First Full Day in Rome

After a breakfast of espresso and pastries, we hit our first museum. We happened upon the Leonardo da Vinci Museum the first day and both Madison and I wanted to see it. So that was our first stop.

Here's the girls next to one of Leonardo's many flying machines that they have reconstructed. He also designed tanks, machine guns, catapults, music machines, pedometer, diving fins, bridges, clocks, and many other things. Oh yeah, that's in addition to his spectacular anatomical drawings. A renaissance man of the highest caliber.

We then grabbed lunch at Campo de Fiori and walked to Vatican City. This is St. Peter's Square in front of St. Peter's Basilica. The Egyptian obelisk marks the spot where Peter was crucified in 64 A.D. He is buried under the basilica. More on the basilica later...

The Vatican Museum brochure said over 4 miles of exhibits... that was not a lie. There were numerous long corridors that are like the above picture. As far as the eye can see, on both sides, is a very impressive collection of paintings, sculptures, tapestry, and rugs. And above them all are the most amazing ceilings. I mean every ceiling. The entire 4 miles of building is a work of art... forget the exhibits themselves. Most ceilings are filled with beautiful paintings and the floors are gorgeous mosaics. 

And here's the piece de resistance... the Sistine Chapel ceiling. I'll go ahead and show my ignorance: I didn't realize the Creation of Adam painting was just one of the many sections on the ceiling (you can see it in the middle). In fact, this was the last ceiling of approximately 1,000 we saw that looked just as impressive. Once we saw it, we were like, OK... let's go.

OK, since we were in that area, we went to St. Peter's Basilica. It was not on my original to-do list, but we were right beside it. It is considered the greatest church in Christendom and I have to agree. None of the pictures do it justice. If you look at the picture above of the girls in St. Peter's Square, look and see if you can see the people in line on top of the steps in front of the basilica. You can barely see them. The basilica was completed in 1626 and the dome is the largest dome in the world. The dome rises 448.1 feet above the floor of the basilica. After we wondered around inside a bit, we rode the elevators which take you to just above the ceiling (at the base of the dome). Then we climbed 320 steps to the top of the dome. At one point, the passage is very narrow, leaning (as it hugs the dome), and is so steep there's a rope to hold on to. The above picture is taken from the top. A great view of all of Rome. I am so glad we went.

We will see what tomorrow holds.