The Vatican City

Roma: Day 3

Today was one of the most amazing days, simply because the vast amount of historical art and architecture all in one place. We even left the city of Rome and entered into the Vatican City. It is hard to think that the Vatican City is another independent state from Rome. Although it may look like just another ordinary ancient brick building from the outside, the inside is so gorgeous and filled with so much history.

We started out in the Vatican museums and got to see plenty of sculptures, paintings, and tapestries that are from hundreds of years ago and are still in impeccable shape. I took SO many pictures, and even videos of the courtyards and rooms full of paintings. I even saw the originals of Raphael paintings that I studied this semester in Art History…so amazing. The Sistene Chapel…I mean, there aren’t even words for how amazing that really is in person. You can only imagine what it’s like by studying it in class, but you don’t really ever get the full effect like you do when you experience it first hand; the shear scale of the room that it’s painted in, the height of the ceiling and the sizes of the paintings. Literally, there are no words to describe it. You MUST see it once in your lifetime. The room was pretty silent (they ask you to be quiet as a sign of religious respect) and was PACKED with people. After that, we made our way down to the crypts of the Popes-that was a new experience. As we exited the crypts, we unfortunately missed St. Peter’s Basilica (which of course means that I guess we’ll have to come back and visit some other time this semester-haha); then, of course, one of the most famous parts of the Vatican City, and San Pietro Square. Oh Colonnades, how I love the Colonnades and the Obelisk. It was such a beautiful day outside, and it made the experience that much better. It is such a massive square, that it took me around 80 pictures to get everything captured that I wanted.

Tomorrow, we pack up and leave Rome and are transferred to our temporary home: Florence (or Firenze, as it’s called in Italy). SO excited. It takes about 4 hours by bus to get there, and then our ISA Directors will walk us to our apartments. I am super excited to see what our apartment is going to look like. So excited! Our apartment is about a block and a half from the Duomo Church. We already have tours planned for Friday (after our FUA and ISA orientation) and Saturday. Then we will have all day Sunday to get completely settled into our new home because school starts Monday. It’s so crazy to think that I start class on Monday! (I only have class on Monday and Wednesday). Luckily, I only have to travel to 2 buildings for my classes, and they really aren’t that far away from each other (they say that it’s no more than a 5-10 minute walk, and with the speed that I walk, that should be NO problem!) I’m just so ready to get back into a normal schedule. These first 3 days have been great and have given me time to get over my jet lag (which I don’t think that I had too bad) but I am ready to get back into school mode. It felt so weird not going back to classes at UK when everyone else did, so I am just ready to get back on a schedule. When we get to our apartments, we will finally have internet connection (it may not be spectacular, so bear with me!) But at least this means that posts will be on a regular basis and not 3 days too late!

Ciao!