Just huge

I used more memory on photos today in Rome than I have in all the rest of the trip put together. Nothing has fueled my interest in this trip more than the promise of the antiquities of the forum and the mighty artistic achievements within the Vatican City. The colosseum was even more immense and complex than I'd imagined it would be and preservation appears to require a constant effort. Given the numbers of daily visitors walking the floors, chipping off souvenirs, and carving their initials everywhere, I'm surprised it's still standing at all.

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St. Peter's also dwarfed the images I'd formed in my mind, and was so full of art I simply couldn't take it all in during my relatively short visit.  The Sistine Chapel was painted in such fine detail that I could not process it all if I was left there for a whole day in quiet and solitude.  That's a fantasy though, because I'm now quite certain that one doesn't find quiet and solitude within the walls of the Vatican City unless that "one" is the pope.  Pope Francis eschews, at least publicly, much of the luxury and opulence that his predecessors enjoyed, and I can't help wondering what he thinks of the St. Peter Basilica.   It's already there, and it's a masterpiece of masterpieces, but should it, or other similar churches, have been built in the first place?  A non-religious person might look at the place in the context of its time and see a huge waste of resources, and even a religious believer can't deny that these ostentatious constructions are diametrically opposed to Christian values and to the vows of the clergy.  They're amazing.  People made these cathedrals to stand the test of time and they're marvels to behold, but was this an appropriate context for them?  Does it matter?  Would any concerted effort this grand ever have been carried out in the 1500s without religion or the resources of the church as a motivator?  Even the ancient Roman constructions I visited today were intertwined with the religion of the time in some way or other.  Patriotism can be an inspiration, but it's seldom completely divorced from an underlying assumption of divine right.  Being a humanist myself, I would like to see an example of an entirely secular undertaking of such a staggering scale, but I'm drawing a blank.

Random observations #2

If you are starting a tour during rush hour, wait 30 minutes.  This is a win for the group, who can sleep later and still get there at about the same time, and also for the commuters, who don't have a bunch of extra busses in their way.

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Motor vehicle accidents aren't tourist attractions.

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A lot of work goes into maintaining ruins. 

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Caesar's palace in Las Vegas is totally unrealistic.

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St.  Peter's Basilica is an exquisite work of art that probably shouldn't have been built.

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If you make a living by exploiting and punishing the generosity of others, you'll probably keep finding new marks, but you'll make the world a colder place one sucker at a time.  Not that you give a damn.

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Garbage monster wants to eat you. 

Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night

Another long day on the bus brought us through Assisi, where visitors were much more quiet in the church(possibly due to armed military guards?), a small town in Umbria with a lovely little sandwich shop and a park where I found a four leaf clover, and finally to Rome, where the first third of the evening was a disaster but the rest of the night was worth the trouble.

A partial chance of rain was forecast for early evening, and it was clear, when it was time to get off the bus for a walking tour and dinner, that a thunderstorm was imminent.  Rather than changing our plans in any way, we were all forced to get off the bus in the rain, and the only solution offered was to buy an umbrella from a street vendor at our own expense.  We sloshed over the cobblestone streets dodging cars, for what seemed like miles.  We saw the promised sights, but taking photos was almost impossible.  After being compelled to climb the Spanish stairs in the rain, some of the older folks in our group finally wore out and had to pay for a taxi to get to the restaurant.  Luckily no one fell back down again.  The rain finally stopped as the rest of us began to make our way on foot, and the remainder of the walk was relatively pleasant.  Dinner was, of course, an enormous four course affair accompanied by live music from a talented flautist, and clever waiters who found all manner of ways to help entertain us.  I'm back in bed now with a full belly and drooping eyelids, so it's time to say buona notte.