it was breathtaking to step into the square. like this special, holy air that gave me chills. i was thinking about all the times i watched it on tv after jpII died.
once inside i saw michelangelo's pieta and a million more works done by famous artists. posting pictures does not do this magnificent place justice.
i climbed the dome, which proved to be quite difficult with my stomach so hungry. it was really crowded at the top and i thought i might faint. so i went down pretty quickly. my roommates said that the day before, they saw a guy propose to his girlfriend up there! how romantic.
look how handsome this guard is. they were all so handsome. i think the pope only allows handsome men to guard the vatican. he looks like a model.
then i went to the vatican museum after i ate some pizza. i must say, rome does not have good pizza and everything is so expensive... can anyone help me out in reminding me what this pineapple/pinecone symbolizes? i have been trying to figure it out.
i remember learning about this statue and painting.
i also saw a REAL egyptian mummy!!! gross.
my favorite part was the contemporary religious art. can you tell who this is? it's amazing. jpII.so i was cruisin the museum and this guard starts following me. i get kind of nervous. then he asks me where i'm from. long story short--he asked if i would like to go out that night. i was like sorry i can't, i'm meeting up with a friend. so i'm thinking that i did not curse myself in the trevi fountain. :)
i finally made it to the sistine chapel. i have to say i was a little disappointed. we weren't allowed to take pictures, but i got this blurry one. i think i expected it to be bigger. of course it was exquisite in that it was entirely painted, but a bit overwhelming don't ya think, michelangelo?after the museum i had THE best gelato i had my entire time in italy. if you ever go to the vatican, when you're on your way to the museum, there is a little gelato stand on the right side of the street. i should have looked at the name. it was only 2 euros for the largest amount of gelato i have ever seen. oh my. my mouth is watering for more.
that night, i met roberto at the colloseum. it was really beautiful at night. we went and got pizza. i waited in the car while he ordered it. he brought it back. guess what was on top of part of it... FRENCH FRIES. what in the world are french fries doing on top of pizza. it was very strange. we took the pizza to the top of this hill that over looks the city. we drank wine and talked. he tried to give me a compliment and said "you are funny looking." i said that wasn't very nice and he didn't understand. he said, "funny looking like jim carrey." i said that really wasn't a good compliment. he also said some other really really funny things, but i'll share them with you if you ask :)the next day i was a little bit over rome. i went to the caravaggio museum and waited in a two hour line. it was kind of neat to see the paintings, but i'm not really a fan. but i will admit it is amazing to see how he used the paint to make the scene come alive.
i saw the biggest church in rome (st. peter's doesnt count because it is its own country), which was beautiful. i also saw this, which i cannot think of the name. is this where roman holiday is? when she falls asleep? i couldn't remember...
i ate pizza and gelato and pastries and drank coffee all day trying to enjoy it before i left. however, then i felt pretty sick by the time i boarded the train. then i took a 13 hour train to vienna.funny story about the train: i only bought a seat because it was 7 euros opposed to 27 for a bed. there was no one else in my car so i spread across three seats. later people came in and tapped me on the shoulder. they only spoke polish so i was trying to understand what they wanted. they showed me you could pull out the seats into three beds. it was really cool. but then i was like well do you want to sleep in the middle and the guy was like "no no" so there i am sleeping in the middle of two people i do not know while hugging my HUGE backpack. i didn't know which way to turn because i didn't want to have to breath on them or anything. nonetheless, i slept for about 12 hours of the ride!
i woke up and wa-la i am in vienna :). i will be here until sunday morning when i go to prague. i will update about vienna once i'm done here.
ciao,
e.
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