The Vatican

After Florence and a drive through Tuscany, Theresa and I ended up in Rome to spend a few days. In Rome, there is way too much to see in even a week. We split it up into our Vatican time and our Roman time. The Vatican time was spent in the Vatican Museum and Saint Peter's Basilica. The Roman time was spent in the more ancient parts of the city.

If you want to go to Rome, I strongly recommend November as a time to visit. The crowds are not nearly as large as during the peak summer season. We had heard horror stories about 2 hour lines to enter the Vatican Museum in June. In November, we walked right in with no waiting. And though you take your chances, the weather can be very good - up in the 70s for our visit. Anyways, the intro picture is of Saint Peter's Square taken from the cupola of Saint Peter's Basilica. The cupola, or dome, was designed by Michelangelo. Michelangelo, though surely a genius, had the benefit to pattern his dome after the one built in Florence by Brunelleschi some 150 years earlier. You can climb to the top of the cupola. (Shown above from the inside.) If you take the elevator you can bypass the first 250 or so steps to get to the top of the drum. From there, it is another 390 steps to the top of the dome. The stairways run in the hollow space between the inner dome and the outer shell. At times, you have to kink your body sideways because of the curvature of the walls. But when you get to the top, the view is worth the heart-attack-inducing-climb....as shown by the opening photo.

Here are a few other photos..... Above, one of the statues that sits atop the columns in Saint Peter's Square. They stand guard over the square, looking down at the tourists from atop the colonades.A view down the main aisle of Saint Peter's Basilica with Bernini's canopy in the center.A confessional in Saint Peter's. Outstanding wood and carpentry. The sign says "Italiano", whch means only the locals get to use this one (or those who speak the local language). A couple of Swiss Guards posing in their pajamas outside the Basilica.This is a statue of Saint Peter, who is believed to be buried beneath the high altar. It is considered good luck to rub the feet of the statue. Though difficult to see, the feet have been worn away by the countless touches that have occured over the years.

Above is Michelangelo's Pieta, which is displayed to just to the right as you enter the basilica. When you view this sculpture, you can feel in your bones that this is a masterpiece. It makes your blood warm. There is pain and suffering carved into the stone. But at the same time there is peace and beauty and faith. Michelangelo carved it when he was 22 or 23 years old.

Theresa and I have seen a lot of churches this past year....A LOT of old churches....cathedrals and stuff. Nothing we have seen measures up to Saint Peter's. Saint Peter's is bigger and taller and more richly decorated and more rich in history than all others. And that is the part above ground level. If you go to the crypt, you can visit the tombs of popes ranging from Saint Peter to John Paul II. Linus and Cletus and Clement and Sixtus....all the old ones.

Now for my Sistine Chapel picture. Almost everywhere you go in the Vatican....whether in the museum or in Saint Peter's...you are allowed to take pictures. Except when you go into the Sistine Chapel. In the Sistine Chapel, you are not supposed to take pictures. The security guys are constantly walking around hissing "no photo...no photo"....Of course, everyone sneaks one. Mine is below. As you can see, it is blurry. My guess is that 99 percent of the illicit photos taken in the Sistine Chapel are blurry just like this one.