Where in the World is Chelsea Gibbs?: Vatican City

Today is our last day in Rome, and we finally went to see the Vatican! I took 347 pictures, so obviously I was excited.

We made reservations at 2:30 and printed our tickets out at an internet cafe, which was in Italian (thanks google translate) and then went back down where the Colosseum is (which is still awesome) to check out the Roman Forum. The Forum was where all the government buildings and the markets used to be back in the ancient Roman times. It was the heart of Rome. All that's left are ruins pretty much, but it's still really cool to see. We didn't have time to wait in line and actually go inside and walk around, but from the outside you can still see a whole lot and get some good pictures, and not have to pay! It seemed extra hot today, plus we were wearing "Vatican appropriate" attire, meaning we had to have a dress or pants past our knees, so the extra clothes made it more hot too.

When we felt like we'd seen all we could and it was time to try the metro again in order to get to the Vatican we made our way back to the Coloseeum and tried to figure out where we were going. Asking Italian's has 9 times out of 10 not been successful for us in Rome. The other tourists are very helpful though. Today, two really nice Iranian women directed us to the right train, told us where to get off and which train to get on again to get to where the Vatican is located. We also saw a whole gang of gypsies again at the metro. They got kicked out again too. They must hang out there a lot.

With the help of the Iranian women, and after a very crowded train, we made it to our stop. We ate some pizza, the first pizza we've had in Italy. It was the best food I think I've had so far, other than the gelato. We found the Vatican museum pretty easily and didn't have to wait in line at all to turn in our ticket vouchers. The Vatican museum is full of some really awesome artwork. Raphael has whole rooms of frescos. There were tons of sculptures. Some Egyptian art, including a mummy that you could see! They even had some contemporary art, like Salvador Dali and Henri Mattise. It was a lot to take in, but well worth the time we spent there, to me. I really enjoyed walking around and looking at everything.

After you're done at the Vatican museum, they corral you into the Sistine chapel. You can't take pictures, but I may have taken a couple anyway, without the flash, of course :) The Sistine chapel was pretty amazing. Three of the things I was most excited about seeing were of course Michelangelo's Creation of Adam, which is close to the middle of the ceiling. I shoved my way through the crowed to show it to mom. I hope she was impressed :) It's crazy that someone can lay on their back and paint like that! I was also excited about seeing Original Sin and Banishment of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, also by Michelangelo. I studied both of these in art history classes in college. Pietro Perugino's Delivery of the Keys was also really awesome to see in person.

After the Sistine chapel, we went into St. Peter's square and finally into St. Peter's Basilica. The line didn't take very long and it was in the shade. We brought our scarves to cover our shoulders, per the dress code. St. Peter's is pretty breath taking. Floor to ceiling it is enormous. The first thing I noticed was Michelangelo's Pieta to the right, which is a sculpture of Mary holding Jesus after the crucifixion. Something else I studied in school. All around are sculptures and paintings and frescos. In the center before the altar and directly under the dome is the baldacchino, which marks where St. Peter is buried. When we first got there, a mass was going on and there was music and we couldn't go past a certain point. Everyone formed sort of a wall taking pictures and watching the mass and waiting until we could be let through. The Pope wasn't there though, sadly. When it was over, everyone waited until the congregation had dispersed and been let through. One girl, probably a little bit older than me, apparently though she didn't have to wait, she marched herself right on past everyone else and tried to bypass the guards. All he did was put his finger up and he stopped her. Mom turned around and said, "she think she's the Queen, and we're the sorry people!" We got a big kick out of it.

We stayed in St. Peter's for a good while looking at everything and taking a million pictures. When we called it quits we tried walking back to the metro and couldn't find it, even after asking someone. We did stumble upon a yummy bakery shop and got some pastries. We were hot, tired and hurting after walking around in the heat for 8 hours, so we broke down and got a cab. At dinner tonight I tried authentic Italian bruschetta for the first time. It was pretty good, with prosciutto, tomatoes, olive oil and garlic salt. Mom hasn't been impressed with the wine so far. After dinner, we had gelato, of course.

Tomorrow we head to Florence, and stay in our first hostel. Should be interesting :)

Best things about today: Seeing the Vatican, everything that it includes! The nice ladies that helped us on the metro. Getting a good laugh at the girl who thought she was the queen and we were the sorry people. Talking to Corey on the phone :)
Worst things about today: Getting lost

* Sorry about the excess of pictures, but it was hard to choose out of 347 :)
* Shout out to all my art history professors for teaching me so much and making me learn how to spell all these names! It really is awesome seeing it in person!