Pieta.

Inside the largest church in the world, St. Peter’s Basilica. An engineering feat, beauty personified, and the greatness of mankind. You have to push your way thru the crowds to get to marvel Michelangelo’s Pieta. He was all of 24 years old when he created this masterpiece. Behind glass walls to protect it from idiots, […]

See what I mean.

Just look at the ceiling in the room Reid is walking thru. Opulent, handmade art. And that’s me looking out on St. Peter’s square where the pope comes out to say prayers to the masses. These Italians know how to build big and imposing. A thrill to walk and experience another wonder of the world.

Vatican Riches

They make you work before you get into the Sistine Chapel. The Catholic Church is beyond wealthy, centuries of amassing a vast collection of art. Many pieces were commissioned by every famous Italian artist you know. Each of the galleries you enter are the size of a football field. You walk thru almost unable to […]

Michelangelo Controversy.

These pics show Michelangelo’s drawings of how he painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Many thought he did not paint on his back, but as you can see he built scaffolding to reach the ceiling. The critics were wrong as you can see. Hard to imagine how a man could accomplish such a magnificent work but […]

It’s all about Michelangelo!

Ok you are not allowed to take pics in the Sistine Chapel, in the Vatican Museum yes. So we were taken out to the gardens where our guide explained the Sistine Chapel the significant points. The Chapel was built between 1475-1483, as a private church for the pope. The best Italian painters of time were […]

May 18th Its time for the Vatican.

This was a very long morning tour and incredible crowded. Sunday the Vatican is closed so Saturday and Monday is the busiest. I mean you have to keep up with your guide and push thru hundreds of people. If you don’t have a tour planned you can wait on line for hours. And tons of […]

Another memorable dinner.

Lemon chicken with grilled vegetables. Memorable. These Italians know how to cook.

The Crypt of the Capuchin.

The last of our stops on this tour was also extremely interesting and disturbing. This is the place most tourist want to see. The Capuchin monastery near the Trevi Fountain was at capacity for burial space. What to do? A move to a larger church which required moving all the corpses of the deceased monks. […]

I told you no pics!!

The best I can do, the ticket with a small photo of the ground level you enter before descending into the catacombs. In this site well over 900,000 people are buried here, and more than half are children under the age of 3. In Ancient Rome times you were lucky to live to 25, most […]

No pictures please!

This afternoon we had 3 spots on out tour. When you think of Rome imagine a layer cake, centuries of past ancient civilizations just waiting to be discovered. Anywhere you go in Rome the past exists and we were going to explore the underground catacombs of this city. The first spot is outside the city […]