The Vatican Museum and St. Peter's

Our group began the day at the Vatican Museum.  Although the museum did not open until 9:00am, we left the hotel at 8:00am in order to avoid the lines.  Unfortunately, everyone else had the same idea so we ended up waiting in line until 9:30am, while being bombarded by a constant stream postcards and “self-sticks”.

Once we entered the Vatican Museum, we dispersed into smaller groups.  In the museum, we meandered through several rooms of Egyptian reliefs and relics, the oldest dating back to 2300 B.C.  We also saw a large display of Greek and Roman Statues, which included the most famous Greek statue from ancient Rome, the Laocoon.  After the Egyptian and Roman rooms, we traveled down a hallway lined with beautiful, large tapestries and another hallway, entitled “Map Gallery”, where we saw several murals of maps from the 16^th century.

Next, we entered the Rafael rooms.  In these rooms, the walls and ceilings were covered with murals painted by Rafael.  The most iconic mural we saw was “The School of Athens”.  This painting depicts Plato and Aristotle in the center of the world’s greatest minds, flanked by the thinkers on the left and the scientists on the right.

After a quick walk through several modern art rooms, we reached the final destination of everyone’s tour of the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel.  It is almost impossible to put the grandeur of the Sistine Chapel into words.  All I can say is that it is simply breathtaking.  As I looked up, I could not imagine the physical toll Michelangelo had to endure while painting this magnificent ceiling. 

Following our tour of the Vatican Museum, we all met in line as we waited to enter St. Peter’s Cathedral.  As we stood in line for about an hour, we all enjoyed our last moments of warm sunshine because we knew that the cold, Spokane winter was only a few days away.  Once we made it past security, we began our climb up St. Peter’s Dome.  The climb was cramped and crowded, as Rick Steves said it would be.  At one point, the stairs spiraled so tightly that there was only a rope running through the middle of the spiral that could be used for stability.  Despite the trying climb, we all made it to the top.  The view was spectacular.  I could clearly see the key-hole design of St. Peter’s Square and could faintly make out the Coliseum in the distance.

Once we had taken several laps around the top of the dome, we descended down the stairs and into St. Peter’s Cathedral.  Highlights of the cathedral included Michelangelo’s Pieta and St. Peter’s Tomb.  This was not the first time in the cathedral for Linnea, Hannah, Evie, Sarah M., Evan B., and I.  The six of us had the opportunity to attend mass at the cathedral on the previous day.  As we were waiting for the service to start, we were approached by an usher and asked to help at the service.  Evan did a flawless job reading a Bible passage in English, and the rest of us successfully delivered the communion offering to the priest while Dr. Pierce looked on like a proud mother hen.  It was definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity that I will never forget.

After completing our visit at St. Peter’s Cathedral, we all relaxed at the hotel until our night walk that evening.  Although the night walk was long, it gave us the opportunity to see many of Rome’s great sights lit up at night while also adding the extra steps required to reach the 13 mile total distance covered that day.  Needless to say, we all fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow that night.  It was easily one of our busiest and most memorable days.

Colosseum and the Forum

The day started off with a visit to the colosseum where 50000 romans would sit and cheer for their favorite events.

The games took place in the oval shaped  arena which was 280 ft long by 165 ft wide. This was also known as the golden ratio of 5:3. The arena was originally covered with a wooden floor where they could retract platforms to create trapdoors or lift things into the arena such as animals or props. The seating in the arena was segregated where the emperor had a front row seat (where the cross is in the picture), political members had their names carved in marble seats, and the vestal virgins all had great seats. The next level was people of noblr birth, followed by tourist, and  then then for the poorest peopler, slaves, foreigners ansf women, there was the top section.

The games would begin with a few warm up acts followed by the main event which usually wasnt till the evening. All that entered would say "Hail Ceaser, We who are about to die salute you." An interesting fact is that after a gladiator had fallen or been knocked down, his foe would approach the emperor and ask whether he should live or die. Sometimes the emperor chose, and sometimes he let the crowd chose.

Next on the list was to visit the forum which was very interesting. The forum consisted of many different buildings dedicated to certain aspects of roman culture. For instance you had the home of the vestal virgins, basilicas, squares for markets, rooms for God's, temples, and an amazing amount of architectural work. 

The forum was a vital part to rome back in the day where people came to hangout, shop, and listen. It is where senators passed laws and where citizens passed time.

So much to see along with so much history behind every building, definitely glad we were able to get an opportunity to visit these sites.

There's no place like Rome

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This morning we said goodbye to Florence and hopped on a train to Rome. Once we arrived in Rome we checked into our hotel and then went on a walking tour to get more aquainted with the city. The first stop was Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome's oldest church, built in 432 A.D.

Inside the church was the crypt of the nativity which is said to contain actual wood from the manger.

Bernini's tomb was also found in this church. Bernini is famous for designing several fountains around Rome as well as many other sites in the city. The next stop was Trevi Fountain and on the way we passed the famous Spanish steps. The Trevi fountain was under construction and was completely drained, but some of us still threw the coin over our left shoulder in hopes that we will return to Rome someday. Afterwards we headed to the Pantheon, one of Rome's best preserved monuments.

The Pantheon was originally built to honor all of the Roman Gods in 27 B.C. The one that we saw today was built around 120 A.D. by the emperor Hadrian and the columns were actually taken from an Egyptian temple and brought to Rome. The inside of the Pantheon was an incredible sight with it's massive dome, open to the outside air, letting a stream of light through.

