quiet place—but not by the Pieta.
As Teddy and I left St. Peter’s Basilica and entered St. Peter’s Square, we noticed a long line of people at one end. I followed the line to see its end and I kept following it and following it. The line went all the way to the other end of the square opposite of the St. Peter’s Basilica. The square, like the Basilica, is huge so yeah, a LOT of people were in line. Teddy and I stopped in amazement. THANK GOODNESS we took the corner group exit. By taking the cornet exit from the Sistine Chapel we avoided the walk through the Vatican Museum back to the main exit, the 15 minute walk from the Museum to the Square, and most importantly, the hours long security check line for the Basilica. THANK YOU RICK STEVES. Thank you for suggesting that exit.
Teddy and I hit up a few more landmark churches as we made our way to Santa Susana’s Church for an English Catholic mass. I was in Rome and really wanted to attend Mass. Teddy isn’t Catholic but he was willing to attend also. We arrived early to the church which was a blessing because I wanted to calm myself before services began.
Services started with a few local Rome residents, a married couple from MA renewing their vows, a young business guy, a nun, us and one older couple. The married couple traveled to Rome and were renewing their vows after 30 years of marriage on the exact day. I’ve only been to 2 or 3 wedding ceremonies and even though I didn’t know these people, I felt blessed to be there and I’m glad they had made it so long. In mass, I just said thank you to God for keeping me safe thus far and sending good people my way to help me whenever I did run into trouble.
This commercial cracked me up. It came on during the movie Jersey Girl that I’m watching Jersey Girl, which also has been making me smile.
I never watch TV without doing something else. Hopefully, I can finish a few tumblr posts. (at least one…)
More Vatican Museum stuff from Wednesday, October 5th
I took a picture of the ceiling (#1) from the map corridor. It reminded me of Versailles and the Hall of Mirrors.
Earlier, I showed a painting by Raphael Transfiguration and here is another The School of Athens
Aistotle and Plato are the two people in the center of the painting. On the right are the scientists and on the left are the thinkers. One of the main figures may look very familiar because Raphael painted Leonardo da Vinci to represent Plato. Another figure I’d like to point out is Michaelangelo, who is the figure sitting on the steps propping his head up with his arm. Raphael had already finished this painting but after seeing the Sistine Chapel he added Michaelangelo. Also, apparently all sight lines lead you to Aristotle and Plato which I think is just a really cool extra that shows the forethought of Raphael.
The Disputa (#2) is on display on the other side of the room. I should add these two paintings are each about 17x25 ft. I should also clarify that The School of Athens and The Disputa are not paintings but are in fact frescos. I always thought that frescos were just wall murals called frescos b/c they were made in Renaissance times, but one of the museum descriptions taught me the true definition. A fresco is a painting that has been drawn directly on wet plaster. By painting on the wet plaster, the color is sealed as the plaster dries. (Also frescos have been around since Ancient times but
The Disputa was painted before the School of Athens yet people often compare it as if it followed the School of Athens. The Disputa has Jesus as the teacher like Aristotle and Plato are in The School of Athens.
After passing Raphael’s room, we moved into the section of Modern Christian art (#3). The Matisse piece looks like a canvas of repeated images, but thats just the background because in the center is a simple outline sketch of the Virgin and infant Jesus.
I posted the pics of the pieces I photographed just to share. I don’t really have a story to them. #6 I photographed because I have never seen paintings by Marc Chagall. I have only seen his stained glass, in particular, the set featured in the Art Institute of Chicago. I’ve lived in Chicago for the past four years and visited the Art Institute at least once a year, yet this past July was the first time I had seen Chagall’s stained glass. After Mucha’s stained glass in Prague, I have a new interest in stained glass and I wanted to highlight Chagall to build some interest.
After passing the modern Christian art, the end of the Vatican Museum, we finally arrived at the Sistine Chapel. I wasn’t allowed to take pictures—which I did not know—so I got yelled at by the guard. I hate getting in trouble so that sucked. If I had gotten in trouble while taking pictures of the Beauty and the Beast library in Prague then I would have understood and deserved it. But, I didn’t know so I do not like being yelled at.
