The Vatican, Day 2

Our first view of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. We pre-booked our guided tour of the Vatican Museum for one of the first available times in the morning. This was one of the best decisions we could've made. We were able to see all the rooms and artworks without crowds--which showed up in droves later. Plus our guide was top-notch: knowledgeable and passionate about her work.

Mostly refreshed, decently-rested, and ready for our day at the Vatican. (The headphones were connected to our guide's mic.)

Pope Francis lives in a modest apartment somewhere in the area of these windows. Also he drives a Ford Focus. Who knew? (He's made it a point to live as simply as possible.)

There's no way to describe the ornateness and grandeur of the Vatican Museum. It holds more than 70,000 works of art, with about 20,000 on display. The Catholic Church has been amassing these works for centuries. Various popes have built on to the museums and added to the collections.

This same hallway was packed later in the day.

This room was a fun highlight for me. It's designed as a small replica of the Pantheon. (We were only allowed to peer inside from the doorway.)

The best word I can think of to describe the "Raphael Rooms" is delightful. This painting is the "School of Athens" which depicts all the greatest artists and thinkers of classical antiquity. Plato is in the center in red, pointing upward, and to the right is Aristotle in blue. That contemplative fellow in the front is Michelangelo, as depicted by Raphael.

Raphael, of course, added himself to this scene, in the black hat, peeking out at his spectators. He added cameos to other paintings as well.

I'm not 100% on this, but I think this is another cameo (in a different painting) of Raphael, here in the red sleeves. Raphael was so beloved of the people that they reported his cause of death as "an excess of love," a gentle euphemism for syphilis, which was the likely cause.

Julie and I both got a little emotional as our guide led our group into the Sistine Chapel. This is the famous ceiling. We weren't allowed to take photos (or speak above a whisper) so I grabbed this one from the Internet.

And this one. The ceiling was painted by Michelangelo, even though he didn't consider himself a painter, but a sculptor. Nevertheless, the pope commissioned him to do it, and it was an offer he couldn't refuse. A close-up print of the hands hung in my house for a decade or so. It was unbelievable to see the whole thing in real life.

Our guided tour ended with breakfast in the courtyard and we were able to browse on our own the rest of the afternoon.

The courtyard has this massive pinecone flanked with peacocks, which I told myself I'd google afterwards, so here it is. Apparently, this is called "Pigna Courtyard" and the pinecone dates back to the second century and is symbolic of immortality and rebirth. The peacocks used to adorn Hadrian's Mausoleum (117-138 AD).

Next we walked hallways of statues and busts.

Such as Caesar...

...and Nilo (the Nile)...

...and this endearing woman who is smiling, when so few of them are.

Hang tight, folks. I know this is getting long. But you won't want to miss these next ones. This is St. Peter's Square, where the Pope visits every Wednesday (if he's in town) and crowds can reach up to 80,000 people. Next we went through a security check to the got a view of the dome from inside.

Once again, I got emotional viewing "The Pieta" by Michelangelo.

Seeing the mother's love on Mary's face.

Inside the basilica is overwhelmingly gorgeous. There are so many other grand works of art, which I won't post today.

Here is the inside of the dome itself. So awe-inspiring. I hope I can make it back to take in some of these views in person again.

Royal Swiss Guards are assigned to protect the Pope and have become a

unique feature of visiting the Vatican.

On the cobblestoned streets of Rome.

We ended the night with dinner at a trattoria, where Julie was thrilled to try the artichokes. She'd heard that they are in season and was determined to try them

cooked every which way.

Phew! That concludes Day 2, which will be my longest post by far, as there was

so much to see. Stay tuned for the rest!