Rome Day 2

Actually from the day before. There were a couple Caravaggio paintings in this little church, but Katharine was not excited about seeing them and screamed to be taken away. I had to oblige.

Katharine in front of St. Catharine.

We got to the Ara Pacis half an hour after closing time, but we still could see it pretty well through the glass enclosure. I think we spent a full three days studying this in the Roman Sculpture class I audited here, so it was really cool to see it in person.

Justin asked me whether I thought the missionaries would be at the Via Della Corso (or something like that), a main shopping street in downtown Rome. Quite contrary to my guess that they certainly wouldn't be, the entire zone was there doing their bi-monthly two hour sing-a-thon. Justin, not relishing the hymns chosen in church that morning, joined in for a few numbers, camera and all. One of the missionaries was actually a now-grown-up punk teenager from one of the cities Justin served in years ago.

St. Peter's toward dusk. Gorgeous.

We LOVE these Roman fountains. NOT a baptism, though it would have been fitting...an infant on a Sunday afternoon in Vatican city.

Michelangelo's Pieta. What daemon possessed him, really? His work is unreal.

St. Peter's in early afternoon. We went to church and then wiled away the hottest part of the day in our hotel before venturing out to Vatican City. Mass was going on at St. Peter's when we were there, so we got to tour that amazing edifice to the swells of the organ and chants of the monks. Maybe that's what everyone gets to do, but we certainly appreciated it.