The Sistine Chapel was amazing. It was just amazing. I’m really behind on this blog and I remember last week being anxious to hurry up and get to this day so i could write about why the Sistine Chapel is so cool. But I’ve had a lot of time to think about it and I realized that I’ve been describing all these places because I wanted to share my enthusiasm yet by doing so I. Instead, I’ll just say that you can’t go to the Sistine Chapel without an audioguide or a written guide. It may seem overwhelming but if you understand why Michaelangelo painted everything that he did then you can’t leave feeling awed. ALSO! Take the side corner exit out marked for group exits (just pretend you are part of group like Teddy and I did)!!!
After the Sistine Chapel, we headed for St. Peter’s Basilica. #8 was taken from just outside. By this time, it was close to 2pm and we were starving.
We took a seat under the building’s shade and ate our apple and PB sandwiches before going inside St. Peter’s Basilica.
October 5th (click images for larger slideshow view)
Every Wednesday at 10:30 am, the Pope gives a Papal Audience in St. Peter’s Square either from his balcony or from a platform in front of St. Peter’s Basilica. First he drives around in the pope mobile then reads a letter.
Teddy learned about the papal audience so we decided to spend one full day in Vatican City. I had read that tickets could only be acquired the day before so we weren’t totally sure we’d be able to enter St. Peter’s Square for the Papal Audience but we decided to try.
We arrived at the bus stop outside the hostel complex a bit before 9am hoping to beat the crowds of people that amass. There were still a lot of people but this time we were ready to make a beeline for the bus doors to ensure we got on. Success!
We walked from Cipro stop to the Vatican Museum then followed the city walls to the square. We weren’t quite sure if we should/could get in line. Time was ticking away and Teddy suggested we just get in line. Good call. It turned out that the line was only the security line to enter the square (#1). I saw people with blue tickets but those are for chairs inside the blockaded area. Since Teddy and I didn’t have tickets we stood against the barricades (#3 and #4) and looked at the pope through my awesome camera zoom (#2).
Before the Pope arrived a list of all (registered) visiting pilgrims was read aloud. There was a group from Corpus Christi! Go Texas! Psalm 23 was read aloud in at least 5 languages, the Pope drove around in his bulletproof Pope-mobile and he gave a blessing in Italian to the crowds.
Teddy isn’t Catholic and I couldn’t understand the blessing so we left a minute or two before the Pope finished. Another reason for wanting to leave early was the realization that the crowd was most likely going to visit Vatican Museum next and we wanted to get in line before it became absurdly long.
Thankfully, the line moved quickly and we were inside the Vatican Museum. Ipods out and Rick Steves Vatican Museum Tour ready to be played. We went to the Pinacoteca first based on Rick Steves recommendation that way we wouldn’t have to back track after the Sistine Chapel.
One of the first paintings highlighted was Raphael’s Transfiguration (#6) which is the last project Raphael was working on before his death at 37. (He was the artist buried in the Pantheon.) The painting depicts the scene of Moses and Elijah visiting Jesus because Peter, James, and John wanted proof of Jesus’s divinity. This painting is most famous for Raphael’s rendition of Jesus’s face.
In the next room, Leonardo da Vinci’s St. Jerome hangs. (I pulled out my book to confirm the painting name.) Leonardo da Vinci is the man I name when asked who I’d want to meet if I could meet anyone from the past. He was such a brilliant man and I admire him for his many talents. I took a picture of this painting because I think its funny that St. Jerome’s (#7) face was cut out of the painting and used as a stool. It has since been replaced obviously
#8 Michaelangelo Caravaggio painted the Disposition using regular people as models. Jesus just stands out so much.
After leaving the Pinacoteca, we walked through rooms and rooms of statues. As we headed towards the Octagonal Courtyard, Teddy and I noticed a young Indian couple and their very young son. The dad was taking a picture of his wife next to a statue so we stopped to let them take their picture. Picture taken, we move on but not before hearing the little boy telling his mother to stop as he pulled up his audio guide to take a picture of her. The dad tried to tell him it wasn’t a camera but the little boy did not care. “Mom, stand still.” “Okay, okay.” Picture taken to the little boy’s satisfaction and Teddy and I had something to keep us smiling as we walked.
