Distance: None
Country: Italy
Song of the Day: Epitaph - King Crimson
Today I got both of my Zunes all charged up and working. So Zoe and I headed off to the Vatican. I got to experience Rome's subway on the way over.
Outside of the Vatican are the same kind of hawkers and "tour guides" as the old part of Rome. We tried to avoid them as best we could. We found our way to St. Peter's square. Really, it isn't a square at all. It is a giant oval. Bernini's colonnade was pretty cool. In the center is another one of those Egyptian obelisks. (Rome is full of these.) It is the heart of Christianity is a pagan relic. The little cross on top is supposed to make it okay I guess...
Oh, and there is also St. Peter's Basilica. It does look quite
grand from the outside. Inside is a whole new level though. It is mostly done in baroque styling. So it is very ornamented. Also, not like many of the other gothic cathedrals I have become accustomed too. It is also huge, but somehow doesn't feel that way. I guess even today it is one of the larger (if not the largest) Christian churches in the world. One other thing I noticed was that it had almost no stained glass. I guess they wanted the natural light to show off the decoration. I should also mention the dome. It really is 
quite a masterpiece. Really the cherry on top of the whole thing. Catholic or not, it is still an impressive building. Also the Rick Steves audio guides were still a big help in explaining what was going on.From there Zoe and I stepped out of Vatican City for lunch. We found a good buffet place nearby. All you can eat was great. I hadn't been really "full" since I got to Rome. So I was happy to tuck in and put some food away. Plus the food was great. My favorite part was the cheesy pasta and the little caramelized onions. Mmmm.
Then it was off to the Vatican museum. Wow was that expensive. It was 14 to get in. If you just have a day, I would say skip it. The Sistine Chapel was cool, but not worth 14. There was lots of other stuff to see however. The Vatican Museum has an impressive collection of middle easter artwork. They had Egyptian and Assyrian works. Then there were the Raphael rooms, with more frescoes. Several rooms of statues. One of them had a copy (if a bit smaller) of the dome of the Pantheon. More re-use of ancient ideas. There was also a wing of modern Christian art. I would skip this. (The reason that we revere Raphael and Michelangelo is that over the centuries their work was a cut above the rest. Time has separated the wheat from the chaff, as it were. The modern stuff hasn't had time for the good things to come to the top.) This was all to get ready for the main show.
The Sistine Chapel. Yes, it is amazing. Take your time and just take it all in. Actually, pictures have probably given you a pretty good image of what it looks like. It really is fun to look up and watch the story of creation unfold. Then at the end of the room is the Last Judgement. It is a much darker work, but I think I liked it even more. The paintings do give away Michaelangelo's past as a scluptor. The way the human figures are twisted and contorted to show action is wonderful.
After leaving the Sistine Chapel we couldn't seen anything else. The museum was closing. So Zoe and I headed out to the Piazza del Popolo. From there we wandered down the Via del Corso. It was a nice walk, but I was glad not to give a hoot about fashion. The shops along the way looked quite expensive. Still it was a nice walk.
It made me realize that Rome is almost the opposite of Venice. Rome is huge and sprawling. Venice is contained and its size hasn't changed much in 500 years. Venice is quiet and car free. Rome is noisy and jammed with cars and scooters. Venice is defined by the water. Rome has walled off and basically ignores the river. I won't say one is better than the other, they are just different.
After the walk we headed by the Colosseum to see it at night and then back to the hostel. Zoe went of to get ready for her flight. I ended up having dinner at the hostel with a girl from New Zealand. I guess she works as a lawyer for the Maori. It was interesting talking about how Americans and Kiwis have treated their native peoples. We also talked about how people could keep their culture in a modern society. Not an easy task.
-Dravis
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