Day Eight--final delightful day in Rome
Day Eight--Final delightful day in Rome I awoke early to the cooing of doves--opened my window so I could enjoy. We hadn't yet gotten into St. Peter's Cathedral and wanted to avoid the line, so we set out before 8 am. We walked in the morning coolness along the east side of the Tiber and after 45 minutes, the Cathedral lay before us. We approached the entrance and after screening, were allowed into the complex--took a total of 5 minutes, and I was so thrilled we'd come early.
Arriving before the crowd was beneficial inside, too. We were quite alone in the nave and could enjoy the magnitude of the church without tour groups swarming around us. Built over the tomb of St. Peter, the church can hold 60,000 standing worshippers. It's huge. We weren't able to get too close to the altar and couldn't touch the toe of St. Peter as he sat on his throne to the right of the altar, but we found a little known door and scooted down into the tombs of the former popes. Very cool.
Without question, Michelangelo's Pieta is breathtaking. It's remarkable that he completed this at the age of 25, and the sculpture's grace and tenderness are treasures to the soul.
It looked as if the Pope were going to give an audience outside today (chairs were set up throughout the square) and we noticed helicopters hovering and a stepped-up police presence. Everything seemed on high alert. After enjoying St. Peters, we made our way back across the river and into the historic section filled with great shops. One of the highlights was the fantastic fabric shop on the Largo di Torre Argentina. Katherine and I both bought linen for tablecloths or runners. Beautiful!
And then because we could, we again visited the Pantheon to see the floor drains. Anne asked if we'd seen them, so we needed to take a gander. Turns our some of the marble tiles immediately under the open roof have areas for drainage. Cool. Also had our daily gelato--Katherine's favorite flavor is tiramisu.
We wandered through the side streets and eventually made our way to the Capuchin Crypt--very unusual! The crypt itself is lined with decoratively placed bones of Capuchin monks and is pretty darn eerie.
From the crypt we headed toward home. The temp was rising and we wanted to cool off--shower and maybe even take a bit of a nap. We stopped at the Santa Maria Cosmedin Church to test the Mouth of Truth. Katherine put her hand in and it wasn't chomped, so I guess she passed the test---she's no liar!
Around 7 Anne, Katherine and I trekked up to the Orange Garden and enjoyed a bottle of wine while saying good-bye to Rome. We ate at one of Anne's neighborhood restaurants (wonderful!) and trudged home to pack, settle up bills, and prepare for the trip home in the morning.
Such a wonderful escape for me--a joyous reunion with Anne and a chance to really become acquainted with Rome. Still some wonderful sites to see on the next trip...always another adventure around the corner, and that's what I like--adventure. Today's steps numbered fewer than yesterday's 33,000. Today it was only 26,800. Oh well...life is good. Arrivederci!