Italy: Day 4, Part 1 - The Vatican

Okay, so everyone knows that Vatican City is a sovereign  city-state inside Rome, Italy. What everyone doesn't know is that only about 800 people live in Vatican City and that six days out of the week, 800 MILLION people go to the City. It's true. Just like how Al Gore invented the Internet.  Proof:

1.3 million people trying to fit on about 100 acres.

 Our last day in Rome consisted of leaving Rome. I can't say I was sad to see it go, but I was incredibly excited about seeing the Vatican and continuing our Italian adventures.  On our way out of town, we stopped in Vatican City. We got there before it opened, had special passes, and were some of the first people inside, but the City was still swamped with people. I've discovered this is a common theme in Rome. I hoped that the rest of Italy wasn't the same.

Outside the city, I think. Sue me if I'm wrong.

 First, we toured the Vatican Museums. For about a million pictures, see Facebook. For now, see what I liked the best: The ceiling. Every single inch of the Vatican Museums were covered in art. Every inch. The picture below with the scene and a red backdrop? That is a relief carved into/out of (?) the ceiling.

Go on, be impressed. I certainly am.

Next up, this a picture of me and Matt. Nothing else. Wait, maybe there is something there. You know, something everywhere. This particular room was called the Room of Maps or something. That may be completely wrong, but it was full of maps. Each room we went in had a theme - tapestries, sculptures, maps, etc. And then, of course, the ceilings were covered. 

 After a long hallway full of the rooms, we went to the Sistine Chapel.

 This is pretty much the only picture I could take. Photography wasn't allowed, nor were knees, shoulders, or talking. There were actually professional shushers in the chapel. The ceiling and the front wall, both painted by Michelangelo, are the reason people go to the chapel. With the thousands of people all jammed in to see the chapel, people can't possibly hope to have any kind of spiritual relief or connection by being there.

Matt did sneak some pictures, but they aren't of fantastic quality so I won't put them up. Google Image it instead.

When we left the chapel, we went to St. Peter's Basilica. Talk about huge. St. Peter's interior is the largest interior of any Christian church. Anywhere. Ever. St. Peter's is so named because the actual St. Peter, you know, PETER, is buried underneath the basilica. Because of this, several popes have also chosen to be buried there. Think back to Angels & Demons. The anti-matter was "hiding" down with the buried popes and St. Peter.

Along with anti-matter, St. Peter's is also the home of Michelangelo's Pieta. Seen here:

Pieta. (pronounced: Pea-ate-ah) I know. I'm all kinds of fancy. 

 The Pieta is actually a sculpture of Mary holding Jesus' body. That's right, the Pieta has nothing to do with Peter. Or Peeta. It's Rue. I mean, true. The word "pieta" is said to mean compassion, piety, mercy, and sorrow.  I can see why old Mike gave his sculpture that name.

Little bit o' trivia. Currently, this sculpture is behind bulletproof glass. Why? Because a crazy geologist took his little rock hammer and went after the sculpture because since he (the geologist) was Jesus, there certainly couldn't be a sculpture of him from the 1400's. I mean, clearly, that doesn't make sense.  The geologist is now wearing a cozy white jacket with 12 of his closest apostles. I mean, therapists.

Seriously though. I wish I could see the Pieta up close. To see where Michelangelo signed his name. To see how it really looks like a pyramid. To see the expression on Jesus' face. I think the only way that will ever happen is if I become the Pope.  Let me go ahead and put that on my goal list for 2012.

Also in St. Peter's Basilica is a statue of, you guess it, St. Peter.

I thought I had a picture, but I can't find it. St. Peter's right foot no longer has toes as the millions of people who have rubbed his foot also rubbed the toes clean off. Some people kiss his toes. I did not. We all know how I feel about feet. Ick.

Next up, the dome. Ha, see what I did there? Up and dome? Domes are up. Ha.

St. Peter's dome is the highest dome in the world. We Christians have to show off. The architects that created this dome studied the dome on the Pantheon before building this one. This one is bigger, but the Pantheon's is still impressive. Michelangelo played a part in designing St. Peter's dome, along with about a dozen other artists.  Here's a picture of the inside. We weren't able to get directly under the dome because of the humanity, but you get the idea.

The dome.

 To give you an idea of the size of the dome, the picture below is of the writing just below the largest point of the dome - at the base. See those letters? Each letter is five feet tall. Huge.  The words are the verse saying that Peter was the rock on which the church would be built.

I do NOT have an obsession with feet. I know this post makes it seem like I do, but I don't. I just wanted to get a close up of this piece of art to show that it was made of tiles. It looks like a painting from six feet away, but it's actually a mosaic. It seems that I didn't get a picture of the whole thing but it probably has something to do with Jesus. Those may be his feet.

And now let's talk about how mature Matt and I are. I mean, we took this picture so we could secretly get a picture of the Swiss Guard. Poor thing. Wearing pantaloons. 

And then we left. So long Vatican City and so long Rome.

Next up: lunch at a gas station and FLORENCE. I promise, Day 4 only has two parts.