Vatican City - Rome Day Two

On Thursday we woke around 7am so we could head over to the Vatican by 8 since it can get pretty crowded and the lines are known for being notoriously long. We took the metro, one of only two metro lines in Rome, since it was on the other side of the river and when we got there waking up early paid off and the place was pretty empty. The piazza in front of St. Peter's was unfortunately half filled with chairs and the obelisk in the center was blocked off because they were doing some construction in front of it but the spaces in front of the two colonnades were open. The colonnades are formed by four rows of columns that are in the shape of semi circles on each side to close in the piazza. There was a point on both sides of the obelisk that you could stand on and when you looked at the colonnade all of the columns would line up and it would look like just one row. We spent some time in the piazza walking around and taking pictures before deciding to head into St. Peter's Basilica.

We had to pass through metal detectors and there were signs warning against wearing revealing clothing inside. When I walked in I immediately noticed just how big the place was and how heavily ornamented every part of the walls and ceilings were. There was gold decoration and paintings everywhere and the statues that were everywhere were bigger than any I had seen in a church before. There were statues of angels, St. Peter, and several popes. The symbol for the Vatican, a pope's headpiece above two crossed keys, was tiled in the floor and also carved into the walls in many places. This symbolizes the keys to heaven that were given to St. Peter. Throughout the Basilica there were several tombs of previous popes and wooden confessional booths. In the center of the church there was a large baldicchino, a tall structure covering the altar, designed by Bernini with large twisting columns made of bronze. There was a small side chapel to the left of the baldicchino were there was a mass going on.

After spending about two hours just walking around the enormous Basilica, we finally decided to head out and go see the Sistine Chapel. We went over to the Vatican museums, checked our bags and went in. They have several collections of art and at first we just wanted to go see the Sistine Chapel so we followed the signs and it took us through a series of several rooms to get there. There was a room of tapestries, a room of maps, and several rooms covered from floor to ceiling with art. One painting that I liked being able to see was the School of Athens by Raphael. It was painted on a wall in one of the rooms and it depicted many of the ancient philosophers, with Plato and Aristotle in the center, on a set of stairs interacting with each other, each representing their own ways of thinking. Raphael even painted a small self portrait of himself among them.

After passing through several more rooms of art, mostly religious art of all types, we finally reached the Sistine Chapel. The chapel was rectangular in plan and had benches along both sides for people to sit on and look at the frescoes along the walls and the ceiling and back wall painted by Michelangelo. Pictures were not allowed inside and guards were walking around threatening to throw people out when they were caught with their cameras out. The paintings on the ceiling depicted the Creation with one of God creating light and dark, creating earth, creating man, creating women, and a few others. The painting on the back wall of the chapel, also by Michelangelo, called the Last Judgment depicts the apocalypse and souls rising up to be judged by God. Among the frescoes along the walls there were some that depicted the life of Moses as well as one that showed Jesus giving the keys to heaven to St. Peter. There were so many details to look at inside of the chapel that we must have spent over an hour just sitting in there and looking at all of the different scenes that were depicted.

After spending time in the chapel we walked through a few of the other galleries that were in the museum. There was a large garden and courtyard called the Pinecone Courtyard outside between the galleries where there was a sculpture of a really large gold sphere with a smaller sphere inside. The spheres were made of bronze and parts of their surfaces were missing to reveal their pieces inside. We also walked over to the Octagon Courtyard which had several sculptures as well. By this time it was later in the afternoon and realizing that we only had about an hour of daylight left, we left Vatican City and were on our way to the Piazza del Popolo.

We took the metro to the piazza and when we arrived we walked through the small courtyard entrance where the Santa Maria del Popolo church sits. We then crossed the busy street that separates the small courtyard from the giant piazza. In the center of the piazza sits a giant obelisk with a lion fountain at each corner of the base. There were also steps at the base of the obelisk where several people were sitting and hanging out. At the opposite end of the piazza from where we entered there were two twin churches, the Santa Maria dei Maricoli and the Santa Maria in Montesanto. We hung out at the piazza for a little while as it got dark and then headed back to the hostel to rest before dinner.

Although it was hard for us to remember because they don't celebrate it in Italy, today was Thanksgiving so we decided to go out to eat and have a good meal. We went to a restaurant called Al 39 that we walked to from our hostel. We had red wine again and bruschetta for appetizers. In Italy they have a first course, usually of pasta, and then a second course, usually of meat, for dinner so since it was Thanksgiving we all ordered a first and second course. I had farfalle pasta with shrimp for my first and then a pizza with shrimp for my second. The food was good and we stayed until midnight just talking and drinking wine.