Chiesa Enorme

"Chiesa Enorme" means "huge church" in Italian!

 

We visited the smallest country in the world!  And here it is:

 

Vatican City!

 

 

Did you know that Vatican City is actually not part of Italy, but it is considered it's own independent state?

 

They had a lot of chairs set up in the square.

 

There were a lot of people there one day because the Pope was speaking.  (You can see his picture on the jumbo-tron.)  That's me in the yellow hat.

 

Here was a guard guy outside of St. Peter's Basilica.

 

St. Peter's Basilica is the largest church in the world.  Funny, right?  The largest church in the world happens to be in the smallest country in the world.

 

So what do you expect?  We climbed it.

 

And you could see the inside from above.

 

The view of Vatican City from the top of the Basilica.

Here you can see the Vatican Museum next door to St. Peters. (We'll see more of that later...)

 

The backs of the apostles...

 

The domes...

 

Now, the inside of the dome!  It was BIG!  It had lots of pretty paintings and designs and stuff.

 

Here is the statue of St. Peter.

 

You are supposed to rub his toe for good luck.

 

Okay, so I don't think his toe is really still there.  It's been rubbed so many times that I'm sure we are all rubbing the inside guts of his foot by now.

 

More domes.

 

You can see the decoration is amazing.

 

I think this looks like a vortex to another world...

 

Here is a famous sculpture by Michelangelo.  It is called the Pieta.

 

Pay attention - you'll see this one in your art history books.  Breathtaking!

 

So nearby the Basilica is the Vatican Museum.

 

There are many more famous and amazing works of art there.

 

I have no idea what this stained glass thing is, but we liked it.

 

Get your art history books out again.  Because here is another famous painting. Yay!

 

This one is by Rafael.  It's called the "School of Athens."

 

We saw these signs all over the place.  And I'm not referring to the fact that it is pointing you in the direction of the Sistine Chapel.  I'm directing you towards the tiny little man on the bottom.  What does that mean?  "Caution? People are levitating on the stairs?" 

 

 

So we did make it to the Sistine Chapel, but they don't let you take pictures in there.  So here is a picture of NOT the Sistine Chapel.  This was a statue outside the Sistine chapel.

 

Luckily, when we were in the Sistine Chapel, the rest of the world was out listening to the Pope, so we were almost the only ones there.  There were a lot of paintings on the ceiling.  I actually started getting dizzy and my neck started to hurt from looking up so much.

 

When you leave the Vatican Museum you get to go down these super funky roundy ramp staircase things.

 

And, if you have a really nice dad, you get Gelato when you leave, too!

 

I think this is the most expensive ice cream I will ever eat in my life.  Just a tip - the ice cream right outside the Vatican is a little pricey.

 

But clearly worth it!

 

A few more stops on our Rome trip...

 

My mom made us go to the Borghese Museum.  Clearly we were seeing a lot of famous statues, and there were more in here that she simply HAD to see.  Remember Bernini?  (He carved the really cool horsey fountain.  You remember, right?  The one we really liked - and you did too?  There were like three pictures of the same horse?  Yeah.  Same guy.)  So there were Bernini statues in there. 

 

But, like the Sistine Chapel - they don't let you take pictures.  So here is a picture of NOT the Bernini statues.  This was a statue outside the museum where they had the Bernini statutes.  Is that a guy on a horse???  (Not the same horse.)  Note to self: Good question for next Gruenhundstrasse Anniversary Challenge - How many pictures of statues of guys on horses have I seen?

 

Luckily, there was a park, too.  SWING!

 

So we stayed at this awesome hotel that had a million billion shampoos.

 

Here is the kids' room.  It's super pink and awesome.

 

And here are the million billion shampoos.  They are even more awesome!

 

 

This is the view off my parent's balcony.  Luckies.  The kids did not have our own balcony.

 

Elevator photo shoot!!!

 

Heading to the pool!!!

 

All too soon, it was time to leave Rome.  So we went to the place where every other good tourist goes when they are ready to leave Rome....

 

The Trevi Fountain!

 

So, you are supposed to take a coin, turn around backwards...

 

and throw it in the fountain!

 

Here's my coin...

 

So supposedly, if you throw a coin in the fountain, it will guarantee that you will someday return to Rome.

 

Arrivederci!

Weihnachtsmarkt

 

"Weihnachtsmarkt" means "Christmas Market" in German.  Merry Christmas!

 

I would be doing a blog on Rome today, except for that it's Christmas, and I kinda figured it would be a good time to do a Christmas blog!  So, yesterday we went to a Christmas Market in Guteneck.

 

 

So a Christmas Market is like a big festival with lots of Christmas decorations, lights, music, stands to buy food and handicrafts, and all-around giant Christmas party outdoors in Winter.

 

The Christmas Market in Guteneck is on the grounds of an old palace and they had a medieval theme going on.  Many of the lights were real candles lashed onto trees .

 

There were cool torches lighting the pathways.

 

One of my favorite things about the Christmas Markets is the people selling roasted and candied nuts.  You can smell it as you get closer.  They are made fresh right there.  My favorites are the almonds.

 

Pretty much all the food is good.  Kieran and I got the bratwurst for dinner.  My mom tried a langosch, which is like a big scone covered in cheese and bacon.

 

This is the gluhhausl, which is where they serve gluhwein, which is hot wine.  They also serve "Kinderpunsch" which is a warm non-alcoholic drink - the kid alternative.

 

Here is Saint Nikolas.  Isn't this what you think of at Christmastime?  Santa Claus and angels?  In Germany, Saint Nikolas brings candy to good children on December 6.  You have to leave your shoes outside the door on the evening of December 5, and if you've been good, you might get a treat. 

 

There are his angel assistants.

 

They were passing out treats to all the little kids.....

 

"But do you recall....the creepiest part of Christmas of all.......?"

 

"Krampus the horned evil devil dude...had a very ugly face.  And if you ever saw him, you would run to another place."

 

Bet you didn't know this creepy guy (Krampus) had anything to do with Christmas!  Well, in Germany, he is often seen accompanying St. Nikolas.  If you have been bad, he might give you coal, a potato, a smack in the rear with a wooden switch...or if you have been really bad, he might take you away in his bag.

 

So be good for goodness sake.....Oh, you better watch out....

 

 

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!