Day 11 – The Pantheon, the Traffic… & St. Paul’s Outside the Walls

Rain, rain, and more rain.  Are we sick of it yet? Wel... yes... some of us are sick. But they're real troupers - resting when they can and saving their energy (and most effective medical dose period) for outings.

Another thing that we've learned is that we packed too much clothing. Not because we won't need it all (especially with the loooong laundry cycles), but because we're always wearing the same jackets/hats/ponchos and it doesn't much matter what we have on underneath.

Not to be held back, we take a slow morning, another attempt at some laundry, and the 6 members of the Homeschool Bus head out to see the Pantheon.  NOT the Parthenon as keeps coming up in conversation… that’s still in Greece, but the Pantheon that’s been around…well, a really long time.

It turns out, had we zigged when we zagged to see Trevi Fountain the other day we could’ve hit the Pantheon and in the end that would’ve made today much easier, but it is what it is.  A bus will take us pretty close, and then a quick game of “Dodge Car” in the rain and we find ourselves in a caravan of 8 large black sedans right outside the Pantheon.  They’re waving us out of the way, but we can’t figure out how to get around all 8.  Oh well.

The Pantheon is lovely.  Not much to look at from the outside, but the inside is truly lovely.  The concrete ceiling is marvelous to ponder 1) How they did it and, 2) Why they put the great big hole in the ceiling for the rain to come inside.

A look at my watch indicates we need to hurry b/c our bus passes are only good for 100 minutes from the time we first punch them, so we exit quickly and make a quick march towards the Colosseum b/c that’s a major stop that will lead in all directions.  Rain aside, we made good time… but it was looking grim.  It was even more suspicious with all the Police, helicopters, etc. around.  This looked “big” and was quickly approaching “Big Mess” stage.

Well, apparently when the President of the United States travels, they have cities close down major metro junctions… and whole monuments.  It appears the Obamas have followed us to Rome and wanted a private tour of the Colosseum (and it looks like that was the First Lady who was leaving as we arrived at the Pantheon), so thousands of other people were being turned away, even some Canadian students on their 2-day pass and cruise passengers in for just the day.  To make matters even worse, the Colosseum bus station AND train/metro station are ALSO closed… and everything else is about a kilometer (minimum) in every direction. 

The Principal’s smart phone can’t account for a “closed” metro stop and re-routed buses, so we have to pedal our way out of the general area to get other transportation options.  Like everybody else being redirected (in the rain of course), we make off like a herd of wet turtles and hike our way back up the cobblestone streets to a bus stop and figure we’ll just “call it a day”.  Getting anywhere other than the apartment is clearly more than problematical.  This calls for gelato.  The perfect excuse to get a snack AND out of the rain… a “Two-fer”.

Winding streets, speedy scooters, and other Roman traffic hazards we make our way up to a bus stop where we wait patiently for “Bus 30”.  The kids have been so great about all the unexpected twists & turns... and further walking.  They’ve played rhyming games up the narrow streets, dueled with their gelato spoons, and are now just entertaining themselves (and us) while we wait for a bus.  The bus pulls up… and I’m convinced sardines have more room in their cans… we’ll have to wait for the next one. 10 minutes later, the same scenario.  Hmm... getting home will be tough too.

The principal looks at his phone and we have the same thought at the same time.  The weather may be clearing up… if we can’t get home in THAT direction… let’s try to grab a bus and head in the OTHER direction. :D  In our previous 2 trips to Rome we’d not gone to visit “St. Paul’s outside the walls”, but today is the day.  Then we can take trains home (the advantage of renting an appartment right next to a major train stop - they run every few minutes and are almost always on time). Flat Paul is incredbily excited... as this is quite likely to be the place where the Apostle himself is buried (except his head of course)

I have to say… St’ Paul’s Basilica is one of those Duomos that makes you catch your breath when you walk in.  I know I’ve said that much of it is lovely, but truly, this one doesn’t get the attention some of the others do because of it's location (away from the heart of the city), but the original church is believed to have used Paul's sarcophagus as the altar and the "new" church  (1600+ years old - new is a relative term) was build over it.  For some reason... it's not quite all of his remains. His head was taken to San Giovani di Laterno.  Not sure why they didn’t attempt to put him back together, but then I wasn’t there. There was a time when it was all the rage to have bits and pieces of the early church fathers (We return to my confusion over displaying St. Valentine's skull... but then again, we're the ones that have made two trips to the Capuchin cemetery).

There’s an altar that was built over the floor/altar of the original church that was there, but they allow you to walk down and view a side of the sarcophagus. They also have his chains held on hooks bearing the imprint of Nero.  It’s less clear as to whether Nero ordered the execution or one of his minions, but it makes little difference.  Needless to say, Doodlebug and her “Flat Paul” get several pictures made to mark the occasion.

One of those places where you can tangibly feel the "standing on holy ground"
but with Ephesus and Mars Hill still to come, we'll probably be adding to this list.

A quick train ride back to the apartment and we are officially delighted that we took the time to visit St. Paul’s.  The evening meal is the attempt at emptying out the refrigerator of last night’s leftovers… another attempt at laundry… and we are essentially off to bed. 

MIL has seen the doctor again for a shot in her back, SIL has also seen the doctor and gotten an antibiotic and 2 other medications… Boo Boo just needs a decongestant and feels much better.