rome, part 2

our last couple of days in rome were as wonderful as the first few. we visited many more galleries and churches, and saw one incredible bernini after another. i'll never get over his mastery of realism and detail. just look at the hands and flesh in the photo of the rape of persephone above. it's so lifelike! they look like living, breathing sculptures. that was a sneakily taken photo because a surprising number of the museums and galleries we visited don't allow photography. let's just say we got really good at sneaking pictures. that photo in particular was sanctioned because when i asked about the photography policy there at the villa borghese, my professor told me, "they don't allow photography but you can usually snap a couple pictures before they catch you." ha!

i also had to have my lizzie mcguire moment at the trevi fountain. if you don't know what that is, i'm not sure how we're friends, but just know that the trevi fountain is where lizzie mcguire got mistaken for an italian pop star/made a wish and met paolo. it's also said that if you throw a coin in the trevi fountain you will return to rome. we had stopped by the fountain before with our group but it was so busy and touristy, my friend brooke and i headed back there really early one morning to beat the crowds. the only thing is, really early is when they clean the trevi fountain and we weren't allowed to go up close to it. so we took some photos anyway, which are really funny retrospectively because you can see their blue cleaning tubes. we had a good laugh, then went to catch up with our group at the vatican.

the biggest highlight of rome for me was definitely going to the vatican museum and st. peter's basilica. the vatican is home to so many iconic works of the art historical canon; it was kind of mind-blowing to see them all in one place. the sistine chapel was breathtaking. i think it's probably the most amazing thing i've ever seen. i was completely mesmerized and in awe, staring at the ceiling so intently that my neck hurt afterwards. the experience was a little diminished by the sistine chapel security who walk around shushing everyone and yelling at you if you take photos, but we did manage to get a couple sneaky front cam pictures in, and i think they're pretty hilarious. i could have spent forever in there. it was so beautiful and awe-inspiring and funny side note: i just looked up "awe-inspiring" in my dictionary/thesaurus to get a synonym and the example phrase next to the word is, i kid you not, "michelangelo's awe-inspiring masterpiece." so you don't even have to take my word for it, you can take the dictionary's, but i think everyone should see it in their lifetime. speaking of michelangelo, the pietà was also incredible, but i was really disappointed that it's so far behind glass you can barely see any detail. i guess it does speak to his talent, though, that his statue can bring you to tears from 30 feet away behind bulletproof glass. michelangelo has always been one of my very favorite artists, but seeing his works in person was incomparable to any photograph or textbook reproduction. he was a master and he was unparalleled.

after the vatican we got the best gelato of our trip at a gelateria called old bridge (it's a must if you're ever in rome). i was sad to leave la città eterna, but excited to see more of italy. we headed to florence next!