Lets just start out this blog by saying thank you to Sam!!! Our sim card got corrupted the day we visited the Vatican so sam let us user her iPhone for photos. We owe her big time, love you Sam!
We woke up, went to class and then headed out on the metro for the Vatican. We had booked a tour online so that we could better understand everything we were seeing. It was time for some food so we stopped into a local salad place, where they custom made salads for each of us with fresh ingredients. It was the first healthy meal we've had the whole trip, and it felt great to eat some real food. Then we met up with our tour and headed into the Vatican museums:
We walked up some stairs then through security and into the actual museums. At the top of the stairs we stopped to count everyone and make sure we were situated. This is the only spot where you could see the whole dome of St. Peter's Basilica so we took a photo:
The first courtyard that the guide, Pricilla, showed us had some contemporary and ancient art in it. Unfortunately I don't remember who created these pieces but I've got some pictures to show you:
Pricilla sat us down in the shade of the courtyard and taught us about the Sistine Chapel. While inside the chapel you must be silent so she pulled out some pictures and taught us about the art we would see there. Then we headed into the ancient roman area of the museum.
These are some of the statues in the ancient roman area (notice the top right photo, all statues used to have eyeballs but may break over time):
These pieces were created when the ancient Romans conquered Egypt and copied their traditional art:
Then we transitioned into a gallery full of tapestries, we don't have too many photos of this area but it was neat to see some of the tapestries that created optical illusions. It seemed like the eyes of the people in the tapestries followed you:
Through out the whole museum the ceilings were works of art on their own, Some in 3 dimensions other just painted to look 3-d. They were all ornate and stunning:
The final section was full of maps frescoed into the walls. Each different region of Italy had a map and at the end of the corridor was a map of all of Italy. The impressive thing about this is that it was created by calculations not satellite imaging. So, someone mapped out the topography with just their brain and some paper.
This is a map of Venice, you can see the topography in the background:
Next it was time for the Sistine Chapel! Unfortunately photography is forbidden so I don't have anything to show you. We admired Michael Angelo's stunning work on the ceiling and the other artists frescos on the walls. After leaving the chapel we snapped a photo of the stairs diplomats use to have an audience with the Pope. The chapel is on the left side of the stairs and meeting room at the end of the hall:
Next we headed over to St. Peter's Basilica! This was, in my opinion, the best part of the tour. We walked in and the sun was streaming through the windows in rays and you could hear a choir singing. It felt like angels were all around us. Pricilla told us the history of the basilica then let us wander around to pray and take it all in for ourselves. I can't really describe the size of the basilica because the proportions make it seem small, you will just have to come see for yourself:
Absolutely breathtaking:
We headed back outside and into St. Peter's Square:
Couldn't help but take a photo of the Swiss Guard in full uniform:
We walked through the gift shop, sent a few postcards home from Vatican City, then went to explore the square. I loved how if you stood in the right spot the pillars all lined up! (can you tell that there are 3 different 'layers' of pillars?)
Sam got this wonderful Panoramic shot of St. Peter's Square:
After exiting Vatican City, we found a Sicilian pizza place near by and grabbed dinner. Then headed back to the hotel (after stoping off by the Spanish steps to get some more tiramisu). It was getting late and we had an early train to catch in the morning!
Prepare for our day in Florence tomorrow (:
<3 Morg
No comments:
Post a Comment