I arrived in Rome on Friday afternoon, and after I tracked down my hostel the jet lag from my trip back from Australia (not to mention the horrendous lack of sleep as a result of Ladies Day, Carbine Lunch, Colemans Cup, Darwin Cup, Darwin Cup Dogs, Darwin Cup Ball, Wedding, Quiz Nights, Bledisloe Cup, Sunday Sesh's, Sunday Jazz nights) set in and I lay down for a quick siesta.
The quick nap lasted until about 9.30pm, definitely time to get up and get some dinner.
My first pizza in the home of pizza was great, although it's definitely not the home of smiling waiters and good service.
The next morning was much better, I was up early (god bless the afternoon nap) and headed out on the Metro to Vatican City.
I was dressed in my Darwin best clothes of boardies, thongs and blue singlet but somewhere in the back of my mind I could hear Lambo saying "You can't wear that to the vatican". Fine, I thought, I'll put a t-shirt in my bag as well.
When I arrived I gave a quick thanks to the little Lambo voice, as there is a dress code to get into the place. I also gave a little thanks that I still had both my legs...... I would have thought the church would be more forgiving.
I'd just like to have a quick side note............ the Vatican, the place where the POPE lives, where the Sistine Chapel displays its marvelous ceiling, where the St Peter's Basilica stands ever so grandly.......... I could wear thongs! But, go to any pub in Darwin..?!?!?!?!
St Peter's Basilica is ridiculous. As I walked around the corner and into Vatican City I was immediately gob smacked at the sheer enormousness of the place.
Romans certainly don't do things small (except maybe the appendages on the statues...... makes everyone feel better about themselves ;)
It's a shame though. Although I plently of photo's outside of the Basilica it just does not do the place justice........ and that is just the outside of the place.
As I walked inside I immediately forgot about the outside. They were seriously now just taking the piss.
The inside is just immaculate, the entire inside is lined with marble, huge marble carvings in every corner and against every pillar, paintings on the ceiling ( there's a mere 551 steps to the look out BELOW the actual ceiling), and a vastness that just can't be explained.
As with the outside of the place the photographs just do not do it justice...... but they're impressive none the less.
3 comments:
Mate, I had my honeymoon in Rome many moons ago. Loved the city - couldn't find a restaurant worth a plate of beans and ate pizza every day. In Venice, couldn't find a bad one. And remember - when the pope farts, "it is in A-Roma" (to be said in yr best Italian accent)
Rome was pretty amazing, as was the Cinque Terre, did you make it there as well?
Very pretty, very hilly, but very pretty.
No mate - but I'll have to put it on the list of places to see ..
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