September 4, 2006

Monday September 4, 2006

Today was quite possibly the most anticipated day of the program amongst all the students and definitely contained one of the coolest things I have ever done as a traveler or student.

Risa began our day by presenting on the church of St. Peter in Chains and Michelangelo’s Tomb of Julius II. The tomb was originally designed to be an unprecedented work containing more than forty larger than life marble statues but it was never completed because Michelangelo was routinely called to other works including the Sistine Chapel during Julius’ reign. After the death of Julius II the size of the tomb was scaled down and Michelangelo never finished the grand project. Some of the statues that were left off the final tomb are the haunting slaves now lining the procession towards David in Florence.

Risa’s presentation tickled our imagination as we prepared for the activities coming later that night. Her introduction to Julius II and the della Rovere family set the stage for Carissa’s presentation on Rafael’s stanze and our PRIVATE TOUR OF THE VATICAN MUSEUM.

That is right. After a couple-hour break, Italian class, and another couple hours for lunch, all of us threw on the nicest clothes we brought across the pond and met at the front of Palazzo Pio to make the pilgrimage across the river. This short journey (probably only about 3 km) was much more difficult than the average Seattle Metro rider would ever guess. I have a new game for all the readers – try to fit 24 medium sized adults onto a bus where people already fall out the door when the bus stops. Needless to say we all became very close that night (physically and socially) as we squeezed as best we could onto the public transportation, but it was all worth it.

In case a mistake was made reading this post, we did have a private tour of the Sistine Chapel and everything else held inside the Vatican Museum. My only regret about seeing the museum in this fashion is that I am not fully convinced all the students understand how wonderful this was. Last summer standing under Michelangelo’s famous ceiling I felt as though I was on a Rome city bus and had great difficulty enjoying the artwork. This summer there were never more than 30 people within a 500-foot radius of me. I was able to search for bike routes through the Chianti in the Map Room without being bumped; I stood in Raphael’s Stanze and never heard anyone attribute the works to Da Vinci; I appreciated Michelangelo’s masterpiece without hearing the guards sternly whisper “NO FLASH!” to the American next to me.

Reader, if you ever go to the Vatican Museum, you too will then understand what a treat this opportunity was. Standing outside after the tour was over – smiles fixed onto our face by Michelangelo, Rafael, and all the other great artists we were lucky enough to see – we realized what a great trip this has been.

Steve