Description:  Can you tell I’ve been going through pictures from my trip to Italy?  I realized the other day that I still had several unprocessed photographs from my trip to Spain and Italy last year and even some from a trip to Bolivia and Peru 2 years ago!  So, I’ve tried to buckle down recently and process and post some more of them.

This particular image was captured on my second day in Florence as I made my way over and across the Ponte Vecchio.

Location: Florence, Italy
Date Taken: December 27, 2008
Camera: Canon 20D
Exposure: 1/25 second
Aperture: f/6.3
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO: 100

Description:  If you look closely, you might notice that this spiral staircase is actually a double helix consisting of two intertwined spirals; one for those entering the museum and one for those exiting.  Interestingly, this staircase was designed by Giuseppe Momo in 1932, approximately 20 years before the DNA double helix shape was determined the representation of life.

Location: Vatican Museum, Vatican City
Date Taken: December 22, 2008
Camera: Canon 20D
Exposure: 1/15 second
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 18 mm
ISO: 1600

Description:  Taken looking straight up at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel during my latest travels to Italy, I decided to process this photo in black and white to accent the contrast presented in the painting.  This crop and final photo really presents a different feel and emotion than the one I processed in color and I am still undecided on which one I like most.

If you had to choose one over the other, which would you choose?

Location: Sistine Chapel, Vatican City, Italy
Date Taken: December 22, 2008
Camera: Canon 20D
Exposure: 1/8 second
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 135mm
ISO: 1600

]]> http://blog.justinkorn.com/2009/07/the-creation-of-adam-ii/feed/ 0 The Creation of Adam II by Justin Korn http://blog.justinkorn.com/2008/12/final-day-in-italy/ http://blog.justinkorn.com/2008/12/final-day-in-italy/#comments Sun, 28 Dec 2008 16:01:53 +0000 Justin Korn http://blog.justinkorn.com/?p=178 December 28 – Final Day in Florence

Up at 8:30 this morning, I finished packing, had breakfast, checked out and headed over to the Uffizi museum for my 10am entry time. Upon arrival, the line was even worst today then it was previously. I stood where I was suppose to (the only person there when I got there) and waited 5 minutes before they let me in. Now, what transpired after was a series of negative experiences that kind of effected my experience, so I’ll try to hold back some of the negativity from this post.

First, I enter and go to the cloakroom to inquire whether I need to check in my bag or not. The lady there said it wouldn’t be a problem. So I go and stand at the entry area with maybe 3 or so huge tour groups. Luckily I was in front and would be able to scoot ahead and hopefully avoid their craziness. Meanwhile, one of the tour guides comes barging to the front and starts yapping with the guy that is going to let us all in. She pushes me out of the way with no explanation. After talking with the guy up front (and I think I was giving her a nasty look) she looks at me and says, in Italian, you need to check in your bag. I told her in English, the lady at the front said it shouldn’t be a problem. At this point (and this all happens within 20 seconds or so), one of the other tour guides are jumping in at making me go back and check my bag in while the original lady is basically telling on me to the guy that lets all in. Sure enough, he tells me I have to check my bag. I try to explain the lady at the front said it wouldn’t be a problem, but since he has all the authority in the situation, I have nothing to add. I push my way through the crowd back to the cloak room to check my bag. Now they are letting everyone in and I’m in the back of the mass crowd. From there, I find out that photography is not allowed inside the museum. I had read it was, but when trying to take a few pictures, I was abruptly told NO. So now I’m fuming and in the middle of a this huge crowd. I decide to skip the first room to jump ahead and break away from the craziness. Once I did so, I was much happier. I walked through the first floor admiring the sculptures and paintings before lead to the end of the floor and lead to the next floor down. Apparently they were doing some construction and the entire floor except for the very end was bare empty. I couldn’t believe it. There were no warnings or signs telling us half the museum was under renovation. Again, I was bit upset and ended up leaving the museum. In all, I was inside the place for about an hour (maybe less). This is a museum that should have taken at least 3 hours to go through I would think.

From there, I walked across Ponte Vecchio again and window shopped a bit more. Eventually, I made my way back to Piazza del Duomo and climbed Giotto’s Bell Tower for an amazing view of the city and Duomo itself. While up there, it actually was snowing. I’m just glad it didn’t start raining because that would have been miserable.

