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One final day in Italy
Steve Reed, Cottey College's director of public information, is traveling in Italy with approximately 70 members of the Cottey sophomore class and other faculty, as part of the Cottey International Experience held over the first week of spring break. He, along with his wife, Angie Casavecchia, public administrator for Jasper County, are reporting on the trip. Steve sends his reports as letters to his mother.
Buon giorno, Mama!
Today is our group's final day in Italy, I am sad to report. I think everyone is having a wonderful time and none of us are quite ready for the week to end.
This morning our entire group toured the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's Basilica. We're not just visiting a couple of historic landmarks, Mama; we are going to another country. Vatican City is the smallest independent country in the world, so we're visiting two countries on this trip.
Our group of 90 must have looked like a parade as we filed out of the hotel and walked the eight or so blocks to the Vatican. We were divided into two groups and given an official Vatican tour guide. Franco, our guide, gave us our listening devices and led us up into the Vatican art museum. He stopped in a garden and showed us a poster of the Sistine Chapel ceiling and the back wall featuring The Last Judgment. Both were painted by Michelangelo. He had to explain outside what we would be seeing in the chapel as talking is not permitted inside.
After that, he led us into the first hallway of the museum, which is filled with priceless Roman statuary. The most common response from the students was "Wow!" And this was just the first room. We saw other ancient Roman and Greek statues, giant tapestries made in the 1200s and 1500s, maps that were hundreds of years old painted on walls, mosaic floors that were three times older that the U.S., and other spectacular pieces.
Just when you thought it couldn't get better, you entered the Sistine Chapel. Talking isn't allowed, but most of us were left speechless by Michelangelo's vision of both creation and the final judgment.
The Sistine Chapel is the private chapel of the Pope, but Pope Francis has never used it, nor does he live in the Papal palace. Upon his selection as Pope he said, "I am a priest not a king." He lives in a single bedroom in a monastery behind St. Peter's.
Next, we entered the Basilica. We saw Michelangelo's Pieta, Bernini's baldacchino, and other touches these two brilliant artists did to make this the amazing church we see today.
Outside Franco dropped us off at the Vatican gift shop. There you can buy rosaries and crucifixes and have them blessed by the Vatican. They are then delivered to your hotel later. Several of our students were purchasing items to have them blessed.
After a quick bite to eat, Stefano and Andrea took us on one final walking tour to see the Piazza Navonna and the Pantheon. Piazza Navona is a beautiful plaza built over an old Roman circus. It still maintains the oval shape of a circus. It also has Bernini's Four Rivers fountain, which is awesome, and it faces the church Saint Agnese in Agone, which was built by Bernini's bitter rival Francesco Borromini. There is art and history everywhere you look in Italy.
The Pantheon was built around the first century and was a temple "to all the gods." Its most impressive feature is the dome; it is the largest unsupported dome at 423 feet in diameter and it stands 423 feet from the floor to the oculus (eye) in the center. I am astounded that people 2,000 years ago could build such a massive building without power equipment such as cranes, cement mixers, etc.
After our tour was done, we were free until dinner. Still on the hunt to find the absolute best gelato in Italy, five us went to a gelateria called Giolitti's, which Andrea believes is the best. It was incredibly good, but I'm not sure I could pick a clear winner. Some places really are better, but Vivoli's, GROM, and Giolitti's were all top notch.
That evening, all of us dressed up and were bussed to a nice restaurant for dinner. Cottey pays for this meal, which is called the "farewell dinner." It's a very nice meal and we all get to enjoy it together. On the walk back to the buses, our Cottey students circled Stefano and Andrea and serenaded them with a Cottey song in the middle of the Piazza Navona. It was very Cottey and very Italian at the same time. Our guides loved it. It could not have been a more appropriate way to end the week.
Well, Mama, the majority of our Cottey contingent will be heading home in the morning. Some of our more adventurous students will be staying on for the second week to explore other European cities. Angie and I will be getting on the train tomorrow to travel to beautiful Lucca for a couple of days. We miss you, but know we will see you soon.
Alla prossima,
Your loving son,
Steve