I decided to do Rome in (probably) 3 or 4 parts. We have so many pictures from so many cool places I can't fit them all on one or two blogs.
On our first night there we opted to eat at a sushi (yes, sushi) restaurant right across the street from our hotel. We decided this because we were going to be having big Italian meals (and I mean big) for the next two nights after that. And of course, for dessert, there was an gelateria right across the street from our hotel as well (which was visited 3x by the Edwards throughout the 3 days we were there). The sushi was surprisingly good and the gelato, well we were in Italy so I'll let you guess how the gelato was :)
On the next day we visited Vatican City. Home of the Vatican, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica.
A little bit of history on Vatican City that my hubby shared with me is that it's considered a country! It's the smallest country in the world and ruled by the Bishop of Rome- the Pope. The whole thing is surrounded by a wall and houses beautiful buildings and gardens. Like I said we took SO many pictures in here, I'm going to post them in sections. These are of the Vatican (or Vatican Museum).
The rest of these are mostly of the decor inside the building. There were lots of Greek and Roman statues inside as part of the exhibits but I was mostly fascinated by the amazing painting and decoration of the ceiling and walls inside. (Plus you already got to see statues from the British Museum, they look pretty much the same.)
Can you imagine being the Pope and getting to walk through this whenever you want???
(PS, the last two look like they're carved, but they're actually painted)
I've never been a huge art person but you cant help but appreciate the incredible skill that was put into all of the decoration of this building. If you are ever in Rome, this is definitely a place you can't miss! There's so much more too it than what I posted.
After the Vatican we visited the Sistine Chapel. Unfortunately you aren't allowed to take pictures in there so we don't have any :( But trust me when I say its really surreal to be inside a place with a painting that you only see in books...on tattoos...on clipart.......Michelangelo's painting of Creation.
It's so much more than just the middle part (the part where Adam and God are almost touching fingers). It spans the whole ceiling and starts with the very beginning of creation and ends with the story of Noah. On the sides of the ceiling there are smaller paintings depicting the lineage of Jesus. So cool!
Michelangelo also painted the front wall (behind the altar). The name of the painting is The Last Judgement and it was painted about 30 years after the ceiling. One side of the painting shows people ascending to Heaven being pulled up by angels. Michelangelo did a self portrait of himself on this part. The other side shows demons pulling people down to Hell.
(The Last Judgement, I got this off the internet)
It's surreal being in a place like the Sistine Chapel. You walk in and you just see a huge group of people, all quiet, staring at the ceiling. It's one of those places you just want to be in there by yourself to just take it all in. It's considered a holy place so there's a dress code. I had to make sure my shoulders were covered and was wearing a skirt that was at least to my knees and Jonathan had to wear pants.
Anyways, up next we have St. Peter's Basilica!
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