Rome, take 2

Our second and third days in Rome have been pretty eventful, we've seen tons and are now all about relaxing and chilling out for a while. Hopefully Florence will be conducive to that.

Sunday

We started the day by taking part in the Rome marathon. What do you know, they're running a marathon the only Sunday we're here. The crowds were crazy, but they seemed to keep clear of the museums and sights -- I guess they had other things to do.

On Sunday, we went around the Roman Forum (the ruins of various government buildings), Capitoline Museums (the oldest public universities in the world), and the Galleria Borghese. The art was amazing, particularly at the Galleria Borghese. They have 6 of some of Michelangelo's greatest paintings. They also have some beautiful sculptures that are really impressive.

The park surrounding the Villa Borghese and including the Galleria itself is just beautiful, as I think I've elaborated before. It's really incredible to have such a beautiful park so close to such a huge city. It really changes the atmosphere. It's nice that as you walk around the park you see families enjoying it, not just tourists.

Monday

We spent most of Monday at Vatican city, looking at the Vatican museums and the Sistine Chapel. It was a very long day and wore us out. The Sistine Chapel, as everyone says, is beautiful and amazing, but I find that I can be overwhelmed, and there's only so many paintings I want to see.

The chapel is covered, floor to ceiling, with numerous paintings, depicting stories from the Bible, characters, authors. Having read these stories it was interesting to see how they were presented. I can imagine that for those who couldn't read, such a visual story-telling must have been revolutionary. The skill with which it was executed was amazing. As you crane your neck towards the ceiling your stunned by the reality of the scenes. Today, we're saturated with visual images, photographs, movies, video games, that we often fail to be impressed by simple paintings. The skill is amazing, though.

Photos

The marathon

The colosseum

The forum

Caesar himself, triumphing on his horse.

A shot in the park

Some burnt scooters that we ran across. We heard a commotion in the middle of the night, and figured out what it was.

A movie set on the way to the Vatican

Some shots of the river Tiber that runs through Rome.

Some shots of the beautiful Italian streets

Looking down at St. Peter's Basilica