Monday, August 29, 2016
Ahhh Venice, Part 3
As you can see from the lede photo, people need a place to tie up their boats. Cars aren't allowed on the islands and neither are scooters, it's walking or nothing. Most people have boats instead of cars. I'm pretty sure I saw a few teenagers using the family boat for a date and I also saw a few families going out in the family boat for some "road trip" to who know's where.
Some places had a ring bolted into a wall where you could tie your painter off and moor your vessel. Look at me with all my nautical talk. Pretty soon I'll be tying sheep shanks and clamoring up the mizzenmast to luff the main royal like a boss; not really I don't think I like heights on a boat. Anyway, in Venice you can moor to a ring or one of the myriad posts sunk into a canal or where ever. Like this:
I'm going to assume that this is "reserved mooring" a "slip" as it were, because why else would someone tie a chair to a post like this. There was essentially zero space to put the chair on the "dock" which consisted of a 1x12 board (2.54x30.48 for you metric folks). This does look like as good a place as any to tie up your boat. I imagine you sit in the chair in the boat and hang out drinking prosecco with your friends.
There are more places to moor your boat by the Arsenal. I really wish I could have gone in and taken a tour, or more for me poked around, at the Arsenal because it looked impressive. There just wasn't a way to do that. Near where I took the above photo there was a shipwright shop and I was too shy to ask some people I'm convinced didn't speak English if I could photograph them working. I was quite far from any tourist areas.
There is an art museum near the Arsenal and it has large windows where you can get a peek into the huge space where they used to, or maybe still, hoisted ships out of the water for repairs. The museum is in some sort of old manufacturing or repair facility. One room had a bunch of old forges along the walls. Mostly it was some giant, empty rooms.
See, giant and empty. There were a few rooms like this and in one of them the glass door was broken and the light was beautiful and I had just been looking at a lot of art, so I got creative.
Tempered glass is neato. Speaking of getting creative and mooring boats, remember I was talking about that, I did see a superbly-impressive mooring job by someone who perhaps couldn't afford the best boat in the world.
I for sure would be hesitant to ride the canals of Venice in this thing, so I'm guessing it is for kids. You can toss them in here and pull them behind your boat when they get annoying maybe. I really liked how many doors just seemed to open right into the canal. Many of them had steps, making it look like perhaps there was just a good flood happening.
Others didn't have steps as if the people who built the building realized that steps into the water might be a bit silly. It could also be that the doors without steps were set back further into the buildings. What do I look like, an architect?
It's pretty damned difficult to take a bad photograph in Venice. I'm sure some people can, I did take a few bad ones but I'm not going to show them to you here. Almost every door is interesting and there are so many beautiful things to see.
Look, another gorgeous doorway. That's almost the end of it as far as door photos go in this post. There is just one more, I promise. Don't misunderstand buildings kind of have doors, so you will see some more, but not as the focus. This next one combines some things I'm working on and a door.
All over Prague, and to a lesser extent Europe, I see randomly discarded shoes. At least in this photo there is a reason for it. Venetians just put their garbage out the front door to the building on collection day and the trash man (yes, I'm suuuuper sexist) collects it. In Prague, I see discarded shoes in totally random places. At times I also see discarded garments. Just the other day I saw a pair of women's jean shorts on the side walk and I can only think, "what is the story here" every time I see things like that.
I got a little framing and layering on in the photo up there. I thought it was a fun take on the usual gondola photo. Why not, right?
The above photo is also neat the Arsenal. in fact the only way to get into the giant ship maintenance area of the Arsenal I talked about earlier is via boat. I suppose you could figure out a way to break in to the Italian military garrison that blocks the land entrance, but I wouldn't try it. You can also see how the lagoon looks gross. The water doesn't even look very enticing at night.
The smaller canals anyway look pretty yucky, The grand canal looks fine at night. Probably because there isn't as much light on it. I was told by some people that Venice smells bad too, thanks to the canals. It doesn't, so don't worry about that at all. They actually do a good job of dredging them to make sure the place doesn't reek.