After climbing back down, I walked around and found the street markets (somehow I completely missed them before or they just weren’t around due to the holidays). I must have walked through 4 or 5 times and can’t even count how many times I was haggled to try to buy something. I did some awesome negotiating (or so I think) and finally left the market to grab some lunch.

From lunch, I went to the train station, bought my ticket back to Rome and had about an hour to spare back at the hotel with the good ‘ol internet from where I am posting this now.

From the Rome station I will catch the Leonardo express back to the airport and grab a taxi to my hotel. Tomorrow at 6am, I will be on a plane heading back to San Francisco. I will probably write one final post to conclude the trip. I hope everyone that was following my footsteps enjoyed these updates as much as I did writing them and keeping you informed. I have taken over 4,200 pictures (I eventually had to go through and delete the rejects due to space issues on my laptop). Some of these will make there way to this blog and some others will make their way onto Flickr and possibly Facebook as well. Knowing me, it’ll probably take me about a year to go through and finish all of them, if not longer, so be patient. I just hope the little taste I have given throughout these updates has kept your pallet wet.

Lastly, thanks for reading and being a part of my adventures. If you are only subscribed to the Travel Diaries feed, you can stay subscribed as I will use this feed again for future travels or feel free to subscribe to the main Korn on the Blog feed (or via email) to stay up-to-date with my blog in general.

As the Italians say, Ciao! Or as I always say…

Till next time…

Up at 9am again, I headed out the door with the intention to visit the Uffizi Gallery today. I had heard lines could get extremely long, but after walking right into the Galleria dell’ Accademia I assumed it wasn’t going to be as bad as I’d heard. Well, I arrived a little after 10am and the line was quite long. I waited for about an hour and figured I still had another hour left, so I decided to go to the reservation window and reserved tickets for tomorrow.

With Uffizi postponed, I walked over to Ponte Vecchio and explored a bit on the other side of the river. I walked to Piazza Pitti, but decided not to go into Palazzo Pitti and Giardino di Boboli since it was 12 EURO and they did not allow photography. Instead, I walked around casually window shopping for awhile. Eventually, I crossed back over the river and found my way to Basilica di Santa Croce.

Santa Croce was actually an interesting church. The entire place seemed to be one big tomb with several plaque like structures set in the ground. It also housed some very famous tombs, as I mentioned yesterday, such as Michelangelo, Dante, Galileo and others. Apparently the church was flooded in 1967 (or so) and was completely restored since.

From there, I stopped for a late lunch (sorry, forgot to write down the name of the place). I decided to go with another prefixed menu consisting of meat lasagna, grilled rib steak, roasted potatoes, and some fresh fruit. The lasagna was good, but the fruit was amazing. They gave me two pieces of citrus fruit that I think were tangerines, but I’m not sure, a pear and an apple. The pear was by far the best pear I have ever had.

After, I headed back to the hotel for a break from the cold and to digest some of the food I just took down. I ended up staying again, relaxing, watching CNN (the only English channel available) for a bit, and packing for my departure for tomorrow.

At around 8pm, I still was not hungry, so I stepped out and grabbed a chocolate waffle before hooking in to the internet for a bit and heading to bed.

Till next time…

With a wake up call at 9:00am, I headed down to the lobby for breakfast at 9:45. When I got there, the owner of the place, which was the same guy that checked me in (he seems to always be here), had one table still set but was clearing out most of the breakfast stuff already (apparently breakfast ends at 10:00am). He was very kind and offered me yogurt, cereal, fruit salad, ham, bread, coffee, orange juice, etc. While I ate, we chatted briefly about the different ways people eat breakfast. For example, he noticed that in general, Americans drink more coffee then anyone else and those from South America tend to eat a lot of bread and cheese. Italian’s on the other hand, according to him, would only have a croissant and maybe an espresso.

