rome, italy

our first stop (after wandering the streets for hours trying to find a place to stay) was the collosuem. it is pretty huge, especially when you first see it right outside the subway station! it is more run down than i thought it would be and not a russell crowe in sight.

this is gate next to the collosuem. it was built by hadrian (of stealing greek statue fame) and is modestly named hadrian's gate. hadrian apparently didn't like the one that was already at the collosuem (probably because he was not associated with it) and got a new one built.

boy, do the europeans like their football! in the first days we arrived one of the two roman soccer teams won some italian championship or something and they were all going crazy! this painted up truck full of the fans just driving around is one example! there were streamers between buildings in the street, people walking around waving huge flags and cars honking horns (24 hours a day it seemed.....)

one of the biggest collections of art in rome is in the vatican city. this museum is way over the top with heaps of walls and ceiling painted by people like raphael and michaelangelo. this includes the quite amazing sistine chapel where he painted the walls and ceilings. as requested i didn't take any pictures in the chapel, though it seemed i was only one not taking photos.

this is a painting in the vatican by guido reni called the crucifixion of saint peter (or "la crociffione di st pietro" in italian since there is no english in this museum). it is the most amazing painting i have ever seen and i spent absolutely ages looking at it. it looks like a photo, not a painting, and this picture does it no justice at all. the expressions on the faces, the muscles in the arms, this is the first painting that makes me realise why these are priceless.

this is the face on a statue in the vatican. he looks quite spooky i think.

here is an example of one of the rooms painted from floor to ceiling (ceiling included!) by raphael. i tried to take a good angle of the room but without a super wide angle you can't get much in. hopefully these give some idea of the room itself. they are quite beautiful.

speaking of raphael, here he is! if you look carefully in one of the rooms you can see where he painted himself into one of the scenes. he is the only one in any of the rooms looking out of the painting. quite a dashing young fellow (nice black beret)

also in vatican city is saint peter's basilica. this church is absolutely huge! looking at the people you can get some idea of the height of the dome. (ie really high) i had to take this in three photos and stitch them together it is so high.

another example of how big this place is check out these statues! (there are some in the last picture also) they are absolutely mammoth!

this church is also home to 'la pieta' by michaelangelo which is the most amazing statue i got to see. it is a bit blurry since it's now behind a glass screen after some crazy hungarian attacked it with a hammer back in '75. it is carved from a single block of marble and what really gets me is the folds in the fabric. incredible. and this was one of michaelangelo's first statues! (made when he was younger than i am now!) it is also the only piece by michaelangelo to have his signature. apparently when it was first put in someone else took credit for it so michaelangelo came down from florence, snuck in one night and carved 'by michaelangelo from florence' on the sash across mary's chest.

you can climb to the top of the dome on st. peters and this is view. this is the square where the thousands assemble to hear the pope. out the front you can see the balcony where the pope comes out but i forgot to take a picture. oops.

trevi fountain is used to be fed by the first aqueduct and so would have been the first major fountain with plumbing in history. it is quite impressive and rome seems to be filled with places like this, every second block has some crazy statue or something on it.

at trevi fountain the custom is that you toss a coin over your shoulder to "ensure your return to rome". if you then throw a second coin you can make a wish. well the day we went it was really busy and there were no seats but as we approached the fountain edge luckily some people left and we got to sit down. i tossed in a coin to ensure my return and noticed on the side someone (NOT ME!) had carved MK in the side. this could only mean that i had been there before and was actually returning this time! which means the coin i had just tossed should have given me a wish. well, as luck would have it, when we were approaching the fountain i had thought 'gee, wish we could get a seat'. so it seems i got my wish a little bit before the coin tossing. (hopefully this makes some sense?!?)

others things to looks at!
next stop, venice, italy
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