See, with some reflection action the water starts to look a little better at night in the smaller canals.
Still not the best-looking water in the world.
The Grand Canal looks fine at night though. I give myself bonus points for the neato reflection on the ripply water of the running lights of the passing boat that you can't see because the exposure was so long. It's a bit like a mini aquatic Pink Floyd show.
No such laser-light luck with the photo above, but hey. You can't hit it out of the park every time. I mentioned that I stretched my street-photography legs while I was in Italy. I am still using them too, but I don't post a ton of those. I may make a post of my favorites at some point. From this trip my second-favorite street-style photo is this one below.
I suppose if I were to give it a name it would be "Boy on Bridge in Venice" or something like that. To me it's just a great moment between friends with some nice layering and it comes together pretty well.
I liked this one a lot too mainly because of the subject matter. You're growing up in Venice and you want to play soccer, where do you go? There aren't really a lot of parks and I don't know if people would really appreciate a soccer match in the ones that do exist. This is one of the cooler pickup games I've seen with the old buildings in the background etc.
This one above too. You don't have a car on the islands in Venice, but if you travel you need to walk to the train station or wherever. It also have the obligatory hanging laundry action going on. Honestly photos don't get much more stereotypically Venice than this. I will close with a concept that I really enjoyed, having had to come up with a different solution to this same problem. When you have a street light this close to your window, you really do need to do something. I've been there. I waited until the 4th of July and shot the light out with a gun. This solution was is much more diplomatic.
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Wednesday, August 17, 2016
Ahhh, Venice Part 2
Thanks for coming back for part two of Ahhh, Venice. If you somehow missed Ahhh, Venice Part 1 you can get to it by clicking here. I'm not really to sure were part two is going to go. To be completely honest, I have a whole lot of photos and I think I might just see where the stream of consciousness takes me and work it all out after that. I'm reasonably certain that I talked about how Venice is an expensive city last time. That is the truth, but it is, of course, known for being romantic. Romantic to the point that it's even pretty romantic when you're alone too.
Now, the lady you see above was not alone but I get the impression that she is really feeling the romance here. Just sitting, staring out into the lagoon watching the boats. This is a pretty excellent way to spend an hour, or more. I also sat at a few different places and watched boats. It's difficult not to, they are everywhere since cars aren't allowed. For some reason it is a whole lot more peaceful to watch boats go by than it is to watch cars.
Speaking of boats, I discussed the Vaporetti last time. They are the water buses. You will need them if you want to get to any of the other islands. Check my last post for prices. I forgot to mention that you can buy the passes for them as soon as you arrive in Venice. There are a few stands, actual official stands, where you can buy the passes. They are by the largest foot bridge that leads from the mainland to the main island. There is also a large Vaporetto stop quite near the ticket stands, funny that.
So I made it to Murano on the first day. It's the home of Venetian glass blowing. I'm pretty sure glass is also made elsewhere around Venice, but Murano really famous for it. If you forget that Murano is the glass capital of Venice you'll remember extremely quickly when you get close on the boat. There are giant glass works everywhere. Because this was really my first day, I hadn't even taken the time to wander around the main island so my first impressions of Venice were from Murano.
Everywhere you look online and in travel magazines, not like I read those, you see the standard images of Venice with laundry hanging from every window. Open a new window and do a quick Google Image search for Venice, I'll wait. Thousands of photos of laundry. I told you. I'll only make you suffer three of those in this entire series. The first one I took was on Murano and here it is:
I did see the lady putting this out, but I decided not to photograph her. A lot of Venetians look a little grumpy when they see a camera pointed their way. I can't blame them. I assume they are a little tired of people photographing them while they hang their undergarments etc. At the same time, if you don't want people to see you hang your laundry maybe you'll find space inside? The outdoor laundry hanging was like Florence times 1000.
The other thing that was very similar to Florence and really the rest of the places I visited were the nicos in random places. As I said in my posts about Florence, which you can read if you click here, I really like this. When you're wandering down some new little street and you see a quiet little piece of wall or a corner where people have been saying a little prayer for generations it makes you feel good. I found this one on Murano also.
