Roma Day Three!

Today we woke up early…everyday feels too early here. Breakfast consisted of weird white stuff that resembled cream cheese and yogurt but was super thick, bitter and creamy. Weird anyway first thing we did was the Vatican! We met outside and got our headsets from our awesome tour guide, Antanella. We went directly inside….cut all the long lines, this is where it totally pays off to have a tour guide…no joke. We started by touring a little bit of the garden area and had a great view of the dome from across Vatican City. We went through the tapestries and sculpture that the Vatican has found over time and construction. There were some really amazing things from Antiquity. There is a large courtyard right next to the main entrance and there is a giant Pine cone statue that is literally like 15 feet tall…thus it is call the pinecone courtyard… SO original. After a mile long walk through the tapestries and antiquities no joke it really is a mile it was time for a potty break. After a break I walked up the stairs and walked into the Sistine Chapel. The Sistine chapel is a chapel in Vatican City that was built by Pope Sixtus….which is also where it gets its name from. Pope Julius the 2^nd commissioned Michelangelo to sculpt 40 to 50 statues for his tomb. Along the way he changed his mind and decided on the Sistine chapel. Let me tell you, it was well worth it. From the creation to the Judgment every single detail is seen from very far below. As I sat and looked up at something that is so important and stands for so much, I could not help but shed a few tears to be in the reality of actually witnessing it for myself. It was exquisite and there is a reverence there in respect of its grandeur and Michelangelo himself. The amount of work put into it and the amount of dedication it would take brings the weight of its cost to mind and you sit and admire something you never expect to see in your life. Sistine Chapel is a must see and should be on top of anyone’s life long to do list.

After the Sistine we continued on to St. Peters. The Basilica itself is built over the remains of St. Peters body. The entire place is of magnificent proportions. You don’t realize how big everything is until you are right up next to it….if you need to feel humble and small go there…its works. This is exactly what was counted on when building St. Peters Basilica. Humble you into repentance in the sight of god. Everywhere you look youya re surrounded by marble and mosaic. Not one thing in the basilica is painted. The works of ar ton the walls all appear to be fresco or oainting but they are mosaic. Teeny tiny pieces of marble the size of your pinky nail. It was exquisite and the detail was incredible. You would never enve guess.As you move to the center of the basilica there is a canopy over the alter built by Bernini. It is so high and covered in the family crest of the Pope who commissioned it….Bumble Bees. The Sheer magnitude of the building is uncomprehensible until you climb the dome. Hundreds and Hundreds of stairs up to the top where you have the best view of rome thanks to the best work out of your life since your daily ingestion of Gelato. There are angels that look only inche big until you are walking around the cinter of the dome and you see that they are 9 feet tall. And their foot is the size of your upper body. SO HUGE! I cannot imagine the man power and money it would take to accomplish something like this. We saw the dead body in a clear coffin of man from the 1700’s who is being canonized. I gues he was a cardinal and performed three miracles that cannot be deined by science and so he had on a funereary mask and you saw the outfit he was wearing hundreds of years ago… I gues this is a normal thing to display this embalmed body but serious….I would much rather see Light blue textured wall paper on the walls of my church than a preserved body from 400 years earlier.

I have to say though my very favorite part of St. Peters Basilica was the Pieta. She was beautiful. Michelangelo created the Pieta when he was just 22 years of age and it was something he carried with him his entire life. He created three more Pietas all more different than the next but the first was his masterpiece. The Beauty of the Marble and the way light glides over the smooth perfect surface, it makes you feel like light was created just for this piece. Just to envelope Mary and Her Savior in their moment. The look on the face of Mary is one that only a master could do. It seems to communicate something different to each person who gazes on her face. To me it was peace and knowing. Knowing what the crucifixion of her son meant and the weight of what had just taken place. Christ’s body is laid in a slump, and is twisted at the torso hinting at the torment and grief just before giving up the ghost. As a tourist you feel unarmed and stripped when you visit the Pieta, but the tears that stream down your face are not uncommon and understood by those around you.

After we had climbed into the guts of St. Peters and had studied it through and through we ventured into the square to take pictures of us jumping for joy at the sight of the Vatican. The square is so much fun as long as you watch for creepy meant hat like to say things to you in Italian that you don’t have to understand the language to know it’s not nice or respectful. What’s next on the agenda? Well the Pantheon of course. But how do you get there? Well if you are our little group of Type A women you all have your idea of what’s better and where to go. Needless to say after three train rides, lots of walking, getting lost, talking to a polizia, walked even further, had a little tension moment, and chaffage from the hot walking we finally made it. It was worth it. We walked in, we took great photos, we sat on the freezing cold marble to cool ourselves until we were yelled at to get up and then we left. Now I don’t want to play down the awesomeness of the Pantheon, but as you can imagine….the getting lost thing really down played the grandeur. A little info about it perhaps? The pantheon is the oldest standing roof to date, it is 11 feet thick at the thinnest part. It is all concrete, and the oculus in the center is 29 feet wide. It is wide as it is tall and therefore can fit a perfect sphere from ceiling to floor. There is a great little Piazza in front and you can see the giant holes in the Portico which is architecture talk for the porch. The holes are form what used to be encased in Bronze until it was removed to be put in the Vatican. Pretty shady if you ask me. Green design is obviously not a new idea. There is a great gelato place right there and they have an awesome tiramisu flavor, if you have the means I highly recommend picking one up, it is so choice.

We finished up our day by entertaining the Shower head to clean the sticky feeling off our skin. Getting dressed up a little fancy and took the shuttle back into town….(It’d be nice if you could pull me into town) and eating for the last time at our favorite little Restaurant, Falcone. It was really good. I had a great dish of Ricotta and Spinach Tortellini with a Meat Bolognese. It was so divine! We finished up the evening by Grappa on the house…which would have been great except that its alcohol and we are not so much into that…..the nice silver haired foxy waiter was just trying to be nice. Thus the only conclusion was to dump them into our already empty coca cola light cans. We did this in the most unsmooth way possible. It was great. I also made Ashley drink like three, she said it was super strong and super hard….OOPS! The End of another great and jam packed day.