In any case, I was out the door a little after 10. The day was nice, but VERY windy; and when the wind blew, it was VERY cold. I’m not sure how strong the wind was blowing, but at one point, it surely pushed me backwards and made it much harder to walk forward. Fighting the wind, I made my first stop at the Galleria dell’ Accademia, home of Michelangelo’s David. Upon entering, I was bummed to find out that photography was not allowed in the museum. To me, the museum only had three interesting parts. The most obvious is David. When I turned the corner in the museum and saw him for the first time, I was a bit surprised at how big he really was. From all the pictures and things I’ve seen, it never occurred that the statue was so big. In any case, seeing David was awesome. The other interesting parts were a room full of 19th century sculptures and a music exhibit.

From there, I walked through Piazza del Mercato Centrale which was complely quite and on to Piazza San Lorenzo where Basilia di San Lorenzo and the Cappelle Medicee is. I stuck my head into both, but decided not to go into either one. Instead, I walked around a bit more, took some pictures of del Duomo and the Bapistry and ended up going into the Baptistery. After, I was a little hungry, sick of the cold wind, and had an hour to spare before they opened up Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, also known as Duomo. So, I walked around abit more looking for a good place to have some pizza. I came across a place that had an advertised special menu for margarita pizza and a drink (beer or coke) for 8 EURO. I decided to give it a shot. I didn’t write down the name of the place because it wasn’t anything special…the beer was good though.

I headed back to Piazza del Duomo where a line had started to form to get into the Cathedral. I found nice little nook somehow that was not windy and stood there until they started letting people in. While there, I found out the stairs to the dome were closed today and would reopen tomorrow. So, I spent a few minutes inside the cathedral and then walked over to Piazza della Signoria again for a daytime visit. I must say, I was much more impressed with the night time lighting and thought to myself that I might need to go back with and actually figure out a way to take a few pictures with a tripod there.

After that, I headed back to the hotel. The wind was picking up and the cold was getting down to my bones. I figured I’d take a short break, pick up my gloves that I had left behind this morning and add another layer. Well, I fell asleep while updating this journal for about an hour! I guess I was a bit more wiped out than I thought. When I woke up, I finished up what I had started writing, watched CNN for a little bit and then headed back out around 6:00pm. I had no direction to go, so I just followed the crowd and found an Irish bar showing the Arsenal soccer game. I made myself comfortable, had two Kilkennedys (Irish beer), and watched A. Villa tie the game at 2-2 in the 91 minute. It was a great game and I’m glad I found a place showing it.

From there, I headed back toward the hotel to a place I picked up a card earlier that had a pre-fixed menu of Bruschetta, Salad, Lasagna and I think Beats, all for 9.50 EURO. The portion was relatively small compared to what I have been used to, but everything was good (except the beats – not a fan) and at a great value. When I was finished, I made my way back to the hotel and despite the cold, I still managed to get myself some gelato…and it was great!

Back at the hotel, I jumped online for a bit and then headed to bed. Tomorrow it’s going to be Galleria degli Uffizi and I think I’m going to cross Ponte Vecchio and check out what’s on the other side of the river.

Till next time…

Well, it’s Christmas and it was another travel day for me. Knowing most things were going to be closed, today was intentionally setup as a travel day.

I decided there was no point in waking up particularly early, so I slept in until 10:30am and asked for a late checkout. After checking out, I took the metro for the first time in Rome (I don’t know if I mentioned it, but I had been walking around everywhere while in Rome). From the one ride I took, I got the impression that the Rome metro system was very similar to the San Francisco BART system. After two stops, I was at the main train station, 2 hours before my scheduled departure. I decided to check and see how easy it would be to change tickets for an earlier train. Sure enough, it was as simple as asking. In a matter of minutes, I was departing an hour earlier at 12:30pm.

The train ride was a painless 1.5 hour trip. When I arrived, I checked with the information desk on where exactly my hotel was and apparently it was around the corner, a few blocks away. I had a little trouble finding the street I was suppose to be looking for since it was hiding behind a church, but eventually I found it and checked in to Hotel Balcony. I think I have the smallest bathroom in the entire world, but, other then that, the place is simple and fits my needs. They have free wireless, but only in the lobby, which is better then nothing.

After unpacking and making myself at home, I set out to checkout my immediate surroundings. I quickly realized how small Florence really is. The immediate area was dead (not surprising) with only a few people walking around. I stopped for some food at Nutti Ristorante and ended up having pizza (Marinara which is tomato sauce with garlic and basil, no cheese) and a beer. On the way back to the hotel, I picked up some gilato and then jumped online at the hotel and planned out the next few days.