What blog post about Murano would be complete without a photo of a glass workshop? A really bad one is the correct answer. So here is the thing, a tour of a glass shop is not free. I hear they used to be in some places, but almost everywhere started charging. I also hear the "salesmen" had some pretty shady tactics where they would entice tourists on the main island with a free glass blowing demonstration and boat ride to Murano. If you didn't buy anything after their ultra-high-pressure sales pitch, you were on your own getting back. So I didn't take any sort of tour, because the cheapest one was 10EUR for 5 minutes. Lucky for me some glass blower nearby left his windows open and went to lunch. I've seen glass blowing at the Corning factory in New York, it's all the same right?
However they didn't have a sculpture like this in New York. It's been a while since I've been there though, so maybe they do now. I doubt it.
Murano is sort of colorful, if a bit run down but the real color is on Burano. Yeah, I know it gets confusing with only the first letter being different, but Burano is a totally different world. It's a fishing village with a hefty paint budget.
Maybe not that hefty, or someone is slacking. The island was peaceful and people seemed to just be working there, like normal people do. Like the man below, attending to his nets. It looks like a beautiful scene with colorful homes to me, but to him it's just another Friday.
As I approached Burano on the Vaporetto I started to notice something a little off. I got the suspicion that perhaps Italy has a tower problem. I couldn't be completely sure until I made landfall.
Yeah, it looks like there is something wrong with this picture. Well, I mean, I took it so there is nothing wrong with the actual picture, but something seems a bit -- off. The houses are beautiful and colorful and a little extra saturated because it's cloudy and there are a lot of shadows because it's cloudy but the tower in the back on the left appears to be listing a bit.
Yes, it is in fact listing. No one seemed to care. There is a school playground right next to it. Everyone when about their business acting like the thing wasn't going to fall down any time soon. I've heard the one is Pizza is way worse, so who cares right? There's cappuccino to drink and laundry to hang.
The last thing I will say about Burano is that the restaurants are extremely expensive. I suggest you eat before you go. Also, I think the place is famous for lace. People where selling handmade lace in shops and at stands all over the central square on Burano. I'm not really a lace kind of guy, so it didn't really matter to me.
Thanks for reading. I have no idea where I'll take this next time but I still have a ton of photos to show you I'm just as clueless about it as you.
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Monday, August 1, 2016
Ahhhh Venice, part 1
This grand Italian escapade of mine you have been reading culminates in Venice. Ahhhh Venice, it is a romantic city. It's also a very expensive city. I'll give you a few pointers, but I'll start with a couple of things I want to get out of the way with respect to Venice in general.I was in Venice for four days and I think it was a bit too much. I didn't hit a lot of museums and was basically just wandering aimlessly. I should have spent more time in Rome. The best food I had in Venice isn't on the island, but the mainland. I could probably do a few blog posts just on the food in Italy, the country is famous for food though. If you don't like walking -- stay the heck away from Venice.
My biggest tip for Venice is buy the daily pass for the Vaporetti and get your money's worth. One ride, one way on the water bus costs €7.50 ouch. A one-day all you can ride pass is €20 and a three-day pass is €40, if I remember right. I bought the three day and I rode those suckers anywhere from 50 meters to several dozen miles. The last day I didn't have a pass and I just walked all over the main island. If you want to see any of the other islands in Venice at all you're going to need to take some kind of boat. Swimming isn't an option I endorse.
Of course, the most romantic way to travel in Venice is via gondola. It's also hands down the most expensive. The rates are €60 or €80 per hour as far as prices of things in Europe go, I'm told you can buy sex for about the same price in some places. The photo you see above is of gondolas at the Bridge of Sighs; it got way more crowded under there as this is THE place to take a gondola ride.
Another slightly cheaper option is taking a water taxi. Many of them are beautiful boats and there are established stands all over the place. The taxi driver you see above is on the island of Torcello waiting for his customers to return. Torcello seems like as good a place to start as any, so let's do that.
