I would like to be able to describe these in vivid detail however I have to admit I'm already struggling to figure out what was "Raphael" and what was not. Regardless, even from these photographs you can see how the colors pop. I was surprised by this as typically these frescoes and murals have been dulled by pollution. Perhaps they have been recently restored.
This image above definitely is Raphael. It is the "School of Athens," and it was painted between 1510 and 1511. Pretty crazy, more than 500 years ago, and really in many ways you can look at this and argue that perhaps the Renaissance was the peak of such art. Of course many great works existed both before and after, and with out a doubt many are yet to come, but the depth perception, and the grasp of emotions on the faces of the subjects is just spectacular. And of course the master of this was Michelangelo, and the Sistine chapel (no pictures, sorry!) perhaps his unintended opus.
I was lightly chided by a guard because I complained about their tactics to keep people in line in the Sistine chapel. And by lightly chided, I mean he yelled "No dissento!" at me, and remained by my side through out my 15 minutes or so in the room. I'm not going to lie, it did take something from the experience to have some douche-bag cop in "Chips" mirrored sunglasses threaten me and hover over me. My complaint was fairly mild- signs about photography, and keeping voice at a low level were certainly present going into the chapel, but they weren't prominent. What basically would happen is every 4-5 minutes the volume would reach a crescendo, and a guard would begin yelling at the top of their lungs in Italian about "Silencio" and respecting the sanctuary, and the photography. My beef was why not really do a better job of telling people to whisper, or remain silent going in rather than these explosive angry circadian shouting sessions? I said so to Kate and a guard overheard me and didn't like it to much. I think I wasn't far from getting tossed from the chapel early.
Moving along, those of us raised Catholic recognize this courtyard out front of the Basilica.
This is inside St. Peter's Basilica, which includes a dome designed by Michelangelo. The statue below is also a work of Michelangelo called the
Pieta.
I always recall being mesmerized by the sort of Moorish looking columns below when I saw them on television as a child. It is weird seeing these things in person, and how you interpret from that moment on is often entirely different. The camera techniques seem to make it stand out in size, when actually it is dwarfed by the church itself.
These are the "
Swiss Guard" at the Vatican. Luckily I evaded confrontation with them.
The bridge like structure at the end of this street was part of a papal escape route in the event of an attack on the Vatican. It takes the papacy to
Castel Sant'Angelo which is also Hadrian's tomb. The same Roman Emperor of Hadrian's Wall fame. That is pretty far out. The building was constructed between 123-139 AD, so just under 2000 years old. They don't build em like they used to.
After leaving the Vatican, we took time off from our ambitious site seeing and paused by the Tiber River. A nearby street performer was dressed as the invisible man, and it was quite genius. I should have given him some money and got a picture, but I tend to avoid such interaction as a general rule so it would have been out of character. Regardless we enjoyed watching the other tourists interact, and muttered from time to time when some took pictures but didn't donate any money. Jerks.
The Tiber runs through Rome, and in front of the Vatican. I understand that historically before Italy got a good grasp on the water control there would be periodic floods. This probably both explains the large walls built along the river, and perhaps why I feel the space is under utilized. There are some sections of the river walk that contain night clubs, but this section is pretty vacant.
Castel Sant'Angelo or Hadrian's tomb is depicted above.
