I'm finally not in a rush tonight because I'm hanging out in my hotel room with free wifi waiting for Mom and Dad to get back from doing laundry. So now I will finally get to tell you all about my adventures in Italy!
So to start off, we got up for our first day in Rome and headed on over to the Vatican City to see the museum, the Sistine chapel, and St. Peter's cathedral.
I'm convinced that Dad's obsession with dogs has become unhealthy, because the second we saw this statue he said, "Hey look, it's Gus!"
We weren't allowed to take any photos of the Sistine chapel, but it was absolutely breathtaking. I've seen pictures of the ceiling before, but there's just something about seeing it in person that is so totally different from what I expected. This is another one of those things I never expected to see in my lifetime, and I couldn't believe I was really standing there under that ceiling taking in that magnificent piece of history.
After that, we headed over to see St. Peter's cathedral, and oh my gosh was that cool! We walked into a piazza surrounded by a HUGE circle of columns leading up to the entrance to the cathedral. Apparently this place is so big it could fit at least 2 or 3 St. Paul's cathedrals inside it, and after walking around inside, I have no trouble believing that.
It also happens to be the resting place of Michelangelo's Pieta. That was another one of those things I never dreamed I'd get to see in person in my lifetime, but BAM! there it was, right in front of me. There's something incredibly sacred about that particular sculpture. Even though I was surrounded by pushy tourists all sticking their arms up to get a picture of her, she seemed to emanate this air of peace and love that brought everyone's voices to a hushed whisper, if they chose to speak at all.
By this point, Mom and I were dying on our feet, as we had been walking for about six or seven straight hours. So, we decided to stop off and see the Spanish Steps before heading back to our hotel for the night.
This was a lovely place to sit and enjoy the scenery, and as I was doing so I just so happened to notice this:
Turns out, this house was a Keats and Shelley museum! So crazy that I learned about those guys this semester and then bump into this of all places!
These are my new favorite pair of shoes, and I think they're the only reason I keep getting mistaken for an Italian here. With Mom and Dad the natives immediately pick them out as Americans, but I must look European because I have to keep apologizing to Italians for not speaking their language.
The next morning we met up with my cousin, Kelly, and his wife, Erin. Kelly served his mission in Italy, so that was fun to have someone with us who could speak the language. We got treated a lot better that day (because Italians really don't seem to like you if you can't speak their language).
Our first stop was the Colosseum, and when we first stepped out of the Metro station, we were greeted by this:
One entire side of the Colosseum was covered with scaffolding! I kid you not! So, a bit disappointed, we went inside and wandered around the inside of the Colosseum, which thankfully was not covered in scaffolding.
When we got outside we were very happy to find that at lease one side of the structure was still uncovered, so we were able to get some decent pictures.
After that we wandered across the street to see the ruins, which were pretty sweet. It's just amazing to me how many of these structures have withstood the test of time.
After seeing all of the ruins and the remnants of the palaces on the hill next to them, we headed over to see the Pantheon. No one seems to know what it was intended to be used for, so it remains a mystery. As for me, I'm pretty sure it was just a revenue that could be rented out for political meetings, religious gatherings, personal parties, etc.
After that we walked down to a bridge on the river, which was gorgeous because we walked under a tunnel of sycamore trees, and then we went to check out the Trevi Fountain.
That fountain is stunning at all hours of the day. We loved it so much that we came back after dinner to see it at night.
That was well worth the wait! We all made sure to throw a coin over our shoulders into the fountain, and then we headed back to our hotel.
Today was quite the adventure finding our way into Florence! Dad got up at five to go pick up our rental car, and wasn't able to get it until seven. Then we didn't end up getting on the road until like nine or so, and when we got to Florence we realized that the directions we had didn't include what exit to take off the freeway, and what ensued thereafter was a couple of hours of weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth such as I have not seen in my Dad for quite a while as we circled the city hopelessly looking for either our hotel or a place to park the car so we could get to our appointment at the museum.
Finally we ended up parking in a zone that landed us with a ticket (we think?) and hurried over to the museum. Fortunately for us, one of my superpowers happens to be knowing how to find my way around, even when I've never been somewhere before. Consequently when I took charge in finding the museum where David is kept, I found it right away.
It's on the most random street, and isn't marked at all. I actually looked down the street and had to verify on a map that I was in fact on the right road because I had such a hard time believing that the museum would be in such a sketchy, trashy building on such a dingy, sketchy street. Actually, it was more of an alley than a street, and if you look in the picture above you'll understand my initial confusion.
In any case, in spite of being an hour late for our appointment, we were still able to get in without any trouble and see David.
Wow.
I had no idea why David was considered so special, but now I understand. He is the most beautiful sculpture I've ever laid eyes on. If you stand gazing up at him long enough, your eyes begin to play tricks on you, and I thought I saw him move ever so slightly every now and again. I half expected to see his ribcage rise and fall with his breathing because he looked so lifelike. Even the weathering on his shoulders and arms from 300 years out in the rain and snow gave him an even more human appearance because it seemed more like flesh and less like marble.
After seeing that, we wandered down the road to see this little beauty:
Oh. My. Gosh. That building is GORGEOUS! I instantly fell in love with the cathedral at first sight, and I was thrilled when I found out that it was free to go inside and look around - which we did, of course.
After that we headed over to the square where the original David used to stand (an exact replica now stands in his place), and then we got down to the river, where to my delight, I saw this:
Yeah, THAT bridge. The one I've seen in pictures and daydreamed about in all my European exploration fantasies for as long as I can remember. Yeah, I walked on that bridge.
I leave you with two videos today, because they cover almost a week's worth of stuff that we did and places we visited. Cheers!
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