This Dome inspired numerous Domes throughout Europe, for example the Dome of Saint Peter and Brunelleschi's dome in Florence. Next we briefly visited one of Bernini's fountains and then took a break for lunch at the Rossocaffe. After lunch we walked to a part of the city with many ruins including Trajan's market and we quickly passed by the Coliseum since we will be going on a tour tomorrow. Finally we visited the Santa Maria Della Vittoria church which housed the famous swooning St. Teresa in Ectasy sculpture by Bernini.

The sculpture captures the moment when Teresa has been stabbed with God's arrow of fire and becomes one with God. Bernini captures the moment perfectly displaying the intense pain but also the sweetness of the moment. A stream of natural light also flows over the sculpture which gives the sculpture a heavenly appearance. Today was full of many sights and each of us got to know Rome a little better. We can't wait to explore and learn more about this amazing city! 

A day of Galileo, Michelangelo and Botticelli

Today, after a much needed late morning we joined a group that climbed the Duomo Bell Tower and headed to the Galileo Museum. Here our tour guide Karen showed us the Medici and Lorraine collection. These collections were filled with treasures including telescopes and Galileo's actual finger! 

Next we went to Santa Croce church where we saw the tombs of Galileo and Michelangelo. This was a challenging tour for us because complete silence was required. 

In the afternoon we spent time at the Uffizi Gallery. Here we gazed at some of the famous works of Botticelli and Michelangelo. 

During the evening we split up and did some shopping in the open-air markets. 

Overall it was a very culture and event filled day! 

A leaning day of fun!

Today we all took a train out to the town of Pisa.  We had a fun little walking tour where we learned about some of the less popular sites in Pisa, including the University of Pisa which is where Galileo studied.  The last stop on our walk was the field of dreams which is where the famous leaning tower lives.  

Our first view of the tower didn’t appear that it was leaning too far, but as we made our way around the tower you could see the great lean.  Our Rick Steves guidebook told us a story about how different engineers have tried to fix the lean and many have actually made it worse.

  


After getting some classic tourist photos we made our way into the cathedral.  This cathedral is also called “Duomo,” but this dome wasn’t near as large as the one we climbed here in Florence.  Many of us chose to go to the baptistry in front of the cathedral which is the largest baptistry in Italy.  It also has some amazing acoustics.  We took a quick break to grab some lunch and got a group photo before heading back towards the train station.  We stopped at a popular gelato shop to celebrate a couple birthdays coming up (Shawna’s birthday is the 28th and David’s is the 26th!) We even made a leaning tower out of our cups :)



We then caught an early train back to Florence giving us a large part of the day to explore this awesome city one last night.  Most of us spent some quality time (and money :) ) in the open air markets and got lots of great gifts and purses! We met back at the hotel at 6:30 to touch base and then headed out for a great group dinner.  We went to a little restaurant that had amazing pasta and delicious wines!  

We then walked around to find a good gelato shop (Gelato twice a day is not a bad thing).  We have made it back to the hotel and are getting ready for our trip to Rome!  I can’t believe we will be home in less than a week, time sure flies when you’re having a blast!

Firenze and Renaissance

After a lazy train-ride through the Alps, we hit the cobblestones running in the city of Florence. Our hotel’s location is right near most of the sights and we will be walking everywhere. The narrow, twisting streets are both picturesque and, initially, confusing. The first stop was the Galleria dell-Accademia (Gallery of the Academy). This is where David resides with other pieces by Michelangelo and various other artists. The David is even more amazing than it is made up to be. I did not realize the scale and perfection of it. I think most of us spent around a half an hour just staring.

In the next couple hours, we split off various ways, but I most of us found lunch and walked the streets looking through open air markets of leather goods. I found my first true Italian cannoli (pastry) and was more than happy.  

The group met one another again at the Leonardo da Vinci Museum. This small but fun museum has information on Leonardo and realistic models of his designs. There is a large interactive portion and we enjoyed playing with the wooden machines.  

The afternoon focus was exploring Renaissance art. First we entered the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella.  Many remarkable examples of Renaissance work with perspective were in the church’s architecture and decor. When looking up towards the altar, the nave seems much longer than it is because of a gently sloped floor, narrowing columns, and gradually smaller arches. There were also examples of using perspective in art to create distance and 3D effects within the piece.

Next was the Orsammichele church which was, interestingly, converted from a granary. Donatello statues were in the alcoves around the outside of the building. Finally, we headed to the famous Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. This cathedral if often referenced as simply the Duomo, which was its original name (Duomo di Firenze) when first designed by Brunelleschi. The structure was completed in the 15th century, though more details were added later. We climbed the 463 stairs (though I didn’t double check the count!) to the top of the dome and looked out over the city. Though rainy and a bit foggy, it was a great view of the city. It made me realize the extensiveness of the amazing architecture and winding alleys of Florence. 

Feeling quite accomplished, the climb was the finale to our day. In the evening we split to various places for food and gelato. My group found a small, out-of-the-way restaurant. Most of us had the recommended tortellini dish while one went for steak, a florentine specialty. Altogether, the first full day in Florence was long but incredible!

A Train Ride through the Alps

By the time we reached our last morning Munich, this group of math historians had grown accustomed to early morning European travel. Bags packed, cab drivers paid, buddy groups accounted for, cold stood in, and we were on our way. After we had situated ourselves into our six person cabins, I decided to take a quick siesta. Upon waking there were mountains; not just any mountains, but the Alps. I could not believe that less than an hour ago I had been in geographically unappealing Munich.

          For most on the trip, the train ride was used as a time to relax, view the scenery, and to work on homework. We saw the beautiful towns that were scattered through southern Germany and northern Italy, and dreamed of a life among steep peaks.

         

We even encountered American culture.

          This ride was truly magnificent. It is certainly one of the most memorable portions of my trip. While it might seem strange to recommend traveling as something to do when traveling, if you ever get the chance, take a train ride through the Alps.