We have finally reached the end of our Italian trip, with a visit to Rome.  More than anything, this is a city filled with larger-than-life statues.  Most of these huge statues were created during the peak of Roman power in the centuries just before and after Christ. It was clearly an attempt to demonstrate the power of the Roman empire, both to visitors and to its own people.

No trip to Rome is complete without a visit to the Vatican. We had no idea just how many elaborate paintings and sculptures existed in this place.  The famed Michelangelo painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is actually only a tiny fraction of the artwork (center image), and much of the Vatican is not accessible to the public. Just looking at that ceiling for a few minutes hurt our necks, and we wondered how Michelangelo spent 4 years painting it on a scaffold. Again, many of the paintings were humongous, with the upper row third image showing people standing in front of a painting that fills a wall in a two story tall room.

Unfortunately, everyone coming to Rome wants to visit the Vatican, and it was so massively overrun with hordes of tourists and tour groups, that it was hard to enjoy the experience, as we felt rushed along.

The highlight of Rome was the Capitoline museum.  It was about the only place in the city not completely overrun by hordes of tourists, and had some of the best art we’ve seen in any museum in the world.

Museums were not open on Monday, so we decided to visit the zoo.  We were hoping to avoid some of the crowds, and were successful in that effort. There were several (well behaved!) young school groups, but otherwise very few tourists around.  Unfortunately, the zoo was not very good – the selection of animals was limited, and their cages were almost all behind filthy glass.  This is a new zoo, and roughly 1/3 of it is still under construction, but the facilities did not reflect well on a modern zoo.

We enjoyed walking around Rome and had a chance to see landmarks such as the Trevi fountain, the Spanish steps, many elaborate churches, and lots of narrow alleys.  Center top was our enthusiastic guide Lucca, an architect from Argentina, who led an enjoyable walking tour of the main downtown area showing us various piazzas and a castle.  Center right is one of the Swiss Guards at the Vatican.

Most of all, we will remember how great the food and wine was everywhere in Italy.