Once settled on what I needed to see and do, I set back out to explore a little more with my camera. It was about 6pm at this point, so the sun was down. Surprisingly, the city had come to life and people were all over the place. All of the shops were closed and a few restaurants were open, but people were out and about, walking around, window shopping, and enjoying the rather cold evening. I made my first stop at Piazza della Signoria which was crawling with tourist. Piazza della Signoria contains Fontanadi Nettuno and the Loggia dei Lanzi. The lighting on the Loggia dei Lanzi was quite dramatic and very dark. Since the piazza was completely empty of anything to set my small Gorillapod on, I was unable to setup a shot to take a shot with a tripod, but I’m still hoping I was able to capture the mood the lighting set.

From Piazza della Signoria, I went over to Piazza Santa Croce which was completely the opposite with nearly no one around and only a solitary church, Santa Croce, at the end of the piazza. Apparently Sata Croce houses the tomb of Michelangelo, Machiavelli, Galileo and others. I’m hoping to make it back here for an internal visit in the next few days. While here, there were a few places I was able to setup my tripod, so I took a few long exposures of the church from several different angles.

After, I back tracked a bit back through Piazza della Signoria to Plazza della Repubblica. Here, people were going this way and that and was very similar to Plazza Navona in that there were a few people selling balloons and other toys along with a carousel at one end of the plaza. I spent some time taking a few pictures (what else?) and eventually moved on to see if the few recommended restaurants I had taken with me were open. Not surprisingly, they were all closed, so I made my way back to the hotel, changed my clothes to my “evening” attire and headed back to the area were I had lunch.

I ended up settling on a place across from the place I had lunch, ironically also named Nutti, but this place was Nutti Pizzeria. Again, ironically, I had pizza for lunch at the restaurant, so I ended up getting Bruschetta and Spaghetti Carrettiera along with the house red wine. I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed in the Bruschetta. I’m not sure if it was this place or if Burschetta in the States is just different then what you find in Italy. In any case, the spaghetti was awesome. Carrettiera is tomato sauce with chilly pepper. It actually wasn’t very spicy, but it was very good. After dinner, I headed back toward the place I got gelato from earlier since I know I saw at least three other places over that direction. Sure enough, I found a place open and got myself another helping of gelato. Interestingly, I noticed, of the three places I have been for gelato so far, all three have been very different. Chocolate ice cream in the states is generally the same form place to place (not exactly, but generally, you know what to expect)…here, the chocolate can vary dramatically from place to place (or at least that has been my experience so far). In any case, the gelato was very good once again and I enjoyed every last bite on the walk back to my hotel.

We’ll see what tomorrow holds for me tomorrow.

Till next time…

I think I walked the entire city of Rome today…and then some.

Out the door of the hotel a little late, I first stopped at the Spanish Steps. Though I’ve walked up and down them almost every day so far, I had yet to stop and take a few pictures. From there, I headed to Piazza Del Popolo where there were a few vendors setup selling jewelry, toys, and general souvenirs.

After deciding there was nothing worth buying there, I back tracked a bit and made a day time visit to the Trevi Fountain for a few day time pictures. It was about 12:30pm at this point and a shadow as already casting upon the lower part of the fountain (something I was hoping to avoid). I took a few pictures and people watched for a bit and then headed over to Piazza Della Rotanda to pay a visit to the Pantheon. Though the Pantheon isn’t very big, but the huge dome above and the circular structure make you feel tiny while inside.

From the Pantheon, I hiked back toward the Ancient City center to visit Piazza Venezia. At the end of Piazza Venezia I found the enormous Victor Emmanuel Monument. I don’t even think enormous is a big enough word for it. I hiked the stairs to the top of the monument, took in the views and walked around to the back side to Piazza del Campidoglio. Some of Michelangelo’s designs and work can be found here, including the Cordonata, the Grand Staircase that leads up to the Piazza.

