THE ITALIAN JOB -- PART TWO, ROME (continued)

day two
We got up SUPER early today, because on the agenda...... THE VATICAN CITY! We thought that by getting to the Vatican around 8am, that we wouldn't have to wait in TOO huge of a line..... but I think that the rest of the city had the exact same idea. The line to get in the Vatican was about 2-3 hours long by the time we got there. The girls and I got really nervous, because we had to leave Rome around 3pm and catch our flight to Venice. Emily also had to catch a train a little before that, because she had to go ahead back to Spain for class and an exam. We REALLY wanted to see the Vatican City, though......

Luckily, this little Italian woman came up to us, offering a tour by a guy named Luigi (how Italian!) that would bypass the entire 3 hour line, and also get us straight into all of the inside rooms and the Sistine Chapel.... we were in for it! We got to skip the huge line and go straight up to the front. We still had to wait for about an hour, because the city museum doesn't even open until about 9:30 or so. While in line, we met this group of kids who were studying in Milan this semester. Some of them went to USC in California, and another guy (Brandon from Maryland) was an opera major in Connecticut. Brandon actually looked and talked a lot like Brandon Rayford (a guy from my high school). These guys helped us pass the time while we stood in the cold.

The Vatican was incredible, as I expected! We got to go through all of the rooms that Raphael painted, and also saw an amazing room of fresco maps. The detail that artists put into these works is what amazes me so much. Each face, person, even tree, would be impossible for me to paint, and these guys decorated entire ROOMS with their paintings. -- We saw the Pope's rooms, along with a room full of tapestries. Luigi explained to us that one square meter of a tapestry would take around 6 months to complete..... some of the tapestries took a total of 20 years to finish! WOW! --- After touring the Vatican museum, we got to go into the Sistine Chapel!!!! They wouldn't let you talk when you entered the Sistine Chapel, which made the experience even more impressive. What amazed me was that Michelangelo didn't even consider himself a very good painter...... but the ceiling and walls of the chapel were some of the most beautiful frescos that I've ever seen. My favorite painting was the largest in the room, The Last Judgement. When Michelangelo was painting, one of the gardners of the Vatican kept peeking in the chapel. This made Mike mad, so he painted this guy's face on the boat-keeper of Hell...... better not make Michelangelo angry, I say! haha.

When we were walking out of the chapel, through St. Peter's Basillica, Amber was stopped by one of the security guards..... uh oh! eek! -- He took her arm and said, "My name is Michelangelo..... and I love you! I am going to kiss you now!" And that little crazy man kissed Amber's cheek.... right there in front of the thousands of people trying to get into the Basillica!!!!! We died laughing. Amber was looking for an Italian love, and this one just reached out and kissed her!!!! "When in Rome," they say. :)

St. Peter's Square was right up there with the most impressive architectural accomplishments ever. There were hundreds of Roman columns built encircling the square. This week, the Pope had given a speech, so there were still a lot lot lot of people in St. Peter's. Rome just kept getting more and more beautiful, that's for sure!

On our way back to the train station to drop Emily off, we each got a piece of canoli. We'd heard a lot about this cute little dessert, but none of us had ever tried it...... well..... we have now. I take back what I said about tasting the most incredible thing ever put in my mouth, and give the award to canoli...... OH WOW. We all ate in complete silence, because we were so amazed that such a taste could come out of that little treat..... I MUST come back to Roma, if only for the canoli! :)