(tip of the cap to Melanie)

Jen and I and the Pope. That’s right. We took on the country of 900 people and so much artwork that they put it on the ceiling…

First, I’d like to say that the Sistine Chapel was all that it was cracked up to be. Anybody who would paint standing up, looking up 18 hours a day for 4 years gets major props, but then to see it was pretty spectacular. There were no pictures allowed in the Chapel (although it didn’t stop some ding dongs) because Nippon has exclusive rights to all photos of it (they paid 5m+ for restoration) so I can’t show you anything I took of it. Instead I will use this guy’s…

As you can see, this photo is a collage/panorama of photos that show not only the ceiling but the front wall which is also done by Michelangelo and called “The Final Judgment” (the bottom of the photo with the blue background). I could write a paper on all the cool things, but I will leave it at this, who ever thinks old art is boring, should read up. A few nuggets:

Vatican City is defended by the Swiss Guard. They are pretty much show as they are armed with swords only and dressed like the Trix Bunny got hold of them. Either way, everyone seems to feel the need to photograph them, and, when in Rome…

Something stunning about the Vatican was that while it has so much art work in it that if you spent 15 seconds looking at every piece you would be there for 12 years, as you near the end (and the entrance of the Sistine Chapel) there is a collection of exceptional modern art. We didn’t have the luxury of time to look at all of it, but there were some fantastic pieces there. Even the stained glass pieces had a bit of edge to them. This piece signals the start of the real modern work.

As we’ve traveled through Europe, we’ve entered many a church and basilica. Some of them have been quite ornate or sizable or expansive, but they all paled to St. Peter’s Basilica. I think Jen summed it up best, “Good Lord!” The place is huge and it has some amazing statues in it.