I decided to pass on visiting the Capitoline Museums and decided to walk across to Isola Tiberina and beyond to the other side of Fiume Tevere (the river running through the city of Rome). On the way, I took a short detour (or a wrong turn) and found myself in area Sacra di Largo Argentina. Apparently there were three old temples there that were discovered while they were building out the area. I don’t think this is a big tourist spot since there isn’t much information on it in the book I have with me, but it was surely interesting to see. After taking a few pictures, I moved on and back tracked to Tiberina Island. On the other side of the river, I really had no clue where to go. I started walking down the river, toward the Vatican, and eventually turned off on a street and the onto another into a small street filled with restaurants. I passed one small place named Pizza Roma (off of Piazza di S. Rufina on the corner of Vicolo di S. Rufina and Via della Lungaretta) that had a 5 EURO menu which included pizza, a fried mozzarella ball (can’t remember what it was called), and a beer. How could you go wrong? I enjoyed my meal and more so my beer and headed back out onto the street. I made my way back across the river and into Piazza Navona.

Piazza Navona was packed with vendors selling everything you could possibly imagine – candy, toys, christmas decorations, balloons – there was even a carrousel setup in the middle of the Piazza. I bought myself some candy and sat down for a bit in the middle of the piazza before taking some experimental pictures of the carrousel (they didn’t work out very well). After, I made my way back to the Spanish Steps through the hordes of crowds still out shopping. I stopped in a few shops, but still couldn’t find anything worth buying as gifts or for myself.

Back at the Spanish Steps, I climbed to the top where I knew a few vendors were setup selling mostly art. One of the pieces struck my fancy and he even had another piece that complimented it very well. After staring at these paintings for a long time, the price dropped from 180 EURO to 160 EURO to 140 EURO for one of the paintings. I really did like it, but really wanted both together. I offered 250 EURO for both and he accepted, however, I didn’t have the cash on me. I ran to the ATM only to find I could only draw 200 EURO at the time and I only had 20 EURO on me, which left me with 220 EURO. I went back to the guy (Atef Elnahas, obviously not Italian) and offered him what I could and he kindly accepted, however, he would have given me a barrel to put the paintings into and instead wrapped them into a piece of cardboard. I wish I had a picture to share with you what they look like, but since they are already wrapped up, there is no way I’m unwrapping them before I get home. In short, and doing them no justice, they are two large canvas paintings of jazz musicians, one of a guy playing a saxophone and the other of a guy playing a trumpet. The weird thing about it, now that I think about it, I don’t even know that they are 100% genuine, he could have just painted a photograph or another painting that he saw. I guess the bottom line is I liked them and that is all that matters now, well, that and that I hope I can find a place to hang them. From there, I headed back to the hotel for a quick breather before heading back out to see what the town had in store for Christmas Eve.

Earlier, while I was walking around, I saw a photographer selling his art on the street (Max Wayne to be exact) and he had a few photos that were a bit inspiring. So, when I headed back out, I took only my 50mm prime to push myself a bit to be more creative (one result is the picture to the right of the Spanish Steps). As I stepped outside, I heard music in the air and found the source once again at the Spanish Steps. This time the music was much more enjoyable, at least on my part. I didn’t understand the lyrics, but the music seemed to be gospel and churchy, but with a bit of rock and roll thrown in. I’m not sure how to explain it, but I enjoyed it. The concert ended at 7:00pm and the crowd vanished within 15 minutes…it was amazing. I wandered around just curious to see what was open and sure enough, all of the shops were shut down. I walked down a few side streets randomly and came across a restaurant, Re Degli Amici (on Via Della Croce just off of Via Del Babuino). They were open, had a good menu and seemed to have quite a few people already inside and eating, so I gave it a shot. I have to admit right now, I made a bit of a mistake while ordering that I am not proud to admit, but I will anyway as I continue…I was seated and eventually ordered Minestrone soup to start (after assuring there were no mushrooms in it), Spaghetti Carbinera (I’m not sure how I got it in my head that I thought that meant red sauce), along with the house red and water. The soup was good, but there was a bean or some kind of vegetable that I didn’t like in it. When the spaghetti arrived, I was a bit shocked, thinking it was going to be a tomato sauce, but I went along with it and actually thought it was very good (not nearly as good as their marinara sauce probably was).

