The past two days have been quite the adventure. Rome can be described in two words right off the bat, cold and rainy. Oh and I cannot forget HUGE! I got use to walking around Florence without a problem in one day. Rome is quite different. It is about three times as big and has so much more to see…Florence is still my favorite though! When you walk out of my hotel room onto my balcony you can look out and what do you see directly in front of you? That’s right, the bell tower of St. Peters.
Yesterday we walked to the Colloseum. One of my all time favorite things about Rome is the Colloseum. As Charissa, Mindy, Alicia, Dana, Leah, and I rounded the corner and I could see it I exclaimed with great excitement “ITS THE COLLOSEUM!!!” Our tour guides have been incredible!!! Susan and Laura are so much fun and know how to relate what we are looking at and learning about into our daily lives. Its not that we are just there looking at old pieces of rock, it can actually mean something to us.
Today was an all day tour of Renaissance Rome then the Vatican Museums which included the Sistine Chapel!!!!!! Michaelangelo’s ceiling amazes me. The detail of every character. The largeness of every detail. The idea. It is silencing. He made the ceiling into different panels which portray the creation of the world then Noah and the Ark. My favorite panel is definately the one of the creation of Eve. Adam is asleep and God is reaching out for an Eve who is desperately reaching out to the one who created her. Breath-taking!!! oh but then we walked through St. Peters and I was drawn to Michaelangelo’s Pieta. How can one person have so much talent?? The Pieta is a large piece of marble that is sculpted into the virgin holding the dead Christ in her lap. Absolutely incredible! Words cannot begin to describe these pieces of art.
Tomorrow brings our last day and a dinner in Casto Gandolfo!! YAY!!!! I am so excited! Casto Gandolfo is where the Pope’s summer palace is located and you look down over a lake whose bottom is made of volcanic rock.
I really dont know how to end this blog….I guess I can’t encourage anyone enough to take a step outside of your comfort zone and go somewhere new and discover things that have made the entire world take notice like Michaelangelo and his Sistine Chapel and his Pieta.
OH, Mrs. Darlene, Kendall is behaving himself and doing a GREAT job at being the protector of the girls! Fobes, Daniel is having such a great time and is ready to come home to show off all his pictures. Mom, I’m having a blast and cant wait to bring your your present!!!
Have a safe trip home – sleep on the plane! Enjoy the last day and I will see you all on Monday — WITH PICTURES!