The Snowlady Chronicles

Siena

 Monday October 12, 2015

Tokyo, Japan

Sunny and tiny signs of Autumn are appearing

 

Last full day in Italy and I do not want to leave!  I now understand why many foreigners end up staying here and buy a villa.  On our last day, the girls went to Siena via a museum stop at Cortano.  Fortunately, the weather held up as a major storm was circling the Mediterranean.   Thanks to Waze, another ingenious iphone app, we easily found our way to Sienna and found a perfect spot to park.  We entered the historic town which had a very different feel than Florence.   It is a smaller town and felt more down to earth.   And many of the buildings were Gothic.  I enjoyed the city so much that I’d like to spent at least one whole day here again.

Our guide Stella met us at the restaurant.  And what a great guide.  She was not only very knowledgeable but also very bubbly.  Siena is famous for Il Palio where 10 of Siena’s 17 contrade (town districts) compete in a wild horse race around the piazza for the palio (silk banner).  This year her district  Torre won!  Also interestingly, the jockey rides bare back and does not have to be on the horse for the horse to win.  I’d really love to go during the festival time.  Seems like lots of fun. 

Since we only had a couple of hours, we just saw the jewel of  Siena the Duomo.  One of the most beautiful churches I’ve seen.  The interior is truly stunning.  There is a black and white theme throughout and the floor is decorated with inlaid marble.  We were so lucky to see it uncovered as it is covered for most of the year.

We drove back in time to have dinner with the guys at Elizabeth’s favorite restaurant.  Hard to believe our lovely vacation is over.  I feel so blessed to have special friends to enjoy this trip of a lifetime.  Italy is definitely one of my favorite destinations of all time. 

 The Gothic town Siena

I bought some beautiful place mats here

Photographic history of the Il Palio

Traditional Italian art of making designs on Paper

Stella with her district's flag

Now that's a deli

The Duomo

This building in front of the Duomo used to be a hospital and orphanage

The famous piazza where the horse race takes place

 

 

 

 

Cooking Class by Elizabeth and Paola

 Sunday October 11, 2015

Tokyo, Japan

Drizzling

 

The day after our wonderful but long trip to Florence, we had a cooking class with Elizabeth and Paula from Amore Sapore.  Elizabeth actually was the original owner of the place we are staying at and now manages the property in addition to providing catering and cooking classes.  Both Elizabeth and Paola are wonderful people in addition to being fantastic cooks!  They taught us how to make a light but gluten free walnut chocolate cake, vegetable fritters, nudis -  first time we had this, a refreshing farro salad and the highlight - salmon encrusted in salt.  It was so much fun and the dinner was delicious!  We enjoyed it with a bottle of the Luce I got from our trip with Pino.  I can't wait to get the recipes and replicating the dinner when I get back to the US.

Elizabeth explaining the ingredients for the chocolate walnut cake

The gang making nudis

The vegetables including fresh squash blossoms for the fritters

Paola fried fresh sage also which was delicious!

Nudis!

We had to use a hammer to break the crust of the salmon

No seasoning needed for the salmon and it was delicious!

A delicious chocolate walnut cake with gelato to finish

Cortona

 Sunday October 11, 2015

Tokyo, Japan

Drizzling

 

Pino who became one of our favorite people in the world told us he lived in Cortona and is worth a visit.  So the day after a full day in Florence, we decided to take the 30 minute or so drive to Cortona.  We liked it so much that we decided to stop at Cortona again before our trip to Siena on Friday.  We had a bit of a late start so arrived in Cortona around 1130.  Our first stop was lunch at a restaurant recommended by Elizabeth.  I had my first Italian T-bone steak which was delicious!  It was a rainy day so it was nice to be in a cozy and beautiful restaurant.  After a leisurely lunch we took a stroll around the town but found that most shops were closed during the lunch hour.  We also heard that the Estruca museum is a must see so we went there before our trip to Siena.  And it did not disappoint.  We thought one hour would be enough but the museum is deceptively large.  I would say you need to leave about 2 hours.  Many of the displays are from during the Estrucan period which is like 400 BC and are in great condition.  I was amazed and would have liked to have spent more time there.  But who knew?

Cortona is definitely worth a visit.  It is located in Arezzo, Tuscany and the medieval city is on top of a hill with steep narrow streets.  The town is so picturesque that many scenes from the movie Under the Tuscan Sun was filmed here.  You can also get a great view of Lake Trasimeno here which was the scene of Hannibal’s ambush of the Roman Army some 2500 years ago. 