A few interesting things that happened at the restaurant…

The waiter was an older guy, maybe 60 – 70 years old, and was an absolute riot. He asked me were I was from and in return made fun of the 49ers. After another table had just finished eating and he had just cleared their plates, he was bringing another table their food and pretended to give the first table the food. The first table’s faces were priceless and the waiter just laughed and kept on moving to bring the food to the correct table.

At the table in front of me, there was an older Swedish couple that heard I was from the States when the waiter asked and realized I was eating alone and near the end of our meals (we finished about the same time), the lady at the table turned around and said, “Cheers, Merry Christmas.” We chatted briefly and as I left I wished them a Merry Christmas and safe travels for the rest of their journey.

At 9:00pm, there were still Italian families coming in (I must have hit a jackpot or the only place open on Christmas Eve) and one of the families had a reservation at the table next to mine. They had a little kid that was no more then 10 years old. The waiter knew the family apparently very well, and he and the kid had a good connection. At one point, the kid wanted the candle on the table lit, so the waiter did so in a dramatic fashion and started singing (I think Happy Birthday). The kid was very amused by the entire scenario, as was I.

I finally asked for my bill and headed back to the hotel once again. This time, I re-clothed myself into warmer clothing and headed out to see what the Vatican had cooking. It was about 11:00pm when I left the hotel and the streets between my hotel and the Vatican were very quite. I probably only saw 20 or so people on the 20 minute walk over. As I approached the main strip that leads to St. Peter’s, the traffic thickened and more and more people were present the closer I got. As I entered the main square, there weren’t quite as many people as I thought there would be, but there were still a good number hanging out, not to forget who knows how many people were inside. It seemed as if the main service began at 11:30pm with a lot of choir singing and chanting (they projected the sound and some video as well to several screens setup around St. Peter’s Plaza). At 12:00am sharp, someone said something, everyone in the crowd stood up and the Pope emerged (on screen). The Pope made is way to the front along with a bunch of others (sorry, I don’t know who all these people were) in a very systematic way. Finally, the Pope said something, everyone crossed themselves and more chanting and singing proceeded. After about 30 minutes, I decided to head back to the hotel. I took my time and made a stop for some more pictures of St. Peter’s. After that, the camera went into my bag and I hiked back to the hotel.

Tomorrow I’m off to Florence for the final leg of this crazy adventure.

Till next time…

During breakfast, I decided I’d make a stop at the train station, buy my ticket for my trip to Florence in a few days and then make my way to the Colosseum and surrounding ancient goodies. The only hard plan was that I wanted to catch the Colosseum during sundown and twilight hours which I planned on starting around 5:00pm. So, with 7 hours up in the air, I head out to the main train station. On the way, I must have taken an incorrect turn. I found myself in Piazza Del Quirrinale. Since I was there, I took a few obligatory pictures and continued on my way (this time in the correct direction). I made it to the train station, bought my ticket and while looking at the map, I decided to make a stop at Saint Maria Maggiore. This church had some interesting cathedrals within itself, but it can’t possibly compete for my attention after I’ve already seen St. Peter’s. As I was heading out the door, there was a bit of commotion at the front of the church. A big group had gathered and cameras were clicking from every which way. I turned around and checked out what was going on. I’m not sure who it was, but some high church figure completely ducked out in full wardrobe was there and posing for pictures with people. I took my few shots and people watched for awhile and then headed out again.

From St. Maria Maggiore, I made my way to the Colosseum and bought a ticket for access to it, the Foro Romano and the Palatino. It was about 12:30pm when I entered the Colosseum and the lighting was a bit harsh with large shadows cast across half the interior structure. I took a few pictures, but mostly just walked around and enjoyed the site. I eventually made it around to the museum they have setup within the Colosseum and enjoyed reading some of the information as well as taking a few more pictures.

After I was done with the Colosseum, I moved across the way to the Palantino (Palatine) and the Foro Romano (Roman Forum). Once again, it seemed like big chunks of the area were closed and/or under construction. I first checked out the House of Augustus before wandering through Domus Flavia and Domus Augustana. From there I passed the Stadium and the courtyard of the Palatine before making my way into the Roman Forum. One of the main things I wanted to see was the Vestal Virgins in the central courtyard, but that area seemed to be closed. I managed to get a shot from a weird angle so you that I can show I was there, but the picture is worthless otherwise.

