Roma - Part 3 Continued

After leaving the museum, Kat and I made our way around to Piazza di San Pietro, or St. Peter's Square. Funny how they name things that aren't square in shape... squares. Of course when something is this beautiful, you can call it whatever you want as far as I'm concerned.
This is the Piazza taken from the cupola or top of the dome... at least what is accesible to the public. But how did we get there?

Here it goes....

Kat and I wander the Piazza. It's ridiculously hot and humid, so we change out of our warm clothing that covers us from below our knees to our shoulders. She gets asked by other tourists to take their picture in front of one of the fountains. The two fountains sit on either side of the obelisk in the center. You can just barely see them in the shot above.

The Piazza is, to return to a word I used earlier, ginormous. Of course, that means I couldn't fit it all in a single shot.

And clearly neither could Kat. So instead of attempting something futile, I just took a video. And don't worry, I don't think this one will make you nauseous.

Now that the layout makes much more sense, I'll continue. The fountains, although simple, are beautiful and very fitting. And the obelisk... eh. It's all right. People in Europe seem to be big fans of these things. It has a few details. An eagle carrying an olive branch? Sounds familiar. I'm not actually sure if that is an eagle or a hawk. Maybe you can tell.So we had some fun in the square and waited for the rest of the crew to show up. And then we really had some fun. Antony took his usual "running man" pose with Jen as his official photographer. I managed to catch a different view of the scene.

Of course, we had some posing. And this is where the blog becomes interactive. That's right, it's time for some reader interaction. You get to pose with me. Ready? Go

Quick, make like an obelisk!

Make like a basilica!And reader interaction over. Yes, that was me being a total goof ball I was having fun, what can I say. Thank you to Jen for the photography.

But Antony was confused by our little game. Come on Antony, make like a basilica!There you go... kind of.

And then to accompany the posing we had some splashing. Those fountains are certainly versatile. Sarika and Venice pose some more, Antony sets up...Antony strikes! And you can see the reaction all over Sarika's face.

Eventually after more hijinks and posing, we begin to consider actually going inside St. Peter's Basilica. As we get closer we realize that going inside means puting back on all that warm, oppressive clothing. Did I mention it's close to 100 degrees outside? But according to the sign, one legged individuals and people without pants and sleeves are not allowed. See, look! So we debate. Well, some of us do, but Trevor is not missing this opportunity. The rated PG quote would be "I'm going whether you idiots are coming or not." And Trevor begins to dress in the middle of the square. His dressing is somehow enough to convince the rest of us that we should go inside. Only Cristina decides not to enter the basilica and she moves to the rim of the square to relax with our bags.

We go inside and I what I see literally takes my breath away. I mean I'd already seen a few churches, and there were plenty more to follow in later trips, but this was really something.

Immediately off to the right between the Holy door and the altar of Saint Sebastian is the Michelangelo's Pieta. Because of a guy who decided to attack the sculpture with a chisel in 1972, it's protected by a sheet of bullet proof acrylic glass. A hand rail also prevents how close you can get to the piece. Sadness. For a complete layout... at least of the main hall of the interior, see the video below. I just hope you're good at looking at things upside down.


And now that Kat wants to wring my neck....

Here we have Bernini's canopy. As you can see, the low light conditions made things a little difficult for my baby Canon. I used a makeshift tripod, hence the blurred movement. We also have Bernini's Cathedra Petri and Gloria. I'm not really sure which is which.Honestly, there are so many things that we didn't see. For instance, we didn't go into the Tomb of the Popes. I know there was probably a lot of history down there, and I'm pretty sure Trevor ventured there, but dead people just aren't my thing. And I say that as respectfully as possible.

Eventually we all meet up and we decide to climb the stairs up to the cupola, the dome of the Basilica. We had the option of taking the lift part way and climbing the rest, or just taking the stairs. The lift cost money, money we decided we didn't want to spend. Had we taken the lift we would have only had to climb 320 stairs. Since we didn't take the lift, it was more like 580. Talk about the cost you pay to be cheap. The good news is, I could eat all the yummy carb filled Italian food I wanted to, and after the climb we had it wouldn't have mattered.

Antony maintains we'll be fine, so long as we stretch first... and he decides to present us with an example.After a good laugh we start to climb. And we continue climbing. We eventually pass the lift, and we keep going. Shortly after the lift we reach what I would consider to be the roof, at least the flat part of the roof upon which the dome appears to sit. It also has several mini domes and a shop filled with trinkets. I bought my St. Peter's Basilica shot glass from a nun. I love it...That's the shop off to the left.

Also great about this little stop is the fact that you can walk inside the dome and look down into the Basilica. The view is amazing.

