Two days ago I posted about never going anywhere without a camera. Guess what I forgot today. Yup my camera. Guess what we discovered was across from Roma Tre? Santo Paolo Basilica. Next to the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica, there is no other church that is more important. Let me explain. For those who are not Catholic, like myself, it just appeared to be another large church that I passed on my way to school. Quick morning background: This morning we had a meeting at school and we were able to meet our new professors and learn a little bit about the classes and the excursions that go along with each class. And we even ended early. Which has since been unheard of, as there has been much sitting and standing around. Rachel, Annie, Francesca and myself had some time to kill so we got a quick lunch and caffe latte at the caffe around the corner. Our bus took too long to get us so we decided to go 'splorin around our school. On our way back we chose to go into the large church. However, once inside, even I was able to tell that this was no ordinary church.
This is just a side way..
The ceilings were more ornate then anything I have ever seen the alters more beautiful then any. (Granted, i have not seen many basilicas or Saint Peter's). I also became aware, thanks to Francesca, my local Catholic Encyclopedia, that this was in fact Saint Paul's and that he was in fact buried under the alter in the center of the church.
The entrance to the crypt.
Not being raised Catholic, I didn't grasp the significance until Francesca explained that Paul was one of Jesus' right hand men, per say. He was a non believer that was converted after he saw a burning bush. The other man that was Saint Peter, as in Saint Peter's Basilica. WORLD ROCKED. I was that close to his grave. Just rocked. It then all made sense, as to why it was so ornate and intricate and beautiful. I also saw all the pictures of all the popes that there have ever been and learned that the world maybe ending soon. Because there is only so much space around the church for the discs that have their pictures, there apparently can only ever be that many popes. There are only about 10-15 places left so who knows what is going to happen, we still have to get through the end of the world as the Mayans have predicted. Then we can be concerned with what will happen in Saint Paul's.
We made it back to school, where i saw the remnants of an accident (I noted that i have been surprised that i havent seen any accidents, bubble burst). Here was when we went our somewhat separate ways; Rachel, Annie and I had our first class! We are starting with our Living in the Eternal City class which involves getting to know the city on a level that most dont experience coming as a tourist. Im running out of steam but here it goes:
We learned about the piramide, which is at kind of the center of the southern part of Rome and is a hub of traffic. It was built over 2000 years ago by Cestius' slaves as a thank you. When Cestius died he said that all of his claves should be freed and in his honor they built the piramide. It's now a main meeting place for people! Testaccio is just on the out skirts of the city walls so it was known as a party place and it still is; its where all the best bars are now-a-days.. We walked around a man made hill that was actually formed with broken pots that they used for transporting wine, olive oil etc. Wild. Its huge, but you can't go on it because obviously its not very safe... yobs? It's right near the old slaughter house when they tried to make Rome into a industrial city and it was going to provide all the meat for the city. Now the sity is trying to turn into a trendy place and they are making into a place to shop for organic foods and on the other side of the plastic non permanent barrier, there is a refugee place for the kurds. Crazy contrast of lifestyle. All the walls are covered in the most absurd graffiti too! Not that I can read US graffiti but all the colors together are so great.
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