Roman Holiday aka Rome on a Holy Day

The word “holiday” is derived from “holy day.” Our visit to Rome was on the day before Easter, traditionally known as Holy Saturday. A great time to visit Rome if you are a devout Catholic, not so great if you are merely a tourist. The city was jammed with visitors of all Christian faiths and all tourist persuasions.

The cruise ship docked at the port city of Civitavecchia where we met our driver/guide, Luca. Luca was amazing. Sicilian by birth, Roman by choice. He was educated as a mechanical engineer and spent 10 years in Australia helping to design the port of Brisbane. During his time in Australia he learned to speak flawless English with a strong Aussie accent. We initially assumed that he was an Australian expat.

During the 45 minute drive from the port to Rome Luca discussed Italian politics, American politics, olives groves, olive and grape harvesting, ancient Rome, the various celebrities that he had served as driver and tour guide for, and his scary, Mafia-busting father-in-law who has been shot in the head multiple times. It was an entertaining ride.

Our first stop in Rome was an overlook above the Colosseum. It seemed to be a location known only to Luca as there were no other tourists around. Luca explained the history of the Colosseum and noted that the differences between the restored sections and the original sections was a deliberate choice. The archeologists wanted to make sure that visitors hundreds of years from now would be able to clearly identify the restoration work as distinct from the original. You can see the restored section on the left side of the picture above.

If you look closely you will also see a staircase in the restored section that appears to descend into nothingness. Luca explained that the Colosseum was built as three concentric rings. The stairs would have originally landed on a mezzanine between the second and third rings. The wall of the third, outermost ring can be seen at the far right of the second picture.

Our next stop was the Pantheon. Betty’s favorite. Luca pointed out that Betty is not alone. The Pantheon is the most visited site in Rome. The construction of the Pantheon remains an engineering mystery. It has not been replicated. There are no records of how it was constructed. According to Luca there are 2 theories. The first seems logistically improbable given the date of its construction, about 120 AD. The second, more plausible, theory is that it was a gift to Rome by an extraterrestrial alien race.

From the Pantheon we headed off to the Vatican where Luca introduced us to his colleague, Nadia. Nadia is a certified Vatican guide. Fortunately for us (not so much for her) she had recently broken her foot. She sported an orthopedic walking boot which limited her mobility. As a result she knew all of the shortcuts, elevators, handicapped entrances, bathrooms, etc. 

Since it was Easter weekend, the Vatican was literally filled wall-to-wall, shoulder-to-shoulder with visitors. Nadia was undeterred. She parted the crowds for us to pass with Joanne’s wheelchair like Moses at the Red Sea – simply waving the back of her hand to shoo the masses from our path. We passed through Vatican Museum on our way to the Sistine Chapel through a gallery filled with priceless gifts received by various popes through the ages, the Gallery of Maps, and the Tapestry Gallery all in record time. Nadia pointed out significant pieces in each gallery as we went. She cautioned us against spending too much time looking at any item. “If you take 30 seconds looking at each item in the museum it will take you two and a half years moving 24/7.” In other words, the pope has a lot of stuff.

We spent about 15 minutes in the Sistine Chapel marveling at the physical strength that would have been required of Michelangelo to paint it while lying on his back. As we left the chapel a museum guard motioned to Nadia that we should proceed to the exit rather than to St. Peter’s Basilica. Access to the Basilica was limited during our visit because it was Holy Friday. Nadia nodded at him, smiled politely and totally ignored him. We headed for the Basilica down a flight of stairs that required Joanne to walk close to Nadia as she engaged her soon to be patented, “get out of our way” wave.

St. Peter’s Basilica is the largest church in the world. Like the Pantheon it is impossible to capture its grandeur and enormity photographically. 

Nadia delivered us back into the hands of Luca who was waiting with the van just outside of St. Peter’s Square. Luca had arranged lunch for us at a nearby restaurant where he clearly had a close relationship with the staff. He walked us in, introduced us to our waiter, and told us that he had instructed the waiter to simply feed us. No need for a menu. No need for a translator. A little of this, a little of that so that we could get a taste of Rome. He had even asked the staff to serve us a small pizza because Keith had mentioned that he had yet to have an Italian pizza in Italy. Luca told us that he would stay with the van while we ate to make sure that it didn’t get towed (parking is a nightmare in Rome), but he checked back from time to time to see if there was anything we needed. We had a relaxing 5+ course lunch topped off with dessert and a traditional limoncello digestive. Perfecto!