rome, day 2

michelangelo´s pieta, in st. pete´s basilica
me in front of st. peter´s basilica


last nite we took a walk along the tiber river. it was neat because along the bank of the river, where there is concrete, they have little shops and stands set up (more like stands than shops). there are little places selling things like hand made jewelry, and clothes, other places selling drinks. there are even places to sit down. paola is intrigued by one becuase they have a swimming pool at this bar. i insisted that it was just for show, but she wants to swim in it.

so today we woke up a bit late, and walked up the street to catch the bus to the vatican. on the way, crossing the river, we saw people swimming in the pool. so now paola wants to go swimming.

in any case, i wasnt sure how the buses worked here, so i was uncertain to get on. we found the one that would take us to vatican city, and realized, because we got on the back, that we didnt have to pay. that was a cool deal. on the way back, we also didnt pay. so the deal is that you are supposed to get a ticket before hand, and if they ask for it, you show it, or pay a fine. i figure that we dont have to show it, becuase even if we do get a ticket, we will be leaving the country in a few days anyway. so, we get free public transportation. cool.

vatican city was neat. the center piece is st. peters basilica. it was named st peters because that is supposedly where st peter, the first pope and one of jesus' deciples, is buried. the church is the biggest in europe, and apparently, up to a few years ago, the biggest in the world (i am not sure where the bigger one is, but not in europe). we went inside, and it was impressive. they take up all the space with lots of art and such. one work of art that is most impressive is michaelangelo's pieta, a statue of mary holding the dead christ's body. its a beautiful sculpture; vasari, in his 'lives' says that one only needs to see this sculpture, and no other for the rest of their lives. it really is neat. under the church, there is a tomb, where the popes are buried. we saw john paul ii tomb. it was much simpler than lots of the other ones. some people sat in front of it and prayed. one old lady was even crying. interesting.

around the corner from teh church is the vatican museums, which include the sistine chapel. there was a lot of old sculpture in there, even a bust of socrates that i liked. raphael also painted many of the rooms, and i liked seeing those pictures, especially the 'school of athens.' it is a neat picture with lots of the ancient philosophers depicted. i am most impressed with the rendition of heraclitus, which is actually a portrait of michaelangelo that raphael added after the rest of the picture was done (he added it after seeing the sistine chapel). the grand finale was the sistine chapel. the roof is all painted by michaelangelo, as is the wall behind the alter. quite impressive. i was talking to paola so much while looking at it that someone overheard, and asked if i could tell him more stuff, because he didnt know so much about it. that was a neat feeling, to be a teacher to an adult who wants to learn.