Torcello is one of the oldest populated islands in Venice and used to have the most people, but now something like 75 people live there. There is not a ton of stuff to do, but it is quite peaceful. There is a cathedral.
Evidently the cathedral has some impressive mosaics inside. I didn't go see them and honestly didn't know about them until googling around for this post. I was just enjoying a place that wasn't crawling with tourists. There were some tourists, yes but not a whole lot of them.
The Torcello cathedral also has a tower, which makes sense. Admission to the museum at the cathedral also allows you to climb the tower, or I think you can just do the tower. I figured that since there really isn't a whole not to see on the island and the sky was a bit drab, that I would skip the hike to the top of the tower this time around. It looks like it's been there for a few hundred years, so I'm sure it will be there next time I visit.
There was some really good light while I was on the island though and I was able to get a few frames I liked. The one above is still in the cathedral, or the outside areas of it anyway. I wandered around on the island for maybe two hours and saw almost every building there is to see. I may have even accidentally trespassed into someone's field.
The photo above is still on Torcello and I liked the colors and the flowers in the statue's hand. There was a lady sitting on that bench for like 45 minutes though and I had to pass by several times waiting for her to move so I could take this photo. Trust me, it's much nicer without that lady in the ugly red tee shirt in the photo.
There were some other colorful, beautiful doors and such on Torcello. There was also a stone easy chair that was remarkably comfortable. I made myself quite the nuisance while taking a photo of myself in it. No, it wasn't a selfie, my camera has a timer. I was there for a while though and a nice Scottish couple waited patiently for me to leave.
A few hours on Torcello really is enough. Evidently one of the oldest restaurants in Venice is there. Restaurants on the main island are expensive. Restaurants on the outlying islands are ridiculous, no one wants to pay €20 for a crappy appetizer, so I hopped a Vaporetto back to the main island.
A few hours on Torcello really is enough. Evidently one of the oldest restaurants in Venice is there. Restaurants on the main island are expensive. Restaurants on the outlying islands are ridiculous, no one wants to pay €20 for a crappy appetizer, so I hopped a Vaporetto back to the main island.
Remember when I said swimming wasn't a good idea? The whole Ventian lagoon, and thusly canal system, is a yucky green color. I'm sure people fall in from time to time, but I'm sure they don't like it. I think if you want to go for a swim the best bet is to take the Vaporetto to the edge of the lagoon and hit the Adriatic.
Again food, and then I'll shut up about it. I was told by several people that my usual traveling style of wandering around and looking for something that looks good at random doesn't really work in Venice. A British friend of mine said, "there are a bunch of small places and they are all a rip off and they are ALL crap." Look, if anyone knows how to complain, it's a Brit but when you get the same basic story from several people, you listen. Also, don't eat pizza in Venice. They have had a ban on pizza ovens for like a century so the pizza isn't the best. That said, I made some plans and got super lucky a few times. I'll tell you about my luck.
You see those OG degos up there chilling around a barrel? This is what you want to look for. This place was right next to a fish market on the island of Murano and you'd have to look for it, but I got my self lost and lucked out. No one was speaking English in the place, another sign that things might be alright, and the lady behind the counter barely did. I pointed some cicchetti, these Italian version of tapas things, that looked good, asked for a capuccino and went out to sit near the Italian conference you see above. It was lunch time and these dudes were pounding prosecco.
Everything I had at this place was freaking amazing and it was like $15, which is insanely cheap for Venice. Look for the old school conference, you won't be disappointed. Another thing, if you're in the U.S. especially you haven't had coffee until you've had it in Italy. I kind of hate cappuccino, I was swilling the stuff like coke in Italy and it was delicious.
Again food, and then I'll shut up about it. I was told by several people that my usual traveling style of wandering around and looking for something that looks good at random doesn't really work in Venice. A British friend of mine said, "there are a bunch of small places and they are all a rip off and they are ALL crap." Look, if anyone knows how to complain, it's a Brit but when you get the same basic story from several people, you listen. Also, don't eat pizza in Venice. They have had a ban on pizza ovens for like a century so the pizza isn't the best. That said, I made some plans and got super lucky a few times. I'll tell you about my luck.
