Rome, Pisa, and Venice

On Friday, I started the day at the Sistine Chapel in Rome. I just wanted to go straight to the Chapel, but instead had to walk through most of the Vatican Museum before I was able to see it. In each room, there was a sign that said the Sistine Chapel was next. Once I went through the door, however, we were in another room showcasing the Vatican Museum. Here are a few pictures of the long halls of the museum...





































This was from one of the rooms. It was painted on the ceiling, so the room looked taller.


















When I finally got to the chapel, we were not allowed to take pictures, so I just looked around a while. The chapel was built as a rectangle, and had a domed ceiling. It was not exactly what I had pictured, but it was still quite amazing. One wall in the front of the chapel was completely covered by a painting incorporating many different figures and stories. I could only decipher a few of them, but there were quite a few of them.


After I finished at the chapel, I got on a bus to go to the catacombs of St. Callisto just outside of Rome. The first Christians were buried here around 100 years after Christ, and the last ones about 300 years after. The catacombs have four levels, and there are hundreds of graves there. I was not allowed to take pictures in the catacombs, but I did get some of the gardens above ground...
















































In the afternoon, I decided to go see the leaning tower in Pisa. Unfortunately, I got completely lost following the directions of a cuople of Italians, but I was finally able to get to the train station. I went to my hotel in Florence, then went back to Pisa the next morning. It was raining, but as we neared Pisa, the clouds started to part. Here is a picture as I was walking to the tower.





































































After I left Pisa, I went straight to Venice to catch a night train to Vienna at 8:30. I got to Venice at about 4:30 so I had some time to wander around. I quickly found that the city does not have a straight road or canal longer than a few feet. My original plan had been to stick to the main canal and follow it around so that I wouldn´t get lost. Unfortunately, most buildings go right down to the water, and so there is not a path along the canal except in a very few places. I quickly became lost. However, based on my experience with Italian directions the previous night in Pisa, I had purchased a good map of Venice. I quickly found myself and from then on didn´t make a turn without looking at the map first. I found the main chuch and tower in town, and went up to the top...





































































This morning I got to Vienna at about 8:30 in the morning, and went to a cathedral downtown. The choir started practicing, and I was able to get some video of it. The sound just filled the room. After that, I sat awhile just reading, and then I went over to the Spanish Riding School. When I was in Vienna a couple of weeks ago, I had bought a ticket to see the famous Lipizzaner stallions do their world famous show. It was pretty amazing. The finale was eight horses and riders doing an intricate routine all in sync. I was sitting up above, and so I could see how everthing was perfectly aligned. The announcement before the show said that picture taking disturbed the horses, so we were not supposed to take any while the horses were in the arena. However, it was not like a hard and fast "no pictures" rule, we just couldn´t disturb the horses. Anyway, I did take a couple of pictures when the horses were not looking.
































Tonight I am taking a train to Switzerland, and I will be there most of next week. Next Sunday I have to be in Madrid for the start of my summer school program in Spain, so I will be flying to Madrid from Dublin after the morning service at the O´Gormans church.

Rome

I had a long and exciting day today. I am exhausted, and it feels like I must have walked 10 or 15 miles. However, it was worth it. The hotel I am staying at in Rome is very close to the Coliseum, only about two minutes walk. Also, this little internet cafe is almost right across the street from my hotel, so I found a great spot! Anyway, since I was so close, I started the day at the Coliseum, it is huge!

After the Coliseum, I walked across the street to the old archeological site where some of the original buildings from Rome are still standing. The site was a little hard to navigate, since there were no signs or anything identifying the ruins. The highlight was the old Roman Forum, where people used to buy, sell, and conduct business. For all of these sites, you have to kind of imagine what they looked like with all the pillars still intact and covered with white marble. It must have been amazing.

After I finished wandering around the old ruins, I decided to try and find St. Peters Basliica and the Vatican. I walked along the Tiber river for a while looking for a dome. I didn't quite find the church I was looking for, but I ended up at this castle. It dates from Emperor Hadrian, and was used as a mausoleum for many of the emperors.

From the top of the castle, I was able to locate the church, and it turns out I wasn't that far off. I walked up the street towards the church. I waited a bit in line, then went up to the top of the cupola. 551 stairs to the top!

Check out the shield made of flowers...pretty cool.

After I came down from the top, I went inside the church; it was enormous. I was not able to capture it all in the same picture. It was that big.

I left the church and went towards what I thought was the Pantheon. I ended up at the Royal Palace...

I finally found the Pantheon, and again, I could not capture the whole building in one picture.

I walked back toward the Coliseum, and stopped at Trevi fountain. The legend is that if you throw money in the fountain, you will someday return to Rome. Of course, that rumour was probably started by the man who cleans the money out of the fountain every night.

After the fountain, I went back to the Coliseum to see if I could capture the sunset. It has been cloudy all day, except for a few times in the afternoon when the sun came from behind a cloud. Anyway, here are a few...

I'll be headed toward Venice tomorrow, hopefully stopping in a few places along the way. I have not yet made my plans. Enjoy!

Greece, Italy

Well I am finally in Rome. I sailed on a ferry from Patras, Greece and arrived in Bari, Italy. The first train out of bari was not until 1:30 in the afternoon, so I wandered around town for a few hours. I also updated this blog...took a couple of hours to get all the pictures uploaded and everything. Here are some pictures from the ferry ride...

Of course, before the ferry, I was in beautiful Athens Greece. I took a metro train to downtown Athens. I sat in a small square that was right in front of the Greek parliament building. After a few minutes, I heard a band playing, so I went to see what was happening. It turned out to be a changing of the guard ceremony at the parliament building. Here are the pictures...

Check out the high step that they use to march. It is really cool to see all the soldiers in perfect step with each other...

After that was over, I went back tothe square and sat and read for a while. Eventually I went to find an Internet cafe where I could write and post some pictures. That was the place that allowed me to install and run the program, unfortunately, it didn't quite work out. Anyway, I eventually left there and went to my hotel to check inand drop off my bag. After that I went down to the Akropolis. Here are the photos...

The next day, I went to a few more ruins, and then got on a train for Patras. Here are a few photos from the train ride...

After I got to Italy, I got on a train to Naples. I ended up sitting next to a math professor from Florida International Institute. She was from Italy, and actually had taught at U of M for a semester. She had also lived in Naples for a few years, so she told me a few places to visit. Here are some pictures...

The city was very dirty, there were piles of trash in the streets, and people did not seem to use the garbage cans. I stayed there last night, but I didn't do much there this morning. Instead, I decided to go to Popmpei, which is close to Naples. It was pretty amazing to see the paintings and everything that survived the volcano. Here are a few pics...

I got to Rome today, but I was actually kicked off the train for the first time using my Eurail pass. Apperently in Italy, some trains require a reservation, and if you don't have one, and the train is crowded, you can be kicked off. It took ma another hour before I actually got here, but everything workedout alright, now I know to make a reservation before getting on train! Anyway, I will be wandering around Rome tomorro, I will post again soon. Arrivederci!