A rare photo in which my dear brother deigns to show his face.
I left for Rome a pilgrim aspiring to higher, and returned like any other debased commercial tourist. And I have a whole lot of trinkets, Baci chocolates, duty-free shopping and 1GB cards full of images (some useless like the one above; others of places with names I've forgotten) to prove it!
Perhaps also returning with a tad more spirituality. Yes yes, just a hint ;)
But seriously, Italy was beautiful. Even though it was my second time there, it was still awesome and humbling gazing at the remains of thousands of years of civilization. Although I still find it really bizzare seeing, say, an ancient Roman arch next to a 13th century Gothic Cathedral overlooking Kate Moss' mug outside Yves Saint Laurent. Bizzare in a good way though. Haha.
And the art! The buildings! Swoon-some. Lookit that!
Nightview of the Church in Loreto which is GORGEOUS on the outside and especially on the inside.
The ceiling in the Gallery of Maps inside the Vatican museum. Some may find it a bit overwrought but its still my favourite gallery.
One of the many chapels inside St John of Lateran church in Rome. This is my favourite! Check out the ceiling...
Stained glass depicting a dove inside St Peter's Basilica. The dove itself isn't made of glass though, but small pieces of alabastar.
Visited the Sistine Chapel when inside the Vatican. I really wanted to take some photos in there but photography wasn't allowed. Nor was talking. And it was in there that I found the second most amazingly brainless job in the world. The first being the wardens hired in Tokyo subways to literally push, cram and squeeze more people into already jam-packed trains.
Shush-ers!
(Ok I guess they double up as security guards but still.)
This is what they do. In the Sistine chapel, 3 uniformed shushers/guards are hired to stand in a line before Michelangelo's fresco of the Last Judgment. They stare imposingly over the huge swarm of tourists in front of them and every 2 minutes, they clap their hands three times and emit a loud 'SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH' to get people to be quiet.
In one of our first churhces:
Shush-er *booms resoundingly into microphone* SILENZIO.
Ian *gapes* JEANNE! It's the voice of God!!
Shush-erSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH....*barks* NO PHOTO.
That's another popular utterance. Someone attempted to take a picture of the Creation of Adam with his handphone camera. Within seconds - and I mean seconds - a shusher had miraculously materialized by his side. After the customary 3-claps, he intoned 'NO PHOTO' and let out another indignant 'SHHHHHHH' for good effect.
Fierce shush-ers notwithstanding, the Vatican museum was great. It is quite a treasure trove for art, history and culture. And it’s really gorgeous too!
Incidently, the same applies to the men ;) They dress and look better than the ladies! Even within the Vatican itself, you find some lookers in the form of the Swiss Guard. Haha. Which is saying something considering their ridiculous uniform...
Ian: *as we pass one of the Swiss Guard* What was Michelangelo thinking when he designed their outfits?
Me: Well I guess it was the style of the time! And anyway, they look quite good so that makes up a bit for the horrible clothes.
Ian: *stares* Jeanne you have terrible taste. How is that attractive!? *points at multicoloured bloomers*
Me: I'm not talking about the clothes. You know, there is a very stringent criteria to be a Swiss Guard...at the very least I'm sure they all have good physiques!
Ian: ....What stringent criteria? Oh, you mean the ability to withstand public humiliation? Yes that's a very important skill in their line of work Jeanne.
Me: Tsk nevermind!
While on the subject of men in uniform, my dad insisted I take a picture of these 3 policemen near the Spanish steps.
Mum: Oh! Such good looking policemen!
Dad: *nudge nudge* Make sure you get those three in the frame!
Me: Why?
Dad: *whispers* Are you blind??? The one on the left looks like Tom Cruise when he was still sane! A taller version though.
Me: No he does not!
Dad: *ignores me* Ok...wait till they turn their heads so you can get a side profile..ok ok ...now! ...NOW!
Mum: Hey I think they know you're taking a picture of them. Look, they're smiling at us!
Dad: *nudging her* Go take a photo with them!
My dad can be so embarrassing sometimes.
