Take Me Down To Vatican City

Today we met Giovani at the Vatican Cafe, which is directly across the street from the entrance to the Vatican Museum.  One of the lessons learned today is that buying anything near the Vatican will cost you significantly more money.  Therefore we will not be having any more meals over there.  Once we managed to figure out the bill, we headed over to start our tour at the Vatican Museum.

We began in the Vatican museum, went through the gallery, followed by the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peters Basilica.  We learned how to tell the difference between Greek and Roman sculptures.  Just so you know, Greek statues are always very symmetrical and Roman statues portray the individual as they actually looked.  Below are some pictures from the museum and the gallery.

The picture below is of us standing next to one of the bathtubs that was used by the royal family.  Yes, we all could have fit into it.

This next picture is of the sculpture of Laocoön and his sons.  Laocoön is the priest who warned the Trojans to not take in the wooden horse left by the Greeks.  Supposedly Athena and Poseiden, who wanted the Greeks to win, sent down two serpents to wrap themselves around Lacoon and also his sons to kill them.  This is what is being depicted in the sculpture.

There are so many sculptures within the Vatican that they literally have no where to put them. Giovani has told them that he is more than happy to display them in his home for them, but they always say no. You can't blame a guy for trying.

We then went to the Sistine Chapel.  It is stunning and it was packed.  I have to say you get a little dizzy looking straight up for a while, but actually seeing all of the frescos at one time is incredible. It is amazing to me that a story can be told merely from a picture and in this case, both the old and new testaments are so clearly depicted.  No pictures can be taken in the Sistine Chapel.  Sorry Jace, if I could have I would have taken them, just for you.

We moved on to St. Peters Basilica.  I will admit, I didn't know what to expect.  Some girls may have shed a few tears while we were in the Basilica.  In these next two pictures I'm trying to show how deep and tall the Basilica is inside.  The orange light in the middle of the picture is the far wall behind the altar where the Pope would preside over mass.

Michelangelo's Pietàsculpture of Mary holding Jesus after he was crucified is truly beautiful.  It is now displayed behind bullet proof glass to protect it from people who may wish to damage it.  This piece was done in 4 years by Michelangelo and made out of one single piece of granite.  There are many replicas of this sculpture that have tears running down Mary's face, but in this original one her face has no tears as she knows she will see her son again.

This door is known as the Holy Door and is only opened during the Jubilee years, which I think are every 25 years or so, but I may be completely wrong about that fact. It is open for the entire year of the Jubilee and we were told that over 40 million people passed through it during the last Jubilee.

This is the sculpture of St. Peter.  You are allowed to walk by and either kiss or touch his feet.  His right foot has been worn smooth and no longer has toes defined on it from all of the people who have done this over the years.

This is the outside of the Basilica.

This is a picture of just one section of the wall that surrounds Vatican City.

As we were headed back to the apartment we decided to stop at one of the local cafes for a beverage or two as we were all thirsty after the tour.  As usual we got to know some of the people around us, because we are a quiet and shy group of women.

What can I say, just another perfect day in Italy.  As you can see from the pics above, we all still like each other.

Ciao for now...