May 9
Today we took our passports, just in case, and
left Italy for Vatican City. We didn’t need passports, but it’s a lucky thing
that I left my jack knife in my other vest, because they are not permitted.
Neither are scissors or box cutters.
It was kind of funny because I didn’t see a sign
or anything else to mark the change in jurisdiction. The cab pulled up inside
Bernini’s colonnade and we got out. I’m not sure where the border is.
The line to get into the basilica stretched
around the colonnade, but we didn’t join it right away. There was a trailer
some distance from the end of the line, a mobile post office, where we bought
Vatican stamps and mailed some cards.
When we came out, the line was shorter by almost
a quarter of a colonnade.
It took maybe 45 minutes in line to get through
the security check. Then the rest was fast.
Bizarre idea. Why would you want to put St.
Paul’s London, for instance, inside St. Peter’s? St. Paul’s is so much more
beautiful. And the statuary in London is more interesting.
The walls of St. Peter’s are lined with niches
containing monumental statues that must be 15 or 20 feet high. That grotesque
canopy over the altar is about three conventional stories high.
One of the exceptions is a primitive bronze of
St. Peter that came from the old basilica. By the 4th century the
old classical skills were already fading. The piece is beautiful, but may be a
hybrid. I read that this may have been a classical original adapted to
represent St. Peter.
The Pieta is indeed beautiful, the graceful
pyramid of shining flesh made out of marble. The area around it, the entire
church, is so densely packed with confused and pushy people that it is hard to
get in touch with the art work.
Most of it shows bishops and other authority
figures because this was a product of the Counter Reformation. Guys in miters
can be imposing, but they are just not interesting.
A large portion of the nave was blocked off. Not
having been here before, I had no idea that it wasn’t standard operating
procedure. Joanna said it had changed since she visited the church several
years ago.
But besides getting to see the Pieta and just
being in the place, we did get to do something that was at the top of my
list.
The current church is built on the site of an
earlier basilica dedicated to St. Peter that dated back to the first years of
Constantine’s reign, in the 320s. Near the entrance is a circle of maroon
marble, and according to my guide book, it marks the spot where Charlemagne was
crowned Holy Roman Emperor on Christmas Day in the year 800.
The reason the King of the Franks was in Rome in
the first place is that the pope at the time had appealed to him for
protection. There had been a plot not to kill the pope, but to put out his
eyes, stab his ears, and cut out his tongue so he couldn’t perform his priestly
duties. It was an alternative to assassination. We’ve all seen “The Borgias,”
so we know how this works.
When I learned there was a spot in St. Peter’s
that traditionally marked the exact spot where Charlemagne became emperor, it
became my main reason for visiting the Vatican. Wow, Charlemagne, my favorite
mass murderer. This is more exciting than tracing all the places in Virginia
named for Stonewall Jackson.
I found the spot and Joanna was kind enough to
phtotograph me saying hello to the restorer of order to the West.
We couldn’t get near the altar or the glimpse of
St. Peter’s tomb because that entire area of the cathedral was closed. We asked
about the crypt. Closed. We asked about the 5 p.m. daily mass in Latin.
Probably not today. Why? Because of the celebration.
We didn’t learn what celebration, but something
was going on. Wrong day to go to St. Peter’s so we left and got some lunch. We
went to a Vatican bar (no, really), but all they had were hot dogs and
hamburgers. Places across the street were like fast food stands on a boardwalk.
Then we saw the sign for De’ Penitenzieri, a
wine bar 50 meters up Via de’ Penitenzieri. What’s this? Go to the penitentiary
and leave after lunch. That’s too good to pass up.
The enoteca is named for the street, of course,
but I don’t know what the street is named for. There was a big church. Maybe
people went there to be penitent. There was a large wall at the upper end of
the street. Maybe a prison.
The spinach ravioli had enough spinach in it to
show green through the pasta shell. We had that with a mixed salad and I had a
glass of decent red.
After a nap, we took a cab outside the ancient
walls to a residential neighborhood not far from the Villa Borghese. It took us
to Ristorante Ambasciata d’Abruzzo on Via Pietro Tacchini.
I was reading Larry’s blog from several years
ago for hints about where to have dinner and came across this one.
We figured we had taken our salad and pasta
course around two in the afternoon, so we decided to share a meal for two
called arrosto misto—mixed roast meats. This selection consisted of portions of
pork, lamb, veal, and chicken, all roasted perfectly and served with potatoes
in a brown sauce. A little broccoli rabe on the side, and a half bottle of
Montepulciano d’Abruzzo.
It has been a long time since either of us has
eaten so much food in a single sitting, but we finished it.
We needed to do some walking to burn some of the
dinner off. Of course, we had no idea of where we were at the restaurant. So we
took a cab to the Trevi Fountain. It was pushing 10 p.m., and if anything, the
plaza was packed with more people than it was during the day.
We strolled home from there, stopping for one
more glass of red at the bar on the corner.
Saturday is Galleria Borghese day, so it was
lights out early.
Be well, all.
May 10
How great is that
restaurant? Beyond the food — the service? Good idea ordering the house private
label wine. The place has some kind of connection with Abruzzo (hence the
name).
Might I suggest
returning before/after your time at the Villa Borghese and trying the
antipasto? You won't be disappointed.
Larry
May 10
Distinguished photo,
Harry. But what were the lumpen proletariat doing in your picture?
Beatrice
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