Ciaowdy! Today we traveled on a day trip to Rome to see other historic buildings, specifically the Vatican City.
On our trek through Rome, we visited the Pantheon and spotted many fountains, some almost 2000 years old, where we were able to refill our water bottles to stay hydrated during the rest of the tour. We visited a town square the size of a football stadium with various structures in the middle such as Poseidon’s fountain then we started our tour through the Vatican Museums. This is where we saw many sculptures and paintings by famous artists such as Picasso and Raphael. We learned that the Pope invited Michelangelo to paint the inside of the Vatican who was inspired by Greek art to paint men with large muscular bodies. The museum also included tapestries that told the life of Jesus and had marble sculptures of animals upon the Pope’s request for a zoo of sculptures in the church. We all were amazed by the three dimensional effect of the art since the painted pillars seemed to bounce off the walls while the sculptures had robes constructed on the people that alluded a soft texture to the hard material.
After a tour of the Vatican museums, we were finally on the last floor, it was time to enter the Sistine Chapel. Before heading in we were informed any photography or talking was not allowed since it is a sacred temple. Upon entering we were instantly greeted with the beautiful paintings of Michelangelo. The entire ceiling is covered with paintings depicting the chapter of Genesis in the old testament of the bible. Some honorable mentions were “Adam’s creation,” “Judgment Day,” and “The Original Sin.” Moreover, the walls of the chapel are covered in tapestries that reflect Moses’ life with Jesus; as Christians believe he was foreshadowing the coming of Jesus.
Lastly, we all got free time to explore the St. Peter’s Basilica. We immediately went to see Michelangelo’s famous sculpture, Pietra, which was directly on the right hand side of the entrance. We then walked around in awe of the craftsmanship each sculpture displayed clearly in the detail in the marble. In addition, we were amazed by the massive size of the Four Pillars of Baldachin, also known as St. Peter’s Altar, which was made in Jerusalem out of pure bronze. Afterwards, we headed to the gift shops to find cool souvenirs. Gabi and Leslie got rosaries while Selena got a neat artist cube to take home. Finally, we met up with everyone and headed home back on the 3-hour journey to Assisi. After dinner, we got our daily gelato to end our eventful and hot day.
