The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-05-16
Mobile Girl Chats
 Of Her Stay tn Rome
Visit to St. Peters and the Qualification of Joan of Arc--Pope Plus Described as
 Gracious Person.
Gracious Person.

Y ' -
 Gaul whom Byron In his chiide Har-
 old says was .butchered to make
 Roman holiday" Then there Is the
 Marble Faun that in earlier days owed ifs fame to Praxitiles but afterwards was assimilated marble and all by our own Hawthorne.
 You can do whole days work right there on the capotoline for not for words, or francs. would you miss the Venus. dear little Romulus and Remus
 taking their daily meal, the steps where Rfenzi fell the Tarpean Rock: the church where the Baeublew still displays more jewels even than Miss Elkins would have worn had she be- z come toA wife of the Duke DAbruzzi. Incidentally there Is a wonderful view from the crest of. the hill of Ancient Rome. the Toruen. the Colos- Scum. the Palatine Hill. the latter | once the home of the Emperors and whom one tourist recently remarked
 she just loved to hear about--thev were so cruel.
 Of Course If your enthusiasm for ruins comes out rasiliy you are strong
 " advised to take No. 9, Snd if you | really wish to have a thor6urh pleas :
 ant morning you get 1ectured. The
 woods-not the ruins-are full of these
 lecturers, they tell you more things l &or three francs which is just twice
 thirty cents. than even MrA Hare who must have worn ten league boots and had reduced rates. at the Churopodist
 to have taken all those walks he writes about. But even he serves the
 tourist a good pun-like turn and no
 one gets rattled or grabs for their pompadour when some one asks Have you seen my Hare.' Who Is sitting on my Hare, or ''Oh. I remember now I
 left 1t in St. Peters.r
 such pleasantries are bright spots fin the tourist life after diet of ruins aud Raffaels.r Madonas and Michael
 Angeles. frescoes. fountains and flying
 machines. They are almost as Aurora- esque In co1oring as the three last days of Holy Week when Rome puts on It's best in the year holiday attire. In Holy Week.
 Possibly on the principle of nearest
 to church farthest from heaven Is the
 reason that to the Italian Holy Week
 Is more of fete than fast If you
 were back in Alabama and let your imagination run riot you would pic-
 ture the three hundred andN one
 churches of the immortal city raising
 their heads towards heaven, a city wrapped in prayer and in gloom but no picture ever painted by an old mas
 ter could do 1t justice and even a cinemetograph would have to work over time. s9
 It Is Rome,s great festal week. The
 one that Is looked forward to, and back upon, especially by the cab driv-
 ers+ who raise their tarif and the postman and other necessary evils who send out polite invitations for
 donations The city ia alive with col
 or and conversation and you are apt to elbow through a crowd of reform
 dressed Germans (which Is a polite
 name for the old mother Hubbards)
 and find yourself in a group of sweet voiced Italians, or more than likely
 near Hello" from one who is mak-
 ing good use of American as she is spoke. Priests and students abound and their gowns shade from an all black through the various shades of brown and grey, while the German and Austrian students are brilliant red blaze of glory Cabs and cardinals carriages with their black horses drive l in and out. automobiles dash by, the gongsI of the oelectris trainss fssoufnd
 thropgh the ancient cify ana how 1t is case of all loads lead to st. Ps- I'ters. ssfss sf2 S s49s41a It is a much easier story getting theres often than getting away and Q pieasapt drive through the narrow lit-
 tie streets paved with cobbIes, evident iy for horses only as there are no sidewalks. to some one Of the various prtdges over the always coffee@cblored Fiber. Everybody stops some time.
 sooner or later. at the Castle of St.
 Angelo on their way to St. Peters, for
 1t is the most artictic building in all
 Rome. Tiber. the castle and the dome of St. Peters is the favorite and best
 selling picture of the artist and the
 castle q very favorite tourist resort. l You are apt to be detained there for some time but fortunately not for
 as long os was Beatrice Cenci for there are as many steps to be gone up
 and foAen. as Jacobs ladder, which doubtless accounts for, the bronze 1 ATchangel Michael having been perch
 ed on the top of 1t for 10. these many years
 The whole Christian. as well as the whole unchristian world revolves around St. Peters during the week that
 anticipates Easter. This year owing
 to the Modification of Joan of Arc there was an overflow for ten days
 after. St. Peters is the appetizer as
 well as the cordial for the. long course
 of churches to be served during each l Holy week day for even with the
 many to be visited St Peters. with its
 vastness holds it's own against the
 beauty of all others
 Some find fault with It's bizarre high altar, its many and not always in good taste monuments but they belong to I the vast majority who would not be satisfied even in heaven.
 To properly appreciate the greatest I church in Christendom you must be
 present at some of the great ceremo- nies. or services. One of the most in- teresting of these Is that of Palm Sun
 day. No matter what the day, and 1t was a very rainy one this year, by eight in the morning the crowd has assembled but not empty handed. All along the way the crx of Camp Chair Lady is heard and you begin your | bargaining at as early an hour of a Sunday In Italy as you do on a Mon-
 day or a Tuesday or any other old
 day.
 After the camp stool bargain Is struck. and it Is always to a disad vantage to the buyer, for the services
 last from three to i've hours, tho stools from ten to twenty minutes. the
 next thing to do Is to strike a bar gain on palm leat crosses.
 Everybody wears them but thev are
 not so elaborate as the cardinals and
 priests carry for their palm crosses
 are at the top of curled and crimped-
 like sceptre designs of bright yellow
 palm Instead of the nice green ones
 we have in Alabama. Everybody gets piece of blessed olive branch gratis
 and enough music to last them until
 Holy Thursday. which is the next big
 ceremony day
 No one could help having a truly
 religious feeling after sitting three
 hours in the tribune and listening to
 heavenly music, sung by a male choir