Today we visited Vatican City, St Peters Basilica and the Sistine Chapel.
The Basilica didn't open today until 1pm because of a special mass for Easter. Thus all the barriers and chairs in St Peters square.
Also, much of the Basilica was roped off. We were not able to walk near the alter or get underneath the dome. And, there were too many stairs(323) and the line was WAY too long for Maija in her clearly delicate condition, to climb to the cuppola.
This is picture inside St. Peters Basilica looking down the nave towards the alter. The enormity of this edifice is mind boggling. Nearly 2 football fields in length, and covering 6 acres. It can hold 60,000 standing patrons. And, truly beautiful. The alter is directly over the crypt of St. Peter who is believed to have been buried in the basement. Pope John Paul II who died in 2002 is also buried there.
The only way to get to the Sistine Chapel is through the Vatican Museum. The Building is of very beautiful architecture. The floors are covered in tile mosiacs and the ceilings in Frescoes. And, the museum is full of naked statues of men missing their most important appendage. Apparently during the Renaissance Period "they" decided it was in bad taste and lobbed them all off. So really, I'm wondering where are all the missing penises!!!!!
This great hallway precedes the Sistine Chapel and you're not allowed to take pictures. We had downloaded a Rick Steves narration of the Chapel. We sat in there for 30 minutes and listened to that and stared at the ceiling. So literally viewing Michelangelo's Frescoes in the Sistine Chapel is a pain in the neck!!
From the Vatican we headed over to the Spanish steps, which is a locals gathering place. They sit on the steps, eat gelato and bask in the sunshine. So as they say.....When in Rome.......
Ciao for now...we're going to walk 5 minutes from our flat to the Trevi Fountain for a night view and to get more gelato. We have to climb about 6 flights of stairs to get to our apartment each time, so we've decided that we can have a scoop for each time we climb everyday!!! James
So glad you were able to enjoy the beauty of Vatican City and Rome. Enjoy the gelatos for me... Ciao - amy
ReplyDeleteWow - those place are so beautiful. That's pretty funny about the statues' missing parts. How random!
ReplyDeleteJames, this is just not fair! It is winter again here...2' of snow in the passes, windy/rain.
ReplyDeleteWho but you all would have thought to have taken Rick Steves...sounds like you are right at home and I expect being there over Easter is a most exciting time. Easter blessings to the THREE of you!
Roger
The picture looking down the nave at St. Peter's is amazing! I've seen stuff like that in my art history books and just thought of them as pretty pictures. Knowing that you guys took this picture somehow makes it seem really real and I can appreciate the brilliance of it now.
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