So, where did we leave things?! Oh yes, right before I took my tour of the Vatican! Well, Jenn and I rose early, took in some nutrients, and headed towards the Nike store in front of the Vatican area. (Yes, this is for real where we were told to meet). Jennie accompanied me through the subway, for which I am grateful because even though there are only two lines, finding the station and the train in the correct direction is tricky. Having already done the whole Vatican thing and with her "museum allergy", Jenn had chosen not to accompany me through the tour. However she did want to see the Pope's Wednesday blessing, so we headed over to the predetermined tour meet-up.
And there on the corner was Fe, looking bubbly and energetic per usual. We had gotten there about a half-hour early and consequently it was suggested that we go find a place to get a cappuccino and chill -- which is exactly what we did. We ended up waiting for around 45 mins to an hour because the metro was nutso and had caused quite a few folks to be late, but finally we were off (no crazy British families appeared - score!). We picked up our ultra stealth earphones (the holy Romans do not like you to be all loud in the Pope's house), received our free tickets for the Pope's blessing, and headed towards the walls of Vatican City. Actually getting into St. Peter's Square was kind-of a cluster eff because there is only one entrance. Well, there are two but the one we went through was built...sometime recently to accommodate larger crowds; it still took about 15 mins though. When we finally busted through (just me with the group at this point, Jenn had moved on), we walked out on to the near vacant piazza. Which allowed us to get bomb spots near the "road" the Pope would ride by later in the day. We could have sat in the seats, but Fe advocated standing near the partition that blocked off path for the popemobile in order to get a better view. While waiting for the Pope to appear, I passed the time trying to take pictures of the Swiss Gaurd in their original uniforms -- here is one now:
The story behind the Swiss Guard is that the Pope commissioned the Swiss Guard in the 15th century, due to their reputation for being highly disciplined and loyal.And then finally the Pope came out in his little vehicle and the blessing began! Here is a short video I took of the procession:
Honestly, I was expecting crazy cheering crowds and Italian mothers weeping and Nuns praying on hands and knees...but it was decidedly less exciting. Though there was a commotion when the Pope first appeared, after that audience participation was lackluster. We listened for about 20 minutes, and then left to tour the Vatican museums while everyone was still at the blessing (it goes on for hours).
Let me tell you, the Museums at the Vatican are HUGE. I was in the museum for around 5 hours and I only saw the main portion, the "Classical Antiquities" -- I did not even touch the Egyptian collection, or the library. But the part I saw was enough (my feet rrreeaaalllyyy hurt by the end). If I haven't said it before, I will say it again - my guide was the BEST. She was so informative and positive and perfect. And the things I learned....I want this blog to be informative but I am afraid most of you would fall asleep if I prattled on about everything I was told at the Vatican museums. So I will give you a few highlights (with pics):
- Frescos are mad
hard to make. They involve plaster, cartoons (ancient roman word for sketch), pigments and a hella lot of patience. Before being commissioned to create the roof of the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo (translated into Spanish as Miguel Angel) (this made me laugh) (I like parentheses) (is this distracting?) (anyway...) had never done one before. In fact, he turned the project down and wasn't going to do it, until the Pope threatened him with excommunication!
- This is the most anatomically correct sculpture ever made.
- The ancient Romans were crazy genius. This purple marble is the most rare marble eva (there is actually none naturally occurring in the world currently), and is so hard it takes modern scientists hours to make a 3 cm long cut in it using diamond tipped saws. How the h-e-double hockey sticks did they carve this?!?
- Classical sculptures had EYES. Creepy no?
- Miguel Angel was a sexist, temperamental crabby pants. But still....so talented, so dreamy. Sigh.
The above sculpture is actually from St. Peter's Basilica. It was one of the first things Michelangelo ever did, and the only work he ever signed. And he only signed it because there had been a rumor floating around that someone else had sculpted the work - so he sneaked into the basilica and wrote his name on Mary's sash! Michelangelo's female sculptures usually lack...femininity (Michelangelo really like the menfolk), but this Mary is beautiful. I think it might be my favorite thing I've seen by his hand.
After the museum, we were spit out into the Sistine Chapel. Reviews of the chapel fall into two camps: 1) OMG, IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL and 2) omg, it is so overrated. I think I fell in between (per usual). I am very very glad I saw it, if nothing else but to pay tribute to a once-in-a-lifetime masterpiece. Was I impressed? Definitely. Was I moved? Not particularly. I actually liked the fresco Michelangelo did on the wall better than the ceiling. It was more dynamic.
One interesting tidbit - you are not allowed to do take any pictures of the ceiling. I thought that this was due to the effect of thousands upon thousands of camera flashes on the pigmentation. I was wrong. Apparently, a television company funded the restoration of the ceiling back in the 80s/90s, and offered to do so as long as they were given full rights to any and all images taken of the chapel. So, there you go.
By the time I wandered into St. Peter's Basilica I was in a state of extreme over-stimulation. The immensity and sheer gaudiness of the basilica did not help matters. Frankly, I do not remember much beyond gold, marble, and the press of humanity. The sculpture discussed above was a high point, but otherwise I wandered around the cavernous space in a daze; it was completely beyond my ability to take in any more illustriousness. I was sponge who could take on no more water; after doing justice to the Holy See and his holy seat, I was very happy to go and sit in piazza and wait for Jenn.
I hope you enjoyed this installation of "Courtney sees lots of stuff and tries to word vomit it all over the page". Next time we will explore the protestant cemetery! More exciting than it sounds...???
xxOx
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