Not quite as breath-taking as Toledo's masterpiece

---

Geo: 41.8955, 12.4823

Had breakfast and then I was off to drop off my laundry. We all made plans for dinner at the salad place that evening. Off to the Vatican - I ate a pork sandwich as I walked over to it. There were some tendons in it so it was quite crunchy - despite that, it was actually quite tasty (and spicy). Got to the Vatican museum and encountered an unbelievably-long lineup that wrapped around 3 blocks! It took me an hour to get my ticket. I can't imagine what it's like here during high season.

Had a scary moment while waiting in line - I was eating some amaretti cookies (it seems like I am always eating in Italy, doesn't it?) and saw a lady begging for money. I think she had been scalped. It was a pretty horrific sight.

I am developing a new phobia over the course of this trip - a fear of tour groups. It's very irritating. I start to shake and cry when I see them. There are just too many of them at the Vatican. I went to the pinacoteca (painting gallery) first as most people do it at the end. As a result, it was a little less busy than the rest of the museum. There are some pretty nice pieces of art and sculptures in the Vatican museum, but I have seen comparable works elsewhere before.

It's so busy in parts of the museum that you almost can't breathe - it's hot, sweaty, and feels like death is slowly choking you until you suffocate! I wonder how much worse it gets in the summer time?

The modern art section was actually quite good - some neat sculptures and paintings. Finally, I got to the Sistine Chapel. The scope of Michelangelo's vision is unbelievable. Simply put, it was breathtaking. I don't even know how someone can even conceive of something so grand and vast, let alone execute it flawlessly. It is considered by many to be the best piece of art in existence ANYWHERE - I find it difficult to dispute that. However, there is a masterpiece I once encountered in Toledo that surpasses even the Sistine Chapel ... 😊

I know I have bashed tour groups in the past, but I must confess that they were quite useful today. There are two exits from the Sistine Chapel - one takes you back out towards the entrance and requires you to backtrack over a kilometer to get out, and then you have to walk 15-20 minutes to get to St. Peter's Basilica. The other takes you directly to St. Peter's, but has a sign posted that says "Authorized tour groups only". So what did I do? I hung around the exit until a Korean tour group came around, and I wandered out with them. It was an easy feat - all of us Asians look the same, right?

As I entered St. Peter's I was awe-struck - a similar feeling to when I went to St. Paul's in London, two years ago. Now I can say I've been to the three largest cathedrals in the world. This was definitely NOT just another cathedral!

Back to the hostel - on the way I had an unnatural craving for cheese. I felt like a vampire hungering for blood ... but only cheese could satiate me! Though I'm sure gelato would have ended the pangs just as well. Anyway, I bought a big chunk of cheese and devoured it on my way to pick up my laundry.

I met up with Tiffani and Kristine, and we were off to dinner. My theories on nuns in Italy were explored. I suspect that most are pickpockets. Who would you suspect least? Their gowns are bulky and could provide good cover while they steal your wallet, and it provides a great place to hide the goods.

My "guerrilla warfare" approach to travel was also discussed. It's like a mission - get in, hit they key points, and get the hell out! No time wasted, take no prisoners! If someone goes down, you leave them behind.

Had a great salad - greens, emmenthal, walnuts, beef carpaccio, in a honey dressing. I started with prosciutto and melon - I had never had it with cantaloupe before (usually with honeydew), but it was still great. Had some nice white wine with dinner.

For some reason, no one would sit next to us. Four parties were brought to the table next to ours and all of them refused it! I must have terrible B.O. Soured gelato must be secreting out of my pores and generating a nasty smell.

We walked to the colosseum - it's beautiful at night. Too bad the forum was already closed. We tried to find a good gelato place - our bunk mate from last night was raving about a place not too far from the hostel. Sadly, it was closed tonight. I couldn't bear to go two nights without gelato ... and neither could Kristine. We bought a not-so-small tub from the grocery store and managed to polish it off. I was pretty surprised that we had accomplished that ... but gelato deprivation is not a pretty thing. I felt like a hyena gorging myself on a rotting zebra's carcass as I devoured the chocolate/vanilla mix. It's sad ... gelato has reduced me to little more than an animal. But a very happy animal!

---

Photos

a
Cool Da Vinci painting. It's tough to see because of my crappy photography skills, but the face of the subject is racked with pain and anguish. Like me last night, after going without gelato!

b
b

c
You can't take pictures of the Sistine Chapel, but they have these posters to enable you to get a good look at it.

d
d

e
e

f
f

g
A giant pine cone. This truly would have been a masterpiece had it been a giant gelato cone.

h
The ceilings were as impressive as any of the artwork.

i
Plastic surgery gone horribly wrong!!! How many breasts does she have? The first correct answer gets a gelato on me!

j
The things you see on the ceiling here are not 3D - they are actually painted/drawn onto the ceiling. I thought it was pretty impressive! Of course, I can barely draw stick-men properly.

k
The overall length of this wing was over 1 kilometre! I think the Vatican has a little TOO MUCH MONEY!!!

m
I've forgotten who, but one of Rome's emperors was crowned on this spot. I was kicked out of St. Peter's after I ran over to the spot and screamed "I am Leonardo DiCaprio, and I'm the king of the world!!!".

n
Along the floor, they mark where other "smaller" cathedrals would end, in relation to St. Peter's.

o
I love the effect of the light shining into the cathedral - ethereal!
Check out the words along the base of the dome - the letters are 2 metres tall!

r
St. Peter's square

s
Who is this? A busker? A clown? Nope, it's a member of the Swiss guard! It's no wonder that they are neutral - who could go into war with these guys without breaking into laughter?

x
Me, seductively eating my salad. Notice the fro. It's just wrong, isn't it?

y
The forum at night - if only I had my tri-pod, I could have gotten a postcard-quality shot!!!