Since I can't move these two photos, I guess I am starting with them!
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| The back wall of the Sistine Chapel. When Michelangelo painted it, no one had a stitch of clothes on. After he died, they gave everyone some covering! |
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| The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. |
Saturday, July 2
Hello,
Getting to the end of our trip. Hard to believe, but true. Today was the Vatican. Once again, our guide arranged it so we could cut to the front of the line by using the "Dad is old and needs to go in first" card. He's been practicing how to look feeble. Honestly--he's failing that course. Even though he's had 2 days without the Jeju face cleanser, he still doesn't look old enough to need special treatment. No matter, we got in right at opening time. Still pretty crowded inside, but not too bad.
First we went through some of the galleries. Walls hung with huge tapestries and maps of Italy. Learned an interesting fact--The reason there are so many frescoes is due to the very low literacy rate of people long ago (refer back to the definition of 'old' in yesterday's post). Since they couldn't read, stories were told through the frescoes. Rather like children's picture books today.
And you had to be fast on those frescoes. Now I admit I couldn't write fast enough, but I think they were painted on a wet wall, and due to the wet thing, the color soaked in quickly. You may ask--what if they made a mistake? Well, there were no erasers that would fix it. You had to be fast and you couldn't make a mistake. Nothing like a bit of pressure . . .
Of course no photos in the Sistine Chapel. Just loads of head craning to see it all. And you can't talk. I was thinking that laying down a few cots so people could really see the ceiling, would be a good plan. Since we couldn't talk, there was no way to relay this idea. I wonder if the Pope has an email account? I borrowed my friend, Jeremy's, plan--I took pictures of the Sistene Chapel from the book Dad bought.
Then we went out to the huge open square, which is not really a square shape. Two arms of the buildings wrap around, as if they are 2 arms hugging you. I did not make that up--our guide told us that was the idea of the Pope when the buildings were commissioned.
Dad was overwhelmed at how big the buildings and square are. Massive, would not even cover it. He has seen the Pope speak from St. Peter's Square, but he says he never realized the size of it. He said every part of the Vatican was way past his expectations. He was very interested in learning about the Popes over the ages and the history of the church. All of us had loads of questions for Piera, and she could answer all of them.
At lunch, Molly asked Dad-- of all the places we've been, which city or sight stands out the most for him. He said seeing the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica. Next was the joy of traveling with his 2 wonderful daughters! Okay, maybe he didn't actually SAY that, but I'm sure he was thinking it. Or not? :))
Dad and Molly went to church at the Basilica of Santa Maria del Angeli. The hotel helped us find a mass in English. And why didn't I go? Last night I rammed my toe into a chair leg. I am limping, due to a bruised, swollen toe. Molly says she is traveling with two gimps! But she is kindly helping me to stay off it unless it is necessary. There might be a bit of guilt there. After I rammed it, the middle toe is now leaning to the left, leaving a gap between my 2nd and 3rd toes. Her comment was--Live Long and Prosper.
Signing off with birthday wishes for our sister in law--Happy Birthday, Sylvia!
amy
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| Dad at the alter of Pope Pius X. |
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| Outside the gates |
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| St. Peter's Basilica in the back. Hopefully you know who's in the foreground. |
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| The Belvedere Courtyard. Note the Pine Cone coming up from behind the big red flowers. |
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| Tapestry on the wall. Dang these are really big. They take 4-6 years to weave one. |
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| Another tapestry--this one is the biggest one in the Vatican. |
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| Hah! I bet you think this is 3-D. It's actually a flat painting. |
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| This is the Gallery of Maps. There are 40 maps dating back to 1580-85, representing all the land that the Popes owned. As far as I could tell, that included most of Italy and Sicily. |
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| This is the entrance to where the Pope should be living. But he chose a different place in the Vatican. According to one of the guards, he keeps them on their toes because he doesn't want to follow the usual pattern of the previous Popes. |
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| Dad and Molly outside the Sistine Chapel. |
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| One of the galleries we walked through to get to the Sistine Chapel. |
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| St. Peter's Basilica. We think . . .? |
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| The Piata |
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| St. Peter's Baldachin. I think that Italian for Alter? It's made out of bronze. (says Molly) |
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| Piera/guide, Dad and Molly |
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| My favorite Pope--John XXIII (23) Taking a little nap? |
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| One of the maps in the Gallery of Maps. I recognize the boot--must be Italy! |
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| Another shot of St. Peter's Baldachin |
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| Being gimpy myself, I understand completely how St. Peter feels. These are his feet, but note that the foot towards the back has no toes. Yes, another statue that gets rubbed for good luck. Now he has no toes on his right foot. |
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| One of the domed ceilings in St. Peter's. |
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| Can you see the writing near the top? Those letters are 9' (3 meters) high. The words are "You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church." His name was Simon, but in Greek, Peter means 'rock' so Jesus changed his name. |
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| Vatican guards. They still wear the original costume. They are on guard, in the sun, for an hour. Hot. |
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| Pano of St. Peter's Square. We thought this looked way bigger than the Winter Palace Square in St. Petersburg (hmmm, there sure are a lot of Peters). Molly looked it up. We sit corrected--Tiananmon is not the largest square in the world. Red Square is not even on the list, We think this one is plenty big. Dad took this pano. He is becoming quite talented taking photos with his iPhone. |
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| It's hard to see here, but the curve of the columns is mirrored on the other side. They look like 2 arms hugging someone. Yes, that would be my thumb in the corner. |
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This is the same curved row of columns as the previous picture. This is 'inside' the curved row of columns.
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