Hawaiian Hansen's!: Summer Vacation Part B

June 9: Rome
We left Venice to meet up with the AIST group. It was impossible to miss 40 girls traveling together all in blue shirts, so we found them quite easily. After everyone got their luggage and some euros we made our way to Vatican City. It is its own independent state in Italy and is where the Pope lives. We had a tour guide and she took us through part of the Vatican museum. It is so impressive and I swear it never ends! You could just peak into a room and it would be filled with hundreds of statues!

This tour continued onto the Sistine Chapel. This is where Michelangelo painted the ceiling and the last judgement scene. You aren't supposed to take pictures, but my sneaky husband was able to snap a few shots without being yelled at.

This shows the final judgement on the right side

We then walked through St. Peters. This is the largest Christian church on the earth right now and words can not even explain the size and how phenomenal it is! Everything is made of marble or gold and it is gorgeous! Michelangelo sculpted the Pieta (Mary holding Christ) and that is stored here.

Those baby angels are bigger in size than me! Just to give you an idea

The Pieta

Outside their are the Swiss guards and we were able to find the statue where the wind blows west (this is on Angels and Demons).

We were then dropped of at Piazza del Popolo (People's Square). This is what traveler's to Rome would first see and it was often a place for executions.

We then walked to the Spanish Steps, and enjoyed people watching! We were waiting for someone to fall into the fountain, one person got pretty close and it looked painful!

We then walked back to the bus, and drove to our hotel. We checked in, ate dinner, and called it a night!

June 10: Rome
We drove into Rome and picked up another tour guide. This is the Circus Maximus and is where they would hold chariot races fitting over 150,000 spectators.

Next stop = Colosseum. This was finished in 80 AD and could fit 50,000 people. We weren't able to go inside but we learned a lot. It was used for all sorts of entertainment. We learned that their used to be a silk covering over the top. Spectators were given tickets and their are appropriate gates where they would have to enter to find their seats. It is held together with iron rods and when the middle ages came and they needed more iron they just took it from here, or when they were building part of St. Peters they just took some of the marble.

This is why Rome is known as the eternal city. There are parts of each building that are thousands of years old! They just took what they needed at that time. Some pictures of the different levels of Rome.

The Arch of Constantine. This is still in contact because Constantine is the one who declared that all of Rome be Christians.

We walked to the Pantheon which was a temple to all the gods. But when Christianity was declared, those were taken out and replaced by saints. This is famous for its dome. It makes the building a perfect circle and it is made out of marble! It is all original and was preserved because it was used as a church. There is an oculus (or hole) in the middle of the ceiling which allows rain and other weather to enter the church, but don't worry the Romans are smart and figured out a drainage system 2000 years ago for that! The tombs of Raphael and Queen Margherita are buried here. Referenced on the movie Angels and Demons.

We walked to the Piazza Navona and say the fountain of Four Rivers (the major rivers on every continent at that time). This is also on Angels and Demons.

We ate lunch in the square and then had some free time to explore the city. We found our way to the Trevi Fountain! Its legend if you toss a coin into the fountain you are ensured to return to Rome, so of course we did that!! But this fountain is incredible and so big! There are details on every inch!