CAVE LEONEM!

This water tastes like freedom!

Ok, I realize I've been a biiiit behind on the posting lately, so I'm going to try to get at least 2 posts up today, maybe three. First off; St. Peter's! I finally got around to going there this past Monday with my Liturgical Art & Architecture class. (Yes, that's a thing; yes, it's awesome.) This class is basically, as I like to call it, "go around Rome and look at all the pretty churches". So Monday was St. Peter's. We met at the obelisk, so before class I had some time to adventure around the Piazza San Pietro, taking deep breaths of the air and tasting the water of the last free country on earth. Ok, I'm done being dramatic. But the free water there was decently good (as is the free water in Rome in general). St. Peter's in general just has sooooo much to see. I think for the purposes of this post I'm mostly going to try to focus on inscriptions and the like. Before I get into that however, I'd just like to say that all the work they've been doing on the colonnade looks great! And don't just take my word for it; look at how shiny the bit in the front of this next picture looks compared to the stuff to the left.

Shiny!

Alright, so words! The first words you very well may see when entering the Vatican from the front, i.e. coming west along Via della Conciliazione, are the inscription on the front of the obelisk's pedestal. The inscription reads "Behold, the Cross of the Lord! Flee, o adverse forces! The Lion from the tribe of Judah has conquered!" Very appropriate, since according to legend/tradition there's a relic of the True Cross contained in the bronze topper of the obelisk. This inscription is really awesome, because it's basically a giant "BEWARE OF DOG" sign, except in Latin and about Jesus (ergo cave leonem, non cave canem). So while the colonnade is reaching its arms out to welcome the faithful, Jesus is standing there speaking softly and carrying a big stick. Or, cross. But anyway. So watch out.

As a point of contrast, this inscription is above your head as you pass through the colonnade towards St. Peter's after passing security.

The Latin translates to "Come, let us ascend onto the mountain of the Lord; let us adore (Him) in His holy temple". Also seems appropriate; it's almost like the people who built this place knew what they were doing...... And now for a mystery! Here's a closeup shot of the center doors into the church itself, which show Peter (and Paul, I think). But in the border around the figures it looks to me like there's some kind of writing! I haven't been able to identify it, though- it kind of looks like Arabic or maybe Syriac, or at least something Semitic (maybe Aramaic?). So if anyone has any insight into what this might be, let me know!

Mystery writing!

The Mediterranean, Shopping, and Spaghetti!

Just had a total fail at the supermercato: my total came to 9,81, and I wanted to pay with my last two "food stamps" (the meal vouchers that we get 60E worth of a week). However, the food stamps are each 5E, and the cashier lady tried to explain to me that I would need to bring the total over 10E and cover the rest with cash so that the 0,19 wouldn't be her responsibility. I understood her decently well, but was at a total loss for words how to explain that I only had about 2E cash on me at the time. So I ended up buying a Twix (I needed a moment) and bringing it to about 10,60. Lesson learned: carry at least 5E cash at all times, and make sure to warm up my Italian before going out. On the bright side, I got NUTELLA! It's in a glass jar, which just makes it that much more awesome.

Last night, a group of us went out to a restaurant somewhere in the area around the Trevi Fountain that had 40 or 50 different types of spaghetti. The choices were overwhelming, but I ended up getting spaghetti Tirolesi, which had mushrooms, speck, mozzarella, and olive oil. It was probably the best pasta I've ever had. My favorite thing so far about the food in Italy is that the pasta is always cooked perfectly al dente! Definitely going to go there again, maybe for lunch (when they accept the meal vouchers).

 Yesterday, a group of us took a train from Roma to S. Martinella. Although it was on the cool side, I went for a swim in the Tyrrhenian Sea! The water was very salty and made it easy to float. So now I can say I've been in the Mediterranean. Totally worth the train ride (4,60 each way) and fee for the beach (10E between three of us).