in the Vatican. Just kidding, as that would take forever. Today, we had our Vatican City museum tour. This place is so big that you can't see everything. It's probably the largest art museum in all of Europe. Pretty impressive stuff in the halls, some dating BC. (seeing so much BC stuff is weird because you'll then find a piece from the 15th century and think 'meh, it's not THAT old'.) Once again, we had a Viatour which was great because our tour guide had the quietest voices, plus some of the Vatican is considered a holy place and you aren't supposed to talk.The most interesting part for me of course was the Sistine Chapel. Growing up, you always assume that the ceiling is only God touching Adam. That's where we're wrong. That fresco is one of 9 other frescoes, as well as two long borders containing more pictures. The thing is huge. To top it all off, you can paintings on the walls as well as The Last Judgement, everything all by Michaelangelo. He was SO talented and what's more amazing is that he wasn't even a painter. He didn't even want to paint it, but the Pope told him he had to. Glad he was forced to, although I expected something brighter, or a cathedral with stained glass, more like the Sainte Chappelle in Paris. Aaron envisioned a much larger cathedral.
We also saw the Raphael rooms, but sadly, I think both Aaron and myself were underwhelmed with it all. It could've been that it's the end of the trip, that we've seen a billion paintings already, or that there were a billion people in the museum today....I'm not really sure. It's definitely something you should NOT miss though, as you can see his self portrait and it's in the room of the Pope.
He wanted larger, and we got it. St. Peter's Basillica is the largest church in Europe. It's a Baroque church filled with marbles and gold, crosses, and since it's in the Vatican, everything 'Pope'. Our favorite part of this church was a plaque that listed every pope and their death year followed by the next Pope. I think the Pope that reigned the longest was leader for 38 years.
We also went into the grotto where most of the Popes of the past are buried. Since the most recent Pope died in 2005 and he's about to be beautified, there was a crowd around his grave. We tried finding Alexander Borgias' grave, but I don't think he was down there due to the fact that he was a corrupt pope. Anyway, the past Pope is going to be truly 'blessed' come May 1st of this year.
After the Vatican, I made sure to send a couple postcards out since it's a different country than Rome. I sent a postcard to Trixie. I hope she gets it.
Our next stop was Castel Saint Angelo, the old castle for burying the first kings, as burying anyone inside the walls of Rome was forbidden. It was all right. After seeing all of the Vatican, I think it's hard to see ANYTHING else. It did have a nice view of Rome and almost everything inside was from the 1-5 centuries.
We went back to the Collusseum to take a picture in front of it because we were dumb asses yesterday and didn't get a shot in front of it. Once we finished this task, we walked to the Circus Maximus....and I cried when I found out it wasn't a circus. Just kidding, I knew. It was the old stadium for chariot races. It's not even excavated and the reason is because the city of Rome uses the field for concerts. If they excavate it, where will they have the concerts...so for now, chariot pieces and marble seats are under ground....We tried to see the Roman baths but we had trouble with the map and by then it was almost 5:30.
Gelato time
We heard from tons of people locally that the best gelato in Rome was Delle Palma, so of course, I have to try it. Not only was it NOT the best, the panna was SO disappointing. I feel like both Palma and Crispino should just add some sugar to their panna and they'll be golden. Also, their cones were not good. As our last gelateria, we decided to go out with a bang, so we went back to Giolitti's. The panna and the cones are perfect there....do yourself a favor and go there.
Stina- champagne and watermelon (the champagne tasted like champagne exactly. However, I didn't think this through....you like the drink champagne slowly and eat gelato fast. those two actions contradict each other and so does this flavor) The watermelon was AWESOME! I recommend getting watermelon gelato if you can't decide on a flavor. At Giolitti's, I got blueberry, strawberry, and sour cherry. The combo was ok. I think I needed a break from a berry.
Aaron- he opted for mousse today, getting perifertaroles and strawberry. He enjoyed both so much that he scraped his cup clean. At Giolitti's he got blueberry and pear. The pear was the best pear we've tasted, like real pureed fruit. It had bits of pear in it too. You know that feeling when you eat a pear and you get that 'chalky' feeling in your teeth? You get the same sensation when you eat this gelato. Aaron was trying to convince himself that his gelato counted as his fruit servings for the day.....no way, dude!
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