You see those OG degos up there chilling around a barrel? This is what you want to look for. This place was right next to a fish market on the island of Murano and you'd have to look for it, but I got my self lost and lucked out. No one was speaking English in the place, another sign that things might be alright, and the lady behind the counter barely did. I pointed some cicchetti, these Italian version of tapas things, that looked good, asked for a capuccino and went out to sit near the Italian conference you see above. It was lunch time and these dudes were pounding prosecco.
Everything I had at this place was freaking amazing and it was like $15, which is insanely cheap for Venice. Look for the old school conference, you won't be disappointed. Another thing, if you're in the U.S. especially you haven't had coffee until you've had it in Italy. I kind of hate cappuccino, I was swilling the stuff like coke in Italy and it was delicious.
I made a google map with restaurants that I researched beforehand and geotagged. I'm so smart. A word of warning, your GPS is going to suck in Venice, the buildings are too close together. The guy in the photo above was a worker at once of those places I tagged and I gorged myself on octopus and prosecco there, leaving fat and buzzed, don't let his tragically unItalian shoe choice make you think he's not authentic. So, the absolute, hands down, bar none best restaurant in Venice is a place called Macaco and is on the mainland in Mestre. I can't say enough good things about this place, get there early because it gets packed quickly. The owner even called the chef who made my food to ask about allergens, talk about service. This place is another cicchetti place so you get to eat a lot of different things. Another word of note about restaurants in Venice, you pay extra if you want to sit down. The food is cheaper if you just stand around the bar and eat.
Another place that was super cheap and had delicious food actually was a random find for me near the main food market on the main island in Venice. It was actually a small deli type shop for groceries etc. There was a sign stuck to some dish in the display fridge/counter that said, "it doesn't look like much but it's delicious." I figured that is an excellent endorsement so I went inside to check it out. The were two Italian guys stuffing their faces at the end of the counter and when I tried to ask the little old lady running the place I discovered she didn't speak English. The two nice Italian guys took time out from their feast to help me get this odd sun-dried tomato olive, ricotta vinaigrette something salad from the lady. I may have paid €4 for a huge portion. As the Italian guys said, "she's feeding us like we're her grandsons" and they were right, she was very generous. Look, if you know me you know that I think olives are some of the most disgusting things on Earth. To say I loathe olives would be the understatement of a lifetime, this really unappealing salad stuffed with olives was AMAZING. I couldn't stop eating it.
While the above photo may seem a bit random after chatting about food, it ties in well with this whole post. It's the tower my lead photo at the top was taken from, the San Marco Campanile. It's Venice so you know there is going to be more, so check back in two weeks and enjoy it while I panic a little bit about how I'm going to fill this space after all my Italian material is used up.
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Monday, July 18, 2016
An Audience with The Pope, Part 2
Last time, in An Audience with The Pope Part 1, I was describing what I needed to do to celebrate Easter Pontifical Mass at the Vatican. It's not rocket science, but it's also not the easiest thing in the world. Once I got myself all squared away and got my special ticket I was ready for my audience with The Pope.
To say an audience with The Pope is a religious experience is probably the most cliche thing a man can write, but there is no other way to describe it. One other time in my life before this had I truly felt consumed by the presence of God while in church. Suffice it to say that was a long time ago and was like a lightning bolt of God's power. Easter Mass at the Vatican was like floating in a warm sea of God's love -- with about 250,000 of your closest friends. The fact is, I could wax poetic about it for days. The brass tax is that The Lord was there (like always) and it is most likely one of the most humbling experiences of my entire life and I can't wait to do it again.
