Rome #2

Visit to the Vatican City!

Finally blogger has stopped throwing its tantrum and i can blog these photos up! these are not the end, there's still pompeii n the glorious foods i haven posted haha..

St Peter's Basilica

See the throngs of people in this open space.. they arent' standing here for nothing, they are queuing to enter St Peter's Basilica haha.. being the law-abiding singaporeans we are, we joined the queue... but later on we saw some really unethical mexicans and italians simply cutting the queue blatantly and no one says a thing.. thank god for the guards at the entrance who spotted ppl cutting queue and refused them entry, asking them to really go n queue instead... yay i feel less wronged hahaha..
its a glorious sight.. the basilica.. haha..

upon entering this is what we see.. the basilica has a ver high ceiling, bright and airy, pretty welcoming.. however do note that if you wish to visit this place you need to be properly attired, means no short skirts or sleeveless clothing.. u need to cover up at least till ur shoulders and ur knees..

st peter's houses several famous paintings and sculptures- this is one of them.. i kno this had a really nice story behind it but i cannot remember it for the life of me.. it seems to have slipped my memory so sad... im starting to forget my wonderful trip... :(

This is the main altar where St Peter, the apostle who is considered the first pope was crucified and buried. this trip to Europe taught me alot about Jesus, Virgin Mary, the Apostles etc etc haha.. i never knew alot of the things i know now.. i just wish i could remember them for longer.. its already starting to slip my mind these things..

Other popes were also buried in the Basilica.. in this manner.. ok i admit it is rude to take photos of mummified people especially one as revered as a pope..they are virtually on display for eternity even after death cos ppl visit the Basilica on a daily basis... so this photo is shujun take one hor.. not me hahaha...

Vatican Museums

We visited the Vatican Museum on a different day from St Peter's Basilica even tho they were in the same place ie Vatican City.. it was due to lack of planning and ignorance at closing times of the Vatican Museum. Anyhow we still got our student discount for the VM which we were very happy to receive haha.. no matter how long we queued for this.. and the VM is essentially a museum trail designed to lead everyone to the Sistine Chapel eventually.. well we didnt know that so we hurried our way through the Museum thinking we could come back n see these things later cos SC was our main priority.. think about halfway through den we realised after SC it was exit all the way liao haha..

At the entrance i just love the curved ceilings and its intricate details...

Amidst the crowd. i look tired.. well that's cos i am! haha.. last day in rome i think damn tired lah.. hahaha.. rome was the most hectic out of all our trips cos it had the most to see..

This was a painting done on the ceiling! i thought it was a very remarkable painting cos it looked so extremely 3d i would reach out to touch it if i could just to see if my fingers entered an alternate dimension haha..

More pictures of my favourite arched walkways with many many very tall people... i feel like a shortie in Europe..

Last but not least!

Sistine Chapel

We only have one very precious photo cos it is forbidden to take pictures in this holy place! like seriously they don just say say one.. they mean it cos there's lots of guards around to scream "NO PHOTOS!" to whoever whipped out a camera.. they even go as far as to make sure u delete those photos if they catch you.. its that strict so lucky u we managed to get even one photo thanks to auntie shujun! hahaha.. i was too humji to even try but she did so yay we haf a photo for keepsakes! haha.. there's more to the sistine chapel obviously but this was the main fresco that told the tale of jesus i think..

anw the sistine chapel is very highly protected to maintain it. we saw this kid spill a drink in the chapel and immediately several guards formed a tight circle around the spillage to prevent people from stepping and spreading the spilled drink around the chapel. A cleaner was called in and they poured sand to soak up the liquid before sweeping so that the broom would not scrap away the details of the floor tiles.. if my mum made me do that at home.. i swear i'd never dirty the floor again.. i'd hover around the house if i had to... hahaha...

so photos of Pompeii city and Mt Vesuvius in the next post! Next time now i want to sleep liao haha..