Rome

I am going to have trouble remembering everything Hilary and I did in Rome. It is such a big city with so many things to see. It was somewhat overwhelming. I didn't like Rome as much as Florence. It felt a bit chaotic to me. Although the sites are brilliant.
We arrived late in the evening from Florence so we just found our hostel and went to bed on the first night. I didn't like this new hostel as much. There were a lot of party type people there so it was noisier and messier.
The next day we started our Rome adventure. Hilary likes to walk so we walked everywhere. It is quite a large city so that got tiring. We headed to St. Peter's Basilica. On the way, we saw quite a few things like a castel/fort thing and the Pantheon.
St. Peter's is crazy. There were so many people there and it is soooo grand and ornate. Hilary and I went into a small museum off the side where they had a lot of past jewels and goblets and other various decorative things from old popes. I find it unbelievable that so much money and time has been poured into this religion. Looking at the pope's thrown, I thought about the fact that you aren't allowed to worship anyone or anything more than God and yet there was all this stuff for the pope. It is as if he is worshiped. I don't know too much about Catholicism in detail so I could have the wrong impression, but it certainly did seem overboard. I do appreciate the art that was produced though. It was wonderful to see Michelangelo's Pieta.
Next we went to the Vatican museums. We found the signs for the Sistine Chapel and followed them. Hoards of people followed the signs as well. They take you through a maze of hallways and rooms. I suppose they want to make sure that the people who are just coming to see the Sistine chapel see a few other things as well. I really liked seeing the School of Athens painting by Raphael. I also enjoyed the map paintings. I have always liked maps. Since some of them were so off from what we know the world looks like today, it made me think of when Aled would draw made up maps of his own worlds and spend hours coloring them in and naming all the countries.
We finally arrived at the Sistine Chapel. People were packed into it. I can't imagine what it would be like in the summer for the main tourist season. People kept trying to take pictures. You were supposed to be silent and photos weren't allowed. The security guard would yell, "Silent! Silent! No photo! No photo!" Then it would be quiet for about a minute until the noise level raised again and people regained confidence to snap another photo. Hilary took this photo. I don't think I would have taken a photo even if I could. My camera was too full and couldn't take any more pictures.
Hilary and I actually preferred the exhibition right before the Sistine chapel. It was a Contemporary Religious Art exhibition. It included artists such as Dali, Chagall, Klee, and Matisse. Most people wizzed by; I don't think they knew what they were missing.

After the Vatican we walked around the city more. This is a picture of the Castel fort thing we went into earlier, but at night. We saw the Trevi fountain and walked down one of the main shopping streets.
The next day was Colosseum and ancient ruins day. We saw the Trajan Column and then got in line for the Colosseum. There were all these guys dressed in gladiator costumes. They would try and get tourists to take photos with them and then charged them a euro or two. There were also a bunch of people trying to get tourists to join tours and things. It felt pretty chaotic. When we finally got inside it was nice, but not spectacular. It basically looks just like the photos. Still, I am glad I waited in the line to see the inside. Now I can see I have seen it.
After that we walked around the ancient ruins, which I really enjoyed. I didn't realize how much is left. I guess I didn't expect that much. I love columns. I don't know what it is about a row of columns that no longer have much of a purpose, but I just find them beautiful. I feel like they really give you a sense of how grand the buildings were. They give you a sense of the dimensions. We also got to see these old frescoes. I find it really amazing that they have survived all these years. They were so lovely. I wouldn't mind having them on my wall today. The deep yellows, reds, and greens were quite modern.
So that was Rome. My one piece of advice to anyone who is going to visit Rome would be to bring a guide book specifically about Rome. I felt like there wasn't much information printed about the ruins and things. I would have liked to learn more about what I was seeing. The next day we got on a train and headed back to Aix. Actually, we only made it to Nice that day. We stayed in a lovely hostel, but we were only there for a total of about seven hours. I will have to go back though because they were so friendly.