On my last day in Rome, I went to the Vatican! The Vatican is the world’s smallest country--it has stores and stuff in it, btw! The Vatican is a separate country because Italy wanted it to stop influencing politics.I went on Ash Wednesday, and reserved my ticket to the Museums online--the line stretches for blocks! As we entered the city (we took a bus, its kinda far out, there’s also a metro), we had to go through security--one does not simply walk into the Vatican! We didn’t have to show passports though, hah J
As we walked in, there was a huge congregation--I assumed because, ya know, its holy week at the Vatican. No, it’s because THE POPE WAS TALKING! He was seated in front of St. Peter’s, talking about Ash Wednesday, Easter, etc, in Italian. He didn’t have his hat on though. He was seated under an awning, and looked quite sleepy--it was rather hot. There was a lot of people seated, listening, watching the big screens he was blown up on. I’m not even Catholic, at it was cool.
We took this as a chance to bolt for the Sistine chapel, while the line was shorter. It was still about an hour or two--I left my friend behind since I had a reservation. Tour guides charging 40 euro offered to get me to the front, but I declined--you can always listen to them for free on the inside, its so packed!
It’s hard to describe the Vatican museums. For one, there are like 7 separate wings, and they’re all packed with the world’s best art. There were rooms with animal sculptures, rooms with huge statues of Roman emperors and gods, rooms of tapestries, maps, Hebrew slabs--it was over the top.
To be honest, it was really upsetting. All of these were amassed to show the power of the Church, to increase its splendor, and kept in a private collection. Its deprivation to the rest of the world. The amount of artifacts was insane: almost more than the Lourve. I personally think most of that should be put in a public museum, not one that costs 12 euro to get into.
Frustration or not, it was amazing to see so much in so little time. It always devalues the last things you see though--as we waited to get into the sistine chapel, no one paid attention to the modern art wing we were in. Such is life. I entered the Sistine Chapel, and it was nothing like what I thought it would be. The ceiling (which is surprisingly small--it’s a chapel after all, not Notre Dame. I thought of like, the entire dome of St Peters or something) is covered in 9 panels down the middle: 3 show the creation of man, 3 show the fall of man, and 3 show the flood. Surrounding these are large depictions of various biblical figures. The largest wall in the chapel is Michelangelo’s fresco “The Last Judgment.” A fresco is a painting done on fresh plaster, which preserves the color very well, but is EXTREMELY difficult and takes a fast, yet skillful painter. No chance for mistakes, no ability to cover large areas with a base color, etc. It’s frustrating! It took Michelangelo 4 years to paint this Sistine Chapel, and he only did so (he was a sculptor, finding painting too easy--if you see the David, you’ll agree it was a waste of his time! He was so amazing!) because otherwise the Pope said he would wage war with his home, Florence--how awful!
All of the paintings were quite stunning. I brought a book with me to guide me through each panel, and I got so much more out of it. The Last Judgment is a terrifying painting--hell truly breaking loose. Not quite as awful as the Duomo, but still awful. However, I got a glimpse into the average tourist, and why Europeans hate Americans. Next to me, on the coveted bench on the wall to sit and enjoy the paintings, was a group of 3 American women. One girl was confused, and was like “The top is Heaven, right” “Yeah” “Why aren’t they happy” “It’s the Last Judgment” “What’s that” …why even bother coming. It truly shows our ignorance, when we, this supposedly extra conservative country, don’t even know the Bible. Gays getting married is against the Bible? How do you know, you obviously didn’t get to the end. Ugh.
After the Sistine Chapel, I went into the actual Vatican. The Pope was gone at that point, which is good, because otherwise it would be closed!! The Vatican itself is free: hurray! We went through security, which exists to check your bags and tell you to cover up. Some poor woman in a skirt was told to “cover her legs”. Embarassing! I went into the tomb of the popes first: quite eery. 3 rows of old popes and cardinals, along with the supposed burying place of St. Peter. I came upon John Paul II’s grave, and there were many people behind a rope praying to him. His tombstone is very odd: It’s a huge, long piece of marble, with just “Giovanni Paolo II” on it, at a slight angle above the ground. Most of the other popes are in sarcophagi of marble. However, this was before he was beatified (step before sainthood): he is actually being moved into St. Peters now!! This was the week before he was moved. Crazy timing. After the tomb of the popes, I skipped the dome (I’ve had enough of heights, thank you) and went into St Peters. Its beautiful, and awe inspiring. It has a few glass caskets with the bodies of old popes and saints. One had no mask, and was so pale and waxy--quite terrifying, really. But they dress them in super comfy clothes (slippers!), so lucky popes. They also had a seat, high up on the wall behind the altar thing (all these catholic churches have these square areas behind the altar covered with pillars and a roof, I don’t get it), which I think is supposed to be for Jesus. Overall, St Peters because amazing, awesome, beautiful, and above all, decadent.
Oh, the world’s oldest post office is in the Vatican! It still functions, and you can buy post cards to send from there. Sorry guys, I was broke. Hope you enjoyed the ones from Greece!
I went to Circo Massimo and the Spanish Steps after I finished the Vatican. Circo Massimo (Circus Massimus) is the old Roman race track, and now pretty much an indented patch of grass, nice for a picnic J I climbed the Spanish Steps, and did a little people watching before I got on my night train to Verona. That train goes all the way to Germany, and I was the only one who didn’t speak German(even the Italians!): but everyone also spoke English! Hurray, these multilingual people. After such an exhausting, full-out trip, I was ready to enjoy a weekend with Albert, and then take in Verona for two weeks before I left! (3 days!!)
No comments:
Post a Comment