In the Octagonal Courtyard, there are some fantastic sculptures that influenced so many works.
Leochares’s Apollo Belvedere (#9) is an example of human perfection in balance. “The anatomy is perfect, his pose is natural. Instead of standing at attention, face-forward with his arms at his sides [think of Egyptian statues], Apollo is on the move, coming to rest, with his weight on one leg.
“The Greeks loved balance. A well-rounded man was both a thinker and an athlete, a poet and a warrior. In art, the Apollo Belvedere balances several opposites. He’s moving, but not out of control. Apollo eyes his target, but hasn’t attacked yet. He’s realistic, but with idealized godlike features. And the smoothness of his muscles is balanced by the rough folds of his cloak. (from the Rick Steves book)”
Honestly, I don’t really like this statue but I wanted to include it to help show the transition in style of sculpture. I took the picture of Apollo Belvedere from across the courtyard after seeing Laocoon (#10) because the contrast in style is just so big. Now, the Laocoon is a sculpture I really liked. I stayed looking at it for a long time to the annoyance of this Italian tour guide lady.
This sculpture is a representation of the struggle of the priest Laocoon and his two sons against the sea serpents sent by the gods to stop Laocoon from warning the Trojan people against gifts from the Greeks i.e. the Trojan Horse. I’ve only read one epic and it was the Iliad. Perhaps, knowing the story about the fall of Troy is what makes this statue come to live even more and why I like it so much. I definitely prefer statues that capture movement and emotion like the little girl crying in O’rsay Museum or like the Boxer, which I’ll talk about later. Apollo Belvedere, you are beautiful but unreal to me so I don’t like you.
next; Raphael’s The School of Athens, Modern religious art, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica
October 4th (date typo in last posts)—post Pantheon
#1 One of many, many, many fountains
#2 I took a picture in front of the church near this fountain for a reason unknown at this time. I think it was “important” at the time but obviously not that important that I can’t remember it.
#3 We headed next for the Trevi Fountain but I really wanted to see the river so we walked a few blocks out of the way for an easier yet less direct route. There was a lot of graffiti on the bank walls but it didn’t really detract from the scene. Being abroad has changed my opinion about graffiti within the city. I used to have the mentality that all graffiti was bad because it was a sign of gangs and dumb kids, but in Europe the graffiti taggers are not part of gangs as we know them in the US. I think that is why I can look at the tags and see something besides the claiming of gang area.
#4 Trevi Fountain
I was starting to run out of contact solution so Teddy and I often stopped in pharmacies to see if I could find some. You would not believe how difficult this task was… While searching in a small market, we bought some yogurt which we ate while at the Trevi Fountain. I didn’t toss a coin behind my back into the fountain to ensure my return to Rome and neither did Teddy because we’ll be back. There is no question.
#5 Sinking Boat Fountain
At the foot of the Spanish Steps lies the Sinking Boat Fountain. It is powered by aqueducts like the Trevi fountain. I saw someone wash their face with the water and another person drink from it. I’m not quite sure I’d do that. These fountains are not like the fountains in Paris and Budapest that are intended to be drunk from. Rome had drinking spouts too but I didn’t read anything about the decorative pool fountains being drinkable.
#6/7 Spanish Steps
The Spanish Steps and the Sinking Boat Fountain are in the Piazza di Spagna. At the top of the Spanish Steps there is another obelisk (surprise!) but this obelisk is a copy—not an original—-a bad copy at that b/c it has hieroglyphic typos.
#9 One last picture before taking the metro back to our tent.
For dinner that night we visited the supermarket across the street from our hostel complex. We bought apples, the only fruit Teddy actually likes (wierd, I know), bread, peanut butter, rotisserie chicken, and of course wine from the Lazio (Rome) area. I drank the wine from my Prague coffee mug and Teddy drank from his Texas shot glass.
After showers, some internet time, and planning our next day we hit the sack by 12, or maybe 1am. We woke up the next day around 9, which means I slept 9 hours instead of the normal 6. Its amazing what lack of internet does for my sleep.
