We got up early and caught our flight from Malta to Rome without incident. The flight was easy, and it took about 90 minutes to get to Rome. Jessica’s flight was scheduled to land at about the same time as ours. She arrived early and was waiting for us in a pizza restaurant just outside baggage claim. The reunion was sweet! We were so excited that we forgot to take pictures. Oh, well.
We took a taxi to our hotel, and dropped off our luggage. Our rooms were not ready quite yet, so we relocated to the pizzaria next door to get lunch. The pizza was good, but you had to eat standing up. By the time we were finished with our pizza, our rooms were ready. Jess was understandably jet-lagged, so she and the girls retired to their room. Charles and I were ready to encounter Rome.
We walked to the Church of St. Peter in Chains to see the Michelangelo Moses that he made for the tomb of Pope Julius ll. The tomb was originally supposed to be a grandiose monument including over forty more-than-life-sized statues. It never got completed, but Moses is still a great work of art. If you look at his face in the picture, you can see that his expression indicates that he has just come down from Sinai and noticed the golden calf. He’s mad! What are they doing? You can’t leave those people alone for a minute!
Here’s the monument that finally did get built. Not what Julius expected, but not bad either. Now, the reason the church is called “St. Peter in Chains” is because it is supposed to have the chains that restrained St. Peter when he was held in Rome. Maybe.
The outside of the church is really plain. It might be surprising to find out what is inside.
We had a long walk back to our hotel, and to a cute family restaurant for dinner. Everybody got a much-needed night’s sleep in preparation for the next day, our really busy day in Rome.
Blessings,
Linda
