Today for reading I read about the city of Rome, which is sometimes called the Eternal City because it's so old. It is the capital of Italy. First we read about a little about the history of the city and then about things to do and see there. The article was an interview of 12 and 13 year-olds so they talked about cool stuff for kids. I thought the Mouth of Truth was the coolest thing in the article. It said that if you put your hand in it, it would bite your arm is you lie.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
La Citta Eterna
Today for reading I read about the city of Rome, which is sometimes called the Eternal City because it's so old. It is the capital of Italy. First we read about a little about the history of the city and then about things to do and see there. The article was an interview of 12 and 13 year-olds so they talked about cool stuff for kids. I thought the Mouth of Truth was the coolest thing in the article. It said that if you put your hand in it, it would bite your arm is you lie.
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2 comments:
Rome is an incredible place. I hope you get to see it someday. I got to walk around Rome for a few days, but there was so much amazing history there that I was only able to see a tiny fraction of it.
For instance, I've never even heard of the Mouth of Truth! How cool! Of course, I would never be afraid to put my hand in the Mouth of Truth because I never lie (just don't ask me to put my hand in the Mouth of Truth and say that).
One of the coolest parts of Rome that I saw was the Vatican City. It surprised me to hear that the Vatican City is its own country. Imagine that - a whole country inside of the city of Rome.
Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City is so big on the inside that I felt like an ant walking through a museum.
One of the most interesting buildings in Vatican City for me was the Sistine Chapel. Whereas Saint Peter's Basilica impressed me with how huge it was, the Sistine Chapel impressed me by how small and personal such a historic place was. The ceilings are very high - but other than that, it is about the same size as a regular church. When I stood in it, I could look up and see where Michelangelo himself had covered the entire ceiling with amazing paintings almost exactly 500 years ago - including the famous painting called "The Creation of Adam" where God is reaching down from the clouds and a man is reaching up to God and their fingers almost touch.
Most people thought that Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel paintings were very gray and quiet - they were painted in a very important church after all - but in 1984 they decided to restore the paintings to their original appearance. They were doing this while I was in Rome.
You've got to remember that for centuries, the Sistine Chapel had been lit by nothing but candles - no electricity back then! They found that Michelangelo's paintings were covered in hundreds of years' worth of old wax and smoke. Lots of people were shocked to find, when all this gunk was (very carefully) cleaned away, that Michelangelo's paintings weren't actually all gray and quiet; they were sharp and brilliant and filled with a rainbow of colors.
It was color that hadn't been seen in centuries. For me, it was worth the trip just to see that.
Rome sounds like a really neat place! If you wanted to get to Rome from Longview what kind of transportation would you / could you take?
Aunt Stasia
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