Having heard about the terribly long lines at Vatican City, we decided to be proactive and get to Vatican City before 9:00 in the morning (this is quite early for traveling college students). Unfortunately, several hundred people were quite a bit more proactive than we were. The line to get into Vatican City was so long that it literally took a good ten or fifteen minutes to walk the length of it. We were told to expect approximately a two and a half hour wait and that the gates wouldn’t even open until 10:00. It didn’t take long standing in the already sweltering heat for us to decide that someone should probably get breakfast and some sort liquid for us to share. Once the Vatican opened, the line moved with surprising speed and we were admitted in seemingly no time at all.
We followed the crowd to the Sistine Chapel, famous for its architecture (which was designed to evoke Soloman’s Temple of the Old Testament), its purpose as a site of papal importance, and of course, the frescos and decorations that were done by some of the most famous Renaissance artists. As I walked through the hallways, I was stunned first by the fact that the ceilings, walls, and floors were absolutely covered with scenes depicting various Biblical events and secondly by the detail and precision with which the artists painted. I couldn’t imagine being upside down on a scaffold and painting an arched ceiling to perfection. Room after room, hallway after hallway were covered with paintings that seemed to come alive as I walked in awe. As you might imagine, the place was packed and I found it difficult to be able to stand and stare at a painting without feeling like I was in someone’s way. I’m certainly not an art connoisseur or art buff but it would’ve been nice to be able to go in one night alone and spend the entire night admiring the artists’ work. The most densely populated room of them all was of course the chapel itself. Michelangelo was commissioned to paint the vault, which took him four years to complete. The walkways of the chapel were dimly lit thus it was difficult to take pictures; pictures and video of any kind were altogether forbidden in the actual chapel, though people took them anyway (much to the dismay of the individuals whose job was to try and prevent people from taking pictures).
After the Sistine Chapel we made the short walk to Saint Peter’s Basilica, which was an absolutely gigantic structure capable of holding over 60,000 people. Much of the marble in St. Peter’s Basilica was carted over from the Colosseum, which was badly damaged. We saw one of the most famous sculptures in the world, Michelangelo’s Pieta. Other ornate and impressive sculptures of past popes lined the walls. It would’ve been nice to know Latin to be able to read some of the insignia on the walls and ceiling but I did find one cool sign that had the names and dates of all the popes of the past.
We exited the church and walked through Saint Peter’s square and then out of Vatican City. Tired from all the walking, we walked over to the Mausoleum of Hadrian and napped on a curb for an hour or two. Having spent much of the day in Vatican City, we first went to Termini to buy our train tickets to Florence for the next day and then went back to Riccardo’s to meet him for dinner (we’d previously agreed upon a time to meet). We were originally going to go out to eat but his friend, Diego, wanted to show me how to cook “real” Italian spaghetti. I’ve given it a shot since and it’s still a work in progress. Diego shared some chocolate that he’d brought with him from Sicily. He had kept it in his freezer and when he opened the pack, the sugar crystals were clearly discernable from the chocolate…suffice it to say, this was far and away the best chocolate I’ve ever had in my life.
To cap the night, Riccardo and Diego drove us to the center of Rome. We grabbed a few beers, walked past the Pantheon, and arrived at the Trevi Fountain. When Paige and I had visited a few days ago, there were so many people that it was difficult to move; however, at night, there were only a few people there to drink a beer and listen to the water. Two guys who were there decided that it would be fun to mess with the security guards who were on guard by swimming in the fountain, since it was forbidden. One jumped in fully clothed and swam around for five minutes or so. The other stripped down to his boxer briefs but never could get up the guile to jump in. The guards, who probably see this every night, calmly walked over and confiscated the clothes of the guy in his boxers and patiently waited for the other individual to emerge from the fountain. Everyone there (except the guards, of course) got a pretty good laugh out of this. When we left, the guards were still talking to the two gentlemen (one of whom was still in his boxer briefs since his clothes had been confiscated) but according to Riccardo, they wouldn’t be in any serious trouble.
