A Roma: Day Two

After arriving back at the hotel I packed up my things and headed downstairs for breakfast where I met up with my two favorite roommates and Mr. Nero. I got to recount my morning adventures over a croissant and pear with a glass of multifruit juice! When I told Mr. Nero that I had tried to find the Caravaggio church he said he would've told me the way if I had let him know earlier! It's too bad that I hadn't resolved to see them on my own earlier than the previous evening!

In short time we were told that the bus had arrived and we had to board it to go to the Vatican Museums. We were lucky to have group reservations, otherwise we would've had to have braved the line that stretched as least 10 blocks away. I have no idea how long these people would have to wait before getting into the museum... at least 3 hours certainly... at the very least. I wished I had taken more pictures--that line was crazy!



Inside I was able to take pictures of many things... but our main point of interest was trekking to the Rafael rooms and the Sistine Chapel.





It felt like it took forever, but when we got to the room with the famous "School of Athens" I looked over my shoulder and saw this!:


Michelangelo, my man! It was incredibly fortunate for him to be the first thing I saw when gazing upon the famous room.



Shortly after we were escorted to the Sistine Chaper, where we were no longer allowed to take photos. It was the highlight of my trip and better than I had imagined it to be! I only wish that the other tourists there would have been more considerate... it truly felt like a desecration and detriment to the chapel. I tried to block them out as best I could and admire the amazing work of Michelangelo. We stayed for 20 minutes, which was just not long enough, and exited out into Saint Peter's Square.


We were let loose for a short while until we met up with Mr. Nero for a short tour of the inside of St. Peter's Basilica, the largest Christian Church in the world!

Inside, I saw Michelangelo's Pieta, Bernini's large bronze canopy above the high altar, St. Peter's tomb, St. Peter's Cathedra, the housings for the relics and many many wall tombs! Here are some pictures from the interior.





After St. Peter's we were let free for lunch. Unfortunately we had no idea where to go, but a short walk away there was a decently priced diner and gelateria with ample seating, and it won our choice.


Afterwards we had some extra time so I took pictures around St. Peter's square.




We met at the obelisk at St. Peters and made a short trip to some catacombs just a short distance away from the outskirts of Rome. There were no bones in these catacombs, just dark, dank and deep underground with various small cubby holes where bodies had once been entombed. The little section we walked through was just a very small portion of the entire complex... these catacombs stretched for 11 miles under the surface! Since we were closest to the opening we saw the graves that had been subject to grave robbers who had sold the bones they found as relics to the local churches. Our guide was German and very knowledgeable and friendly. No pictures were allowed there either.

After finishing at the catacombs we got back on the bus again and headed for Florence... tired as ever! Although we had really spent only a day in a half in Rome, it had felt like a week away from "home."

I took some pictures of the surroundings on the way back.