Sorry, New York (and Massachusetts) - Vatican City, officially lo Stato della Città del Vaticano - is beyond a doubt the most beautiful 'state' I have ever been to.
Today after class, lunch, and over half an hour waiting for bus #492 to arrive (not a huge fan of bus #492 after the past couple days), we spent the day exploring the Vatican Museums until close. My friend Luciana and I coughed up the 7 euro for an audio guide in Italian per praticare and spoke only in Italian throughout the day - it is amazing how quickly you can see improvement in fluidity when you completely block out everything but the one language you're studying. [We all took a Language Pledge to speak only Italian yesterday, but it's not going so well when we're out of the classroom. There are a few of us that want to really immerse ourselves in the language but for the most part the other students have only studied Italian for a year or less, so it isn't entirely possible for them to swear off English communication because their vocabularies are a little limited.]
Anyway, the Vatican Museums... wow. I just don't understand how it's even possible to walk from one astonishingly, intricately, stunningly beautiful room of art straight into another equally astonishingly, intricately, stunningly beautiful room of more art. Seeing the Sistine Chapel was one of the most incredible experiences. It was like the slides I had to memorize for my History of Art and Architecture 10 final brought to life, but SO many times more impressive of couerse. The key to looking - REALLY looking - at the ceiling is to tilt your head back, because that way you see all the figures, which truly do look 3D, like they are actually physically present. It is an absolutely amazing sight; I wanted so badly to just lie down on the ground on my back and gaze up and take it all in, but that would've been frowned upon in a room so packed... or most places in general, for that matter :P
Luciana and I also visited the Basilica di San Pietro at the Vatican, the Catholic church with the largest interior in the world. You could spend DAYS walking around inside and even still not have seen and admired each and every ornate section with the attention it deserves. So, so, so very beautiful.
Time for homework (soooo much tonight :( !) and sleep, so I'll be able to get up for 7am mass at St. Peter's... in Spanish!
Day's recap:
Days spent in Rome: 2.5
Days left in Rome: 2.5 :(
Hours spent walking: ~6. OW. Legs falling off.
Hours of homework awaiting: Yuck.
Circondata da bellezza - surrounded by beauty,
Michelina
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