Nov. 17, 2004
Well I think it was hump day in Rome. ;-) Today we went to the Vatican Museum. That's where the Sistine Chapel is with all the beautiful paintings on the ceilings and lots of tapestries. There are other exhibitions there but we just went to the Sistine Chapel one and were there about 2 hours.
First I'll tell you about the metro ride. I guess we left about 9:30, maybe a little earlier than we have before but man, the metro was crowded. It was like that last night at 5:30 but we didn't think it would be crowded mid-morning. At one point a team of pickpockets were around us. One of them tried to talk to me about Langston. Then there was a young woman that was by me. I could tell she tried to get into my bag. I told her I didn't have anything but coats in it. ;-) I had my money in my passport bag around my neck. Of course she said I was wrong, that she wasn't trying to pick my pocket but I'm pretty sure she was. Two of them got off on the next stop. Jon watched the other and thought he was trying to go for another guy's pocket. When the metro is crowded you're in real close proximity with these people. I'm always glad when it's not crowded.
The nice thing about the Sistine Chapel is so much of it is biblical scenes. There are lots of Catholic influence of course with Mary as the queen but there's plenty of other scenes we could discuss with Langston. There was one big painting of Constantine as the conquering king. Made me want to learn more of him. Jon said he had a dream that if he put crosses on their army's shields they would win. They did and that's when he converted to Christianity. Langston did very well. I kept giving him snacks and he lasted pretty well. Not much place to climb around in the chapel. I finallly saw the creation scene where God is reaching out to touch Adam's finger.
Then Bob and Lynn wanted to eat in a special area of Rome. It took us quite awhile to get there. It was nice with sidewalk cafes and lots of paintings to buy in the courtyard area. There were several musicians and people dressed up kind of werid who would freeze in a certain position and you could give money to them. One guy was dressed all in burlap with mud all over his face. I don't know what he was suppose to be. One guy was all spraypainted gray leaning against a pole like he was drunk. We didn't give them any money. We did give 2 of the guitarists who played in front of the restaurant money. They were appreciative.
Fortunately we took a taxi coming back and it only cost 8 euros! The ratio is one US dollar to 1.30 Euro. I think I said that right. Theirs is worth more but it's better than London! I'll send this on. I hope we can go to the catacombs where the Christians stayed tomorrow. Jan sent us some good info on where Paul was imprisoned and buried . She wins the next ride on the metro! ;-)
Posted by nellie at November 29, 2004 08:58 PM