I have to back up to share the story of our first night in our “tent.” We booked tents which were more like permanent canvas rooms with door lock, three beds, and working lights. Not bad for a tent especially when I was expecting not being able to crouch much less stand around with walking space.
We’re both laying on our beds. Teddy is listening to Rick Steve’s intro to Rome and I’m writing in my travel journal. I can hear voices talking behind me and then I see bush imprints pushing against our tent. nbd w/e
Then, I realize that this guy and girl aren’t just passing by the tent. They have decided to hang out two feet away from our heads. And then, I realize that they aren’t just talking and the bush movements by the tent are happening because they are doing something! I’m silently freaking out, like, omg, what the heck??? Can they not see the light is on in the tent? I’m pretty sure I create a shadow! hahahah. omg. ahhh. gross. My face is very expressive and surprise, horror, and disbelief are taking turns distorting my face. I’ve sat up by this point which causes Teddy to look over at me.
He gives me a confused look as he removes his headphones then Teddy does one of his classic faces. My SMH friends will be able to imagine it. Its the one where his mouth looks like this —>
and his eyebrows shoot up as his eyes try to pop out. We both can’t help but silently laugh.
At this point, it has been confirmed. These two are trying to hook up. Wow, omg, is this really happening?hahahha.Then it gets better.
“Do you like that?” the guy asks the girl. AHAHAHHAHAHHA ahhhh what the heck?! Our laughter has gotten slightly louder and the couple has suddenly grown quiet. The bushes move a little bit more. They exchange some words, walk away, and Teddy and I go to sleep after digesting what just happened.
Thank you random couple for giving me some great memories. I like that.
October 3rd—Post Colosseum, Palantine Hill, Roman Forum, Capital Hill, Trajan’s Column. The Pantheon :)
After our al-dente pasta lunch, Teddy and I started to make our way to the Pantheon. I normally cook pasta till it is softer but I gotta stop that. Cooking al-dente really makes a difference
While walking we saw this monument from a far in between cross streets—>
It is pretty impossible to miss the Victor Emmanuel II Monument because of its massive scale and brilliant white color. So we saw that without actually ever getting that close to it. My little brother’s name is Victor Emmanuel, but I’m pretty certain that my parents didn’t know they accidentally named him after the first king of Italy.
#1 The Pantheon plus obelisk as viewed from the Piazza Rotunda.
This obelisk is one of 13 obelisks in the city taken from Egypt and brought to Rome. These obelisks are single pieces of granite! (usually) This fact adds to my amazement when you realize that animals or men carried the weight (and/or sailed it across the Med).
#2 and 3 The dome is massive. The picture only shows a small part of the width and height. It is 142 ft tall and 142 wide. It is really impressive. The dome inside St. Peter’s Basilica is same size but it is difficult to appreciate the scale of that dome when placed inside the ginormous Basilica, but the dome of the Pantheon defines the building’s size. Its just amazing. A ball of 142 diameter would fit perfectly inside.
Notice the indents? The Rick Steves audio tour that Teddy and I downloaded taught us that the indentations were used to make the dome thinner and more importantly, lighter, as it reached the top. The base is 23 ft thick…whoa. The top is 5ft thick….still whoa. I’m just in awe of this building.
#4 Drain hole for the rain!
#5 Victor Emmanuel II again. His tomb is inside the Pantheon as is the tomb of Raphael, who painted The School of Athens, which is housed in the Vatican Museum, and which I’ll describe later.
#6 The Pantheon’s dome is probably the most influential dome. Michaelangelo and Brunelleschi both used it as a model when building their own domes in St. Peter’s Basilica and the Duomo in Florence, respectively. In the Pantheon’s case, the hole at the top of the dome helps eliminate some weight and provides the ONLY source of light for the building. I repeat, it is not a window but a 30 ft wide hole in the ceiling. As Teddy and I walked away, I told him how I thought it would be awesome to come back during a rain storm and he finished my thought by saying, “to see the rain fall through the dome”—-exactly!
#7 This is a picture of the exterior. The outside of the building from the back is just a plain cylinder. I didn’t even know we had arrived when I stopped along the wall to tie my shoe. I just thought it was a super huge random building that resembled a granary.
