ROMAMOЯ - Secondo Giorno

We woke up Friday morning to the beautiful sunshine and clear blue skies, thank goodness! We were eating breakfast by 9am to make it to the Vatican by 9:30ish. The hotel had an amazing breakfast; it was the perfect mix of European breakfast foods (meats, cheeses, assortment of vegetables) and American breakfast foods (eggs, sausage, bacon). Once we finished charging ourselves for the day, we started walking to the Holy City. Right outside the Vatican we were bombarded with tour groups saying you can "skip the line" to the Museum. One look at the line and we all decided it was worth it to pay the €35 to skip the line and have a guided tour. When we waited for the rest of the group to be assembled, we sat down and got some water bottles at a small cafe. Within 15 minutes a group of about 15 of us were off with our guide in the lead. The line to the Vatican Museum was SO LONG, it would take hours to wait in it! We actually ended up skipping that line, but had to wait in another one solely for groups with guides, but it was only 20-30 minutes. Once inside, we all got our tickets and headsets and the tour commenced.

The first stop on the tour was the Cortile della Pigna. It gets it's name from the large bronze pinecone located in the entrance to the museum. My camera of course died right after we left the courtyard so I have very few pictures, but I'll try to steal some from my mom. The courtyard connects the museum with the Sistine Chapel. Set up around the grassy areas were big boards with pictures of the Sistine Chapel on them. Our guide took us to one and began to explain the art in the Chapel. She told us they had to set up the boards because pictures are not allowed inside due to the current agreement the Vatican has with the Japanese public television company...confused yet? So were we. Apparently before 1980, the ceiling and walls in the Sistine Chapel were in terrible shape. The pictures were so dark and dirty that books had even been written and studies done examining Michelangelo's "dark painting" style, when in reality it wasn't his style at all! The Nippon Television Network Corporation of Japan provided major funding for the restoration of the Chapel in exchange for filming rights; thus, no photos or videos are allowed inside as long as they have the rights (for the next 10 years or so). The restoration team was comprised of world experts in their field, and were required to study the art intensively before touching it at all. They decided to leave a few small squares untouched so people could see what a difference the restoration made. Witnesses say it was like opening a window to a dark room, the pictures were full of light and color, and Michelangelo actually had a gift for painting the light in his works. 

The pinecone is behind Mom's head.

Michelangelo. What a brilliant man. Most people think of DaVinci when they think "Renaissance Man" but Michelangelo was truly a Renaissance Man as well. He was an architect (he designed the main dome of St. Peter's Basilica), a writer, a painter, but most importantly (to him) a sculptor. He was working on the funerary sculptures of a past pope when we was commissioned to begin working on the Sistine Chapel. Up until that point Michelangelo had never really painted because he thought it was the lesser art. He definitely had no experience in painting fresco, which is a very difficult form of painting on wet plaster before it dries. Raphael (who was fresco-ing the pope's private library at the time) knew that. And that's precisely why when asked by the pope who should paint the new chapel, Raphael said Michelangelo because he couldn't stand the man and also couldn't wait to see him fail at something in his life. Raphael couldn't have been more off if he'd tried. Michelangelo called in apprentices to "help" him with the frescoes. After a few months of observing the art of fresco, he ended up locking the apprentices out of the chapel, destroying all of their work, and beginning on his own masterpiece. The ceiling work depicts scenes from Genesis, and the Last Judgement on the wall depicts something entirely from Michelangelo's brilliant mind. The Last Judgement has Jesus welcoming people into heaven and sending others down to hell. He is accompanied by angels-one has the heaven book, which was very small; the other has the hell book, which was very large. There are a lot of unique aspects to this work but the most interesting part is the bottom right corner. There you will find the only man who ever spoke out against Michelangelo...he is the only aged man in the entire picture, and he has a snake wrapped around his body with its mouth on his you-know-what. The man was actually an interrim pope and didn't like that Michelangelo was painting naked bodies in such a holy place. Imagine his surprise the next time he came to view Michelangelo's work!


Ok ok enough about Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel...at that point we hadn't even gone into it yet, just talked about it so we would be informed on what we were looking at. From the courtyard we went into the museum and saw another small courtyard surrounded by sculptures. After waiting on the crowds to disperse themselves, we began to walk through the halls of the Vatican Museum. Keep in mind the Vatican Museum is home to over $48 BILLION worth of art. We saw incredible flat ceilings with 3D art popping out at us. We saw the tombs of the emperor Constantine's mother and first born daughter. We saw ancient tapestries. We saw Nero's bathtub...or was it his mixing bowl? We learned about a precious stone that can no longer be found in nature and 90% of the world's supply is in the Vatican. We saw mosaic floors that were over 2000 years old. And finally we saw Raphael's Rooms which house his great masterpiece the School of Athens.

