Old World Part VII

After our stop for lunch, we drove around to see a few of the sites. It was fun but I would have liked to stop and get a few photos instead of trying to get them through the window of the bus. It makes for poor pictures but I guess that is what photo shop is for. We arrived at the street that leads to the Vatican and the bus got quiet. This was the reason many in our group had taken the tour. For the Catholics in our group, this was the Mother Land. For us protestants, it was the place where the Pope lived.

The square in front of the Vatican was huge. It is surrounded by two sets of massive columns, like arms reaching out to the crowd. Our tour guide told us when we left Italy and entered the Vatican State. It was cool to be able to just walk over a line in the pavement and be in another sovereign nation. The camera worked overtime as we walked up to the entrance. It was lunchtime so the lines were not long (our guide knew the best times to hit all of the attractions) so we got in quickly. At the entrance we saw the Swiss Guard which are the official Vatican military. They were ornately dressed and carried pikes. Not very effective but sure looked cool.

Inside the Vatican is hard to explain. For those who have seen the buildings in Washington DC, they are beautiful and ornate but they lack the flair and intensity of the Vatican. Every possible spot is covered with a statue, mosaic, column, sconce, or some sort of decorative covering. Most of them are from famous artists or gifts from Kings, Presidents, or famous persons.Unfortunately, it was poorly lighted so many of the pictures came out black (again thanks for photo shop) but I managed to salvage them. The Vatican was a wonderful experience but somehow, I felt of the places we had seem, the Colosseum was more majestic and held a bigger attraction. Maybe it was the lighting.

Icool

Cobb