I say that because the Vatican City and Italy are actually two separate countries. We spent most of today in the Vatican City and will go there again tomorrow to see the Vatican museums, which includes the Sistine Chapel.
Today we had an audience with the Pope. I felt the crowd's enthusiasm would have been better if they hadn't acted like they were at a football game -- it was rude and irreverent it seemed to me. We could understand most of what the Pope said in English, but not all of it. It is really sad to see him in such a condition; he did not walk at all today, I don't know if he ever leaves his rolling seat.
We also saw St. Peter's Basilica today, which is the most impressive thing by far that I've seen since the Duomo in Florence. It is absolutely magnificent on the inside, not that the outside isn't worth seeing as well. We hung out with a young American tour guide who started out with two people in his group, then ended up with like 30. He was really knowledgeable, saying that all he knew about the subjects came from reading a lot. I think going on his tour helped me to appreciate things there much, much more. He pointed out on Pope Alexander's monument that Charity's clothes are actually the same material as every other part of the statue (with the exception of the Sicilian jasper covering, which looks like fabric spread out just the right way), while Truth's clothes are of steel and are rotting away--her clothes are steel because they felt that she should not be nude, but they didn't use the same material (which I would guess was marble, since it is everywhere in these basilicas, churches, etc.) for some reason. Charity's clothes look real too--they don't look like marble. This statue was Bernini's last work, and was actually completed after his death; he also designed St. Peter's Square, which contains four rows of columns--however, if you stand in just the right spot in the square, all four rows line up to look like one. Michelangelo designed the inside of the dome, and it was his last work, completed after his death, and while you can't see it very well, apparently it is evident that he himself did not paint it. The tour guide also told us that the Statue of Liberty could easily fit inside the dome, with 20+ meters left over. The Pieta was much smaller than I expected, but was still amazing to see. I know I've said this before, but Michelangelo was truly a master of his art. When we saw David last week, we were informed that his arms and head are out of proportion, but when you stand far away from the statue, they don't appear that way--Michelangelo intentionally did that.
A couple more travel tips:
- Buy extra batteries, film, memory cards, etc. at home. If you can find what you need here, you may pay a lot more for it.
- X-ray scanners WILL mess up your electronics; my digital camera has not been right since we left the airports last week. I would suggest that if possible you carry small electronics like that through the metal detectors with you (although I would suspect that those aren't exactly good for your electronics either).
I think that's all for now folks. Ciao, and I will probably talk to you tomorrow afternoon.
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