Our lunch spot,  highly recommend this place 

Cortona scenes

Amazing artifacts from the Estruca museum - they are in excellent condition!

Coffins

The amazing views from the medieval town Cortona

 

Florence!

 Saturday October 10, 2015

On the Shinkansen between Atami and Odawara

Cloudy

 

One city that has always been on my bucket list is Florence.   So today - September 30, we were doing a one day trip to Florence which is not enough but at least I was able to get a taste. 

First challenge was to take the train to Florence which was pretty easy but thank god Bob knew that we needed to “validate” the ticket before getting on.  We needed to basically put the ticket in the validation machine so that the conductor knew we weren’t re-using tickets.  Very odd.  Anyhow it was uneventful as no conductor came through and we had great seats. 

First stop was the synagogue which is where we met our wonderful guide Laura Greenblatt.  She is an expat married to a Florentine and has lived in Florence for over 20 years.  The largest synagogue in Italy.  It was very beautiful and was done in Moorish style.  Like in Hungary, the Jews were not persecuted during WW2 until near the end.  Many in the North were sent to concentration camps but many in the South were spared.  The synagogue is orthodox conservative so the women are separated from the men.  But according to our tour guide, what is practiced at home could be quite different.    I couldn’t take any photos as the security was extremely tight.  (no cameras, phones, etc allowed).  However, it was an interesting visit.

After the synagogue we went to Basilica di St. Croce  which was a classic neo- gothic church which is a Franciscan church.  Unlike most Franciscan churches which is austere, this is pretty ornate at least on the outside.  Apparently, they were in competition with the church across the street and therefore became more ornate a larger as time went by.  The interior is pretty austere though until you realize that Michaelangelo, Galeleo, Machievelli and may other famous Italians are laid to rest here.  Laura was very thorough though in explaining to us Michelangelo was probably not too fond of the idea to be in an ornate marble memorial in Florence, and Galileo because he challenged the church with his science was not most welcome to be kept in a church at the beginning.   Quite surreal to find some of the most important men in history are laid to rest in this magnificent cathedral. 

After  the St. Croce we walked to  our first main museum  stop which was the Uffizi Gallery.  Amazing gallery   It basically was the private gallery for the Medici family and today is the only museum that safeguards the Medici family’s private collection.  Given there are over 40 rooms and to see it all will take the whole day, their collection was MASSIVE!   It’s only until you go to the gallery, one realized how wealthy the family was.    I was just thrilled to see the Annunciation up close by Leonardo Da Vince, and Doni Tondo by Michaelango up close.  The painting by Michelango almost is 3D like a sculpture.   But what I found to be most stunning was the Birth of Venus by Bottocelli.  It was an amazing painting.  Copies and photos do not do it justice, the level of detail is amazing.  Venus” hair was laced in gold and looked like it was really blowing in the wind.  Quite an inspiring visit. 

Because we were running late, instead of having a lunch specializing in Tuscan food, we decided to go to a local café for some casual food, where we decided what to do next as some folks wanted to do something different.  Anyhow, we ended up staying on schedule. 

Next stop the Duomo, one the most iconic structures of Italy and the world.  I’ve heard so much about it and thought I was prepared but still was very impressed.  The pink, green and white marble that symbolizes, hope, peace and faith is mesmerizing.  It is amazing what people have been able to create.  The whole structure is magnificent and believe it is the largest basilica in all of Italy.  I now know why Florence is a very special city. 

After the Duomo, it was time for the climax of our tour, which was to go to the Galleria dell’Acadamia to see David, Michaelangelo’s masterpiece carved out of the largest block of marble ever found in Italy.  And it was well worth the visit.  Again with photos you cannot see the detail and how life like the statue is.  One can see the veins in his arms.  And yes his feet and hands are big but legend says that David was still an adolescence so was not full grown.  Michelangelo was a one of a kind genius.  I really like the way one discovers David.  As Laura says while walking the corridor of marble one can see men trying to break out of the marble until you see David.

We then said goodbye to our wonderful guide Laura who was extremely knowledgeable about Florence and I really would like to use her next time I visit Florence  as there will be a next time.  We got the highlights which  basically increased my interest so definitely will be back again.

Since we had one hour on our own,  I went to the wholesale gold store COI that Laura recommended.  Pricilla went with me and was surprised how well I was able to navigate Florence “which turns out to be a small city” without a map.  Easily found COI and ended up buying 2 beautiful pieces of gold jewelry as a gift to myself!

