| Fun filled days in Rome… |
All roads lead to Rome; many flights go there too. Ours was via Egypt Air on 14/03/2007. We arrived in Rome at around 1400hrs Roman time. The first thing that struck us was the biting early spring wind. It was sharp as a razor and seeped to the bones. We arrived at the beginning of spring and the winter cold was not totally dispelled. Then you see the land and get enchanted by the lovely shades of green all over the place. Italians are very amiable fellows, ready to laugh and help out. We make our way to the taxis and ask to be taken to viale Bruno Buozzi. The taxi fellow charges us 50 Euros for the ride. We go into the building and wait for our guide for the week. His name is Ivan Mukalazi from Uganda. He is studying in Rome. He leads us through the streets of Rome and into the Metro; underground train system. This proves to be a most efficient way of moving around the city. Here we get our weekly transport ticket for 16 Euros. Accoutered with this ticket one can employ the services of the bus, the tram or the metro. We board the metro to Reppublica and take the 60 express bus from via Nazionale to via Romagnoli Talenti which is about 500m from Betiana Mariana which is to be our residence for the next nine days. We only have time put our bags down before we are whisked away by Ivan. We go back to the streets and into a chapel for Mass. The Mass is in Italian and we hardly understand a thing. From Mass we go for dinner. Dinner was quite grand, a bottle of wine and some very lovely scrumptious pasta and fish with cheese was served in plenty.
On 15/03/2008 we attended another Mass in Italian but this time we followed it using our missals. Then we went for our first of many plastic breakfasts. Everything is in tiny packets from the already toasted bread to the jam to butter. Coffee is served in plenty. Then out we went to Villa Tevere, the headquarters of Opus Dei. We are attended Benediction by the Prelate who is also the Chancellor of Strathmore University. The Lithuanians guided us to the place. After the Benediction we met fellow Kenyans. They had unquenchable thirst for news from home especially due to the post-elections violence. In the afternoon, Ivan guides us to St Peter's Basilica. It is beautiful. The architectural work is magnificent and is very well complimented with beautiful sculptures, mosaics and artwork. There are however no paintings in the basilica. A day is not enough to fully appreciate the Basilica.
After that we took a walk through some parts of Rome. We saw castle Sant'angelo, and the bridges over the River Tiber (Italian Tevere, Latin Tiberis). One of the bridges has sculptures of angels holding the tools that were used in the passion of Christ. Our walk took us to various churches of Rome. One word for them: Magnificent. Another fascinating feature of Rome is its fountains. They are proof of the remnants of the Old Roman aqueducts that were used for channeling the underground water. The fountains speak out boldly of the artistic trait of the city. The most magnificent are the Fontana di Trevi at Barberini, Fontana di Barca at Spagna, and Fontana di Tritone at Tritone. In most of them you find large sculptures and wide pools into which people throw coins for luck. The coins are taken by the maintainers of the fountains. On Monday, 17th March, we went for a tour of Villa Tevere. The key interest points are the tombs of St Josemaria Escriva, and his successor Don Alvaro Del Portillo, the statue of the assumption of Mary, Our Lady and the Prelatic Church of Our Lady Queen of Peace. At the back of the Church is a rose and several swords. We later attended a Mass for the soul of Don Alvaro Del Portillo at the Church of St Eugene. On Tuesday, we attended the UNIV Congress at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. Ivan is studying there. I attended a presentation by Bob Panoff, an American physicist who has started an institution called Shordor to create computer programs that can aid in advancement of students understanding of physics. Extremely intriguing for those interested in science. For more details, see website: www.shordor.org. The software is free and has a wide range of features from graph manipulation to galaxy building. On Wednesday, we attended two meetings. First with the Pope, and then with the Prelate of Opus Dei. The audience with the pope was inside St Peter's Basilica and the audience with the Opus Dei Prelate was in the auditorium conciliazone. We also managed to go to the cupola (dome) of St Peter's Basilica on this day. The view of the city from there is breathtaking. Even though you get photos of it still is not enough. On Thursday, I woke up for a morning run with Isael. Old man can run. We ran for thirty minutes got back for Mass and breakfast and headed for the streets of Rome. We had a long day touring Rome mainly on foot. We toured historic monuments like the Pantheon, the Capitoline Museum from where one can see the excavation site and the remains of the old city. The museum holds quite a lot of the city's heritage and one of the things that you see repeatedly is the initials S.P.Q.R. Two schools of thought for the meaning are:
