Our last day we got up a little earlier to head down to the Vatican Museums of which the Sistine Chapel is a part. They funnel visitors through less-exciting pieces, like the hall of maps above,
to more exciting pieces, like the Raphael rooms
which includes the School of Athens--so cool--and climaxes with the Sistine Chapel where photographs are not allowed. Unbelievable. I think in nature "power" would be defined as Niagra Falls or the Grand Canyon, and in art it would be defined as Michelangelo. Katharine was AMAZING. All the chapels we entered forbade uncovered shoulders and above-the-knee shorts and require relatively complete silence, so we were SO happy with Katharine that she slept though almost all of the tour and sucked placidly on her pacifier when she awoke a few minutes into our actually getting to the Chapel. What a wonderful baby!
Then we went back to our hotel to check-out and await Gabrielle to guide us through ancient Rome.
The curiae or senate house where such greats as Cicero, Cato,
and Collings declamated.
Name that building!
The Arch of Constantine.
The Arch of Titus. This frieze depicts the spoils from the infamous destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD being paraded in the triumph through Rome.
Palatine Hill. Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair. 
Chillin' on the Palatine like so many Metelli and Luculli.
Moses. Wow.
We liked that many of these world masterpieces are in small, out-of-the-way churches where none but the pious were able to appreciate them and where their purpose was simply to glorify God.
Having started and ended the day in company with the Titan, we figured it was time to go home. We caught another Ryanair flight back to Hahn, then a bus back to Frankfurt, then a taxi to our house. That was my first time in a taxi!
It was a WONDERFUL trip--we saw many more things and have many more pictures, but there's a quick sampling. And while we were doing all that, Julia and Eli were playing with Jini and her myriad boyfriends who lined up at the door begging to help her out with her two princessin nieces. Thanks so much to all who made it possible!
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5 comments:
Justin, you know I love you, but you're not quite Cicero (yet)! I remember loving the small churches in Rome--Jared and I went to one somewhere near the Spanish steps with two wonderful Caravaggios (the Conversion of St. Peter was one, I remember that). Did you make it to that one?
Wow! What a wonderful weekend! Having been a classics major, I bet it was even more exciting to you than most! I'm glad you were able to go.
So, I was telling all my friends they could just go check out your blog and they would get to see all of the wonderful pictures of Germany, and hear about ALL the fun things we did.
Oh well, I am sure they will be happy with Italy as well.
Miss you all!
Jini
Vatican or Vatican't? Obviously the Collings are Vaticans!
Did you guys get to check out the Borgese Gallery? That way my favorite nook of the most important city in Western Civilization.
That's the SIXTEENTH chapel Lia. Come on girl get a little culture. Good grief everyone knows Mozart worked on it for SIXTEEN YEARS. No child of mine should ever make a mistake like that.
STAY WITH ME HERE AND LET'S PUT THIS BEHIND US--16 years+Mozart= SIXTEENTH CHAPEL Ta Da. If Julia makes that mistake in school you are going to really be embarassed.
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