The next morning I donned the same outfit I had been wearing while traveling all the previous day. I was not looking forward to jeans in the sweltering humidity around the city. Quickly that was forgotten as we were on our way to see the Vatican. We had to wait outside the immense walls of this city-state and go through security before entering the facilities. We walked through just part of the Vatican Museum seeing more statutes in one place than Dan and I had probably ever seen combined.

The paintings, tapestries, ceilings, and mosaics were magnificent.
Each new room and alcove was overwhelming.

Eventually this led us to the renowned Sistine Chapel*. The chapel room was much larger than I expected. The famous ceiling was breathtaking and far more vast and detailed than I had imagined. Not having done any research beforehand, I had a very limited idea of what we would be seeing. One huge wall of the chapel was covered in a single painting depicting over three hundred people with Jesus and Mary as the focal point in the center. An interesting piece of trivia our guide shared was that the sculptor Michelangelo was very frustrated by the commission from the Pope to paint the chapel because he hated painting. “Imagine if he loved it . . .” said our guide (who strongly reminded both of us of Fary Moini). *Note: The image above is not the Sistine Chapel. It is simply the hallway that leads into it. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the Sistine Chapel. If you are curious to see images, you may find this web site interesting: http://www.wga.hu/tours/sistina.)

After the chapel we entered the main part of St. Peter’s Basilica. I should have remembered from my experiences in Mexico that a “chapel” is only a small side room in a church or cathedral. Walking into the largest church in the world was nothing short of the full meaning of awesome.

Every wall, every corner, every inch of ceiling and floor was decorated in marble, mosaic, paint, tile, sculpture, and gold. We continuously found ourselves looking around 360 degrees up and down and side to side while somehow managing to not crash into the hordes of tourists around us doing exactly the same thing. We have too many pictures and still I am sure that they will not capture one tenth of the experience of being there.

At one point everyone stopped as a two hundred people processional of what we think were altar boys and priests followed by a Cardinal came into the basilica toward the main altar to start a mass. A highlight of this multitude of religious symbols and ornate decoration was looking up inside the great dome of St. Peter’s Basilica. The beautiful detail and symmetry was framed by black Roman lettering surrounded by gold mosaic. Even though each letter was seven-feet tall, they were dwarfed by the enormity of the dome.

Leaving the church we entered St. Peter’s Square
which continued the theme of grandeur of scale.

Continue to Rome, Italy