Daily Updates
Week Six: Oct. 26
26 October. Tori reporting: Today being our first day of study back in Rome, the FSPers were up bright and early and eager for a day beginning at the Vatican Museum. Some arose earlier than others, having forgotten that today was daylight savings time and we got an extra hour of slumber. We also had two additions to our crew this morning, Tori’s mother and grandmother who arrived from the USA on Friday. The line at the Vatican museum was incredibly long due to the fact that entrance is free on the last Sunday of every month, so the FSPers waiting patiently for almost an hour (amusing themselves with a variety of education games, such as hangman) before entering. Highlights of the Vatican museum include: The Prima Porta statue of Augustus in military garb, which has been under reconstruction but was, much to our elation, finally ready and available for our enjoyment, an image of Demosthenes, the famous Greek orator, the great Laocoon statue which inspired many Renaissance artists with its incredible emotional strength not to mention the great muscle tone, and some intricate gold jewelry and bronze sculptures from the Regolini-Galassi tomb that we saw on our first road trip in Cerveteri. We found ourselves swept around by the enormous crowd of people, heading directly for the Sistine Chapel, unable to tear ourselves away from the endless stream of people. After a very circuitous route we finally did get to see Michelangelo’s beautiful ceiling, a first for some people. We managed to make it out of the museum as a group and were let free for a quick lunch break. At 3pm we met up again at the site of the Imperial Fora, where Professor Ulrich told us everything we could possibly need to know about the Forum of Julius Caesar (even though Caesar was never emperor, his forum is considered the first of the imperial fora group) and the Temple of Venus Genetrix. With raindrops falling on our heads we decided to call it a day, thus postponing our discussion of the Forum of Augustus to tomorrow and hopefully sunnier skies.
26 October. On the way to the Vatican: the Tiber River with Castel Sant'Angelo in the background
26 October. In the Vatican courtyard after waiting 1.5 hours to get in: everyone seems to be in a good mood regardless
26 October. The Vatican courtyard
26 October. The Roman pinecone fountain on display in the courtyard
26 October. Roman portrait busts
26 October. Roman sculpture gallery
26 October. Augustus Prima Porta
26 October. Augustus Prima Porta
26 October. Augustus Prima Porta
26 October. Augustus Prima Porta
26 October. Augustus Prima Porta: detail of cloak
26 October. Augustus Prima Porta: detail of tassles
26 October. Brian
26 October. Personification of the Nile River
26 October. Nile River babies
26 October. Nile River babies
26 October. Courtyard
26 October. The Laocoon
26 October. The Laocoon: a detail
26 October. The Laocoon: a detail
26 October. Myung-Hee wearing her new scarf and hand warmers (knitted while in line for the museum...)
26 October. Adam sporting his new Italian haircut (also cut while in line...)
26 October. The Vatican "Pantheon" gallery
26 October. A red porphyry sarcophagus for one of Constantine's daughters
26 October. Seas of people, as far as the eye can see... all of Rome had the same idea we did this morning.
26 October. An Etruscan gold burial chestplate
26 October. One of the many glorious ceilings in the Vatican
26 October. Glorious ceiling 2
26 October. The hall of the maps with another ornate ceiling
26 October. What NOT to do when descending a narrow staircase with 5,000 other hot and tired tourists
26 October. Another lovely vaulted ceiling
26 October. The descending spiral staircase upon which one rushes to fresh air and sustenance after a long morning in the museum
26 October. The elegant staircase