[Throwback] Vatican City

The highlight of our trip to Rome was visiting St. Peter's Basilica on Christmas Day.

Pope John Paul II at the Vatican

I was still an inexperienced traveler back then so I didn't think of checking mass schedules online before planning our visit. Despite this, we still headed to the St. Peter's Basilica because even if we weren't able to hear mass, it would still be an incredible spiritual experience to be there for Christmas.

Inside St. Peter's Basilica

We got there in the late morning and when we went inside the church, there was no mass. We said some prayers and then spent our time going around the basilica, enjoying the resplendent interior. Standing majestically inside is Baldacchino di San Pietro, or St. Peter's Baldachin. Designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, it marks the tomb of St. Peter which lies beneath it.

St. Peter's Baldachin

As grand and marvelous as the baldachin is, it was Michelangelo's Pieta that absolutely took my breath away. I can't imagine how a very hard piece material such as marble can be manipulated to look so soft and delicate. This sculpture is truly a masterpiece!

Michelangelo's Pieta

We stepped out of the church before 1pm and when we got out, we were surprised to see a huge crowd. Something was about to happen so we decided to stay.

St. Peter's Square on Christmas Day

As it turned out, this was the annual Christmas message from the Pope. I wrote about this in greater detail before (you can read it here). It's amazing how we didn't plan for this and yet my mom and I got to see the Pope from just a few meters away. We wouldn't have been this close to the Pope if we didn't step out of the church when we did. And we wouldn't have gotten out of the church when we did if we arrived in St. Peter's Basilica much earlier in the day. I'm just really happy we got to have this fantastic and very spiritual experience.

Next: More Rome Experiences and Memories

[Throwback] Rome Landmarks

I can't quite recall what time we arrived in Rome but it must have been after lunch. We checked into our hotel and it was only in the late afternoon that we had a chance to go around. Since it was already quite late, we decided to visit the Trevi Fountain. I didn't know what it looked like but I remember being completely astonished the moment I saw it. It was massive and a lot more magnificent than I had expected! The statues were so beautifully and expertly sculpted.

Trevi Fountain

The tradition here is to throw a coin into the fountain over your right shoulder using your left hand. If you do this, it is said that you would find your way back to Rome. I didn't quite know what the details were so while I tossed a coin into the fountain, I don't think I did it the right way. Maybe that's why I haven't been back haha. (That said, I have been planning for a return trip for a while now so hopefully that plan comes to fruition soon!)

Our first stop the next day was the Vatican Museums which includes the Sistine Chapel. While we planned to go to St. Peter's Basilica the next day for Christmas, I think the Vatican Museums wouldn't be open that day. I was very happy I got to see the Sistine Chapel, including its well-renowned ceiling painted by Michelangelo. Unfortunately, photos inside aren't allowed (although I know some people still sneak in a shot or even a video). The only photo I was able to take in the Vatican museum was this beautiful stained glass panel (my research now tells me it might be Madonna Enthroned by Giuseppe Bertini).

Stained Glass Panel inside the Vatican Museums

Next up was the Pantheon. This structure used to be a Roman temple before being turned into a Catholic church. It is supposed to have the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome.

Pantheon

We then made a quick stop at the Victor Emmanuel II Monument to take photos. This structure has also been called "The Typewriter" because of its supposed resemblance to a typewriter. (I can kind of see it haha.)

Victor Emmanuel II Monument

We then headed to the Colosseum. Unfortunately, it was closed when we got there. I think there mmay have been renovations or repairs being done at the time. Because of this, we were only able to take photos from the outside.

Colosseum

Beside the Colosseum is the Arch of Constantine, which was built in honor of Emperor Constantine the Great.

Arch of Constantine

On our final day, we got to see a few more places. First was Castel Sant'Angelo, which is just a short walk from the Vatican. We didn't go inside but we did take a couple of photos outside.

Castel Sant'Angelo

Our next stop was Piazza Navona. The most significant point of interest here is the famous Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi or Fountain of the Four Rivers designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. While not as grand as the Trevi Fountain, it was still very awe-inspiring.

Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona

The last place we visited in Rome was the Spanish Steps. It seems that this landmark gets its name from the Spanish Embassy which is located there. These steps became famous when they were featured in the film Roman Holiday starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck.

Spanish Steps

Next: Vatican City

[Throwback] Rome, Italy

I wanted to visit Rome for two reasons. First, because it is a historically significant city with many incredible sights and tourist attractions. Second, because of the Vatican. Visiting Rome during the holidays meant that we could visit St. Peter's Basilica on Christmas day which felt like it would be an incredible experience.

In St. Peter's Square at the Vatican

I had a Lonely Planet book of Europe that I bought before I flew to Belgium and I used it to identify which sights we would visit. The film Angels and Demons hadn't come out yet when we visited Rome but it turns out we visited a lot of the places that were featured in the movie, including the Pantheon, Castel Sant'Angelo, and Piazza Navona.