Mosaic FLOOR

Nero's Bath or Bowl...whichever you prefer.

The School of Athens is a work of art that depicts knowledge. In it you will see Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, Pythagoras, Raphael himself and...yep you guessed it, Michelangelo. It is believed that when Michelangelo was painting the Sistine Chapel, no one could enter and see his work. One night, Raphael snuck a peak when Michelangelo had gone out to see how badly he was failing. Upon seeing a pure genius masterpiece, Raphael could admit to himself he was wrong about Michelangelo, and thought so much of him that he included him in the School of Athens. Not only did he just include him as another figure, though. He put him in more modern clothes, not ancient togas like the rest. He did that to symbolize how Michelangelo was always ahead of his time. The most interesting part of this Raphael-Michelangelo story? Raphael thought so much of Michelangelo that he completely changed his way of painting after that. His figures began to represent those that Michelangelo painted - more muscular, perfectly carved bodies. Pretty neat, huh?

Raphael's School of Athens

From Raphael's Rooms, we finally went into the Sistine Chapel. Talk about amazing. The frescoes were almost surreal. I couldn't even tell if the ceiling was totally painted on or if the divisions between the Genesis stories were real! And the Last Judgement...I couldn't peel my eyes away. I can't even explain to you the massiveness of this work of art, but I'll try. Imagine in your head the front of a 4-story building...THAT'S how big the Last Judgement is. You could actually see the expressions on all of the figures faces. And the man with the snake was pretty easy to find. You could also make out a skull hidden in the work...

Michelangelo's The Last Judgement

The ceiling was intense. Everyone had their heads completely tilted back 90 degrees, looking at the different scenes. The middle section in the ceiling painting depicts the creation of Adam. The fingers do not touch, and some say the area where God is located is also thought to represent the human brain depicting a transfer of knowledge. Some even think the area where God is located is a uterus, with his cloak being the umbilical cord to humanity. What do you think it represents?

Michelangelo's Creation of Adam

Now, there have been a few popes in the past that have covered the genitals of all pieces of art in the Vatican Museum, and Michelangelo's work was no exception. He was actually alive when they commissioned someone to do it, and he said it was the only person in the world he would trust to touch his art. In the later years more cloaks and clothes were added after Volterra painted on the first ones, but one pope eventually ordered all of them to be removed except for the originals.


Our guide also showed us the purple stone circle at the front of the Sistine Chapel where every pope has stood since the 16th century. It has the best view of the Chapel. For some reason I had a weird thought in my head when I was there and couldn't seem to get it out...but how cool would it be to be proposed to in the middle of the Sistine Chapel?


When we finally left the Chapel, we went to the Museum bookstore where I bought a postcard. I wrote it and mailed it at the Vatican Post to my grandma...I hope she got it! It was 2pm when we finally exited the massive museum. We had been in there since 10am! From there we went straight to St. Peter's Basilica. The line was pretty long, but moved quickly since there is no charge to enter. We saw the Swiss Guards as we were walking to the Basilica, and we stopped briefly to check out the view of the square from the top steps of St. Peter's.

Swiss Guard...he might look like a court jester but he's trained in 3 martial arts
 and has the authority to behead you if you pose a threat to the Pope.

I didn't know it was possible to have so many moments that literally take your breath away in one day, but it apparently is. As we entered the Basilica, a certain wave of emotion came over me and I realized I was standing in the spiritual center of my faith, Catholicism. We were also standing above the tombs of countless people, including the composer Palestrina, John Paul II and supposedly St. Peter himself. For a while we walked around in silence just viewing the magnificent art and unbelieveable architecture, but eventually found ourselves at a large chapel on the right-hand side with a sign out front saying "Only those who wish to pray may enter." So the three of us, of course, entered. I can't lie, I'm getting emotional as I'm writing this; my experience here is so hard to convey through mere words. As we knelt down in front of the Blessed Sacrament, something just came over me. I started praying for my grandmother's health, my brothers and dad, and my mom for a safe trip home, among other things. Tears would not stop streaming down my face. I wasn't sobbing, just crying silently. At that moment I felt closer to God than I've felt in a long time, and it's something I know I needed to feel. After praying, I sat down and meditated for a good 10 minutes. The room was so calm and comforting. There were 2 nuns praying directly in front of the Blessed Sacrament, and about 20 or so other people in the pews. As the three of us got up to exit the chapel you could tell we all had a similar, yet different experience. From the moment we entered the Basilica, we heard a choir singing over the speakers. It was so beautiful, we figured it had to have been pre-recorded. When we left the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament though, we saw a group of choir boys singing to the right of the High Altar! We couldn't believe our ears. The music they were singing was flawless, and they were so young! That definitely just added to the spirituality of St. Peter's.

Square from the steps of St. Peter's

No words.

Choir boys bottom left.

