Dad in Rome!

we had such a wonderful time visiting with my dad shortly after we returned from our trip to Spain! with every visitor, Rome appears new again. Dad's visit was a great opportunity to explore some sights for the first time, as we traced the footsteps of Peter and Paul. 

on Dad's first full day, we took a brisk walk down the hill to drop Greta off at school, and then meandered along a scenic loop from St. Peter's Square to the Castel Sant'Angelo to the Piazza Navona to Sant'Agostino to the Pantheon, and back to the Via della Conciliazione to pick Greta up from school at lunch time. sunshine and exercise -- the best remedy for jet lag! 

the rest of the afternoon and evening we just relaxed at home, while the girls got some quality Grandpa time! 

living that pants-free terrace life (the girls were making little 
nests for themselves under the chairs!)

the next day, we visited the Mamertine Prison. this was my first time visiting this small underground dungeon where St. Peter and St. Paul were both imprisoned (other famous prisoners include Vercingetorix, the leader of the Gauls [46 BC], and St. Martinian and St. Processus, Roman guards who were converted and baptized by St. Peter and thereafter imprisoned themselves). once again, the history here is almost impossible to take in: the prison dates back to 600 BC. now a small museum and a church have been built over top of it. 

this is why we had to leave Cece's stroller at the desk

the prison cell where St. Peter and St. Paul were held

it happened to be a free entrance day for the Colosseum and Forum, but you still had to have a ticket to enter (i assume so they could keep track of the numbers). fortunately, we were able to get our tickets at the Mamertine Prison and walk right down into the adjacent Roman Forum, rather than waiting in line. i had never entered the Forum from this side before, and was delighted to discover Julius Caesar's tomb for the first time. he was stabbed on the Ides of March at the Theatre of Pompey in the Largo di Torre Argentina, but after he was posthumously deified, Caesar Augustus built a temple in his honor in the Roman Forum, and his body was buried there. 

then we wound our way up the Palatine Hill and down again to visit the Colosseum. 

lots of good hiding places on the Palatine Hill

then it was high time for lunch! i'm always skeptical of any restaurants within spitting distance of a famous monument or tourist attraction, and especially restaurants that offer menus translated into ten different languages, but actually, the Trattoria Pizzeria Luzzi proved a solid choice. and with a liter of their house white wine for just €8, it's not going to break the bank. 

la dolce vita, indeed. my pizza is the Italian classic quattro stagioni (four seasons).

sleepy girl!

our next stop was the Catacombs of St. Callixtus, which are well worth the trip if you have some extra time in Rome. if you're being frugal, you'll catch a string of busses to make it all the way out to the Appian Way, each more dilapidated than the last. the gardens around the catacombs are beautiful, and a welcome retreat from the chaos of the city. no photographs are allowed in the catacombs themselves, but our tour guide was fantastic and loved that Cecilia got so excited to see the room where St. Cecilia's body was buried for almost five hundred years, before being transported to the church in Trastevere built in her honor. the catacombs were built as a cemetery in the third century AD, with 12 miles of tunnels and galleries. sixteen popes and many martyrs and saints were buried here. then, during the barbarian invasions of the ninth and tenth centuries, the bodies were relocated to the safety of crypts under churches inside the city walls. still, a sense of solemnity pervades the space. 

that evening, Grandpa Kyle flexed his grandpa chops by watching the girls while Nick and i attended the annual gala at the NAC, one of the fanciest affairs i have ever attended. the guest list read like a veritable Who's Who in Catholic circles, including Madam Ambassador Callista Gingrich and her husband Newt, several cardinals, archbishops and bishops. fortunately, Nick and i were seated at a table with several hilarious nuns and a few visiting priests, so we were able to relax and enjoy the evening. in addition to the delicious food, we were treated to entertainment provided by the seminarians. my favourite was a haunting piece composed by a first-year seminarian. these men have so much talent!  

all dressed up! this was the one fancy dress i brought with me!

Gingrich sighting!

a full house

the beautiful cortile

the next day, we visited St. Peter's Basilica, and Dad finally had his first taste of authentic gelato at a tiny gelateria tucked back in an alley. more shenanigans followed back home, with lots of time spent running around the sports field and various hijinks at the apartment! 

the portico of St. Peter's Basilica

a juggler on stilts -- just what every busy Roman intersection needs

these floors are a bit hard on the knees ... sorry, Dad!

classic Dad quote: "pain is just weakness leaving the body"

Greta's got to work on her form

nice 5K on the riverfront trail!

Sunday, May 12, was Mother's Day. Greta gave me the sweetest gift of a poem she memorized in school, and both girls presented me with flowers and chocolate (with a little help from Nick). we went out to dinner at one of my favourite restaurants in Rome, Cantina Tirolese, and even snagged the Cardinal Ratzinger table (where Pope Benedict XVI used to sit to enjoy food from his native Bavaria). 

There is a wonderful woman who works so much and never rests.
She runs and keeps busy. She is the queen loved by all. 
You can recognize her: she has no crown and and she is nice and playful. 
She makes muffins, cakes and pies. 
With her, I forget my troubles. 
She has many thoughts in her head but gives smiles and makes a party. 
I call her "Mom" and she is my jewel; with her, the world is more beautiful! 

I sure hope heaven is something like this

Schweinshaxe in a trough: what more could a mother ask for?

on Monday, we visited St. Paul's Outside the Walls (San Paolo fuori le Mura). Constantine himself founded the first church over the burial place of St. Paul, and it was consecrated in 324 AD. the basilica underwent many renovations and additions. unfortunately, it was almost entirely destroyed by an accidental fire in 1823, and thus the current building is a reconstruction. 

