Angels and seagulls

In my other life – when I’m not travelling and blogging about travel – I am a journalist.

I teach journalism-related subjects, and read breakfast news at a regional radio station on weekends.

As I drove in to work this morning, I heard my station playing the J Geils Band and “My Angel Is A Centerfold” … which raised a smile because today’s travel-pic might be subtitled “My Angel is a Seagull-Pole”

One of the most interesting things about Rome is the usurpation of ancient monuments by Mother Church .. everywhere you look, you see Imperial Roman artifacts taken over by a later empire – the Catholic Church.

For example, the Castel Sant’Angelo was a defensible home for popes .. attached to the Vatican by the Passetto di Borgo, an 800m elevated walkway.

The Castel began its life as Hadrian’s Mausoleum – and was used as the reliquary for  the ashes of succeeding emperors for nearly a century.

By 400 AD it had been converted to a military citadel, and then parts of it were used to beautify Saint Peter’s Basilica.

Around the 14th century, the popes converted the structure into a castle – part of an ongoing plan to convert ‘pagan’ worship sites into something more suited to their needs.

And statues of angels were added – not just to the Castel, but to scores and scores of other buildings around Rome.

In fact, there are so many angels it is enough to give a Doctor Who fan the shivers 🙂

Like these two.

But I like to think that the seagull sitting on the head of one statue here has the right idea: no matter what changes are made to the Eternal City, it remains .. eternal!