But returning to those policemen, apart from man in uniform 1’s ‘chiseled features’ and man in uniform 2’s ‘dark, brooding looks’ (my dad’s words not mine) I have to say they were rather useless. They stood along the streets chatting while just above the stairs, a whole lot of Moroccans were selling fake Gucci bags while Bangladeshi and Vietnamese immigrants trawled the streets aggressively touting scarves and random trinkets to anyone who just merely glanced their way. And the gypsies! They are mostly gangs of young girls – as young as 9 or 10 – who roam the streets and pick your pockets/ snatch your bags. They seem to be quite reviled by locals which I do think is quite sad. Daniella our local guide in Rome is formidable; she’s a veritable gypsy tracker. Walking with her through the streets of Rome is like navigating through a mine field with an overeager detector.
Daniella: *thick Italian accent* You must bewarrrre the gypsy! You neverrrr look at them! You neverrrrr smile at them! You neverrrr talk to them! Or they take your money! Oh they are verrrry evil the gypsy! You follow me careful now!
*continuing*… Sometimes, they thrrrow baby at you then steal your money when you not looking! So you neverrrrr take anything from them! *sees a gypsy up ahead with a baby* OH THERE IS GYPSY AHEAD! GYPSY AHEAD! BE CAREFUL NOW! SHE IS VERRRRY CRRRAFTY THIS ONE! *shoos the gypsy away while speaking angrily in Italian*
Check your belonging! Make sure she don’t take anything from you! AND WATCH OUT FOR THAT GROUP OF GIRRRL AHEAD! MORE GYPSY MORE GYPSY! *violent verbal altercation with group of Gypsies*
And despite her best efforts, the gypsies struck that day! About 7 young girls descended upon a group of Chinese tourists right next to us and snatched one of their bags clean. It was over in a matter of seconds.
Ian: *watches the girls scurry away out of sight* They’ve been gypsied!
Daniella couldn’t do anything; she was a little behind shouting at a pair of gypsy mothers who had started advancing toward the back of our group. She was outraged.
Ok you must think me a complete pagan by now what with all the gossip above. But yes, I can be spiritual when I want to...though not usually on my blog. In any case, I shall add in a bit about the more religious-oriented places we went to. This trip was after all, a Franciscan pilgrimage so we visited quite a few shrines and sites frequented by Saint Francis of Assisi himself! (my Church is part of the Franciscan order) In particular, I loved La Verna and I can see why Francis did too. This is me taking a picture from one of the caves where he liked to retreat into hermitage and pray! Lovely isn't it?
Anyway, La Verna's situated on a mountain and is quite remote...very cold, very green and very very quiet. Perfect place for meditation. It is also where St Francis received the stigmata and you won't believe the amount of fresco paintings which depict that scene!
We also had a look at St Francis' "bed". Quotation marks because its not really a bed per se. Its a rock in a freezing cave and he slept there when he was in La Verna because he wanted to try and experience the physical suffering of Christ. I think that's quite amazing . To digress a little, sometimes I wish I were more spiritual but as of now I guess I'm not. But...I try anyhow. In my own way. Whatever that may be.
We also visited the medieval town of Gubbio where I saw the incorrupt body of their patron saint, St Ubaldo! Ok I'm trying not to make it sound like a tourist attraction but - WOW. Seriously. His body/flesh hasn't decomposed despite being over 800 years old, which in the Church, is supposedly a sign of spiritual purity. According to tradition, St Ubaldo is said to have asked God to let him always watch over his beloved Gubbio (he was Bishop there). And I guess he kinda got his wish because. Well. His body's intact. And he's placed in his old town church where the people absolutely adore him. Aw. I think its a pretty sweet story.
Before I bore you any further, we also visited Greccio where St Francis started the tradition of the Christmas nativity scene! At the church in Greccio, there's a little exhibit displaying nativity scenes around the world - its absolutely adorable! I'll end here with some of my favourite displays. Enjoy!
A Korean nativity scene!
A Japanese nativity scene! Its so minimalist and zen looking!
A red Indian nativity scene!! So cute! Can you see little Jesus' head?
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