V is for Vatican

No this is not a sequel to a movie of the same day. Instead it is a continuation of my time in Rome.
We begin right after the conclusion of the previous post, when we decided to have a quick drink as not to seem lame in our own heads. A quick drink meant 4 hours. In this time we sat for a while at Trevi fountain, roamed the streets of Rome and ended in a bar called Trinity college where baseball, American football and football was watched. Whoa we are wild!
Monday was a later start as our Vatican time was pre booked, in order to skip the lines. So instead of tubing there we decided to walk and take in some more sights on the way. The best of these was the Pantheon. I have known this is famous, but like most things in Rome I couldn't remember our never had looked at what they look like. So to my amazement, the Pantheon was a little rough on the edges on the exterior, kinda like Rome on general. What was also interesting is why people think it is famous. Tyler knew the inscription on the front of the building, where I knew about the hole in the middle. This hole is called the occulus and it fills the centre of the dome (the dome was the first of its kind and was the inspiration behind other domed buildings such at St Peters basilica). Another feat of Roman engineering brilliance, just think of the symmetry of the building and the election of the columns that were made a one piece, not multiple pieces like most columns. And Raphael is buried here. Remarkably it celebrated 1400 years as a Christian Church having originally being a Temple for all Gods (pan).
After our speedy visit of a place that deserved more time we headed for our Vatican tour.
Now this was a three hour journey basically marveling at the grandeur and opulence of the Vatican. Every hallway is beautiful, tapestries everywhere. There were exhibitions about boat development in different countries, and so NZ is represented by a waka. Surprisingly there was thousands of pieces of pagan items that were either gifts or taken. One such exhibition was ancient Egypt. The art work throughout shows changes in culture over time, ending with contemporary art, which no offence to my artist friends, is not very good
If I had a child and they brought me work of that quality I may not even put it on my fridge let alone ask for it to be displayed at the Vatican.
The whole reason for the visit is to see the Pope's personal Chapel and the place cardinals get locked inside when deciding on a new Pope. This of course is the Sistine chapel. The painting is everything that people say it is. One of the most impressive pieces of work I have ever seen. And this done by Michaelangelo the sculpture. For those that don't know, the roof is the story of creation until the flood, with the famous man and Adam touching being the centre panel. It depicts prophets on the sides as well as other important people from the old testament. Then the altar wall is the last judgement seen and wow! You can see all his work in three parts - the back half that was done first.  Michaelangelo was not happy with it, so the front half is painted in a different way. Lastly the wall was done at the end of the renaissance and the start of the baroque eras many years after the roof was done. At this point Michaelangelo had lost his faith in mankind due to what was happening in the world at the time, so his incredible painting is darker. A man is holding what is the outer part of man, the skin and the face on the skin is Michaelangelo's. After his death, clothes were painted onto most of the bodies as the cardinals had begun to think differently about the appropriateness of nudity.
A nice visit. Was shattered after. There is certainly a lot of people crammed into this small country.
To finish the day Tyler and I visited Augustus' mausoleum and then chilled out on the Spanish steps.
Tomorrow is a morning in Rome before we drive out to Ortona.
Sad to go from such a grand old lady of a city, but excited to see what the rest of the week brings.

Joshua