It was time to hit the road and travel independently again. This time I decided to tag along with some amiche, and go a little more south. Not tip of the boot south, but we traveled to Rome, Naples, and Capri.
Our journey to Rome was the most simple, a quick train ride and suddenly we were at the Rome Termini train station. We chose to immediately use the metro system in Rome to navigate our way to our AirB&B, even though we had no clue what we were doing. None of us felt comfortable using the bus system, and I have used the tube in London and the Metro in DC, so I felt the most comfortable going that route. It was really simple to figure out, and our group was able to relax and use our intuition to navigate through the station. Bemi was in charge of booking our AirB&B and it was wonderful, and only a ten minute walk from The Vatican. The first night we got night tickets for the Vatican Museum and The Sistine Chapel. I wasn’t sure that the night tour of the Vatican would be enjoyable, after all most people see it during the day, and that is how I saw it my first time in 2017. Now I would never consider going during the day again (unless the sculpture garden was the focus of the trip). The crowds were tiny, the evening breeze swept through the windows, and the ceilings and walls glowed. We got to stand in the Sistine Chapel for a good ten minutes, looking up and discussing Michelangelo’s work. There was no one ushering us out like last time I was there, so we ended up kicking ourselves out. It was a magical evening in the Vatican, and it filled my heart with joy to see my friend Sarah so excited to see the Sistine Chapel!
The next day, our last day in Rome, was off to a bumpy start. Our stomachs hurt from our first vegan meal in Italy, and we were sleep deprived from travel. Only three of the four of us made it to Saint Peter’s Basilica. Luckily we only had to wait for about 15 minutes in line to get in, but we did get rained on. We had Bernini’s colonnade wrapping its arms around us, keeping us safe. To me, Saint Peter’s Basilica was a special and emotional experience. This was the second Pieta of Michelangelo’s that I had seen on this trip, and I was sad to see that this Pieta, the one that Michelangelo had wanted the world to see, was now displayed at a safe distance from the public, and behind bullet proof glass. The idea that someone would attack this piece filled me with sadness. The concept of Michelangelo’s struggle and journey with the Pieta reminded me of the hardships of being an artist. Knowing that I am not alone in my perfectionism and struggle to improve as an artist is reassuring and sometimes emotionally overwhelming. After Saint Peter’s we headed to the other side of the river, and strolled along the Colosseum, the Forum, and “The Wedding Cake”. Because the metro stops close to the Trevi Fountain and San Maria della Vittoria were closed, we did a lot of walking throughout Rome. Yes, Rome is walkable, but just because you can see your walking destination in the distance does not mean it is close.
Rome has many churches, molti chiesi, filled with treasures and important commissions. In San Luigi dei Francesi, or the church of Saint Louis of France, are Caravaggio’s paintings of St. Matthew’s life in the Contarelli Chapel. The Basilica was built in 1518-1589, with the purpose of welcoming the French community into Rome. There was already a church on the land called Santa Maria which was owned by the Medici family, but Pope Clement VII wanted a new church to be built for “the seat of his cardinalship” and for the French in Rome. Catherine de Medici, who was married to King Henry II of France, helped fund the project up until her death. Pope Clement VII hired Giacomo della Porta to design the plan for the basilica. Giacomo della Porta designed the church at the top of the Spanish Steps. Then Pope Clement VII hired the architect Jean de Chenevière to build the church. The building of the church hit some bumps in the construction process. Sacred-destinations said that “Construction of the church was halted in 1527, when Rome was sacked by troops of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V” and that construction did not resume until 1580 with a new architect, Domenico Fontana. The church is dedicated to Louis IX of France, who is their patron saint. The facade of the church is made of carved marble and features the coat of arms of the Valois Family, and carvings of important French figures and symbols. The inside of the church is a rectangular, basilican plan, and over time became adorned in ornate, french decoration. The ceiling according to sacred-destinations is one of “the richest and most ornate coffered ceilings in Rome.” Going into the church was overwhelming due to the excessive decor on the ceilings. I was distracted by all of the sculpted golden flowers and delicately carved marble ceilings. When we finally made it to the Contarelli Chapel, some lovely human had paid for the lights to turn on and I finally saw “The Calling of Saint Matthew” and “The Inspiration of Matthew” in real life. Caravaggio did an amazing job of lining up the light from the chapel’s window with the light shining on Christ as he calls Matthew in :”The Calling of Saint Matthew”.
12 miles later, we had covered a lot of Rome. We even fit in some incredible gelato, pesto pizza, we “met” Pinnochio (even though he is from Firenze), and sent letters home from the Vatican. May I add that I sassed a “tour guide” who kept asking us if we wanted a tour of the Coliseum, and got him off of our tail. Ain’t nobody got time for that.
I have a new appreciation for Rome after staying there a second time. Every street seems to have a different “vibe” to it, yet it all fits into a cohesive city. Maybe it was the vespa’s, or maybe Rome’s timeless charm.