Dedicated to the Preacher of Truth, the Teacher of the Gentiles

the frieze consists of the portraits of all the popes, with a light shining on the current pope

the baldacchino above the crypt, containing St. Paul's tomb

St. Paul's remains are kept inside a sarcophagus in the crypt, which is visible behind a pane of glass. carbon dating performed in 2009 confirmed the presence of human remains from the 1st or 2nd century inside the sarcophagus. it is believed that St. Paul's body was placed in the sarcophagus in the 4th century, while his head (and that of St. Peter) was interred at St. John Lateran. 

 

other notable sights in the basilica include the 12th century Paschal candlestick, standing about 15 feet high. to the left of the altar is the Chapel of St. Stephen, dedicated to the church's first martyr, who was killed for his faith by none other than Saul (before he became Paul). the Blessed Sacrament Chapel is home to a 14th century crucifix before which St. Bridget of Sweden meditated during her visit here in 1370. 

a glimpse inside the Blessed Sacrament chapel. i couldn't get my own picture
of the famous crucifix without disturbing mass going on inside the chapel; below
is a picture from the Vatican website. 

St. Stephen

the apse mosaic was created by Venetian artists, depicting Christ flanked by Saints Peter, 
Paul, Andrew and Luke. 

detail of the apse: Pope Honorius, who commissioned the mosaic, is portrayed in miniature at Christ's feet (in a humble departure from tradition that would have the commissioner depicted
in the same size as other subjects). photo credit here. 

looking out from behind the high altar, back toward the entrance

Chapel of St. Benedict. the columns are from the ancient archaeological site of Portonaccio,
and date from about 500 BC.

not just your ordinary holy water font

when we picked up Greta from school at lunch time, the school had organized a lovely reception for all the moms with cookies, juice, and balloons. we joined the seminarians for pranzo (lunch), then apparently Dad and I didn’t wait long enough to let the food digest, because our afternoon run just felt like molasses! oh well. THEN we introduced the girls to The Sound of Music!! they had never seen it before and they are obsessed. Greta remembered walking around the Nonnberg Abbey and posing in her dirndl at various spots around Salzburg last fall, which really makes the story come to life. her favorite part is the yodeling marionettes and Cecilia said her favorite part is the music.

OK, so not a terrible pace, but it sure felt torturous!

on Dad's last full day in Rome, we packed in quite a lot! we started with a visit to St. Peter in Chains (San Pietro in Vincoli), a church not far from the Colosseum. the church has two main attractions: two of the chains that bound St. Peter during his imprisonment in Rome, as well as Michelangelo's sculpture of Moses. 

who needs a gym?

this impressive work is just a portion of what was originally intended for the funerary monument
of Pope Julius II. it was also meant to be placed in St. Peter's Basilica. however, funding
ran out for the project. Michelangelo carved several other sculptures initially designed
for this work that are now on display at the Louvre and the Accademia (in Florence); the central figure of Moses was his own work, but the other smaller statues were likely carved by students.

Michelangelo felt this was his most lifelike sculpture

the shrine encasing the chains

this 4th century sarcophagus was believed to have contained the relics of the
seven Maccabean martyrs, brought from Antioch to Rome by Pope Pelagius in the 6th century.

intricate wrought iron decoration over the portico: spot the chains?

 we walked past the Colosseum again to get to our next destination, one of my absolute favourite spots in Rome: the Basilica of San Clemente. no photos are allowed inside, but you can read more about the church here (from my first visit with Rebecca the previous fall - i'm so glad she discreetly took a few pictures!). 

no matter how many pictures i take of the Colosseum, i just can't pass by without snapping another one!

we enjoyed our lunch at my favourite pre-Vatican Museums restaurant: La Soffitta Renovatio. we both had our first taste of traditional carciofi (artichoke) cooked in oil, salt and pepper. i ordered the homemade tonnarelli with black truffles and Dad had his first carbonara! so we were sufficiently fueled for the Vatican Museums, where Cecilia got to pet a basalt lion from 300 BC and later surreptitiously touched a sculpture of an ancient Egyptian goddess that I’m pretty sure she wasn’t supposed to touch... and FINALLY, on my third visit to the Vatican Museums, i saw the original Roman chariot from 500 BC that Rebecca and i couldn’t find on our visit! (it’s up the stairs, directly above the Egyptian rooms!)

possibly the best way to eat an artichoke

just look at those truffles!!

Cece with her favourite pasta bianca (plain pasta with butter or olive oil)

good stuff.

espresso and cannoli, the perfect finish to the meal

the mosaic floor here used to be in the Baths of Caracalla, 
while the gigantic porphyry tub belonged to Emperor Nero

an actual chariot, dating back to about 500 BC

after visiting the rest of the museum, including the Sistine Chapel, i had a run-in with the museum security because i abandoned the stroller at the bottom of a staircase instead of checking it into the cloakroom. when i came back for it, they sternly told me they had taken it to the lost and found. i had to fill out a form with all my identifying information and they photocopied my driver’s license before i could get it back. classic Italy! especially with kids, they’ll let you get away with murder to a point, but if you tuck away your stroller in a little alcove, you’re going to be on the museum’s blacklist for sure!

that evening, Dad watched the girls so Nick and i could have another date night! we got truly lucky during his visit. this time, it was a rather more relaxed affair than the Rector's Dinner -- we walked down the hill to grab some dinner at Pizzeria da Baffetto, drinks at La Botticella (our favourite Steelers bar), and of course, gelato at Frigidarium.

thanks for a wonderful visit, Dad! we enjoyed sharing our new home with you!

i'm linking up this recap post with Rosie here!