When in Rome

The only forum that kicks Ravelry's ass. ^__^

This past weekend has been a whirlwind tour of Rome. I don't have the itinerary in front of me, but off the top of my head I can think of at least half a dozen churches, three piazza's, St. Peters, the Sistine Chapel, the Vatican museum, the Pantheon, the Colosseum, the Este gardens, and Haydrian's villa. And we walked EVERYWHERE.

I took almost two hundred pictures in one and a half days. For the first half of the trip, I didn't have batteries for my camera, but if it tells you anything, I only took 200 pictures in the entire three months I was in Montreal.

Most of my pictures are from the Roman Forum, which I think was my favorite thing.

Another favorite was the Pantheon. Our actual visit was while I didn't have batteries, but we walked past it later at night:


Okay, as a pagan, I can't say that I wasn't offended by the fact that the Pantheon is now a Catholic church. BUT, that fact is one of the reasons that it is so well preserved. I walked in, glared at the Madonna and Child in the corner, and then looked down. The marble floors there are original. There are drains at the center, because the roof is open--it always has been--so when it rains the water comes down and drains through the floor to the baths (which are no longer there, as far as I know). Anyway. The floor. I looked down, and was just in awe. For thousands of years, people have been coming there to worship. Regardless of the diety, that is still the most amazing thing. I was just overwhelmed. I closed my eyes, and imagined Appolo where Mary was, and Mercury across from him, and Minerva in another corner. Thankfully, I have a very vivid imagination, so if I squinted, I could almost get rid of the crosses and saints in my imagination.

Because there are so many images, I am working on putting together a video to show them all off. When it's done I'll post a link here and in the sidebar.