Look at the way light streams in...Looking straight ahead, here are some of the details of the dome. It's not centered, and the contrast is a little harsh, but you get the idea.After our little picture section, we return to climbing. As you get higher into the dome, the walls begin to curve. Of course as you continue to climb, the walls curve more, and I seem to recall the roof becoming lower as well. Here is a mild example of the curving walls.We finally reach the top. I mean why start, get half way, and quit. I don't think we could have if we wanted to. Going back down meant a different set of stairs. But we'll get there. The view was worth the climb, I think it's the most impressive view of Rome. For example, the picture that opened this entry wouldn't have been possible if not for the climb. And now for some more of the view.

Here is the view into the Vatican Museum that was covered in the last entry. If you're able to open the full sized image, you can actually see the golden orb I was so obsessed with.

You could also see parts of Vatican City that are not open to the public. And this is why I want to be pen pals with the Pope.Look at those manicured gardens! The greenery, the hedges. I haven't even gotten to the flowers or the fountains. And if you look closely at the top right corner you can see the walls that separate Vatican City from surrounding Rome. I acutally wanted to be the Pope, but Kat reminded me that not only am I a woman, I'm also not Catholic. Still... I wouldn't mind having that space to myself.

While capturing the some of the shots above, Jen thought it'd be a good idea to take a shot of me hard at work!For more of the view, check this out. It even comes with it's own authentic Italian ambulence sound. It might be the police, I don't remember.

Eventually we made our descent back down the 500 some odd stairs. I think we avoided it as long as possible, but we didn't want to miss our train to Venice, and we were all pretty tired. The stairwell we had to take back down was very steep, with large, smooth steps. Jen and I were sliding all over the place in our flip flops and were holding onto the hand rails for dear life.

We make it back to terra firma and find Christina, sitting comfortably at the edge of the square before heading off to the train station to travel to Venice over night. I mean why pay for both a hotel and a train when you can save time and travel at night, right?

The train station is pretty cool. It still has one of the old fashioned types of arrival and depature boards, where the numbers and letters actually flip. Who needs electronics and flat screen panels when you can have that? I'm going to be honest, we were a little mesmerized. And then it was no longer entertaining.

We picked up some food at a local mini mart and ate our customary McDonalds. It's the only restaurant that is everywhere in Europe.

And we sat, all looking forward to boarding the train and having a comfortable, restful evening. All I can say is this is our messy trip to Italy... we should have known better.

Roma - Part 3

Here it is, the Vatican...

Day 3 is our last day in Rome. We have to make it to the Vatican, and make it there early, or we're not going to get in, and we're not going to get to see it. I mean sure we would be able to see St. Peter's Basilica, but we wouln't get into the Vatican Museum, and that would mean no Sistine Chapel.

Had that happened, Trevor might have killed us all. Or he would have left without us, I'm not sure which. Perhaps the latter followed by the former?

But here's the catch... it's our last day in Rome. We're leaving for Venice that night, and we don't exactly have a rental car or place to keep our luggage. So, like the day I spent wandering through Madrid, we're packing all our stuff with us. Can you sense the enthusiasm?

Thankfully, must of us got up early and made our way to the Vatican. We met up at our hotel and hopped on the metro, and I'm pretty sure we had to transfer before getting off at the Cipro Musei Vaticani stop.

We practically ran to get in line, behind Jen our fearless leader who knew where she was going. We got there quick... but someone had started a second line going the wrong direction and unfortunately, we ended up in it. We'd been in line for almost 30 minutes before someone was kind enough to move us.

And this would be the line going the wrong direction. The correct line wrapped all the way around the other side of the museum.

While in line, we were cooking in the sun. A few nearby vendors were selling frozen water bottles, and I'm pretty sure they made a killing. The last few members of our group who didn't make it to our hotel before we left met us in line. Within a few hours, we were finally inside.

I have to admit, outside the wall it doesn't look like much, but the second you step inside the museum you are quite literally overwhelmed. It is beautiful. And the best part... they have a FREE baggage check. I officially love the Vatican. In fact, as we'll see later, I want to be pen pals with the Pope.
We check our bags, go through security, and buy our tickets for entry at the our "reduced" student rate. I wanted to see the orb representing the world in the center of the courtyard so as soon as we could figure out the maps we grabbed, we made our way there.

Then there was some shopping, and by that I mean Christina spent quite a few Euros on various things in the courtyard gift shop. And then we wandered the halls. I have never seen so many sculptures in one place, and I reached the point where I needed an art historian to explain to me just what I was looking at. For example we have...

Conjoined armless twins standing next to the bust of a man who looks quite bewildered. Due to the low light conditions, the shot was a little blurry, so I took some artistic liberties. Amazing how sharpening an image and applying a canvas texture makes it look like it might actually be in focus. Ha!

