Alone in the city...

So yesterday, Dragutin and I went back into Rome, alone again, to see the Vatican.
It was even hotter than the day before and for some reason, we were both exhausted so we didn't stay for quite as long and luckily the Vatican is small so there was a lot less walking around and getting lost and stuff than the day before. So we first went to St Peter's Basilica. There was a long queue to get in but after a long wait in the sun and being declared 'enough covered' (you have to cover below your knees and your shoulders and your tummy, so no shorts, crop tops, baking strap tops, etc), we got through...
So as we entered there is a semi-covered entrance hall with the most stunning cream colored roof with immense detail and lots of little graphics and engravements and stuff, then you enter the actually Basilica, and wow, you are hit with its enormity and beauty as you cannot actually imagine before you have seen it. It is huge, a super high ceiling with loads of domes and arches, big marble floor and lots of little passages and other compartments for prayer rooms and galleries and other parts of the church too...  every single inch of this place, inside and out, is so detailed, with fine, exact precision and wow, the overall effect is overwhelming and shocking that something can be so beautiful and present itself as both art and architecture. I wonder how long it took to build the basilica!? So we walked around, taking loads of pictures (which I have just posted on fb) of all the white sculptures, carvings, marble, mosaics, detailed ceilings and beautiful altars, we were like kids in a candy store, just flashing our camera at everything we could see.. although I doubt these photos can do much justice to the real deal... anyway :) A few parts of the inside of the basilica were closed off as the next day (i.e.: today) is a religious holiday and festival so there was a big mass there and so thousands of chairs were laid down everywhere (well at least I guessed that the chairs are for a mass).... I have just realized that I forgot to tell you about the entrance to the basilica... ok so, it is a oval/ circular shape with an opening at the one end and the church on the other side, all around, there are these big columns and on the 'roof' at the top of each of these columns, there are sculptures of angels or saints, it is all so stunning and such a grand entrance. In the center of the circle, there is a sort of statue/sculpture that is really tall, like a massive pin, and at the top, there is a cross... there is also a pretty water fountain with several layers to the right of it... overall, just such a stunning, beautiful building! :) 


So after seeing the inside of the Basilica, we joined the queue for the Cuppla, which is going right to the very top of the super high dome at the top of the basilica, not for the faint hearted or those scared of heights, I'll tell you one thing, I mean I am not even scared of heights but looking down I had to hold onto the railing really tight, haha.... :) So we took the cheat route and missed about 200 steps by taking an elevator for the first three levels (the heat was just too much!), then we climbed roughly 300 steps to get to the first level of the dome, inside, where we could look way down at the inside of the church ì, you could see all the tourists taking photos and stuff and if you looked up at the remaining section of the dome to climb from the inside, you can see just how detailed even these sections are, with loads of realistic mosaics of angels and stuff, I mean it is truly astonishing! I wonder how they actually managed to do these mosaics so high up?! So then we set off to climb to the top of the dome, outside. So there were a total of 980 steps or so, around 300 which we had already done and another 200 which we missed from the lift, so the remaining we climbed up...in the heat, in tiny, super super narrow staircases, with no time to stop as so many people were behind you. I actually felt really claustrophobic because it was so small (lets not forget it is tiring so everyone's breath is steaming up, and there are no windows), yet up we went, the walls were also tilted cause essentially you are going up a dome, so the sides are curved, and at one point on our last circular, curvy staircase, there was a rope to help you as it was so narrow, haha, anyway, the walk was worth it! The top was stunning! So so so so beautiful! Literally looking over the whole of Rome and the Vatican, you could see everything...people looking like ant's babies (haha :) ) and an occasional dot moving down the freeway....for as far as you look in every direction, you just see the beautiful city all the way to the furthest horizons....


So after our long decent, we were too tired to wait in the mile-long (no joke, like an hour's wait) line for the vatican museum in the heat and I do believe we are seeing it with the camp anyway, so we went to get lunch, a nice cold Coke and Spaghetti Napoletana.... followed by Gelato :) and then we did some shopping and stuff in the tourism shops and we also went to see the outside of a castle called San'Angelo ( I think) and look at the bridges over the main river in Rome. Then, exhausted, we caught the bus back. We had an hour or so to get ready for the very formal Lions Club meeting/dinner that night, at a fancy hotel, a it of a boring night, with people tailing and saying speeches in Italian but good food and a beautiful setting! Whilst the dinner was going on, Italy was playing Germany in the semi-finals of the Euro Cup in Poland. So everyone was keeping a sharp eye on the score, turns out we won! :D 2-1 to Italy, so this means that we play in the finals on Sunday night (tomorrow) against Spain, who are very good, as they made it to the finals of the World Cup too, so it will be interesting, and I'm sure a lot of partying if we win! Last night, when we won, you could hear the country's united cheering, clapping, and loads of cars hooting for hours after.... it will also be interesting tomorrow as there is a Spanish guy on the camp too, haha, so that will be quite funny :) 


I will write about today in a second :)
Lots of love...
- Caity xx