Reality is Finally Better Than a Dream...: Tre Giorni....day three, Holy Roman Style!

Ciao! buono sera to you back in the states!!

Another amazing day...this time without my Aunt however, and we stayed in Roma. We were out and about to catch the number 19 Tram heading to Vatican City and St. Peter's Cathedral to see the Pope!!! I'll just kill the suspense now and let you know that we did not see the Pope in person, just via postcards, rosary beads, magnets, pens, candles...you name it; although, we were unlucky in finding a Papa Francis bobble head, just the old pope. aw well.

Stanley was up to no good in a few of the stores, but he really took the risk of being kicked out when he was messing around with the pope outfits for sale and whatnot... oh boy!!

But before this happened, we visited the Vatican where he posed with some statues and acted a bit inappropriate as well as appropriate, if that's at all possible, to act a little of both?! Sure, whynot!!

The Vatican.... The Vatican Museums originated as a group of sculptures collected by Pope Julius II (1503-1513) and placed in what today is the “Cortile Ottagono” within the museum complex. The popes were among the first sovereigns who opened the art collections of their palaces to the public thus promoting knowledge of art history and culture. As seen today, the Vatican Museums are a complex of different pontifical museums and galleries that began under the patronage of the popes Clement XIV (1769-1774) and Pius VI (1775-1799).

We walked through the Etruscan museum, the Egyptian museum, Gallery of Tapestries, a collection of various 15th and 17th century tapestries; the Gallery of Maps, and a bunch others...just breathtaking, amazing, and definitely will never see anything like it, nor that like St. Peters Cathedral and the Sistine Chapel!!

Head shot!

Selfie!

I work out!

He said not to put it on facebook.... hahahah :)

playing dress up?

The Sistine Chapel...is the best-known chapel of the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in the Vatican City. It is famous for its architecture and its decoration that was frescoed throughout by Renaissance artists including Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio and others. Under the patronage of Pope Julius II, Michelangelo painted 1,100 m² (12,000 sq ft) of the chapel ceiling between 1508 and 1512. The ceiling, and especially The Last Judfment (1535–1541), is widely believed to be Michelangelo's crowning achievement in painting.

"Without having seen the Sistine Chapel one can form no appreciable idea of what one man is capable of achieving."

Johann Wolfgang Goethe, 23 August 1787

We just had a great Holy Day for my mother's birthday in Vatican City!! At first, the line was outrageously long for St. Peters, after we went through the Vatican...and we were almost going to just skip it, well thank gooooodness we did not!!!! We ended up getting right in around 6 or so, after we were done some shopping, people watching, and eating gelato finally for the first time since we have been here!!! amazing....I had two flavors, coconut and chocolate...it was my own little mounds bar disguised as gelato!! YUM! The Vatican was great and I sure did feel a sense of some surreal holiness in the Sistine Chapel. It was just indescribable!!

street performers...illegal vendors (either indian or african american...interesting) and legal vendors....mimes....people posing as statues for money....beggars/gypsies....people watching...tons of NUNS (and priests) everywhere, some on the run, some in groups, some black, some white, some asian, some indian (dot, not feather)...fantastic!!

Sister Act?

Anyways... it was another great day!!! We ate out just the four of us for lunch at a cute little place on the street, we sat outside and ate. I had a white pizza, mozzarella cheese, parm cheese and artichoke spread...thin thin crust, it was soo very good!! Pizza will never be the same back home again!! We got back around 7 I think..hung around...sat down for a bit, and then had dinner at 9:30 or so... amazing fish, spinach like vegetable, pear walnut salad, and pumpkin cheese shrimp risotto. AMAZING! Have I said AMAZING enough yet??? I DON'T THINK SO!!!! :) :) :)