So it's been quite an interesting couple of days here in Rome.

First of all, my roommates, Grace and Joe, are out of town for the weekend. They went to Barcelona and will be back Sunday.

Well, in lieu of hanging out with them, I made plans with a girl named Jacqui to go to the Vatican, because I had yet to go there. So, yesterday we headed over around 1pm. We got there and waited in line for maybe 15-25 minutes and then eventually got up to St Peter's Basilica. The guards wouldn't allow Jacqui to enter because she was wearing shorts. (It's necessary to cover the knees and shoulders.) She'd already been in before, so she just told me to go and that she'd wait for me. So I went in. It was absolutely unbelievable. It's easily the biggest church I've ever been in and it has crazy sculptures and paintings. The altars are crazy too. It's very impressive. I wanted to light a candle, but apparently you can't do that there, so I didn't.

After I was finished looking and snapping photos, I went back out to Jacqui. We decided we would try to find the museums and/or the stairs to the top of the dome in the basilica. At the time we didn't realize the stairs were for that, but later found out that they were and that they were closed for the day. Well, at that point, we noticed that there were a lot of police officers and that the whole circle was closed off and people were gathering outside of it. We went over and talked with an officer and found out that Obama would be arriving soon. We overheard someone else talking who said he'd arrive at 3pm, and it was about 2:50 pm. We decided to stay and see what was going on. Then, a little later we found out that the scheduled arrival time was actually 4pm. We decided to wait it out. So, in the process we met some students from California that were studying in Madrid and also Jacqui took a photo with the officer. As the hour passed, more and more cops and people arrived. There must have been at least 6 different ranks of police there and one type was acting as a "police line" to keep people back off the road and out of the Piazza. At a few minutes till four, several motor cycle cops came driving through and then at 4, several cars drove through in front of us and through into the Piazza, some parked farther across near the Basilica and some just drove around it and disappeared. And that was it. There must have been at least like 20 cars drive through. Seriously, it was a lot. And Obama was in one of them. I didn't really see him...

After this, we decided to go to the Vatican museums, so we walked over. Unfortunately and in spite of a 6pm closing time, the museums don't allow entrances after 4pm. So, we decided to come back today and left to come back to the apartments. Along the way we went to Piazza Navona because Jacqui wanted to buy a painting. Then we got smoothies, which were good.

Today we went back to the Vatican to go up the stairs to the dome and see the museums. We got there around 10 something am and the line went about 3/4 around the circle!!!!!!! Well we decided to get in the line anyway and eventually, around 11:05 we got on the line for the stairs to the dome. There was a choice of either taking an elevator and then climbing 300 something steps or climbing all the steps, which is about 500 something. It's obviously cheaper if you only walk, so we walked them all. And most of them were on spiral staircases. At the beginning the spiral was large and the steps were wide and deep, but not very tall. As we got higher and higher, however, the circle became smaller and the steps became steeper and tinier. Finally, nearing the top, the stairs were so narrow I felt pretty claustrophobic because there was maybe a couple inches between me and the walls on either side of me. We made it to the top finally I think around 12:30? Well the view was incredible and totally worth my fear and dreading of the descent, which ended up not being so terrible after all.

When we made it back down, we ended up inside the basilica, where there were crowds of people around a short fence looking over it at several men in suits, a woman or two in black, and two children in black. I was pretty confused at what was going on and why there were all these people that looked like they should be at a funeral being followed by tons of people with cameras. I found after eavesdropping for a bit that it turned out that the one that the most people were photographing was the prime minister of Canada along with his wife and two children. (I later found out via Google news that him and his family were there to meet the Pope.) So after we found out who it was, Jacqui and I played paparazzi for a bit, until he couldn't be seen any longer. Then we went to get lunch.

After lunch we finally went to the Vatican museums, where we got lost, confused, and overwhelmed. There are so many sections and it is so confusing. We had the audio tour so we got some cool information about some of the stuff. There was a section on Ancient Greece and Rome, and there was an actual mummy! They had unwrapped the hands, feet, and head of the woman and left her lying in her sarcophagus. The little description sign said her hair had been dyed with henna. Just a random interesting tidbit. Well, we walked around for a couple hours in this place because it's huge and FINALLY we got to the Sistine Chapel, which was nothing like how I thought it would be.  The ceiling has a bunch of frescoes and in the center is the really famous one  where God is nearly touching a man's finger. The rest of the pictures on the ceiling are of other biblical stories, such as Genesis and the flood. The chapel was just a room with an altar and a bench around the perimeter. I thought that it would be more church-like and have pews and such. And it is possibly a widely-known fact that it's not allowed to take pictures/videos in the Sistine Chapel. It is possibly not a widely-known fact that the rule is poorly enforced. So poorly enforced, in fact, that I saw a man using a tripod, another man with a camcorder, and several people even using flash. Now, I don't know if it's like this every day, but that's how it was today. So I took pictures.

After leaving the Vatican museums, we went looking for some souvenirs that Jacqui wanted to buy and I got coffee. Then we walked back home.

So, like I said, quite the exciting time.

So last weekend we took a class field trip to Venice. I'd already been there before, but it's cool because Venice is awesome.

We got up early on Friday morning and took the train. After checking into the hotel, I walked around with some people and we went to the Guggenheim museum. It was really interesting to see the collection. It was fairly diverse within the 20th century. We also went to Piazza San Marco, got dinner, and gelato.

The hotel was really hot and awful. It was so stuffy in the room and there weren't fans. Though my roommates and I were smart and ended up with the hotel's only fan in our room because we called and asked.

On Saturday and Sunday we spent most of our time at the Venice Bienniale which is an international art exhibit that happens every two years. They have two main sections of it, one in the big public gardens and another at an old military arsenal, then there are several other locations throughout the city where there are small exhibits and performances that are a part of it. What there is, is a "pavilion" for each country that is represented. Some countries choose one artist, some have multiple unrelated artists and some have collaborations. At the gardens there was a huge building with a lot of different exhibits from Italy and some other countries. Then, as you walk around outside there are buildings for each country, these buildings are the "pavilions." The arsenal is set up a little differently because it is mostly indoors in a long L-shaped building. There are separate rooms, so to speak, but for the most part you just go straight and then at the end turn left.

I took pictures of some of the art so you can see it for yourself because it was way to overwhelming and full to describe to you all of it. I really enjoyed it, though I think I would have liked to have a little more time so that I could go a couple times and let it all sink in a little more.

I also worked on one of my photo projects in Piazza San Marco for a couple hours on Saturday. After that I went out for dinner with the whole class and the professor. Apparently this dinner was "on Ithaca College" because it was budgeted into tuition... so it was a nice illusion of a free dinner. I had a good time with everyone and we stayed at the restaurant for like 3 hours, no joke, because it was raining. But they don't care because it's normal here to stay after finishing and just hang out.

On Sunday most of my time was spent looking at the Biennale and on the train. I did go back to Piazza San Marco and walk around with Jacqui, but we didn't have enough time to do what I wanted, which was to go to Rialto, a section of Venice near the center, on the Grand Canal.  I also wanted to go to Murano Island, but didn't have chance. All in all it was a good weekend. And I learned how to use the water buses. They are a good idea but also kind of annoying. I do recommend them though if you're going to be there and want to do more than just walk to San Marco and back to the hotel.