From there we crossed in front of the high altar over to the other side of the Basilica. The high altar is quite a sight to see. There are 4 twisted pillars on the 4 corners of the altar that seem to reach up to the top of the dome...they are actually 95 feet tall...forget Michelangelo's 4-story painting, these pillars were HUGE. Oh wait, did I mention that Michelangelo actually finished these pillars? Truly the man was a genius. There are actually staircases inside them that lead to 4 balconies. This baldachin is quite a sight to see at the very least.

High Altar

We finally made it to the Basilica bookstore, and were a little disappointed as the Museum bookstore had a lot more to offer. As we walked in we passed an area that said "Mass Offerings". I pointed it out to mom and we asked a guard if we could go in and write a mass offering. He led us right in and mom wrote the offering for her father, my grandfather, Raymond Brysch. He passed away about 11 years ago, and now a mass is going to be offered for the repose of his soul at St. Peter's Basilica. It's just hard to find words for moments and experiences like those.


We walked out of St. Peter's around 5 and walked around the square for a bit. At the front of the square there was a group of young people (my age) signing, playing guitar, and holding a big wooden cross. We walked closer to them and were approached by 2 college students. One was a girl from Nicaragua, and the other was a boy from Scotland. They asked us if we had ever heard of World Youth Day and of course I have! I actually remember celebrating WYD in Lebanon, MO the year it was in Germany and we had sauerkraut and sausage for lunch and got to watch a satellite screening of the actual WYD. They informed us that the wooden cross was the original one given to World Youth Day by Pope John Paul II. They explained to us that they were students who committed to one year with a missionary community in Rome. There are only 2 other ones like it in the world, and their home church was commissioned by JP2 in the 80s. We talked with them for a few minutes, then the girl asked if we had anyone we'd like for them to pray for. After 5 seconds of silence, Emiley and I spoke up at the same time and I said "my grandma" and she said "my grandpa". The girl smiled and asked if she could pray in Spanish with us right then, in the middle of St. Peter's Square and we of course said "si". This was another emotional experience for me. I didn't even know these people yet they were kids my age doing good in the world and praying for the health of my grandmother who they didn't even know or know what was wrong with her. The five of us just stood there with our heads bowed as the prayerful Spanish words flowed beautifully out of her mouth. Even the guy from Scotland had tears running down his face when he saw how much of an impact it had on me, and he does this sort of thing on a regular basis! It is undoubtedly true that "where two or three are gathered in My name, there am I in their midst".

Whew, what a day! And it's not over yet. We walked back to our hotel, or more like hobbled back to our hotel because we had been standing up and walking all. day. LONG. We freshened up and mom found a seafood restaurant for dinner and we were off yet again. The food was pretty good, a little pricey for what you got but good nonetheless. The wine was excellent of course. You know me and mom, we can't go out to dinner without a bottle of wine, and we weren't passing up the opportunity to try new reds in Italy! After dinner we went got back to our hotel around 10pm. The West Point guys next door wanted to go out, and mom felt comfortable letting them take me and Emiley out if they promised not to leave us the entire time we were out.


Drunken Ship it was. We took a cab this time since it was over a mile away. We didn't want to miss out on the party! We shared 3 pitchers of various mixtures and then played some beer pong. Me and Emiley whooped up on the boys, but then got beat by 2 girls the next game :( As we walked outside, defeated, we found a table and sat around it for a while just talking.

Drunken Ship beer pong!

I eventually needed to go to the bathroom and it was in line there that I met this Roman. I wasn't purposely trying to meet him, I really just wanted to find someone who could translate "I'm On A Boat" to the DJ so he would play it. The Roman said he would, but after a while we lost him and I doubt the DJ had that song anyway. Oddly enough we ended up running into the Roman again outside when we were considering leaving. I ended up talking to him for a good hour or so and Emiley and one of our West Point friends were talking to his little brother. We all decided to hit up one more bar that night and we had the time of our lives there! It was huge and there were 2 rooms with 2 different types of music. I was drinking good old cider again, and we were all dancing and just having a genuinely great time. As the clock struck 3 I figured we'd better be heading back to the hotel because I knew mom would be worried. The Roman took the three of us (one of the West Point guys got sick and left early) and his little bro around Rome to a few of the major sights that were lit up at night. One being St. Peter's Square, which was absolutely magical-looking, and the other was a lookout over the city. He finally dropped us off at our hotel around 4am and the doors were locked! The receptionist saw us thankfully and unlocked them. Mom said she was worried but said a prayer for us to get home safely and not 2 minutes later we came walking through the door. God works in mysterious ways.


Friday was probably one of the best days in my entire life, for many reasons. Good food, good friends, and good fellowship only just begin to describe it. Terzo giorno coming tomorrow hopefully!


Ciao for now ;)