The breakfast provided by Fulvia was nice. I mean I had toast, Italian coffee, salami, yoghurt and oranges. Fulvia was really nice. she explained to us that the expresso machine (which every Italian household has) can only be washed with water or mineral water. No soap. coz if you use artificial means to wash it, will spoil the expresso machine and anyway with high heat, will kill whatever sort of bacteria inside. After having the breakfast and taking a couple of oranges and muffins, I was ready to leave.
I took the metro at Roma Termini and got off at Ottaviano. From there it was a short walk to the Vatican City. The nearer I got, the more excited I was......hahhaha... Its not because I'm a catholic or christian... but that I've always been fascinated with the Vatican City. The majestic basilica and also the museums. Probably because after reading Dan Brown's books, fueled my curiosity of the Vatican City. weird isn't it?
Entrance to Vatican City
Swiss Guards of the Vatican City (they are of Swiss citizenship and must be males that have some military training. They must be at least 174cm tall, between the ages of 19yr-30yr)
St. Pietro's Basilica
St. Peter's square
The obelisk in St. Peter's square. Below is the christmas tree
one of the statue standing in front of St. Pietro's Basilica
I'm surprised that at 9am, there were quite a number of people visiting St. Pietro's Basilica. Standing in the square looking at St. Pietro's Basilica filled me with awe. It was really a very beautiful piece of architecture. You need to get through some sort of security check before you can enter the basilica.
me in St. Pietro's square
Chairs set up. getting ready for the Christmas mass that will take place on either 24th evening or 25th morning
standing in the main hall of the basilica i was totally awed by the majestic-ness of it. Probably because it was the 1st Italian Basilica I was visiting.This is also the largest church in the whole world. It is regarded as the holiest Catholic site. Apparently, it is believed that one of Jesus's disciple, Simon (also known as peter) was buried there. Hence, the name St. Peter's Basilica. I saw one of the most famous art work in the world 'Pietà' by Michelangelo. 
Main hall of St. Pietro's Basilica
Michelangelo's Pietà
Its the sculpture of the body of Jesus on the lap of his mother, Mary, after crucifixtion. standing in the front of the main hall is Saint Peter's baldachin. Which is the huge sculptured bronze canopy done by Bernini.
Saint Peter's baldachin
Ceiling of the dome of the basilica
List of Pontifices
After walking around the basilica, it was time to find my way to the Vatican museum. I had to asked people, coz there were no signs indicating the museum. and i found myself walking to an entrance, that was guarded by the Swiss Guards and he pointed me to the museum. It was then I realised that I had to exit St. Peter's square, walked around the walls on the left (it was quite a long walk) to reach the entrance of the museum!
Plaque indicating the direction of the museum
Outside walls surrounding theVatican
Finally I got to the museum. To tell the truth I was a little afraid the museum will deny me entrance to the museum when I've paid for the ticket to enter at 9am. I only reached the museum at around 10.10am. Probably because it was the low season, so there was no queue to get into the museum and i got in pretty easily. But I can its the same for high seasons in summer or the last Sunday of the month. Coz apparently on the last Sunday of each month, people can enter the museum for free! Of course there are downsides, that is you'll need to queue for a long time to get in and probably, you'll have difficulties getting your pictures or walking from room to room without knocking into someone. 
Entrance to the Vatican museum
Spiral stairs exiting the Vatican Museum
The Vatican museum was the next place that I was awed by all the art-work! Rooms and rooms filled with amazing artwork, that are like hundreds of years old. Its amazing how the famous artists did all those artwork. The painstaking efforts, blood and sweat to get each art, sculpture done. All these that they left behind are legacy of their existance and skills! 
Room of Maps
Hall of sculptures
Parking area of the Vatican museum
I walked through the rooms that housed Raphael's works. They were just amazing! And I believe most will have seen and know of the famous painting that Raphael done 'The school of Athens'. Nearly every great Greek philosopher can be found in the painting. In the center of the painting are Plato and Aristotle. 
School of Athens
close up view of the painting
And in the Sistine Chapel, it was just amazing! pity we were not allowed to take pictures in the Sistine Chapel. On the of the famous 'Last Judgement' by Michelangelo. This whole fresco cover a wall and there are about 321 figures in the paining. It was stated that Michelangelo only started painting The Last Judgement 20 years after finishing the ceiling of Sistine Chapel. It took him 4 years (1536-1541) to complete it. It was mentioned that the flayed skin of St. Bartholomew was a self-portriat of Michelangelo. It was to show his contempt for being commissioned to paint 'The Last Judgement'. The painting was just awesome. And the ceiling?! Goodness it was another amazing artwork. The ceiling was also painted by Michelangelo (1508-1512). The scenes depicted the 9 scenes from 'The Book of Genesis'. And smack in the center of the ceiling is the famous scene of 'The Creation of Adam'. Sistine chapel is also the place where the new Pope is chosen.
The city outside of Vatican seen from 1 of the rooms in the Vatican museum
I also got to visit the courtyard. in the middle of the courtyard is a gold/bronze globe with some gears inside. something unique i must say. 
Courtyard with the bronze globe and the museum behind
Octagonal court in Pio Clementino section
Laocoön and His sons
Hall of animals
Round Hall. In the center of the hall is the red porphyryl basin which is 13m in diameter
'Transfiguration' by Raphael
Mosiac patterns on the floor
after finishing the Vatican Museum (took me about 3.5hrs to finish the exhibits) i decided to walk to the next place on my list, the Panthenon.
