Day 3: Almost Vati-can't

Sorry for the HUGE gap in posting. Things got pretty hectic over here and my last hotel didn't really have internet. But now I have time for a lot of posting - so lets get started.

Final day in Rome was a trip to the Vatican. It's a beautiful place and really early in the morning it is so quiet that it's almost just you and the pigeons.

Early morning at St Peter's Square

The first part of the day was spent inside St Peter's Basilica, climbing the dome that you can see in the above picture. The inside of the Basilica is incredible. According to the tour guide, 80% of the world's gold is inside the Basilica. The lettering around the roof is about my height, all in black mosaic on a gold background. I wouldn't call entering the Basilica a spiritual experience though. I found myself in awe of the sheer scale and beauty of the decorations, but I did not feel like it was a House of God. Bit disappointing in that regard.

The lettering I mentioned above. Each letter is 155cm tall. (I'm 164cm)

View of the Vatican gardens from the top of the dome

Bronze cover of the Papal Alter. Formerly the roof of the Pantheon

The next stop was the Vatican Museum. In here there was tonnes and tonnes of artifacts. The Greek and Roman statues I found particularly impressive (which is why I enjoy Renaissance the most out of art) was because of the realism in the figures. Expression, movement and anatomy. There is something incredible about taking a single block of marble and carving the way a man's calf muscle bulges when he stands a certain way (looking at you Michelangelo).

The School of Athens - one of the frescoes in the Vatican Museums

The Sistene Chapel though was kind of funny. Simply because it is a place of complete silence. Well its supposed to be, but everyone spoke the entire time I was in there, despite the guards yelling over loudspeakers to be quiet. The frescoes are incredible though - so bright and detailed, even though they are so far away. I didn't get much time to look because I needed to catch the Metro back to my hotel so I could get on the train to Florence.

Except the Metro wasn't running.

Roman traffic is TERRIBLE! Because the line A was down, buses had replaced the Metro. Usually, the Metro takes five minutes to get from Vatican to Termini, then it'll be another five or so from Termini to Circo Massimo (my stop after switching lines.) However, because of the bus, we got stuck in roman traffic. Three close calls later and half an hour, we arrived at Termini. Thank goodness Line B was running so I could catch the Metro to Circo Massimo. A quick checkout and fast walk to Ostiense Station and I was on my way to Florence.

Finding my "hotel" was a bit difficult in Florence. Where I was staying, Istituto Santa Zita, is actually University student accommodation and it is run by some of the nicest nuns ever. I can't wait to go back there. It's also really convenient. Beds are so nice, shower is good. I was so happy. Only thing better was that my dear friend Will was also in Florence (what a coincidence!) and we decided to catch up for some dinner and gelato:

Gelato! #yum (courtesy of Will's instagram)

So after a stressful and long day, I finally managed to get some sleep.