Me actually wandering the halls. Can't blame me for the blur in this one. But it does a wonderful job of showing how many sculptures lined the walls. And that's just one hallway. The longer skirt and cardigan draped over my shoulders in spite of the heat is an attempt to follow the Vatican dress code. I should have snapped the picture of the girl in the crop top and short shorts, but oh well. Back to the hallways...

See, here's another one... complete with Christina.And what was in that hallway do you ask? How about...

Agustus of Prima Porta... or

Zeus! I think. Wait... Zeus was Greek. Ummm... would it be improper to say a mythical god with his kids? However, my personal favorite has got to be...

The peacock!
A little while later Kat and I were hungry... and I seem to recall being extremely hungy. We made our way to the cafe and I had my first slice of real Italian pizza at the Vatican.

We also made a quick trip to the post office to mail a few postcards from the soverign state of Vatican City. Next time I need to mail one to myself. I want to see the stamp.

Yes, I'm a bit of a nerd sometimes.

We eventually met back up with the rest of our group and took off towards the Sistine Chapel. Honestly, it's amazing to me that anyone can find it. We had to walk through hall after hall, herded like sheep before we finally got to enter. I would show pictures of the various halls and rooms, but let's just say a lot of them look like this...

They're covered in paintings and Frescos or tapestries so old there is very little indirect lighting in the hall. The picture above is the ceiling of the map room. Each space between the windows is painted with a different map, all of them incredibly old and geographically incorrect. If I recall, a few of them even place the Vatican as the "center" if you know what I mean. And now on to the Sistine Chapel, or Capella Sistina for you Italian speaking folks.

Once inside the Chapel, I was rather disappointed in the way tourists are regulated and in the way people behaved. There are several signs stating that there is no photography, no flash photography and no video inside the Chapel at all. The halls leading up to the Chapel were incredibly regulated, you'd have a guard on you the second you snapped a shot. But once you're crammed inside the Chapel, there's just someone shouting at you occasionally from the door. Did I mention it's incredibly crowded? Movement is difficult to say the least, and it's noisy. Vaulted ceilings are perfect for resonating the voices of hundreds of tourists crammed between their four walls. I could see how the view would be a "religious experience" absent the crowd... but the ambiance was litterally destroyed by the number of people there and their lack of respect. I just about bought a poster with a picture of the entire ceiling so that I could properly appreciate it later.

Did I mention that Trevor took a picture?

By the way, still jealous. Just a little. I have no actual proof that I was even there.

Honestly, I didn't want to damage the fresco, I took a movie of the ceiling instead.

Pretty cool, eh? I'm sorry if I made anyone sick. I tried to get as much of the ceiling and walls as possible. I also took two pictures without flash of the most famous scene which sits in the center of the ceiling... the Creation of Adam.

Not bad for a pocket camera, but believe me when I say that I would love to go back with my Canon 30D and a faster, larger lens. One of these days. If you want some better images of the ceiling, you can check out the Vatican website. I've tried linking it, but it's not working. Honestly, I even checked the help page. I can upload a video but not get a link to work? Just Google Vatican Museum or Musei Vaticani and it'll come up. Geez.

Ok, back to the story.

After seeing the Chapel, we basically headed for the exit. To do so we had to walk through a few more halls before making our way to the circular staircase to exit. Of course I find out later that this staircase is world famous. A staircase? Really.

So we left the Vatican Museum and made our way over to Saint Peter's Basilica. To be honest, this post is long enough and it would be wrong of me to write about St. Peter's and not post more pictures. Look for those in Roma - Part 3 Continued...

Roma - Part 2

I'd be lying if I said that Friday morning was Vatican friendly. We knew that in order to make it inside at a decent time and be able to see everything, or to even make it in at all, we'd have to be there early. That being said, early did not happen Friday morning. Much to Trevor's dismay, we just couldn't get up. And then even after we got up, we had problems meeting up. We finally called the other hotel and agreed to meet at the Colosseum. How that was going to work... well, who knew. But we were ready to leave, so off we went.

We hop the metro and get off at the Colosseo stop which just happens to be the stop for the Colosseum. Who'd of thought? Anyway, you walk out from the metro and there it is. It brings new definition to up close and personal. The building is GINORMOUS. And of course, you are immediately mobbed by people trying to sell you a group tour for an extra fee so that you can "skip the line" and get in quicker. I swear we must have had "tourist" written across our foreheads. Anyway...

We consider this option, but first we all need some cash. Plus, we figure there's got to be a better way. We're also missing half our party and don't want to jump into a group tour without all of our group. We wander around the Colosseum to find an ATM and to admire it's enromity from all sides.

After grabbing some euros we walk back towards the main enterance and just happen to run into the rest of our group. Jen busts out the guidebook and we find out that we can buy tickets for the Colosseum at nearby Palatine Hill. What's more, all the people standing in line are just standing in line to buy tickets, not to get in. If we've already got a ticket, we cruise right by them. So we walk to Palatine Hill, buy our tickets that are good for both there and the Colosseum, and we make our way back over to the throng of people. This was definitely an instance of work smarter, not harder... and it was awesome. I can still see all the tourists standing in line nearly dying in the heat. And of course there's their looks that are a cross of admiration and hatred as you walk by them to the enterance.