Road leading to St. Peter's square.
i walked pass the Castle of Sant' Angelo. It was only much later that I got to know that this place was initially intended for Roman King Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family. However, it was not so and its now being used as a museum. This place was featured in Dan Brown's book 'Angels and Demons'. 
Castle of Sant' Angelo
on the bridge that I crossed, many Bangalis and Africans were there selling things like branded bags, sunglasses, toys for kids etc. I also saw 2 Indians performing. They were using some form of mediation to achieve that result. take a look below and you'll understand what I meant. 
2 Indians performing mediation
Ponte Umbereto I
As Piazza Navona was nearer to me, I decided to head there first. As it was nearing to Christmas time, bazaars, stalls were set up at the piazza. Lots of people were there buying things. There were also street performances. of course, this was another place that had amazing artwork by Bernini. 
Street performance in Piazza Navona
Piazza Navona with all the stalls
Standing in the center of the piazza is the obelisk 'Domitian and Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi' - 'the fountain of 4 rivers'. It represent the 4 major rivers running through the 4 continents - Nile representing Africa, Danube representing Europe, Ganges representing Asia and Platte representing Americas. At the southern end of the piazza was a fountain 'Fontana del Moro'. In the center of the fountain was the statue of Moor. This was also another piece of work by Bernini. 
obelisk 'Domitian and Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi'
Fontana del Moro
Because there were quite a lot of people at the piazza, i decided to head to Panthenon after a short while. Hmmmm.... i seriously think Rome has too many people. Or many people are out in tourist places during the weekends. coz seriously, its very difficult to move around tourist places... and often enough these place do not only have the tourists, but also the Italians! Anyway, I finally found my way to Panthenon. 
Panthenon
Entrance of Panthenon
I've heard so much about Panthenon. Panthenon was constructed in 27 BC. It was commissioned by Marcus Agrippa, as a temple to all the gods of ancient Rome. The Panthenon is a unique building. Coz the only light getting into the interior is through the main doors and the oculus at the top of the dome. That could be the reason why inside the Panthenon, its a little darker than normal basilica, but seriously there was still sufficient light to see the things inside the basilica. 
Oculus of the dome of Panthenon
Throughout the day, the light from the oculus move around the dome. Its said that the oculus serves as a cooling and ventilation system. Below the oculus is a drainage system that handles the rain that falls through the oculus. The tomb of the famous Renaissance painter, Raphael, is here in Panthenon. 
Inside the Panthenon
Tomb of Raphael
One of the frescos in Panthenon
So the last place that I wanted to visit was Piazza del Popolo. So walking there, I passed by Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II. And this time round, the place was opened! This monument is very eye catching, coz its white and constructed from marble. 
Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II (in the day)
Its a huge constrast from the usual brown, grey building in Rome. So i went in and visit. I did not enter the museum nor get to the top as both required me to pay. So i just snapped a few pictures and exit on the right side of the monument. and I found myself in Capitoline hill where the Piazza of Campidoligo and Captioline musems were! hahaha.... i did not know they were so close to each other. 
Building on Capitioline hill
Steps leading up to the Capitoline hill
after my new discovery, it was time to make my way to Piazza Popolo. I walked on the famous shopping street, Via del Corso. Wow! Many Italians are doing their last minute shopping. coz this street, was for vehicles, buses to drive though, but people were just walking on the streets. it was really really difficult to walk on the pavements as there were just too many people!
Street artist. Drawing the picture of the girl from the story 'the girl with the pearl'
hahhaa... so basically you could see people and vehicles on the road! As I was walking, I walked pass another piazza - Palazzo Montecitoro. 
Government building at Palazzo Montecitoro
Police at the entrance of the government building
I decided to head there to take a look. And boy did it end up with more than a look! Coz i managed to catch a glimspe of Italian media and an old guy getting interviewed. I thought it was the infamous Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi. hahaha... it was not him. it was a day later that I got to know this guy i saw was a leader of the opposition party in Italy. 
the leader from the opposition party being interviewed by Italian media
Yup! so i got to Piazza del Popolo. Similiar to all piazzas, there was an obelisk standing in the center of the Piazza. hmmmm... sometimes i wonder what was the reason for Italians to put egyptian obelisks in the center of all their piazzas. Guess i need to find it out with some reading.
church standing in front of Piazza Popolo
Piazza del Popolo
anyway, there were not much things to see at the piazza, so i decided to head somewhere. I just followed some people and climbed up a hill. 
Pincio hill that I climbed to capture the best sunset ever
and this proved to be the best decision to end off that fantastic day! Coz i got to view the best sunset in Rome! i must say the sunset was just breath-taking! with St. Peitro's dome looming in the back with all the awesome colours of the sunset, it was just beautiful! 
On Pincio hill. Looking down at Piazza del Popolo. St. Pietro in the back
sunset overlooking Rome!
I must say that today had been terrific and lots of walking! I got to see some of the world's most famous architectuals, artwork etc. tomorrow i'll have to say goodbye to Rome! Coz i'll be heading to Lamezia for 6 days before returning to Rome to finish seeing a few more things before heading back to Copenhagen!
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