The Vatican

After another perfect dinner near the Pantheon at Osteria da Mario (I had brushetta and pesto gnocci... delicious), we were well rested for our day at the Vatican on Saturday.

Kara, Kristie, and I were on our own today because Sam and Laura took a trip to Pompeii. We managed to get past all the tour guides outside the Vatican, each saying "Vaticano tours in English?" "Laides, do you speak English?" It is pretty funny. We obviously scream American. We had a funny encounter with an Australian tour guide. We were saying "No, No, No thank you" as we looked at our map for the shopping areas. The guy said "Okay at least let me give you directions." So I pointed to the place we wanted to go. He says in a thick Australian accent, "Oh bloody ell, Ladies. Do you want to go shopping? It right ther." We smiled and peaced out. So that morning, it was shopping shopping shopping on the streets near the Vatican. The stores were adorable! A lot of cute boutiques mixed with larger chain stores.

We got in line for the Vatican Museum with Kara as tour guide in the scorching heat. Thankfully the line moved pretty fast. The Museum is connect to Sistine Chapel and St. Peters so we started there. My favorite statues were High Priest of Troy, Hercules, and Hera. Then we walked into the tapestry room where there was an amazing tapestry of the Resurrection. The people around Jesus are depicted in complete awe and bewilderment. It is remarkable that a woven tapestry can capture such vivid emotion. On to the "Map Room" and into the Room of Constantine which was painted floor to ceiling in a timeline of Roman religion. Ending of course with the legalization of Christianity in the 4th century. My all time favorite was Raphael's The School of Athens. Honestly, I did not even know that it was in the Vatican. I was pleasantly surprised! It is just a great as in the text books. I love it!!

The Sistine Chapel was of course breath-taking. Between the crowd squeezing past each other and the guards shouting, "Shhhhh. Silencio!!" the room was fantastic. I recalled the movie Angels and Demons and the many popes who have been chosen there. How different it must be without a crowd? Simply the striking holy place that it is. I can only dream. We managed to sneak into a passageway that connects the Sistine Chapel to St. Peter's, and on our way we got to see the Swiss Guard practicing. It was very cool! St. Peter's was also beautiful. We took a photo touching Peter's foot (such a tradition that the statue's foot is worn down. It doesn't particularly give you luck or anything. People just do it.) We also saw Peter's tomb, the central point of the church. We didn't attend a mass as originally planned. Surprisingly there were not many rows of pews, and we were quite early. I'm not sure how it even works...maybe people just line up. Anyhow, no mass. We then saw the outside of St. Peter's where the pope comes out every Wednesday. It looks like a concert is going to happen: hundreds of chairs, a stage, and microphone equipment. Very interesting stuff.

Next, we grabbed gelato and crossed the Tiber River to St. Angelo Castle Fortress. Many years ago, the pope would go here when the Vatican was under attack. Outside the fortress is a picturesque bridge (quite famous) with angel statues... each depicting a part of the Crucifixion. We took a nice little break there.

More shopping and two dresses later, we enjoyed a glass of wine in the People's Plaza before eating dinner at Ristorante il Gabriello near the Spanish Steps. Again, no surprise, it was perfect. Italy is almost worth the trip just for the food. Add the world renown sights and you have the best travel place on earth. The people are so nice and helpful. It's just wonderful.