I scheduled an Uber to pick us up at 9:00am and take us to Vatican City, as that is where our all-day tour started for Rome Day 2. By 9:05, the Uber app continued to indicate that it was still searching for a ride. So, we bailed on the Uber and managed to find a taxi that would fit all of us.
We met our guide, Eugenia, and our first stop was St. Peter's Basilica. Peter, who was a disciple of Christ, went to Rome at the time of Nero. Nero did not like Christians so he had Peter executed. The basilica was built over Peter's grave, and if you look at the gold globe at the top of the basilica, it is directly above where Peter was buried.
We toured the area around St. Peter's Square and looked through the museums. We had the opportunity to view a replica of the Pietà; a sculpture of the Virgin Mary holding Jesus. It was sculpted by Michelangelo out of a single block of marble and is stunning! We got to see both the replica (which you can see up close) and then later saw the actual sculpture, which is behind bullet-proof glass after being significantly damaged in 1972 by a man with a hammer claiming to be Christ. This is why we can't have nice things! Interesting trivia - the Pietà is the only sculpture that Michelangelo signed!
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| A replica of the Pietà |
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| Michelangelo signing his work - the only piece he ever signed |
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| He's saying, "Excuse me, have you seen my clothes?" |
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| He's saying, "Thank goodness for fig leaves!" |
Next we went to see the Sistine Chapel. The ceiling of the chapel was painted from 1508-1512 by, once again, Michelangelo. Our boy Mike was a busy guy! And, he was also a pretty incredibly talented guy. But he really preferred to do sculptures. Pope Julius II, who was also known as the Warrior Pope, commissioned (ok, let's be real....commanded) Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo did not want to do this, but let's just say that when you're known as the Warrior Pope, you can be pretty persuasive. This was not a pleasant job, as it resulted in neck pains and paint in his eyes. Michelangelo even wrote a poem about this, with which he drew a sketch of himself looking up and painting a funny looking character on the ceiling. It was a full twenty years later that he spent five years working on the altar wall of the chapel
Over time, the Sistine Chapel collected quite a bit of dust and dirt and looked quite dark with muted colors. Historians actually thought these were the colors that Michelangelo used for the chapel. In 1980, a Japanese TV station paid for the restoration of the chapel ceiling and walls. It took four restoration artists 14 years to restore it....five years longer than it took to paint! When they uncovered the real colors, they saw that they were quite vibrant. The line we waited in to see the chapel was absolute madness. It was packed wall-to-wall with people and it was almost 100 degrees in there. Our guide managed to get us past a section by talking to a guard, and that saved us an hour in line. We were not allowed to take pictures in the Sardine Sistine Chapel, as the Japanese TV company has exclusive rights until something like 2035. Crazy! It was really awesome to be in the chapel, and to see The Creation right above us was very moving. Michelangelo's ability to paint in three dimensions was groundbreaking for that time, and even to this day it is magnificent. We were truly blown away by the entire thing.
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| Line to the Sistine Chapel - birds-eye view. Or, my-eye view. Whatever. |
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| Amazing tapestries which were woven in the 1500s. It took a full year to weave one square meter! (that's 9 sq ft, or 3 ft by 3 ft for you non-metric, non-geometric folks) |
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| More lines. More craziness! |
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| "Excuse me, which way to the Sistine Chapel?" |
After being in the line that rivals 100 Disneyland lines, we wondered, "How can we escape all of these people?" Ah, I know, let's climb the steps of St. Peter's dome on one of the hottest days of the year when Europe is having a heat wave! No line whatsoever. And we paid for the privilege. The heat is obviously making us crazy! We then spent some time inside St. Peter's, which was really beautiful and amazing. This is where we saw the actual Pietà, which was breathtakingly beautiful.
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| "Aw man, mom made us twinsies again! I hate when she does that!" |
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| A view from above...we got this shot from our first stop up the stairs to the dome. The next stop up the stairs was outside the dome. |
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| The mosaics were truly stunning!! |
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| We made it....with smiles! |
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| More smiles. Such troopers! |
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| St. Peter's Square from the top of the dome |
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| Miniature Town - St. Peter's Square! |
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| Narrow stairwell going down from the dome. |
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| The original Pietà behind bullet-proof glass |
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| Unbelievable detail |
We then walked around St. Peter's Square, saw the columns designed by Bernini, and filled up our water bottles for the 10th time. We still had not had lunch and it was past 2pm (our girls are such troopers!) So, we grabbed a quick bite.
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| Birra More....sure, I'll have more birra! (not sure why we didn't take pics of food?!) |
After lunch we headed over to Castel Sant'Angelo, which overlooks the Tiber River. We saw the Ponte Sant'Angelo (remember, the bridge that was supposed to be the destination for the angels that ended up in Sant'Andrea delle Fratte because Pope Clemente IX liked them so much??) This bridge connects the castle to Rome. The castle was originally built as a tomb but was later converted to the residence of the popes in order to protect them. It is now a museum. We climbed more steps (yes, we are gluttons for punishment, but also we have to work off the pasta and gelato!) and went to the top where there are stunning views of the city.
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| Miniature Town - Vatican City! |
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| Ponte Sant'Angelo |
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| You can never have too many cannonballs. Well, ok, maybe this is too many in 2019. |
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| Super cool tunnel in the castle. |
On the way out of the castle, there was a Bvlgari exhibit of some amazing jewelry worn by Elizabeth Taylor and other famous people. You know how, when you exit a ride at Disneyland or a museum, they spit you out into the gift shop? I spent quite a bit of time trying to convince Sherri that this was not a gift shop and that we were not going to get any souvenirs here. She asked about 10 times. Elizabeth's brooch alone is worth $7M!
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| No, Sherri, we are not buying this. |
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| No, Sherri, we are not buying this either. |
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| Or this one. |
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| Nope, not this either. |
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| Uh uh. |
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| Non comprare questo. |
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| Ok, we'll buy this. Psyche! |
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| Nope. |
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| ..... |
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| And....nope. |
The guide recommended a great gelato shop and we parted ways with her. We took our gelato to Piazza Navona and ate it while listening to some live music and enjoying the sites and the people. Another very busy but very productive day!
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| The girls with our guide, Eugenia |
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| Ashley collects rubber ducks, and on our walk to dinner we found an entire store of just rubber ducks!! |
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| The girls in front of our apartment (the brown door on the right). Really fun place to stay! |