I woke up early Sunday and headed to the metro. I was staying a few stops from the best metro station to use to visit The Vatican. I arrived at the last street before entering St. Peter's square about 07:15 -- I was late. My ticket stated that Mass started at 10:15, I thought getting there at 07:15 would be plenty of time. I was mostly right, yet still discouraged as thousands of people like me filled the street and the Italian military, Rome police and Vatican police were out in full force. I don't want to disclose anything that could be used for ill in the future, but let just say that security was TIGHT coming a little over a week after a major terrorist attack in Europe. If you're a Muslim terrorist and you want to make a statement, Easter Mass at The Vatican must look like the juiciest fruit of them all.
I was impressed that I was able to get through security and find a seat, yes I actually got a seat, in about two hours. For some reason there were people pushing and shoving and running to make sure they had seats. I was a touch judgmental, but it's church there is no need to throw elbows so that you can secure a seat to be humble before God. I thought to myself, "good job. Now, all you and about 40,000 Philippinos have to do is wait for an hour." Again, I was wrong.
Nigh on 09:30 an announcement came over the loudspeakers stating that before celebrating Mass we were invited to join in the praying of The Rosary. So, pro tip: Easter Mass at The Vatican starts at 10:15 praying The Rosary starts about 09:30. As we finished up our last Ave Maria -- it's The Vatican everything happens in Latin, the sound of distant drums could be heard. I wasn't sure what it was. I had to look to my closest jumbotron to be sure. Yes, The Vatican in its infinite wisdom has installed several jumbotrons in St. Peter's Square. It was a brilliant idea from the guys I had to send a fax to just so I could be there.
Turns out there was a parade. Ceremonial units from a surprising number of countries were involved. I think the guys above are French but I can't be too sure. There were no American units represented. I doubt there are any ceremonial units big enough for this in Europe and I'm reasonably certain that The Vatican doesn't want the First Cavalry Division showing up to their infantry parade on their well trained steeds. Oh that would be a sight to behold. The savvy among you might notice that these soldiers are leaving St. Peter's Square. I was already in my seat and nowhere near the parade when they came in. Fortunately for me, the parade had to leave too.
I'm pretty sure these guys are Italian. You can tell because their uniforms and beards look awesome. I mean, I am a heterosexual male but these guys look good. Sadly, their weapons look like shit. I've read a lot and everything I have read tells me that the Italian military looks great and that is about it. Still, with the level of personnel deployed to Rome they can certainly take a serious posture.
So we celebrated Mass. It was nothing short of amazing. It was so silent and reverent that I didn't have a clue how many people were there until I turned around after the service was over. The weather was perfect. The sun was shining, pigeons even stayed away. Everyone in attendance was serious even this guy:
He has something to say, but The Vatican police were not super thrilled that he climbed a light pole to make his statement. Also, this photo doesn't really begin to show how many people were in attendance. Look at the very first photo here, the one that shows the road to Castel St. Angelo and imagine that road, as well as St. Peter's Square, almost completely packed with people for at least 3/4 of it's length. You never would have known it if you never turned around.
After Mass there was a break. You aren't going to leave after Mass. This isn't normal church Father Francis isn't going to greet you at the door, thank you for coming and call you Kevin. Do I look like a Kevin? Anyway. After this pause The Pope drives around the square in the Popemobile, maybe this is His Holiness' version of greeting people at the door. Everyone was ecstatic. Again, I got very lucky with my placement.
Any working photojournalist worth his salt should be able to come away with a photo like this, even on his worst day. I was at church for heaven's sake. So I'm just throwing it out there that I still got it. I could probably be an intern for someone. Once the Popemobile parade was over it was time for Urbi et Orbi. It was in Spanish and pretty hard to hear. It was also a touch difficult to see because the Polish contingent was off the chain now that Mass was over.
I think the Poles are my favorite Catholics. They are proud of it and had a few decades of restrictions about it so they have earned a little flag waving at The Vatican. I've also been in Poland on a Sunday and seen what some of the girls there wear to Mass, yikes. People were also standing on chairs at this point to get a better vantage.
I was cool with it. I'm cool with everything after celebrating Mass. It is a very calming experience for me. So I sat back, listened and has my items blessed. It's not hard you just have them out when His Holiness does his business. Afterward I really just wanted to leave. I don't like crowds and once the reverence was over this tremendous crowd started to trip my intolerance.
