Rome - days 3 and 4

On Saturday morning, Brian and I ventured out of our shoebox sized hotel room and roamed the neighborhood. What did we find? shopping. We stopped in some store and at an open-air market where you could buy fish or squid or fava beans or artichokes or underwear.

Later in the day, we attempted St. Peter's again, this time with Uncle Bud. The line to get in the church was even longer than it had been the day before. So what did Uncle Bud do in this situation? He cut in line. I wasn't so sure, but I figured if an elderly man of the cloth can get away with it, so can I. The plan didn't last long. We got kicked out of line by an annoyed tour guide and decided to get out of the Vatican City.

The next stop was the Basilica of St. John Lateran, followed by the Basilica of St. Paul beyond the walls. Bud's favorite was St. Paul's and I can see why. Its entryway is surrounded by columns and filled with palm trees. The marble is pink and white and the face of every pope is painted around the ceiling inside. Outside is a huge statue of St. Paul holding a sword. The sword recognizes how he was beheaded, and the church is built over his tomb. St. Peter is usually shown holding keys, since he guards the gates of heaven.

St John Lateran

St Paul outside the walls

Then we ran into La Taverna del West. It's a kitschy Americana restaurant, complete with offensive carvings of Indians and a bar shaped like a covered wagon. Brian and I like to go to kitschy American restaurants in foreign countries whenever possible. It's fun to look at what they think the States is like and to judge whether they can fry a decent onion ring.

La Taverna del West

Sunday was our last day in Rome and we went to a place that is definitely off the tourist track: the EUR. The EUR (Esposizione Universale Roma) was Mussolini's vision for Rome's new city center, reaching all the way to the sea. It was to be the site of the 1942 World's Fair and a monument to 20 years of Fascist rule. Mussolini had these huge, white, neo-classical structures built and created a district that is almost its own city-within-a-city. There's even a nod to the Church at the Sts. Peter and Paul Basilica, which Mussolini planned as his own mausoleum (dictators are not modest).

The world's fair never happened because of WWII, and facism and Mussolini didn't last much longer. After the war, the buildings were used as housing for families who had lost their homes, and the city completed construction of EUR by the early '50s. Today the massive granite structures house seldom-visited museums and goverment agencies. Its an almost creepy memorial to facism, a place that is frozen in time. If you want to read more, check out this link: http://www.romeartlover.it/Eur.html

EUR

EUR

Despite all its fame and history, Rome is a real city. It has garbage and graffitti and homeless people. And tons of tourists. But I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the Uncle Bud's commentary, the streets, the churches, the noisy, emotional people who talk with their hands, the gelato. And if the line to get into heaven's gate is anything like the line to get into St. Peter's, I am pretty sure Uncle Bud will be able to cut in.