By the time I was done walking through the Roman Forum, it was 4:00pm. That gave me an hour to locate a spot, seattle in and capture any evening shots I wanted of the Colosseum. I found my way up and above Piazza del Colosseo and situated myself there for a good 2 hours while he sun continued to set. I was amazed at how many people were there at 4pm and how little were still around (basically no one) through the sunset. In any case, it worked out for me so I could move around freely if I wished to do so and didn’t have to worry about being in someone else’s way or anyone being in my way.

After the cold started to reach my bones, I thought I should head back to the hotel to relax for a bit before heading out for another Italian meal. I walked all the way back to the hotel (I’ve done WAY too much walking on this trip) and enjoyed sitting on my bed for a bit as I backed up all of the pictures from the day.

At about 8:00pm, I headed back out for dinner. This time, I was pointed to Pizzeria il Boscaiolo which was around the corner from the hotel and recommended particularly for their pizza. I ended up ordering a mix of fried vegetables as an appetizer and a pizza with peppers and sausages. As last night, I accompanied the meal with the house red wine. Everything was very good. While I was there, I saw another table order a side of bread which looked like Nan, the bread you’d get from an Indian restaurant). Since I ordered pizza, I did not get any bread…guess I have to go back. After dinner, I strolled into the gilato place again for some mint and chocolate gilato (the lady behind the counter recognized me this time) and then back to the hotel.

The plan for tomorrow is once again up for grabs, however, I plan on trying to visit the places I still have yet to visit such as the Pantheon and possibly get some shopping done (still have yet to buy a single souvenir or present).

Till next time…

Today I had a prescheduled tour of the Necropolis at 10:45am. According to the email I received upon booking the tour, I could not be a minute late and must pick up my pass 10 minutes before or I would not be allowed on the tour. So, I made sure I had a wake up call set for 8:30am the night before.

At 8:30am sharp, the phone rang and woke me up. I grabbed breakfast at the complementary buffet at the hotel (nothing much – croissants, cereal, ham, coffee) and headed out the door at about 9:45am giving me one full hour to get to St. Peter’s (a 30 minute walk from the hotel) and find the excavations office. Along the way, I was good and kept my camera inside my bag so I wouldn’t make any stops and get distracted. I found my way across the river and up to St. Peter’s, but there were no signs for the excavations office. There was a long line to get into St. Peter’s, I but assumed I could by pass that line through the so called excavations office. I had about 20 minutes to spare at this point. I found the information office and they told me I had to wait in that long line I saw, check my bag, and go around to the other side of the Basilica where I’d find the office. I was not aware I’d have to wait in the line and it looked like it was going to take 30+ minutes to get through. It was 10:30 and I was suppose to pick up my ticket by 10:35! I wait in line and the line moves much quicker then I expected. I passed through security, checked my bag at the bag check and made my way into the excavations office at 10:43am. They didn’t even question my timing and I even ended up waiting 5 minutes or so before the tour left. It ended up being a close call, but it all worked out in the end. However, no pictures were allowed in the Necropolis.

The Necropolis is the City of the Dead and lies underneath St. Peter’s Basilica. It houses the tomb of St. Peter himself whom I actually don’t know much about myself but I am sure Google can tell you everything you’d like to know. I did find out that the entire excavation was done by 4 guys alone and took 11 years to complete. The four guys did all of the digging at night and in complete secrecy. At the end of the 1.5 hour tour, we found ourselves at St. Peter’s tomb where the entire group said a prayer (any know what that prayer is/was?). As we exited the tour, we found ourselves at the tomb site for all of the past Popes. From here, I was on my own again.

I made my way outside and paid my visit to St. Peter’s Basilica. WOW! I took pictures, but I think I had a hard time capturing the vast size of the place, perhaps my artistic/photographic juices weren’t flowing in full force. Every corner of the entire place was covered with something, whether it was a sculpture, a painting or a place of prayer (some of which were in session). I tried taking in as much of it as I possible could before departing the magnificent building.