Did I mention that there is no point showering in Italy in July? There is no point whatsoever. NONE. Sure you're nice and clean inside. But the second you step outside it is so hot and so humid that you sweat straight through your clothing in a matter of minutes. And then, in certain places like say, the Colosseum, or Palatine Hill, or the Roman Forum... you're walking on cobblestones and dirt. Lots of dirt. And it's dry, so it sticks to your sweaty legs and from the knees down you look like you've tanned about 30 shades in a matter of 20 minutes. It sounds funny now, but just wait til it happens to you. You'll want that shower so badly, but you know it'll all go to waste five minutes later.

But back to the Colosseum. I walked inside and basically just stopped. I'd seen pictures before, but no image has ever done it justice. I walked around the outside first before taking the stairs up to the second level.
The stairs to the second level were quite possibly the sketchiest and most difficult stairs I've ever walked in my life. They were huge, and they were angled downward so much so that you felt like you were hiking up a mountain instead of walking up a flight of stairs. Romans must have had calves of steel. They also must have fallen down those stairs a lot... I swore I was going to topple head over feet on the way back down.

Obviously I didn't climb those stairs, but you get the idea.

But the view from the second level made the climb totally worth it. They also had a statue exhibit and another giftshop up there as well.

I'm not sure at what point or why we decided to leave, but we left the Colosseum and went back up to Palatine Hill. We passed the Arch of Constantine as well as saw the Arch of Titus. See... look!

Above, the Arch of Constantine which is closer to the Colosseum. Below is the Arch of Titus which is closer to Palatine Hill and shows the sack of Jerusalem.

We kept walking and eventually were fortunate enough to find a fresh water spring to fill our empty water bottles with. Antony also decided to bathe in it, but we all knew how successful that would be.

The Palatine Hill walk led to the Roman Forum. Unfortunately, by this point numerous people were tired and or hungry, and we rushed through the Forum at an alarming pace. I was rather disappointed... but I did drag my feet enough to get a few shots.

Our walk through the Forum spit us out at the top of Capitoline Hill and into the middle of the Piazza del Campidoglio, complete with equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius.

We walked down the Cordonata and found a place to eat. All I remember is someone ordering straight lemon juice, and everyone deciding they wanted to try it...
After a bit of a break and some more gellato, we retraced our steps from the day before and saw the places Kat and Venise had yet to see. We went from the monument of Victor Emmanuel II to the Pantheon, to the Trevi Fountain, to the Spanish Steps.

Here's a clip: Blame Kat for the above, and below we have the interior of the Pantheon, occulus and all.

And then this is the tomb of Raphael. Yes, the painter.
Moving on to other famous landmarks we have Trevi from the right...

And Trevi from the left... Followed by the infamous coin toss. Our group shot was included in an earlier post, but this one is just too good for me to not throw it in. And this was when we knew it was time to leave.
Basically, we started to take more pictures of each other than we were of the fountain. But isn't it a beautiful candid?

Next stop, Spanish Steps.

Yep, still under construction.

Now, at some point we decided it was getting to be dinner time and we wanted to eat something. But what to eat and where to go?

Leave it to the college kids to come up with a great idea.

"Hey Antony, why don't you spin in circles, and whichever direction you're facing when you stop, that's the way we'll go."

I'm not joking...

Somehow, Antony ended in a fruitless direction so we tried something else. Hey, what about taking a horse drawn carriage to Campo di Fiori since we never made it back the night before. We ask, and the driver gives us some outrageous price like 100€ so we drop that idea and settle for petting the horses instead. Someone was afraid we'd be charged just for touching them, so we kept moving. Jen's handy guidebook told us about the fanciest McDonald's in Italy that was just down the street, where we got gelatto. But we wanted real dinner, so we found a little resturant along one of the nearby alleys.

We sit down, we order... but here comes the fun part. Both Antony and Kat order mimosas. Kat finishes hers rather quickly, and just before she's done, Antony excuses himself to the restroom. Jen decides it would be funny to act like she drank all of Antony's mimosa, so she puts his drink down on the bench next to her, and puts Kat's empty glass on the table in front of his seat. The glass barely hits the table and Antony shows up, but somehow he honestly believes that Jen just downed his drink. It was absolutely hilarious, see for yourself.

Before... And After... We laughed until we cried and our stomachs hurt. It was awesome.

Full from dinner we took off to find a bus stop that would get us all back to our respective hotels. We agreed to meet up early the next morning before heading off to the Vatican. As expected, day 3 was going to be a long one...