eBooks Base 2000

We soon descended into the piazza, and walked round and round the statue
of Marcus Aurelius, contemplating it from every point and admiring it in
all. . . . . On these beautiful moonlight nights, Rome appears to keep
awake and stirring, though in a quiet and decorous way. It is, in fact,
the pleasantest time for promenades, and we both felt less wearied than
by any promenade in the daytime, of similar extent, since our residence
in Rome. In future, I mean to walk often after nightfall.
Yesterday, we set out betimes, and ascended the dome of St. Peter's. The
best view of the interior of the church, I think, is from the first
gallery beneath the dome. The whole inside of the dome is set with
mosaic-work, the separate pieces being, so far as I could see, about half
an inch square. Emerging on the roof, we had a fine view of all the
surrounding Rome, including the Mediterranean Sea in the remote distance.
Above us still rose the whole mountain of the great dome, and it made an
impression on me of greater height and size than I had yet been able to
receive.


Pages:
246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270