We toured the Vatican and St. Peter's. Both of them were truly amazing. The seat of the Catholic church can't be minimized, especially when you see how it held together Italy during many dark periods and has had a far reach into all the world.
After waiting in line for quite a while with many tour groups surrounding us, we were able to start making our way through the Vatican Museum. I think my favorite pieces were Belvedere's "Torso," the purple tombs (4th century porphyry sarcophagi for Constantine's mother and daughter who were outlaw Christians - made in Egypt but never used as Constantine legalized Christianity), the mummies and sarcophagi from Egypt, the Laocoon group (1st century Hellenistic), the "School of Athens" by Raphael and his "Transfiguration," and lastly the amazing Sistine Chapel. We were lucky to get spots on a bench at the opposite end of the "Last Judgement" wall. It certainly made it easier to stare at the ceiling for the 20-30 minutes that we were there. I am in total awe that someone could have painted that vast space and to the scale that it is. Every face is a portrait. Every body well proportioned. There is amazing perspective and all of it done while he was lying on his back. Uncomprehendable!
We couldn't leave without sending a litte mail by Vatican post. Hopefully Mom, Dad, and Steph will get the postcard. Vatican Poste is supposedly much more reliable than the regular Italian poste. We will see!
After a tasty lunch, this time a tomato/orange cream sauce on homemade fettucine, and some time to sit in an air conditioned room, we wandered over to St. Peter's and a much shorter line. St. Peter's is truly incredible. Even though it is over 6 acres and can hold 95,000 worshippers, it still feels intimate because of the illusions of the architecture. Here are some bullet points from that.
-We stood on the purple, circular porphyry stone where Charlemagne had his coronation in 800 A.D. in the 1st St. Peter's church on this sight.
-Bernini's 70 ft. tall bronze canopy covery St. Pter's tomb -Crypt - tombs of popes, St. Peter, and Pope John Paul II (It was a slightly angled white marble slab on the floor, very plain and fitting. - There were many flowers and letters dropped there. There was a roped off section across from the tomb where people could pray.)
-Statue of St. Peter with kissable, rubbed off toes - from the 1st St. Peter's church
-St. Peter's throne and Bernini's Starburst dove window
-Spot where St Peter was crucified when it used to simply be "Vatican Hill"
-Obelisk in St. Peter's square - center of a Roman racecourse
-Mosaic version of Raphael's "Transfiguration" -Blessed Sacrament Chapel (Only those wanting to pray were allowed - Jen and I spent some quiet moments in prayer there)
-Michaelangelo's "Pieta" - It's beautiful but very strange to see how huge and young looking Mary is versus the much shrunken and small Jesus
-Holy Door - Opened only on the Year of Jubilee (used to be every 50 years and is now every 25), it symbolizes a new beginning and debts are forgiven
After that, we climbed the 551 steps to the top of the dome. It was fun to walk and have to lean over sideways as the dome started curving in.What a day!
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