Another day in Rome! It was a little cloudier and cooler today and there was a chance of rain. We contemplated what to do. We thought about trying to go the the Castel Sant’Angelo, but we didn’t get tickets in time, so we changed gears. After visiting our first set of catacombs in the first week, Allison had been talking about wanting to see more. What better place to be when there’s possibility for rain than underground in a 1,600 year old crypt?
We ate breakfast at the apartment and then headed to the bus stop to catch our bus. It was a pretty long ride through a more suburban residential area with blocks of apartment buildings and people out at the cafes and picking up groceries from local fruit stands and butcher shops. We arrived at our stop and walked a short distance up the road to our destination.
The Catacombs of Domitilla aren’t far from the Appian Way where the catacombs we previously visited were. There was a small garden with picnic tables surrounding the building and, when we got there, we were the only ones there. We waited for our tour in the gardens. The boys liked running up the stairs and through the plants. I thought we would have a very intimate tour, but a tour bus arrived minutes before our tour began and we were lumped in with them.
This set of catacombs apparently cover the most territory and are highlighted by an underground basilica that is still used for services. In fact, as we began our tour, there was a mass taking place. The room is made of stone and had short columns that held up the original ceiling. Along the walls were fragments of tombstones and epitaphs with writing and symbols on them that had been excavated from the catacombs. We passed through the room as the parishioners were praying with open arms and continued down a stairway into the narrow, dark, damp tunnels.
It was a similar experience to the first time, but still difficult to describe seeing all the open slots where remains of these early Christians were placed and feeling the quiet and peace of the place. This time around, I enjoyed our tour guide much more than last time. She did a good job connecting us to the place by telling some stories and describing what it would have looked like at the time. As a part of this tour we also got to see some of the best preserved early Christian art painted on the ceilings and walls of some of the tombs. In one vaulted hallway there were grapevines painted on the ceiling, which immediately brought John 15 to my mind. In another tomb we saw a painting of Peter and Paul, as well as Jesus seated and surrounded by his disciples.
It’s a place where I really would have preferred to sit and pray rather than tour. After weaving our way through, we came back upstairs to the basilica. The mass was no longer going on and we took seats on the wooden bench pews. Our guide then directed us to a particular epitaph of an 11 year old boy buried in the catacomb. The epitaph was very interesting, but what I was most struck by was the figure of a person etched on the tombstone with their arms open, receiving God’s presence and grace. The figure on this ancient Christian gravestone was making the same gesture that we still make when we invite God’s presence and grace through prayer. It was the same gesture people were making in the room just a few minutes earlier during the mass when we passed through.
After the catacombs, we looked up a bus to take home. The timing was tight and the map was confusing. It was a haul lugging the boys. Allison carried Silas and Beren rode my shoulders as they clamored for an apple that they were passing back and forth. It was tight and we were able to get to the stop right as the bus we needed closed its doors. I slapped the back and thankfully they reopened and we were able to get on, spared waiting another 20 minutes.
We got back, ate some lunch together and the boys and I took a nap. When they woke up, they played some Mario Cart with Allison before we got all ready again to go out for our evening stroll. Tonight we decided to wander up into Trestavere.
After crossing the bridge, we walked up and found one of the outdoor apertivo spots we saw our first night here. We sat down and ordered some drinks. Allison got a Aperol Spritz, I got a Negroni, and the boys got some pear juice because they didn’t have apple or orange. We were still a little early for the normal food menu, but they were really nice and made us a margherita pizza. The boys enjoyed the pizza and were wooing the waitresses. Their charm did the trick because one of the waitresses ended up bringing them a pair of chocolate dipped cookies to enjoy on the house.
Of course, at dinner Silas filled his diaper. There aren’t many public facilities we’ve seen, so after we left Allison pulled a supermom and changed his diaper down an alley between a parked car and a small wall. With that crises averted we joined the throngs of people who were out now flowing like streams down the alleyways of Trestavere past the street vendors, trying to pick a place to eat. We were in search for gelato. All the streams converged on to a piazza where we found a place. We each got our cone and sat on steps of the central fountain watching a man spray paint pictures of the Coliseum. This was until a pair of semi-rowdy drunk guys sat down next to us and we decided it was time to go.
Upon our arrival back home, Allison showered the little people while I made a quick store run. The boys went to bed and I cooked up some pasta we had to top us off after the pizza and gelato. I’m glad we’ve been walking so much because, if not, I’m pretty sure we would have gained about 30 pounds by now.
It was nice to have time with Allison eating together and relaxing. We spent the time talking about the day and planning out the next week. There’s still a bit we’d like to do and, it’s weird to think, but time is running out. We’ve been on the fence about visiting Venice next weekend because it seems daunting at this point, but we decided to go for it. I’m sure we won’t regret it. On the docket for tomorrow is to go back to the Palatine Hill and finish up seeing parts of the ancient Roman Forum that we didn’t get to see last time.