Return from the Vatican

My wife and I had an absolutely beautiful trip to Rome last week. It was everything we could have hoped for and more. The wedding was beautiful and Rome was a delight. In our 5 day trip we were able to see so much of the city. It would be impossible to relate all that we did so I'll hit the highlights.

#1 - the wedding!

The most beautiful wedding ever (other than our own of course!). The wedding was held in one of the side chapels in St. Peter's Basilica. The wedding Mass was in English which was very nice. The readings were perfect and the Gospel included one of my favorite readings ever, Mary's Magnificat. Walking out of the wedding was magical since everyone was taking pictures of us. It was like we were celebrities.

#2 - Bike tour of Rome our first night

Best tour ever. Highly recommended. It was just my wife and I and a bicycle guide. He knew so much about the history of the city. This was when we got to look through the key hole of the Knights of Malta and see St Peters. Really cool tour. We have their contact info if anyone's interested.

#3 - The Vatican Museums

The amount of beautiful historic art in these museums is just astounding. The sculpture pictured above is probably one of the three most famous works in the entire museum. I forget the name of it, but when it was found in the 1500s the pope at the time is said to have thrown gold coins around the city in celebration. It was considered the greatest work of sculpture of ancient Rome. It depicts a father and his two children being attacked by snakes. The scene is like no other before it because it shows such action and suspense. The snake's fangs are just about to bite into the man. It's complex and beautifully sculpted. Michaelangelo is said to have gotten great inspiration from this work and it influenced his most famous painting, the Creation of Man in the Sistine chapel, by having God and Adam get so close to touching but not actually touch. That feeling of suspense in a work of art where something is just about to happen. There's also a really interesting story about how the right arm of the statue was finally discovered centuries later.

The Sistine Chapel and the Rafael rooms were also quite overwhelming. I hope we get to go back someday and explore further. I also heard that 75% of all proceeds from the vatican museums go to the poor in Africa. If you could have seen the number of people lined outside that museum everyday you would know just how much that is!

#4 - The Food!

Just perfect. Worth the whole trip to Rome. The Wedding reception dinner was probably the best. It was held at Paul VI hotel and the catering was top notch. It was a full 5 course meal made by the best of chefs.

#5 - Rome at Night

We stayed out late on most nights (except for maybe one or two nights where we were too exhausted from walking around all day). It's a good thing that the convent we stayed out didn't have a curfew. It was so beautiful walking around and we also were surprised how safe we felt walking around a city at night (coming from Baltimore and all). And despite all the warnings we got, we didn't have a single issue of pickpocketers.

There's probably a ton more but that gives you some highlights.