Just When You Think You've Seen It All

Friday was another day filled with Rome-ness.  We didn't have class until the evening and we had a tour at the Vatican/Basillica set up for the morning.  Our tour guide was amazing, his name was Rick.  I loved how he was so passionate about the history of everything in the Vatican.  A lot of people were complaining that he was going too fast, but if you were listening attentively (as psychologists are supposed to do...) then you would have caught the main points at least. 

 

One of the first things we see as we entered the Vatican area is this deer (what a lot of people are calling Harry Potter's Patronus).  I just thought that was funny, so I put it in here :)

 The artwork in here is amazing.  I guess the artists are just discovering how to portray depth based on perception.  The amount of studying and understanding how the mind works is phenoms.  I love how the intricacies of the human body are explored and exaggerated, as if to say they are usually overlooked.

The ceilings in the photos here are painted to look 3D like they have been sculpted out of the building's ceiling, but in fact, it is flat.  Unbelievable.  I thought our tour guide was pulling our legs!

I just tried to get a picture of some stuff with people in it so you can see how HUGE these paintings are.  The rooms in this place have walls that are COVERED with beautiful paintings done by the most influential artists. 

After all of the art and talking, you head into the Sistine Chapel.  It is also sacred and there is no talking and no picture taking, but of course, people are going to be disrespectful and do both of those things.  I chose the high road and did not do either of them, so you don't get to see any pictures of it.  It isn't like I was going to get any that were better than the pictures on the internet, right?  It is very neat how it is all laid out.  As you enter, the story of Moses is on the right wall and Jesus on the left.  All around the upper ceilings above that are the statues of biblical figures, (Joseph, Job, etc.) and then finally above that is the great ceiling of the creation of man (with the finger touching, the creation of woman, the tree of good/evil, etc.  The ceiling is full of nudes, again embracing the beauty of God's creation.  I don't think that anyone quite grasped the intricacies of the human form quite like Michaelangelo.  To complete all of the frescoes in there, it took about 4 years.  4 years!

After that amazingness was captured into my memory, a few of us, instead of going back to the convent (we're in ROME!)  wanted to go into the Basillica and into the dome!  We took the elevator and still had to walk up a lot of steps to get to the very top. Here is what we could see before entering the dome, after the elevator ride, including the view down below.  It already looked amazing, so we were super excited to see what was up even higher!

After we entered and before we went up, we decided to look down into the area from the beginning (brim) of the dome.  Not the place to be if you are afraid of heights!


After that, the hike to the top was on!  I guess it makes sense for the walls of the stairwells to curve in, as the dome curves in.  It was just trippy to see!

 At one point, we even had to use a rope to steady ourselves as we got closer and closer to the top!  Liz is the demonstrator haha.

 

The view.  Oh my, the view.  

You can practically see the entire city of Rome.  :)

 We stayed up there for a while trying to get pictures. I think this is the point where I was frustrated with taking pictures to the point that I didn't want to take anymore!  Things are just so much better in person and pictures, although they do an okay job, just don't get the point across!

Over to the right, Liz once again displaying the tightness of one of the spiraling staircases!  I think it is super hard to be out of shape in these cities, btw.  The amount of walking would make any person like a supermodel, even with the amaaazing food!

When we got back down from the top, we stopped outside before heading to the elevator and saw all of these statues of biblical figures lining the top of the facade (and along the edge of the building).  Jesus is up there too, cross in hand.  Hey Jesus :)








Inside the building, it was way huger that I thought!  I felt like my feet were going to just die there on the spot and leave my body to find another way of transportation, but my eyes convinced them that they were able to hang on for a little while longer, because it was amazing inside here!  It is told and accepted that Peter's bones are buried beneath the building in this spot.  This place is his tomb and the dome above it is spectacular.  There is a statue on the right (you can see this gold awning on the right side of the photo here >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>





and that is where the sculpture of Peter is.  People were forming a line to touch the foot of Peter for good luck and blessings.  Here is a closer view of it. Note woman touching foot.  I did it too... why not?
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It was getting close to class time (which some people in class non-verbally refer to as "nap-time") so we had to go.  I am glad I didn't get that extra couple of hours of rest- I can rest when I get home!  I am in ROME!