Awestruck in Vatican City
Trip Start
Jun 15, 2007
1
21
36
Trip End
Aug 13, 2007
Vatican City,
Italy
Saturday, July 14, 2007
We first went into the Basilica and marvelled at the statues, paintings, and finally the Apostle Peter's tomb, whom the Basilica is named after. The inside of the Basilica is even more impressive than the outside, with almost every square inch covered by murals, statues, tapestries and mosaics. As with many other places we have visited, the amount of history enclosed in the building was overwhelming.
From there, we went to seek out the Sistine Chapel. It took us awhile to get to the building in which the chapel is located, but it took us even longer to reach the actual chapel once inside! It was hard not to get sidetracked along the way, as each hallway is filled with old, marble statues and other art, and there are several exhibits to see as well (we cruised through an Egyptian one, and one filled with ancient animal statues). When we finally did reach the chapel we were both awed into silence (okay, we were forced into silence by the guards, who am I kidding?). The famous walls and ceiling painted by Michelangelo can never be done justice by postcards and photos. First of all, the room is massive (about 40m x 14m, with a hieght of over 20m!).The paintings adorning the walls and ceiling are so intricate that it is obvious even to a casual onlooker that Michelangelo spent many years of his life working to complete this famous chapel. To say that we were completely blown away is probably an understatement. We probably could have sat there for hours and still not have been able to focus on everything that was in front of us!
That evening was largely spent on the terrace on top of our building. From there we had an awesome panoramic view of Rome, and we sat sipping wine and watching the city change colours as the sun set.
Today we had allotted as a free day - a rare occurrance on this trip! We got a late start, ran some errands, then sought out the Pantheon (our only real goal for the day). The Pantheon is another very old structure, rebuilt in 125 AD after the original was destroyed in a fire. It was built as a temple to the Roman dieties, but is now used as a Christian church. After studying ancient mythology for the past year, we were both excited to see it. However, when we arrived, we were disappointed to find that there was a service in session, which unfortunately meant that we would not be able to go inside.
From there, we went to Piazza Navona, the square where we had eaten dinner on our first night in Roma. We sat and listened to some street performers, enjoying the live music, before we had to make our final walk back to the hotel.
