The Vatican

When we arrived in Rome, we spent our first evening exploring the tiny cobblestone streets, obtaining delicious pizza and gelato, and enjoying the fabulous old buildings that brought new surprises around every corner.

Our first morning, we got up early to go on a tour of the Sistine chapel in the Vatican museums before the museums were generally open to the public. This also let us skip the hours-long wait to get into the museum. It was incredible to walk through the gallery of maps, the longest gallery in the museum:

The Sistine chapel was just as amazing as you would expect. We spent over half an hour with our heads back, looking at Michelangelo's stunning colours and forms. The frescos seems to jump out of the ceiling. We were surprised too to learn that Michelangelo was the first to portray God as an older man with a beard - an image that has certainly stuck in our culture. 

After the tour of the Sistine chapel was over, Jer and I first made our way to Raphael's rooms. It was surreal to see such a famous and thoroughly analyzed piece in person. 

In the centre of Raphael's School of Athens walks Plato (painted with the face of Leonardo da Vinci) and Aristotle.

On the side, Euclid is teaching his students.

We spent the whole morning exploring the Vatican museums. There far were more spectacular and famous works than we could possibly count. We were very fortunate to learn that there is a special door in the back of the Sistine chapel which leads directly to San Pietro, allowing us to avoid waiting in a very long line under the hot sun in the main piazza. In 7 foot high letters all around the church are written all of Jesus' words to Peter in the Bible.

The lettering around Michelangelo's lovely dome is Jesus' declaration that Peter is the rock on whom Jesus will build His church. We learned that Michelangelo didn't accept any pay for his work on this beautiful dome.

The small statue of Peter felt almost insignificant in the context of the exceptionally grand basilica. His foot was indeed worn away by the millions of people who have touched it.

We spent the afternoon wandering around the old town again, finding more fabulous things before our feet could not walk any further. The Pantheon was lovely in its simplicity. Trevi's fountain was packed with people, but we rewarded ourselves for braving the crowds with delicious gelato!