As I made my way back to the subway I saw a small, fluid gathering randomly careening down the street. I felt strangely drawn to it, which is not normal for me. I was like a moth to a flame. People who know me know I am not now, nor have I ever been a follower of a crowd. This was different and what I came upon was quite amazing.
His Eminence Salvatore De Giorgi was just wandering the street blessing people. I moved around to see what exactly what was going on and all of a sudden I was face to face with this man, who is basically a close second to The Pope when it comes to importance and holiness in the Catholic Church. He seemed kind, I seemed stunned. After eye contact that felt like eternity and His Eminence actually receiving a few babies and blessing them I did the only reasonable thing and kissed his ring while he bestowed a blessing upon me. As far a spiritual mornings go there aren't really a lot of places to go from here.
I think I went looking for some cappuccino and caperese after this, both of which are completely amazing in Italy. Every time I thought the caperese couldn't get any better it did, seriously it was bordering on ludicrous. The next day I was back at The Vatican to ascend the dome and see the grottoes.
If you go the The Vatican, pay the 6 EUR and ascend the dome. It is completely worth it. For an extra 2 EUR you can take an elevator most of the way. You can see from the photo above that it is truly impressive, then consider that it isn't just painted. Every bit of it is mosaic work.
Every single bit of the nave ceilings in St. Peter's Basilica are mosaicked. It is mind boggling the amount of time and effort that goes into creating something like this on this scale. This isn't some bathroom in a nice house. This is the ceiling of the largest church in the world, or what used to be.
And it isn't just that a bunch of artisans had a lot of stones and various buckets of paint where they just made what they needed ad hoc. It really does look like all the pieces were painted before hand. I am sure that there was some ad hoc work, sure but the scale of this is impressive. There is a reason that churches in Europe take centuries to build. One of those reasons is restrictive labor codes. The other is that the work is meticulous. It's for the glory of God after all, don't skimp and if you can employ a few generations while your at it more power to you.
Recently I was in a church in Spain that only took 60 years to build while the cathedral next door took something like 300 years to build. Crazy stuff, although the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. took a fair amount of time to construct.
The view from the dome of St. Peter's Basilica is breathtaking, even on cloudy days. If you're claustrophobic you need to man up though. There are some very narrow stair cases as you climb to the top.
I was unfortunate enough to get stuck with a group from a French middle school. Maybe it was high school, either way they were French and they were kids which means they were all acting a special kind of fool. Other than that the climb to the top was pretty easy and very interesting. It was, of course, crowded at the top. I was there before 13:00 so I'm sure it could have been much much worse.
This is a view of some of the grounds of The Vatican from the dome. I wish I could tell you more about what you can see, but I can't. The Vatican does have it's own train station though.
There is a closer look at the train station. I have no clue who comes or goes via train, but it's there. I found this to be moderately intersting. There is other stuff to see up on the roof and there is also a gift shop, but there are like 5 gift shops at The Vatican. Don't let the fact that there are a lot of gift shops freak you out, the prices are actually pretty reasonable. They are also staffed by the nicest nuns on the planet.
I spend a lot of time up on the roof and saw some interesting things. There was an exceedingly amorous couple completely ignorant of the signs informing visitors that the roof of the church was, in fact, just as sacred as the nave beneath and there was the second of two "groups" of Czechs I encountered the whole time i was in Italy. The first group of Czech was the father-daughter couple I was behind while waiting to get in to Easter Mass. I was going to say hi until dad started talking trash about America pretty hardcore.
Honestly, my hope here is that I can help someone who wants to attend Mass with His Holiness. It's not very difficult, but not super easy either. For all the ills in the history of The Church there is still a reason so many believe and it's bigger than places like St. Peter's Basilica. There is a reason The Catholic Church is one of the oldest institutions on Earth and you really can feel all of that at The Vatican and I didn't even make it to the Sistine Chapel.
Next time is Venice, so stay tuned for that.
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