Rome Day 2

Rome Day 2

We got up early and took the bus into Vatican City, where we waited in line for nearly 2 hours to get in the Vatican Museum. There was so much to see that we just picked the highlights (four miles of art displays). But, you knew we had to include the Etruscan's!!! They are Emily's specialty and we couldn't come to Italy without learning more about them.  The tour through the Vatican Museum eventually leads you into the Sistine Chapel and St. Peters Basilica.  Unfortunately, there were 4-5 thousand other people waiting to see the same things, so we were herded like cattle through the Sistine Chapel and threatened with our lives if we stopped to look or take pictures.  We did manage to pull back from the crowd and gaze up at the ceiling for a moment in the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo's depiction of the creation is stunning. It is surrounded on all sides by paintings of Old Testament prophets, foretelling the coming of Christ, along with pagan Greek prophetesses. The "Last Judgment" painting is behind the alter. It was so difficult to enjoy with the crush of the crowd constantly pushing us along.  The ceiling is over 100' tall and we all left with crook'd necks.  We took a shortcut to St. Peter's Basilica where we were able to view the "Pieta," Michelangelo's carving of Mary holding the body of Christ, after the crucifixion.  
The Basilica is enormous.  We explored some of the alters and statues, and made it to the crypt in the basement where some of the old Popes are buried.  It seemed like a scene out of the movie "Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown. We were hoping for a glimpse of the new Pope-- but no such luck.  

It was raining when we walked out into St. Peter's Square. We got a quick glimpse of the obelisk, and then made our way to the Castel Sant Angelo.  The Castel is used as a refuge for the Popes, if the Vatican were to be under siege. It is connected by secret pathways. Intriguing!  It was also used as a prison, and houses Emperor Hadrians tomb.  It had a little restaurant upstairs, where we ate lunch over-looking the Tiber River and Vatican City.  No building in Rome is allowed to be taller that St. Peter's Basilica, so we had a stunning view.

Vatican Museum- Emily's Etruscan's! 

 Some of the art almost looked Egyptian

Treasures in the Vatican Museum.

We all got a kick out of this statue- 

Lots of breastfeeding going on here-  some goddess of fertility and mammary glands

School of Athens, by Raphael,

From here we followed the stairwell to the Sistine Chapel 

Michelangelo's painting in the Sistine Chapel

 Michelangelo's masterpiece of the "Pieta" (Mary with the body of Christ, taken down from the cross) 

 The main alter, and bronze canopy by Bernini, directly over Peter's Tomb

 Tombs of past Popes are in the basement crypt. 

Watching for the Pope to appear on the balcony!

Obelisk in St. Peters Square

Refreshing rain! 

Vatican City view

The Tiber river, a view from Castel Sant Angelo

Lunch at the Castel.  

Castel Sant Angelo

St. Peter's 

The second half of our day was very interesting- and even a little creepy.  We visited the Capuchin Crypt at the Church of Santa Maria della Immacolata Concezione.  They call it the "artistically arranged bones" of 4000 dead Friars who died between 1528 and 1870- I call it creepy.  Who digs up bones and makes decorations and arrangements out of them? 
The famous saying from the Crypt is: "We were what you are...you will become what we are now" 

Trevi Fountain

What a magical place! 

Making a wish to come back to Rome again!

Brad and Emily in Trevi Square. What a fabulous tour guide she is!!!  

Rome-Day 1

Rome- Day 1

We drove from Carrara to Rome.  Bob's family has an apartment there, where his niece Laura lives.  She generously let us stay there while we explored Rome.  We spent two days there and walked at least a hundred miles.  There was so much to see, and so little time.  We took the bus into ancient Rome the first day and explored the "Vittoriano" or Victor Emmanuel Monument. This is where Italy's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is- and where Bob was a guard while he was in the Italian Military. We walked from there to the Colosseum and through the Forum (ancient ruins) and then made our way to the Pantheon and Piazza Navona.  It was a VERY HOT day, and we ate lots of gelato and splashed in the fountains every chance we got.   

Inside the colosseum- where the lions and Christians were kept in tunnels and cages under the arena floor.  It is now rotted away- but still frightening to think that watching people being eaten by lions was entertaining...

Walking through Ancient Rome

The Forum ruins

The Pantheon Dome

The Pantheon

Pantheon Fountains- moments before my big wipe out on the slippery steps!

 The Vittoriano- in the day

The Vittoriano- at night

St. Agnes Church in the Piazza Navona

Inside St. Agnes Church

Bernini's Four Rivers Fountain in the Piazza Navona  

Beautiful flowers on the Church of St. Agnes

My size of Nutella!

There were beautiful fountains at every turn.

Magicians and street entertainers were everywhere! We were serenaded by an accordion as we ate Pizza in the Piazza.

Florence

Florence

Our trip to Florence started late because I hesitated, and we missed our train.  I misreading the train schedule, and in that 30 seconds of hesitation the train stopped and took off before we could get on.  It was an awful feeling and I was so embarrassed. Brad and Em were pretty good sports considering... We took the next train. 

 We visited the Uffizi Gallery first and paid the scalpers price to move to the head of the line.  The greatest paintings and sculptures in all of Italy are at the Uffizi, but there was so much to see it was overwhelming.  We specifically searched out Botticelli's, Michelangelo, Leonardo's and Rembrandt works.  I was reading Dan Browns book "Inferno" (Dante's inferno) and I used it like a mini-travel guide to search for clues and paintings mentioned in the book. 

We were not so lucky at the Accademia museum, where we waited in line for over 2 hours in the heat for tickets.  But, the statue of David was well worth it, as you can see.  

We made a quick run through town and visited the Duomo, the Baptistery, and walked down to the Arno River, where we bought gelato to cool off.

The Baptistry and the Duomo  of Florence

Bottecelli's painting of Dante's version of Hell (Inferno)

The Duomo of Florence

The great golden doors of the baptistery

The Campanille Bell Tower