Vatican City and Rome Night Stroll

August 11
Today, we ventured to Vatican City including the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica. We had received mixed advice on the best time of day to go to avoid long lines into the Museum but went with our Rick Steve's guide book and landed there just after lunch. We were fortunate to be able to walk right into the museum and start the tour. We weren't aware that they funnel you through whole Vatican Museum before the Sistine Chapel grand finale.



We then spent almost 2 hours in the Chapel alone, taking in the extraordinary frescoes from Michelangelo, Botticelli, and many other famous Italian artists. Sistine Chapel is the sacred space where Popes are elected (4 elections a day –2 in the morning and 2 at night until a 2/3 +1 vote agree on a final pick). Black smoke means no winner; white smoke means a new Pope has been chosen. Parker and Kelsey's favorite was Michelangelo's Last Judgment which appears as if in 3D. Michelangelo's famous ceiling paintings depict the Bible from the creation of man to original sin to the flood to Noah's death. Juxtaposed on the long side walls are the stories of Jesus vs. Moses demonstrating the parallel between Old and New Testament. It's a fascinating place and one where we took the opportunity to teach Colin and Kelsey about Christian stories.



After the 4 hour tour through the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel, we rejuvenated in the courtyard with a picnic-on-the-sly and quenched our thirst with the cold water from the aqueduct fountain. These fountains are scattered throughout Rome and are powered by a fresh water aqueduct under the city that was built hundreds of years ago. They provided a welcome reprieve from the oppressive summer Roman heat. Colin may have been the biggest fan and regularly sought out the aqueducts to refill water bottles, rinse hands, or drench a whole t-shirt in the cool water.

Don't mess with these tigers guarding the Vatican; their stripes will get you


Following our break, we meandered over to St. Peter's Basilica which demonstrates the extreme wealth of the Church and Popes throughout the centuries.










Can you hear the angels singing?










It's a magnificent, lavish, gold laden site and home to Michelangelo's Pieta (sits behind bulletproof glass). The ornamental cherubs in the church would dwarf a small man.

Sweet children after 5 hours in the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's Church





Since we were only spending 2 full days in Rome, we wanted to make the most of our days and decided to replenish our blood sugar with a little gelato (notice a recurring theme here) and then we took on a walking tour recommended by our tour book. We started at Campo di Fiori marked by the statue of Giordano Bruno, an intellectual heretic who was burned on the spot in 1600. Fiori is one of many piazzas or plazas that epitomizes Italy in the American mind with an open, stone street center surrounded by cafes and colorful, old buildings.

We continued our stroll to Piazza de Navona which was filled with artists, a lively social scene, musicians and activities. After much deliberation, we commissioned two of the local sketch artists to do a caricature of Colin and a portrait of Kelsey.




Other than the eyes, Kelsey's picture had a strong likeness while Colin's looked nothing like him (I was asked not to post the finished product).




August 11, 2010 – from Colin

Today we went to the Sistine Chapel. It was amazing. We also ate some yummy gelato. We went around exploring the city before a good dinner. Before the Sistine Chapel, we went through the Vatican Museum and had an audio tour, which was very helpful and gave us some interesting information on all the things we were seeing. It was cool how they fixed all the broken pieces of the sculptures and the difference between the new pieces and the original parts. There was a huge difference! Tomorrow, we are probably going to the Coliseum!



From Kelsey
Hi! We were at the Sistine Chapel. It was pretty cool although very crowded and remarkably quiet. Before the Chapel, we saw many statues of the Vatican Museum (or Museo).