When you are young and restless, the strain of constant travel and transport doesn’t seem as gruelling. You could even throw in the adjective naive, but my ego doesn’t appreciate that one. We managed to get from Rome to Naples to Capri in one day, and we stayed positive nearly the whole time. At 8:30 am we rolled into Naples, making a beeline for the nearest sfogliatelle shop, which was recommended by one of the only white men I trust, Rick Steves. Though the men who served us weren’t the most polite, the sfogliatella was life changing. No croissant will ever live up to the spiral of crisp pastry dough that melted in my mouth, and no filling will be as good as the rich custard inside. The sugar high only got me so far. Our trek to the Museo Archeologico was scenic, and not in a good way. I learned in Naples that even if a jack hammer has been taken to a road and a fence is marking off a street, you can still drive through it. I had hoped we would walk along the famous street of presepi, or nativity scenes, on our route, but instead we smelled a lot of urine, and may have seen human feces. The walk was all uphill, but we endured it. We wanted to see Naples because we wanted to see Italy, and even though that stretch needs some TLC, we weren’t scared. You could tell that even the people living on this stretch of Napoli were proud, and this was their home. Vesuvious won’t scare them out, and neither will a mountain of trash.
The Museo Archologico was huge. Sometimes I forget that Pompei was a luxury vacation spot, since most of the photos you see of it are ruins. We were in awe at the excessive Farnese Collection of garden sculptures and the intricate mosaics that were the size of frescoes. Of course I will never forget the erotic room, and my main take away is admiration for the openess the people of Pompei had about “taboo” topics. The Museo Archologico comes neck and neck with the Uffizi Gallery for the largest collection of art I have seen in Italy. It was worth the hike we had to take to get up there!
To spare our feet some pain we metroed to the Port of Naples, and discovered how ill prepared we were to take a hydrofoil to Capri. Again we had to trust our intuition to guide us to our next destination. Before actually sailing to Capri, I thought there was probably a rickety shack at the Naples port that said “hydrofoils to Capri”, where we could load onto a tiny boat to the Island. I was far off base. The area leading up to Molo Beverello where we purchased tickets was chaotic. There were street vendors everywhere, there were hundreds of different ships docked, and the sun was intense. We had to ask for a lot of help, but we managed to purchase tickets for the next ferry, which we had just arrived in time to catch. I enjoyed seeing Naples shrink as we pulled away, and seeing Mount Vesuvius in real life has been a dream of mine since I was little. I knew that the Napoletanoes are stubborn about leaving their homeland, even though Vesuvio could erupt again, but I didn’t realize how high up the mountain homes really were. We made some friends on the hydrofoil and escaped purchasing ugly Capri baseball hats that were up charged 3 euros than on land (according to the man beside me). When we arrived to Capri we knew we had entered paradise. We sadly had to wait for two hours for a bus up to our apartment, and regretted not budgeting in a taxi ride up. I thought we had blown it, and our one day in Capri would be wasted in a bus line. I told myself it was stupid of us to try and do such a quick trup to Capri, we had made a rookie mistake. Then I realized it was okay because we were waiting for a bus IN Capri, IN paradise. This is how people truly live in Capri, not everyone has the privilege of a taxi or a private boat tour, and many locals in Capri don’t own cars and must take the bus. We were present in the moment, and the wait for the bus was worth it, because that was a wild ride. Our bus would maneuver the switchbacks of Capri with only an inch between us and the bus on the other side of the road. Bus drivers in Capri are true artists.
Our stay in Ana Capri was lovely. The beautiful ceramics and landscapes were unbelievable. I felt unworthy of even one nights stay. After our “graceful” swim in Marina Grande where we slide on mossy stones and cried about jellyfish, we ate dinner in a sunflower garden. After cena we witnessed some type of event at the church down the street, and the priest and church members marched through the streets singing. We joined the march and were lead right to a bar where we stopped for limoncello. It was a dream, and maybe I will return when I have a little more money.
Our southern Italy adventure ended with travel starting at 9:30am, and arrival in Sansepolcro at 9:30pm. Boat, metro, train, and bus, mostly sans AC. Running into Professor Fischer and her husband in the Naples train station gave us the moral to keep going, and we missed our friends in Sansepolcro.
I learned a lot about myself as a traveler in a group. My main role was making sure we had a good, authentic restaurant chosen for each meal before we even get hungry. I come by “hanger” naturally so I wanted to avoid any last minute restaurant choices that could be tourist traps. I also volunteered to do a lot of navigation for the group, even though Emily had to help me find my bearings with apple maps the whole time. I learned that when we worked together, our intuition helped guide us in situations we weren’t prepared for, like finding a ferry to Capri. Most importantly I learned how happy it makes me to see my friends enjoy travel, and their excitement when they saw a piece of history or art they had studied!
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