The smallest country in the world

We started our day bright and early at the smallest country in the world, Vatican City. A peculiar little piece of land only stretching one square kilometer lies within the city of Rome, but functions as its own country. Most famously known to be home of the Pope, it is filled with the grandeur and extravagancies of the Catholic Church.

We began our time at the Vatican Museum, which in itself is huge. To help guide our way and shorten the amount of time spent, we listened to Rick Steves' audio guide. It was very helpful!

I learned that this sculpture, Apollo Belvedere was what Michelangelo eventually used as inspiration for the face of Jesus Christ in his famous Sistine Chapel frescos.

This pine cone statue, in one of the courtyards of the museum is casually 2,000 years old!

Raffaello's (Raphael) work is also an incredible site to see, many of the paintings he designed and allowed his students to paint as well.

In one room of his paintings lies this striking scene, actually not painted by Raphael. It is an image of a pagan statue crumbled and broken in front of the cross, the symbol of Christianity. I really enjoyed learning about the transaction of Rome going from a pagan, multi-god worshipping society, to one of monotheism and the institution of the church.

This is a hallway that is lined with painted maps along the walls, of all different regions and cities of Italy. The detail is impeccable, and as a global studies major, geography minor this was one of my favorite areas of the museum!

And of course, the Sistine Chapel was absolutely incredible. The level of detail that went into the paintings is so difficult to fathom. Michelangelo was truly as master of his craft. It is so interesting to learn in the audio guide that his style of painting even changed while in progress of painting the ceiling and walls. I loved the integration of both biblical prophets like Isaiah and Daniel, as well as pagans like Delphica who also prophesied about the birth of Christ.

We couldn't take any photos so, here is a photo of a postcard I sent to my family.

After a delicious pasta lunch, we went on a free walking tour with Rome Ultimate, which I can't believe was free because it was so great! We saw many there famous monuments in the city, such at the Pantheon and Augustus' mausoleum, as well as learning much about the history and development of Rome.

Here I am with the Tiber River, it used to flood like crazy!

We walked so much today, but it was so amazing!! There is so much to take in here! Tomorrow we will return to the Vatican to see St. Peter's Basilica!

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