From there, I made my way around the outer wall of the Vatican to the Vatican Museum. I made my first stop at the cafe downstairs and grabbed a slice of pizza. After getting some food in my belly, I made my way to the Pinacoteca which is the main Vatican art gallery. It houses art from the 15th to the 19th century, particularly strong on works from the Renaissance period. Some of today’s most famous art work exist here, such as St. Jerome by Leonardo da Vinci. I was very happy to find out that pictures were allowed throughout the Vatican Museum, as long as you do not use a flash.

After the Pinacoteca, I found myself in the Cortile Della Picna which lead to Il Museo Chiaramonti. The Chiaramonti Museum is a museum made up of only statues and sculptures. When I first walked in, I was a bit overwhelmed and in awe. I don’t think I’ve seen so many statues in one place lined up one after the other like that. Even more impressive was Braccio Nuovo which housed full sculptures (not just heads or pieces of statues). Within Braccio Nuovo I was introduced to the famous Il Nino. The Chiaramonti finished with the Cortile Ottagono or Octagonal Court. This court yard, as you probably guessed, was shaped as an octagon and had 8 large statues at each side.

From there, I followed a series of rooms, one after the other after the other all filled with amazing murals, art, sculptures, rugs, etc. I finally reach the Raphael Rooms just before entering the Sistine Chapel. I think the idea is to tire you out and fill your memory cards (or run out of film) before you get the to grand finale of the Sistine Chapel, even though they say pictures are not allowed in the Chapel. Well, I finally arrived at the Sistine Chapel and 1) again, WOW! 2) people are snapping pictures away like crazy! I couldn’t believe it. I’m not sure if the rules changed or today was a special day, but they were allowing pictures to be taking inside the Chapel. Funny thing is, I was so overwhelmed, excited, and tired all at the same time, I’m not sure I captured everything I wanted to while in there. I did take the time to look around and take in the place for a bit instead of just taking pictures the entire time. I don’t know all of the meanings behind all of the paintings and drawings within that room, but none-the-less I found my jaw dropped most of the time and a stiff neck by the end from looking up most of the time.

When I finally left the Sistine Chapel and exited the Museum, I headed back to St. Peter’s Square just in time for sunset. I planted myself there for awhile snapping away pictures from every which angle I could think of. Since I didn’t have my Gorillapod with me, I can only hope the pictures came out nicely. Only time will tell that story…

As the light grew dimmer, I finally put the camera away and made my way back to the hotel. I took a few different streets back and found myself in the middle of some huge crowds and finally found myself at Piazza Di Spagna where there was a special Christmas concert going on and hordes of people were sitting, standing, crouching, etc. all over the place, covering the most of the Spanish Steps. I’m not sure who was singing when I got there, but I’m guessing it was some famous opera guy. People were very intense while listening and trying to see him. I stopped and listened for awhile, but I was tired and had to use the restroom, so I continued back to the hotel.

I took some much needed downtime (writing this post) and then made my way back out around 8:00pm. I asked the front desk for a dinner recommendation and though he was a different guy this evening, he started to give me the same recommendation as the guy from the night before. After I told him I had already been there, he suggested another place called La Rampa. La Rampa was around the corner from the Spanish Steps in Piazza Mignanelli. I sat down, ordered a bottle of water and the house red wine, or Rossa del Casa. After looking through the extensive menu, I asked a few questions and the waiter recommended one of the veal dishes. Since it wasn’t seafood (again, for those that don’t know me, not a fan) I went along with it. I believe it was veal leg, but not 100% sure. Since I’m not a huge veal eater, I can’t compare, but I thought it was quite tasty. After dinner, I made my way back to the hotel again stopping for my first Italian gelato on the way. I got a scoop of chocolate and a scoop of mint (those that do know me probably aren’t surprised). Needless to say, I planned on making a habit of getting gelato at least once a day for the following days in Italy.

Back at the hotel, I purchased another hour of internet (not very cheap – 3 EUROS per hour) and headed to bed. The following day is unplanned, so who knows what is in store. I had a 9am wake up call scheduled to ensure I do get up and do something.

Till next time…

Picture count: For those that might be interested, I took a total of 600 pictures to day. As of the end of the day, I have taken a total of 3,158 pictures on the trip in total so far.