The Vatican and the Epilepticus

Rome, 30th October 2010.

It's an insult to the beauty of Rome to travel this city by way of underground. Every spade the Romans put in the ground leads to archeological dreams and  hopeless delays in construction. So it's not hard to imagine why the city only has two subway lines a-side from her romantic allure. Having spend days on our feet exploring the marvelous open air museum that Rome is, we decided it was time to put courtesy a-side. Our feet simply protested to the long hike that lay between our hostel and the Vatican. Line A from Termini to Ottaviano became our salvation. Or so we thought. Crammed in to the metro carts, all 100.000 tourists that visit Rome each day, seemed to have followed our example. Rome's subway system however, was never intended to transport more then one thousand people at the same time. We were so tightly stacked together that a fresco-fetishist, aroused by the idea of the Vatican, could have truly meant we're fucked.

Fortunately enough we escaped the metro with our honor intact. The pleasant autumn sun greets us as we submerge from our ride through the belly of ancient history. Because it's out of season we only have to wait a short period of time inline for the Vatican museum. Compared to the Taj Mahal, the Ayia Sophia or even Saint Paul's Cathedral, the riches of the Vatican and the way the Roman Catholic Church displays them are mind blowing. Raising your head, to awe at the ceilings, for a prolonged time takes some afford. The repeated sights of the winged little naked baby angels, easily confused with Cupid, sheds a different light on as too why priest so easily erect when they handle little children... Every square centimeter is covert with detailed paintings, fresco's or ornaments. The Baroque stimuli are intense. Any moment I expected someone to fall to the floor in an epileptic seizure. Overwhelmed by all this Baroque and Renaissance, I decided to spare my energy to soak in Michelangelo's Sistene Chapel. And it did not disappoint. The Saint Peter Cathedral is next on tour in Ratzinger's backyard. It dwarfed everyone inside, the amazing size and hight of the marble temple explains why there is no marble left on sights like the Forum Romana or Coliseum or the Circus Maximus or any other really really old place.. Vatican City, which became a state on it's own again in 1929 by grace of
Benito Mussolini, is made entirely of 'recycled' marble. The wealth of the Vatican in art, real estate, gold, marble, influence and history have never been more tangible to me then now, and still they tell me the Vatican ran a deficit economy the last couple of years. On the bright side Rome has 100.000 tourists a day.. and when in Rome... one most see the Vatican.. if not to gaze at (it's) history then just to rule out epilepsy.