Wednesday I went with Steph and Jen's class again (their professor is also my Italian professor, so he likes me and lets me tag along). We went through the vatican museums. We didnt have much time there because they close early, so we really only saw the big stuff. I would like to go back, but it costs alot. This is the courtyard in the center of the complex called the courtyard of the pinecone because....

There is a giant pinecone in it! Apparently it used to be a really cool fountain in the baths of Agrippa.

An ENTIRE hallway of marble busts. crazy.

Zues.

Laocoon. He was a Greek priest of Posideon who warned the Trojans about accepting gifts from the Greeks. Therefore Posideon sent serpents to kill him and his sons. The statue was unearthed in 1506 and Pope Julius II (the pope who built the vatican) apparently ordered every church in Rome to ring its bells in celebration.

A statue of Appollo in the Belvedere Garden.

The Belvedere torso. Also unearthed during Julius II's papacy, the muscles in the torso were very influencial to Michelangelo and Raphael. This and the two statues above were Michelangelo's references when we carved the statue of David (which I will see in a few weeks in florence!!)

The ceiling in one of the rooms. Each ceiling was prettier than the next.

A statue of Emperor Nero. This room was circular and lined witth statues and a huge circular table in the middle. so neat!

A really pretty detailed mosiac in the floor.

Another pretty ceiling

The ceiling in the map room. Soo detailed! The panels tell a story going down the hall!

This room had ancient maps covering the walls. This is an easily recognizable one...

A tapestry of the last supper

In the constantine room. Im pretty sure this is the battle in which Constantine attributed his victory to the Christian God and became a Christian. The battle of Pons Milvius. This was designed my Raphael, but painted by his assistants after he died.

The School of Athens painted by Raphael in the library of Pope Julius II. It was over the philosophy section of the library, so it includes pictures of all of the famous philosophers. Even Raphael and Michelangelo make an apperance in the painting!

The Disputation of the Sacrament by Raphael, directly across from the school of athens. It includes many of the major popes and theologians at the time on the earthly level, the eucharist pointing up to Jesus who looks up to God. Nex to Jesus in Heaven are Mary, John the Baptist and other biblical figures. Its such a beautiful painting. There is so much in it!

The spiral staircase leading out of the museums.

On Tuesday I went back to the Vatican with Jen and Steph's class because they were going up to the dome, which I really wanted to see. Going to the basilica again was like going for the first time! There is so much in there to see, that everything I saw was completely different than what I saw the first time! This is the statue of St. Peter Enthroned. I guess we walked behind it the last time because I missed it. Anyway, people touch or kiss his foot when they walk past, and his foot is actually eroded from centuries of pilgrims doing this!









St. Peters foot worn smooth from people touching it. You can still see toes on the other foot.












The dome, just to point out where I'll be in a few pictures...












We got stuck in one corner because priests were processing from the sacristy for a Spanish mass. There were sooo many priests and at least 10 bishops and cardinals too.
















On the roof of the basilica. This is on level with the bottom of the dome, where you can go in and look down on the church. Its about 200 stairs up...











Looking down into the church from the dome. Jen has a better picture of the main chapel, my camera was going crazy. It was such a neat view of the church!










Then you climb about 300 more stairs and you're on top of the dome and look out onto the city. Here is the Vatican Museums complex from the top. The Sistine chapel in the last brown long roof that in the bottom of the picture.









Saint Peter's square. From this side you could also see the pantheon, the colesseum, and most of the other big sites in Rome!













Me on top of the dome! It was sooo crowded up there!












The green hill is actually Monte Mario, where my capus is! You cant see it because its on the other side of the hill, but we could tell because there brighter white building towards the bottom of the hill on the right side is the Stadio Olympico where we saw the soccer game!








This is part of the papal gardens complex. You can only go in them with a reserved tour, but they look absolutely gorgeous from the top!











Another view from the top. I'm not sure where this is... haha












Back to the roof of the basilica, right behind all of the statues on top! That was such a cool view. They look pretty intense with those clouds...











The dome from the roof. When you climb to the top you're where the little columns are waaay on top!

Monday after the rain stopped it was beautiful and really cool which was a geat break from the heat of last week! So we went to the park Villa Borghese behind the spanish steps. Heres a look at the steps during the day.















This is the view from the steps. So pretty. Look how different the sky looks from the last picture haha. That was just facing the other direction...











The Villa Borghese was basically just big green areas lined with busts of famous people with streets and walkways through it. There were people playing frisbee and going for walks and bike rides, or just sitting enjoying the scenery. It was very beautiful!








The bust of Saint Thomas Aquinas. I took pictures of a lot of the people I liked... and I just had a test on Aquinas today...


















A really big pretty statue of Goethe.


















Then after our stroll in the park, we decided to celebrate Memorial Day with a classic American meal of cheeseburgers at the Hard Rock cafe! It was comforting to have american food and music and waiters that spoke perfect English!










A little taste of home...














All of us biting into our cheeseburgers! Haha it was a really big deal. Good Italian food is really expensive, and cheap Italian food isnt all that good. So we were really excited for burgers!











The view from the Spanish steps at night.


















Jen, Steph, Mary Kate and me on the steps.

Sunday was a really fun day. First we went to Pentecost mass at the pantheon. We got there an hour early and got some of the last seats. There were hundreds of people standing. The mass was all in Italian, which was neat because I could still follow along and say the responses in English. They read part of the Gospel in several languages and each part of the prayer of the faithful was in a different language so everyone could understand at least something. That was very cool. If you had a seat you got a rose, so we each got one! This is the altar, it was also decorated with roses. So pretty! There were at least 40 priests there. The craziest part was that my friend from high school Marissa was sitting in the row in front of me! I didn't even know she was studying in Rome! She was also going to the soccer game afterwards, so I saw her there too. We'll get to hang out again soon.



Me with my rose...aww!














The rose petals falling from the occulus to represent the tounges of fire descending on the disciples. They just kept coming! You could see the people throwing the petals also had cameras and were taking pictures from the top. I bet those turned out neat.









Rose petals falling...













All of the rose petals on the floor. I swear it was a few inches deep. I grabbed a handful!













The outside of the "football" stadium Stadio Olympico.











Me in the sadium before the game. There were sooo many people!












The teams lined up before the game. (Roma is in Red)












The game in action.














The crowd was incredible. So loud! They all were waving flags and chanting and screaming. A chant would start at one end of the stadium and find its way to the other side so that the entire stadium was doing the same chants. It was amazing.









We won! Yay! The other side of the stadium unfolded this huge jersey and signs. It was so neat. They sang these "Roma Roma Roma" and "Grazi Roma" (Thank you Rome) songs OVER and OVER again. I started to pick up the words...at least when they repeat Roma. We learned the lyrics today in my Italian class and sang them.






Today its pouring down rain, and the forecast doesnt look like its going to let up, so we had to cancel our plans. Boo. But we'll get to plan for the rest of the week and this weekend when we go to Siena and maybe Pisa!