Italy Day 2: Vatican City

We had a hearty breakfast of salami, ham, cheese and curly bread (Jared's definition of croissant).. fruit juice, cereal and milk.. topped off with cappucino and peppermint tea in the morning. I discovered another weird but delicious concoction by default (at least in my opinion).. plain yoghurt and Nutella! Then, while walking to the train station, Jared commented 'Boy! The Italians kiss a lot, don't they?'.. he is so observant of such things at times! We took the Metro from Ottaviano to Flaminio station (don't you just love Italian names?) and made our way to Piazza del Popolo.. beheld yet another obelisk and sphinx (which makes one wonder why is a supposedly 'holy city' decorated with so many pagan Egyptian symbols?!).. walked up to the Pincio and briefly wandered around Villa Borghese (Jared wanted to try the 4-wheel quadricycle or rent a Segway for €15.oo per hour).. before heading off to the Vatican City.

The English guided tour began with the Vatican Museum.. next, we proceeded to the vast courtyards.. the Circular Hall with its starry dome roof (Nero's porphyry bathtub).. the Pius-Clementine Museum (statue of 'Laocoon and His Sons').. the grandiose gallery of tapestries (especially the 'Resurrection of Christ' by Raphael using the new art of science.. whereby the eyes of Jesus appear to follow you across the room) and maps.. the Immaculate Conception room.. the awe-inspiring Raphael's room ('School of Athens' painting).. and last but not least.. the Sistine Chapel with Michelangelo's breathtaking piece of artwork on the ceiling.. from the 'Hand of God' at creation.. to 'The Judgement'.. what great passion and determination he must have summoned on order to spend FOUR years (1508-1512 A.D.) holed up in there! And Justin wondered if these great artists painted with a very.. VERY.. LONG brush???












Unfortunately, St. Peter's Church was closed in preparation for a ceremony to be conducted by the Pope on Sunday.. and so the tour ended with a walk down the famous Spiral Stairway. We also succumbed to the 'touristy' activity of mailing postcards from the smallest country in the world to our families in KL and also one to our home address in Singapore.