Kehrmiterranean Day 6: Sites, Neocropolis, and Dinner

This was our last full day in Rome and we decided to spend our morning seeing some of the landmark sites together. We all headed out and stood at our bus stop once again. We left our laundry in the hope that our host would come through with the laundry service.  We took the bus downtown and walked the streets of Rome. We made our way through the streets to Trevi Fountain. It was magnificent as it shone in the light of bright Italian June day. The travertine and cararra marble were brilliantly white and it was huge. Collectivly our group breathed sounds of awe and then we joined the hundreds of other tourists to make our way down the steps to the water's edge. The fountain had recently been cleaned, and the centuries of dirt and polution had been removed revealing the civic masterpiece of a public fountain.

Johanna and the big sisters went down with Uncle Bill and put their fingers in the water, which was cool and refreshing against the heat of the day. I think Johanna would have climbed in if it weren't for the attention of her sisters and uncle Bill. They did pull her away to get a group photo. The rest of us joined them and we enjoyed the bustle of the crowds. Jim handed out coins and we all threw a coin over our shoulder into the fountain, in the hopes of some day returing to the city. Hanna got a little more time to put her hands in the water and the girls got to poke around before we continued our walk through the streets of Rome.

Our next destination was the Spanish Steps but along the way we stopped a tiny sandwich shop. We all shared paninis that were delicious. The bread was amazing and everyone seemed to enjoy their choice. Hanna who was a reluctant eater most of the trip, was thrilled to get a nutella and banana sandwhich. Bridget and I shared a fresh tuna fish sandwhich. There were no tables so we lined up in the shade along the narrow street inbetween a police outpost and an ATM. Tables would have been a nice break but we forged on.

We got to the Spanish Steps only to discover that it was closed for cleaning. The steps were already most of the way through their cleaning and will be beautiful when they can replant the signature flowers the usually line the steps and landings. The big girls did get to enjoy fountain at the base of the steps in the Spanish Square, while Hanna finished her sandwhich in the stroller. We were about to head out when an Italian man approached us asking about the roses Mom was holding. He had been born in an apartment on the square and was a local business man. Really I think he was trying to drum up business for a pizza shop he was associated with, but it was a lovley conversation with a local. Next Jim and Bill wanted to go to the Hard Rock Cafe, so we headed off. We passed a monument, the Column of the Immaculate Conception, and all of a sudden Mom climbed over a rope and climbed the base of the monument to approach a releif of the Blessed Virgin. She placed the roses she had been carrying with a prayer and as we got over our surprise we followed Bill and his map.

We were running out of steam and time and it was hot, so we decided to split up. Jim, Bill and Megan continued walking to the Hard Rock Cafe, while the rest of us navigated the buses and went back to the apartment. We just got settled at the B&B, glad to see that our laundry had been picked up with a note that it would be returned that evening and I had just started to get ready for the Neocropolis Tour, when Jim, Bill and Megs came in the door. They walked to the Hard Rock cafe, did their shopping and taken the metro home. I had been a little worried they would be late but they were comfortable with the public transportation system and used that knowledge to save a lot of time.

The idea of the Neocropolis Tour got me excited from the beginning and I was so glad that after a first notice that the tours were sold out, I tried again and we reserved tickets. You had to be 15 and older and it was not recommned for those with claustrophobia.  That left Dad, Bill, Jim, myself, Emma and Rachael. Mom had fun plans to take the girls out to buy gelato that afternoon and she had brought small inflatable balls. The tour group grabbed a ride on the bus again to St. Peter's Square and I had the task of approaching the Swiss Guard. It was a little intimidating and there was a language barrier but we got our instructions. We had a short wait, in which Rachael once again wriggled her black maxi skirt over her head and over her shorts. We then went through security and headed into Vatican space less traveled by tourists.

Our tour started in the archeological museum under St. Peter's where our guide explained some of the building history to our group of about 20. It was all information I didn't know. What was now the Vatican had been a hill used as a burial place, filled with family musoleums. St. Peter had been buried here, very near where he was martyred. A monument had been built by early Christians over Peter's grave, and then when Christians were allowed places of worship, Constintine leveled the hill covering the burial grounds and built the first basilica on the site finishing in 329 AD. The monument was the head of the church. Many years later they raised the floor of the church to build the first altar in the basilica right over the monument. Hundreds of years after that a 2nd altar was built surrounding the first altar. After more that a thousand years it was decided around the year 1505 to replace the first basilica. It took about 100 years and multiple design changes before the current St. Peter's Basilica was finished.


The tour itself felt more like an adventure than a history lesson though we got that too. We had started in the museum space and then descended narrow stairs into narrow climate-controlled brick and earthen coridors. We came out onto a paved alley that was lined with brick musoleums. It was hard to make any sense of what we were seeing as our guide referred to this as a cemetary and I think most of us thought of the coffins in the ground and headstones above type cemetary but our guide helped us get our bearings and expalined these would have been above ground, and the dirt over our heads would have been sky. The musoleums had been crafted with care and beautiful decoration, some were quite large holding dozens of urns and a number of coffins each. These were mostly pagan families, but one of the family tombs had Christian markings as well. This necropolis had been rediscovered by accident in the 1940's during excavations in preparation of the burial of Pope Pius XII. They spent the next few decades in fits and starts doing archeological digs.

We weren't allowed to take pictures so I got this picture from the internet

Peter's grave is directly under the altar of the basilica and so as we approached it there were a lot more foundational and structural building pieces obsrtucing our view. The archeologists did uncover the monument and we got to see the column on one side, and we had the oppurtunity to peak through a narrow slit in the dig to see the space wear Peter had originally been buried. His bones were not found in his grave but they did find bones in a wall of the monument. The church debated whether these were Peter's bones and they landed on the "it can't be proven but it is possible". This experience was thrilling for me. History, discovery, faith, old structures, archeology, I loved everything about it.

After our neocropolis tour we regrouped back at the apartment and then got on the buses again heading toward Campo di Fiori. We thought it would be a good place to eat out as a large group. When we arrived, the square was busseling with early evening crowds but most of the restaurants still had plenty of space. Johanna was in the stroller and being fussy. We were approached by restaurant staff from multiple places encouraging us to eat with them. They really worked for their business. Jim picked the Roma Beer Company, and they pulled a table together for us. Hanna fell sound asleep as we walked to our table. Somehow Jim got us free Presico, which was delicious.

Our group of 10 sat in the long table, sharing memories from our Roman portion of our trip. Megan and Bridget had fun going with Grandma Kate to watch the street artists spray paint pictures and gymnists doing flips. Hanna slept throughout as Jim and Bill enjoyed beers and we shared tastes of each others food. We decided to order desserts and had a comical time of splitting 4 desserts amoung the 9 of us that were awake. It was funny because we didn't all have plates of silver ware but somehow it was eaten, and rather quickly. The sun set and the streets of Rome took on a new glow as we walked back to a bus stop.

The busses don't run as often at night so we had to wait a little bit. The big girls played around on a fountain and in the open square and at some point wound up in a huge sister and Papa hug. Meanwhile Hanna woke up. She was very hungry and happily ate french fries with ketchup that I had packaged up for her. We got back the the B&B and shared gelato that Grandma and the girls had gotten for us during their earlier adventure, while we packed up our suitcases. To our great releif, our laundry was back, but Mom and Dad's was still damp. We moved a hanging rack and all of the hangers to their room so they could dry things out. It wasn't ideal but they took it in stride and with good humor.

We made a point to enjoy the outside decks one more time and savor Rome just a little bit more.