Aight let's catch up with June 4th! I got up early and excited and put on my conservative red dress because today we were going to the Vatican! Rick Steves said no shorts, no miniskirts, and sleeves are required - and this dress looked nicer and had sleeves so I was ready!
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| St. Peter's Basilica |
We ate breakfast at the hotel which was pretty bland until the Swedish/Scandinavian man I met yesterday came by to chat and share his fresh cheese with us! He just sat there talking away and slicing cheese...
We took a taxi to the Vatican and tried to suck up our disappointment, seeing the line looked about two hours long. On the long walk back to the end of the line we heard a "You want to skip the line?" Umm...yes please. How??? So we took a leap of faith (haha) and followed this sketch girl away from the line to a tour place where we bought a ticket (that was maybe twice as expensive as the regular ones, but completely worth the price) and bypassed the entire line with a group. Hooray!
The Vatican Museum holds many great treasures...I've never really been one to sit and stare at art before, but so much of this work was fascinating. My favorites were Michelangelo's
Belvedere Torso and Sistine Chapel with
The Last Judgment, Raphael's
School of Athens, and Wenzel Peter's
Garden of Eden (I found this one randomly and liked it a lot...maybe because of all the animals...maybe because of the video below...who knows)
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| Wenzel Peter's Garden of Eden |
At the risk of sounding overly dramatic, the Sistine Chapel was absolutely breathtaking. After getting a neckache from looking up at the ceiling for half an hour, I can't imagine how Michelangelo spent four years on a 6-story scaffolding painting those 5,900 square feet. It's unreal! I mean, the 3-D illusion was so great that I sat there staring at some places wondering "no really, that's a sculpture jutting out, right?"
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| Sistine Chapel ceiling - please go google for more awesome up-close pictures! |
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| The Last Judgment where no one is smiling... |
Once I finally finished marveling, we took Rick's shortcut that spit us out right next to St. Peter's Basilica. I walked towards the entrance and...NO! I was turned away because my dress was too short...the rule was two fingers above the knee, mine was probably four. Thanks Rick, I don't consider this a miniskirt but St. Peter's thinks I'm a whore...
Tired and disappointed...no actually really pissed off (my mom pointed out that if I was shorter the dress would have been long enough...so they were clearly prejudiced against tall people....haha) we took a bus near the Spanish Steps to wander around for some lunch. We ended up eating at Hard Rock Cafe. Don't judge me. We were hot and mad and I guess just needed a dose of home...plus it's kinda cool to go to all the different Hard Rocks...even though I didn't buy a shirt. :) Our waiter was the coolest person ever - he was originally from Los Angeles, loved learning languages, moved to different places to learn the culture, and then wrote about it for his living...awesome!
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| Spanish Steps |
We somehow made it to the Spanish Steps without having to go up them...so we only had to trek down the 138 slippery steps. I'm not gonna lie...I'm not sure of the importance of this place - they are called the Spanish Steps because the Spanish Embassy to the Vatican is located there, but all I really noticed was the guy who ripped us off by forcing a bracelet onto my wrist...still not really sure how that happened (but I immediately checked bags and this was not a distraction to pickpocket us). Ehem...then I really really had to pee on our walk to the Pantheon, so we stopped in a McDonalds and waited in the longest line ever!!! I really wanted to see how the menu would be different too (cause I hear there is actually wine on the menu in France and beer in Germany) but we didn't see any unusual items.
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| me at the Pantheon!!! :) |
Ok ok, so in Rome I loved the Colosseum, the Sistine Chapel, ...and the Pantheon!!! This ancient church, with a huge dome that is 142 feet high and wide is the only ancient building in Rome continuously used today...and we're proof! As we decided to sit down on some pews and take it all in, the Pantheon announced they would be closing for mass and reopening in an hour. After talking to security, we decided to stay and attend mass at the Pantheon! It was amazing!! Sure it was all in Italian, but because I'd been to Catholic mass before (which is pretty close to Lutheran liturgy anyway) and Spanish is relatively similar to Italian, I was able to follow along with the service for the most part (mother was lost the entire time, but claimed to enjoy just sitting and listening). During the sermon, the priest talked about baptism bringing Christians new life and we were easily able to identify the Nicene Creed and Lord's Prayer. The choir sang a few times and their voices lingered in the dome. It felt magical and, I don't know....holy? Sounds lame, but it was truly amazing. So HA, St. Peter's! I may not have been good enough for you, but I went to mass at the Pantheon. :) No hard feelings though.
(just the choir warming up before the service...hence all the background noise, they are sitting down, and the fact that I'm actually taking a video)
For dinner, we went to eat with the crazy turban lady :) at a restaurant called Trattoria der Pallaro where there is no menu...you just eat what they bring you. First course: olives, bread, lentils, prosciutto, salami, fried...things, and fennel. Second course: pasta with two different sauces. Third course: veal, green beans, fried potatoes, and mozzarella balls. Fourth course: a lemon cake thing and peach non-alcholic shots. The food was so-so, but the experience was awesome. My favorite part of the night was when they brought us a bottle of water with gas (also called fizzy water, sparkling water, etc.) and my mom asked, "We would like the water without bubbles??"
Just one and a half more days of Rome!!
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