The Start of the Fun Stuff

So this is how Rome really is.

I got up this morning and walked literally 3 blocks to the worlds smallest sovereign nation, the Vatican City. I didn't plan on this being the place I went, but I just wanted to see what was around me. I knew the Vatican was close, but man, it's really, really close. The line to get into the Musei Vaticano was a mile long, and I didn't care if I got in there today, so I just walked around the Walls of the Vatican for a while, until I rounded a corner on this beautiful piazza and started to head toward a pillared, columed opening, look inconspicuous enough from the street.

It was anything but inconspicuous, however.

I walked around there for a while, just taking in the open space for all it was. I'm by no means Catholic, but it was enough to make you feel religious. I mean, wow. It's just huge, monolithic, even, and epin in its size. I mean, not that the pictures can do it justice, but look at the people! They pale in comparison to the fountain, and the statues atop the scaffolding are around 10 feet tall, just to give you an idea. I was just pinching myself, wondering how something so gargantuan and marvelous could be done in times without the kind of modern technology and skills found in workers today. But it got cooler, even, after I headed in to the Chapel itself, in the dome you can see in the picture right next to this. The pillared entrance on the left is the way in and out, leading to the tombs of the popes and saints, including St. Peter himself, along with more stunning artwork and architecture than you could shake a stick at.

I took a video of the interior, and I'm going to try and put it up, but it can't do it justice. It was really just something that has to be experienced to be described fully.



It really is amazing here. I'm meeting some nice people, but I really wish I had someone here I was close to, to share this all with. I'll have the memories forever, and that's what's cool.

In other news, it's still hotter than hell (pun intended, with the Vatican and all. . . hahaha) outside, to the tune of 95 degrees with high humidity, but I'm staying as cool as I can and living the dream, eh?

Hope all is well back home, and maybe I'll leave you with a parting picture or two, just to really send it all home. And, as always, Ciao.