The last couple of days

Last night was dinner at the Piazza Navona, which is a gathering of trendy ristorantes not too far from our hotel. Some of our group had to meet, while the rest of us spread out and enjoyed the cool evening.

Okay, Jennifer, if you haven't been paying attention, start listening.
We ate at Tre Scalini, which was listed in our tour guide as having one of the top 10 treats in Rome, a desert called Tartufo Tre Scalini. Essentially, a truffle with chocolate ice cream covered with dark chocolate shavings and whipped cream with a piece of fudge and a cherry in the middle.

Goes well with cappucino. Yum.

This morning we departed bright and early for the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica. Our group was a little smaller, with some doing their own thing and others resting tired legs, so we grabbed a couple of taxis to head for our destination.

We had two taxis, and the first one went away while we waiting on our others. Our driver picked us up and then proceeded to drive in circles while explaining in Italian why it was necessary to go five miles out of the way to get us to something two miles from the hotel.

So, thirty minutes and several Euro later, we arrived at the Vatican and took our place in line. Jim said we were fortunate to have our place for our hour-long wait; he had seen lines much longer than the one we were in that took three to four hours to get inside.

Our plan was to cruise through the museums on the way to the Sistene Chapel. We finally made it inside and began winding our way through the Vatican.

The frescoes inside are mind-boggling. The way they are painted is done with such detail and attention to shading that they appear to be three dimensional. The map room was the most elaborate of the rooms we saw; it seemed to be the length of a football field. The ceiling was covered with a fresco that was elaborate and amazing in detail.

From there we continued through rooms with tapestries, a musuem of modern religious artwork and a whole lot of stairs until we finally reached the Sistene Chapel.

I have to admit, it was nothing like I could have ever imagined.

For one, the paintings on the ceiling are much more elaborate than I would have imagined. I actually had to search a bit to find the painting on the ceiling depicting God giving life to Adam; it was that elaborate. And, Jim said he read somewhere that the space between the fingers is actually six to eight feet.

I would love to show you photos. However, the entire time I kept hearing one of the guards shouting, "Silenz . . . no peekchures . . . "

So, no peekchures. At least not of the Sistene Chapel.

After seeing that, we took a lunch break before heading for St. Peter's. It is deemed the largest church in the world, and I believe it. Even bigger than that Pentecostal church in North Little Rock, I joked.

There are burial places for the popes within the basilica, and if I remember correctly, about 40,000 can attend mass inside of the facility. There are several smaller chapels inside the church as well.

However, the domes were the big draw for me.

The main duomo is slightly smaller than the Pantheon, but is more elaborately decorated in my opinion. They acutally allow you to go up into the dome, but facing 300-plus steps after an elevator ride did not seem too appealing to me.

We did gawk at from the floor, though.

One of Michelangelo's sculptures is on display at the basilica, although behind glass after it was attacked by a man with a hammer in 1972. He claimed he was Jesus Christ.

Hmmmm . . . .

Walking around some more, we were amazed at all of the memorials in honor of the popes. Seeing the different styles of memorials for each one was quite interesting; they spanned several years as well as different art styles, from Baroque to Medieval and Renaissance.

They were all beautiful and impressive.

My friend Tony asked me to take a photo of something "Catholicy" for him, so this was my attempt:

Many of the domes have openings that allow shafts of light to pour into the chapel. It was like a gift from God. Pretty cool.

Tonight we're having a farewell dinner to top off a great trip to an incredible land. I may not have time to post more until we're home and rested, so I hope this has been an enjoyable read for you guys. However, there's no way I could do it justice with my words and photos. There's so much here I have left out; you really have to come over and see it for yourself.

Ciao!