Day 2 - Vatican City

Sensory overload. That's all I can say about yesterday. Wow!

We woke up at 3:30AM with a severe case of jet-lag and were ready to go. What do you do in a foreign city at 3:30 in the morning when you're wide awake? You turn on the TV! I'm surfing through the channels trying to find some English language station when what should I stumble upon? Vintage Italian porn on regular TV. Quite entertaining, to say the least. Excellent cinematography, great acting, wonderful plot....OK...so I'm joking a bit but it was kind of weird to see that on regular TV.

As soon as the sun came up we decided to go out and take a few pics of the Pantheon before the crowds started showing up. You can't really describe what it's like to stand under it's massive ceiling that was built over 2000 years ago. How in the hell did they build it with the technology of the day? It boggles the mind. At that hour, the massive front doors are closed and you can get a sense of how big they really are. They are bronze doors 21 feet tall that take two people each to open them. Really....how did they hang those doors?

We were jonesing for some coffee so we walked around the corner to a coffee shop and ordered up 2 of the best cappucinos that I've ever had. The richness and mouthfeel of the creamy coffee was just a glorious way to start our day. Our hotel offers breakfast so we treated ourselves to wonderful salami, cheese, bread, juices and a couple espressos. THIS is the way I'd like to eat breakfast every day! 

We had a couple hours to kill before we were to meet Jess and Nok for our trip to the Vatican so we decided to head out on our own and do a little exploring. We discovered what morning rush hour was in our little part of Rome. Motorbikes, cute little cars and people all whizzing by in organized chaos. Why people don't die on a daily basis is beyond me. Our planned destination was the Spanish Steps at the Piazza di Spagna. They are a series of steps up a slope to the Trinità dei Monti church at the top. Unfortunately, they were all closed for cleaning so we decided to GPS our way to the Trevi Fountain.

The Fountain was really cool but, unfortunately, it, too, was closed for cleaning. Nonetheless, the sculpture was remarkable and truly beautiful. We plan to make our way back there today so I'm hoping that the water will be flowing.

Everywhere you look are picture opportunities. Just on the walk through the everyday streets to the Trevi were Piazzas, amazing 17th century architecture and sculptures galore. Though I took pictures of most, it would take me hours upon hours to upload all of them. Not to mention, when you're surrounded by greatness everywhere you look it actually becomes normal.

We went back to the Pantheon and were able to get inside before the huge crush of humanity invaded. Walking through those massive doors was mind-blowing. To look up and see the world's largest unsupported concrete dome above your head and to think that it's 2000 years old is something that is difficult for the mind to fathom. I consider myself to be fairly intelligent and able to figure things out but to think about how they built the Pantheon with ancient tools and no reinforcement is something that I just can't wrap my head around. The current building was constructed in about 126AD and has been in constant use and since the 7th century it has been a church with regular services.

Off to the Vatican!!! We are so fortunate on this trip to be able to accept the graciousness of the Hill family. They arranged for Jess, Nok, Sandra and I to have our own, personal tour guide for the Vatican. To be able to completely bypass the unbelievably long lines and walk right in is something that I do not take for granted. Walking into the Vatican is kind of akin to being dropped blindfolded into the Grand Canyon, not knowing where you are and then have the blindfold removed to reveal nature's glory. Every single nook and cranny of this enormous building was covered in priceless art. It makes the Getty Museum look like an average girl on the beach with the Victoria Secret models. I can't post every single pic but I'll try to grab a few that really stand out:

 

Well....it appears that everyone is on the Internet now so uploading pics is going to have to wait. Until then, I'll continue on with some of the highlights.

There are 3 main parts of the Vatican; the main building, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. The main building consists of a long corridor stretching maybe a couple hundred yards or so long with rooms off to each side showcasing all the art and antiquities. All the walls and the arched ceiling are all covered in amazing art. Frescoes and paintings in vibrant colors detailing the struggles of man and how that relates to God and the bible. The building slopes almost imperceptibly downhill as you move towards the Sistine Chapel. Because of that, you can see for, what looks like, hundreds of yards down the building making it look like you were looking into a mirror with another mirror behind you so that it goes on to infinity. Seriously, you could not see the end of the corridor.

To enter the Sistine Chapel, all women must cover their shoulders and are not allowed to wear mini skirts. Men are not allowed to wear shorts and, in addition, cameras are not allowed and phones are discouraged. Our amazing tour guide, Judy, gave us a preview of the paintings prior to entering because it is a sacred place and silence is encouraged. Gazing up to the ceiling to see the masterpiece of Michaelangelo is something that cannot really be described, it must be experienced. What struck me was the size of the individual characters and scenes - I expected them to be much smaller, maybe within the scale of a man. Instead, they are quite large and it's a testimony to Michaelangelo's talent that he was able to pull it off. I guess that's why it's a masterpiece.

As I said, silence is encouraged because, it is, of course, a working chapel in the Vatican. We were fortunate to have a priest address the crowd in about 4 different languages and bless us. A truly momentous occasion that we feel fortunate to have experienced.

There are a couple different ways to enter St. Peter's Basilica and we chose to work our way through the crypt underneath as we made our way into the church. In the crypt, are interred all the Popes going back to ancient times. Again, it is encouraged to be silent and respectful as you make your way through this sacred place. To make it just a little more eerie, there was creepy, haunting music emanating from hidden sources. Though it was rather modern and well-kept, there were remnants of the ancient walls and columns set into the contemporary stucco along the walls - just to remind you that you were in an ancient place.

Entering St. Peter's Basilica reminded me of when my son and I visited the Grand Canyon about 6 years ago. I remember that where we parked, you couldn't see the canyon at all - you had to walk up a slight hill to the canyon rim and then.....there it was in all it's grandeur! Same exact thing with the Basilica. We walked through the doors and we just stood and stared with our jaws on the floor! We had already seen masterpieces of the masters, yet this was something entirely different. How would you describe a beautiful sunset over the ocean to a blind man? The entire ceiling was covered in indescribable mosaics and, because of the massive size of the place, they seem to stretch on forever. It is one of the largest churches in the world and considered to be the center of Christiandom. After all, St. Peter, one of Christ's Apostles is buried there! 

In the center of the church is a huge gothic structure of 4 columns supporting a framework of sculptures looking down upon the parishioners. This is where the Pope gives the most sacred of his sermons. I was able to take some amazing pics detailing the grandeur of this place. My camera has an HDR mode that takes a series of pics in rapid succession at different exposures then stitches them all together. Truly breathtaking!!!

Visitors have the opportunity to climb 880 steps to the top of the cupola for a view of all of Rome. Because my idea of exercise is drinking beer, we took the elevator up 550 steps so we only had to climb the last 330. Not bad at all and the views were stupendous. It was a little claustophobic though.

We made our way back to the hotel, cleaned up a bit, had a few cocktails then met the Hills for dinner again. We had some amazing food, great wine, gracious company and were, once again, cornered by Terence's fans begging for pictures. Needless to say, both Sandra and I drank a little too much and ended up with a little bit of a hangover this morning. A good time was had by all!!!

I'll upload pics when I can get a good internet connection.