We went to the Colosseo where in the past gladiators would fight each other to the death in gory battles. In later years it was used as an arena to put to death Christians by feeding them to famished lions. Currently it is just a tourist spot but the Pope does the Way of the Cross there because it is seen as a place where Christians just as Christ did. One thing that you have to admire is the Romans ingenuity at achieving feats such as the Pantheon, the Colosseo and the churches of which most were built at a time when no advanced engineering expertise was available. On Friday, we went to tour the Capitoline museum. This museum is really large. It has various displays of artifacts from ancient Egypt and Rome. We see mummies in their intricately ornamented sarcophaguses and the urns that were meant for holding their viscera's. In other areas we see paintings and sculptures that proclaim the virtuosity of the sculptors. The detail is almost unbelievable; ingenuity is seen in each chisel stroke. The museum's highlight is the ruins of Ancient Rome. Of these, the prison in which St Peter was locked in is accessible via the cobbled roads that have survived since apostolic times. We attend the Way of the Cross in the rain at night. The Colosseo by night is like a large mass imposing upon the serenity of the mind. It serves to shield you from the rain if you happen to be close to its walls. We then go back to the residence where there is a vigil. On Saturday, we have two major goals to achieve: to tour the Vatican museum and Sistine chapel. The queue for the Vatican museum is not long. No, banking queues are long. That queue is LOOOOOOOOONG!!!! It takes us about an hour before we actually see the entrance. But the wait is worth it to the very last second. We pass through various hallways before finally getting to the Sistine chapel. There is a hallway of tapestries which have been delicately crafted and have inlaid in them the story of Christ from birth, to his death and resurrection. There is also a hallway of maps showing the triumphs of Rome and the colonies it conquered in its glory days. Romans are some of the greatest conquerors of all times. The expanse of the colonies was as vast as from Britain to Judea, to Egypt. It is in this empire that Christianity came to be. In the evening, we attended the Easter vigil Mass celebrated by the Pope. We waited in line for a very long time from - 6.00pm to 8.00pm - to enter the Vatican. The place was thronged with thousands of faithful despite the rain and the biting cold. The mass was preceded by a procession of deacons, cardinals and the Pope to the entrance of the basilica to light and bless the fire. The Swiss guards were in full regalia with spears and feathered helmets. The Mass was wonderful. After Mass, we went back to the residence. There was a farewell party because we were all leaving the next day. Lots of pint, exotic tasting cake and snacks for all. Afterwards, there is a session for guys to tell jokes, come up with performances and show a bit of their country's heritage and flair. |
Munuku Karanja (ACCA I) spent Holy Week in Rome. He traces his steps there in this diary of sorts.
We got back to the residence for supping and resting. We meet more people at dinner today. Two South Africans join our group. They are Paul and Tumelo. We are also joined by a Spaniard, Eduardo, who is soon coming to work in D.R Congo. Eduardo is a most interesting character. Apart from being quite good in a number of languages he is most affable and funny. Another of our African band is IP whose full name is Isael De Silva. IP is a Brazilian working in Uganda. He is an engineer and a good Roman phrase for him would be "Sono Pazzo que Uomo".
The Sistine chapel is I think the most magnificent church in all of Rome. Michelangelo really outdid himself. The perfect proportion of the paintings: the feelings in the paintings. People are not allowed to take photos in the chapel because camera flashes have detrimental effect on the paintings.