Our last day in Rome we went to the Vatican. It's an autonomous city-state with huge stone walls around it in the middle of Rome, and it's, of course, the center of the Catholic Church. We took a 5 hour tour of the Vatican with a tour guide and I'm so glad we did, because it would have been miserable navigating through all those crowds. Plus we got to skip the line and she knew so much about the art, it was really nice to have her explain the history behind things.
Some of my favorites:
 |
Ancient Romans cremated their dead and then put their ashes in these.
The busts were placed on top, so that's why there are so many that survived. |
 |
| The lighting in the new wing was gorgeous |
 |
| I loved the ancient statues |
 |
This is the original Laocoön, cleaned and fixed up by Michelangelo,
they found the original arm only a few years ago, so that's why
it isn't as white as the rest |
 |
| A picture of the statue with Michelangelo's arms added |
 |
The Belvedere torso. It inspired Michelangelo's Adam
on the Sistine Chapel ceiling |
 |
| Raphael's School of Athen's-I was sooo excited when I saw this |
 |
There was also a modern art wing of gifts to the Pope, but
I thought they were all kind of weird |
 |
| Sistine Chapel! I wasn't supposed to take a picture but... |
 |
| St Peter's. It is huge!! |
 |
| Michelangelo's Pieta. Beautiful. |
 |
| Swiss Guard |
We also climbed up to the dome of St Peter's and looked out over the city. The pictures didn't really turn out but it was pretty cool.
The next day we headed to Florence.
 |
| The view from our awesome hotel room |
 |
| The Duomo! |
Ok so I just have to rave about Michelangelo again. He was soooo talented! I like Raphael's painting style better, but his sculptures are amazing. The David and Prisoners are so beautiful. The pictures definitely don't do them justice. David's face even changed depending on the angle. From the front he looks confident, but from the angle of this picture he looks a little apprehensive. We weren't supposed to take pictures, but I snuck one anyways :) I seriously could have sat there and looked at them for hours. And I'm not even an artist! I just read a really good book about Michelangelo (it's called the Agony and the Ecstasy if you want to read it) and I have even more respect for him than I did before. He was so talented and worked so hard.
 |
| Michelangelo's David |
 |
| Florence at sunset |
 |
| The famous bridge in Florence |
 |
| We got some fresh fruit at a fruit stand, it was sooo good |
Next up the last couple days of Italy: Cinque Terra and Venice
Our last day in Rome we went to the Vatican. It's an autonomous city-state with huge stone walls around it in the middle of Rome, and it's, of course, the center of the Catholic Church. We took a 5 hour tour of the Vatican with a tour guide and I'm so glad we did, because it would have been miserable navigating through all those crowds. Plus we got to skip the line and she knew so much about the art, it was really nice to have her explain the history behind things. 
No comments:
Post a Comment