Inside the Pantheon

We visited most of the Roman landmarks on our first full day there.

The Colosseum

While we did see a couple more places on our last day there, the focus was spending time at St. Peter's Basilica for the Christmas celebrations led by Pope John Paul II.

Christmas at the Vatican

Next post: Rome Landmarks

[Throwback] Europe Trip: Italy, Greece, and France

I had the great fortune to have a work assignment in Belgium over the winter months many years ago. I had an opportunity to go back home for the Christmas break but I asked my mom if she wanted to go around Europe during the holidays instead and she thought it would be a good idea. It was the first time I took my mom on an international trip (and many years later, I'm happy to say that it was certainly not the last). My mom had been to Europe before that so I decided to take her to some cities that she hadn't seen yet. This included Rome in Italy,

The Colosseum in Rome

Athens in Greece,

The Parthenon in Athens

and Lourdes in France.

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes

The logical way to visit Lourdes would be to go through Paris so we spent some time here as well.

Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris

My mom flew to Brussels first since that was where I was assigned. Our itinerary:

Day 1: Travel from Brussels to Rome
Day 2: Rome
Day 3: Vatican
Day 4: Travel from Rome to Athens
Day 5: Athens
Day 6: Travel from Athens to Paris
Day 7: Paris, overnight train to Lourdes
Day 8: Lourdes, overnight train to Paris
Day 9: Return to Brussels via High Speed Train

Pope John Paul II at the Vatican

This trip lasted a little more than a week and we spent around 2-3 days in each city. I will be writing in greater detail about this amazing holiday in Europe over the next several posts.

Quarantine Stories Part 15

I finally bought a Smart TV. There were a few reasons why I decided to get one. First, my old one was already having problems. Which made sense since I've had it for almost 16 years and it would be on for several hours a day (especially during the pandemic). Second, while I had subscribed to HBO Go earlier this year and to Netflix more recently, I haven't been able to maximize these subscriptions because I don't really like watching shows on my laptop or on my phone. After some recommendations from friends, I decided to get an LG smart TV from Anson's. The cool thing about it is that it already has both the Netflix and the HBO Go apps so I just needed to log in.

The problem was that while my new TV had the same screen size as my old TV, it was a lot shorter (in terms of height). My old LCD TV had a tall stand while my new one doesn't. As such, when I would watch TV from my bed, I would have to kinda look down. That certainly wasn't ideal nor ergonomic. I felt I needed a riser on which to put my TV. The problem is that the legs of the TV were so far apart from each other and I couldn't find a TV or monitor riser long enough for it. I ended up getting two TV risers - one per leg of my TV. Since the two risers would go over the edge of my TV table if I put them side by side, I oriented them to be parallel with each other. It doesn't look all that great but at least the TV is at the right height now. (These monitor risers also had to be assembled. It was the first time in years that I had to do some handyman-type work, which I thought was cool.)

I still haven't quite gone through movies and series that I haven't seen yet because I want to be fully focused when I watch something new and I've been terribly busy and distracted lately. As such, I keep playing shows and movies I've watched before. I just finished my Suits marathon since I never got to finish this series. It was pretty nice getting reacquainted with Harvey, Mike, and the rest of the characters and I got reminded why I really loved this show during its nine-year run. I am taking some time off during the Christmas break so I hope I can go through my to-watch list then.

*****

In other news:

My new BPI credit card was compromised! Someone tried to make a purchase at a luxury store in in Europe worth around P31,000 but thankfully, that transaction was declined. I called BPI immediately after and they will now replace my card at no cost. It's a bit of a hassle but I'd rather have a more secure card.

The bad news: my washer-dryer, or specifically its drying functionality, broke down. I had to do quite a few laundry cycles without being able to dry my clothes (I had to hang them while damp inside my pad). The good news: the technician was able to fix it during his visit. I was worried that he would need to pull my washer-dryer out, leaving me with no good option to do my laundry for a week or so but thankfully, that wasn't the case. I'm really happy that the dryer is working properly now.

Hungarian Czardas

My grandfather (on my mom's side) was an amazingly talented violinist and pianist. When he was still alive, one of the pieces that he played the most was Hungarian Czardas by Vittorio Monti. My grandmother would sometimes wistfully tell me that she wished that we recorded my grandfather playing music when he was still alive. When she got a smartphone - her first one ever - and started understanding how to use social media and YouTube, I shared this video of German musician David Garrett playing Hungarian Czardas. I felt she would enjoy listening to a piece she was very familiar with. As it turned out, she did.

 

video uploaded in youtube by Picastrussa 

I'm glad I got to share this video with my grandmother because she has listened to this many times since. She has also become a fan of David Garrett and she has listened to many of his other recordings and performances online.