We then met up at Il Borro, a restaurant owned by the Ferragamo family and had a delicious casual dinner

The Synagogue

Florence's narrow streets

St. Croce

Michelangelo's tomb

Dedication to Fermi and Da Vinci

Saint Francis' robe

St. Croce

The Piazza

Uffizi Gallery

The ceiling

Annunciation by Leonarda Da Vinco

Medici's private room

A painting (very famous) that can be carried around

Ponte Vecchio from Uffizi

Rare Michaelangelo painting

Botticelli's Birth of Venus

The Duomo

The beautiful pink, green and white marble

Michelangelo's masterpiece:  David

 

 

 

Spending the Day with Pino

 Saturday October 3, 2015

FCO Airport, Italy

Sunny and Warm

 

Today we got up early to do a full day tour with a local legend Pino.  Pino was born in Libya (Tripoli) and moved to the area when Qaddafi took over the country.  His father bought property in Cortona and he still lives in the same house with his wife.  He is known as the professor as he taught agriculture and wine making in the region and everyone knows him!  And we found out he is 77 years old but full of energy.

Pino came to pick us up at 9am sharp and we loaded in the van and took off on the windy roads through the valley to our first stop – Montepulciano. A medieval town known for its Montepulciano wines.  And it did not disappoint.  We entered the town from a medieval gate and walked up the walled city.  The city was known as a necropolis as it was near a volcano so was covered with ash which was ideal to bury people.  So in every store, building, etc, there is a tunnel to the “basement” which is where the dead were buried.   Since it was my first Medieval town in Italy I was in awe!  We walked up the stone pathway to our first destination which was a winery that is over 1000 year old.  And lucky us!  We were there during harvest time so saw the very handsome men bring in the grapes.  And we found out the wine here is 80% Sangiovese, 15% a grape with a long Italian name and 5% a grape that started with a B.  And the way they figure it out the measurement is they  “eye” it when loading grapes in a barrel..  The real traditional way of making wine.   After some tasting and a great tour from Pino, we headed to the next shop.

Next shop was Romeo’s  copper workshop where a very nice gentleman by the name  Cesare who makes by hand copper pots, molds, etc.  They were beautiful!.

As Pino gave us 45 minutes to shop before heading to lunch., I power shopped!

I bought a beautiful oblong dutch oven, a cake mold and a wine cooler handmade by Cesare.  It turns out it was cheaper to send it to Japan then to purchase it outright as the VAT is 20% in Italy.  So they did not charge me for the VAT but only charged me for shipping.  So now with that in mind I decided to also buy beautiful ceramic platters decorated with sunflowers and several pieces of cashmere made locally by a family.

After spending $$$s we met up at a shop where there was olive oil, sausages and cheeses.  Wonderful!  Nicky picked up a few sausages to take back and Stu bought a fabulous pecorino cheese with truffles. 

We then headed to our next Medieval town Pienza, where we had a delicious lunch.   I had Pici (to compare the taste to what we made) with a beef and porcini sauce.  Delicious!

We then explored the beautiful town of Pienza where the highlight was the  view of the Unesco heritage sight  -  Orcia Valley.  Amazing.  Pino also told us about an authentic and very good gelato place (where the gelato is not on display and in tin cans which keep the temperature constant) where I had the best hazelnut gelato ever.

We then headed to our last destination which was Montelcino- home to the infamous Brunello.  Here we learned that a long time ago, a wine maker found a mutant sangiovese grape that turned out to have thicker skin and a very rich taste.  The wine maker then decided to cultivate this grape in the region and 5 or so years later made the first Brunello (takes at least 5 years for the first harvest).  And wow, lucky for us, one of the most delicious wines are now available to us.

Pino took us to a fabulous enoteca that had hundreds of Brunellos including the world famous Luce and the wine from the vineyard who made the first Brunello (can't remember the name!).  The prices were fabulous and if living in the US, shipping is free.  So my friends all bought cases and I bought Luce and  to bring back to Japan.

Before you know it, it was 530pm so time to head back.  But Pino was nice enough to stop at a grocery store for us so we didn’t have to drive to the store for our dinner.  We ended up getting back around 8pm, met up with Bob and Rick and went to make a delicious dinner of sautéed peppers, Bob’s mashed potato, veal chops for everyone but me and Rick,  sautéed chicken for me and Rick and wonderful kale.  We enjoyed our dinner with wine from Montelpulciano and the Syrah from Antinori.  Another fabulous day.

Montepulciano

Lots of wine,cheese and cold cuts shops in Montepulciano

Many of the buildings of Montepulciano are made from local Travertine and is beautiful when cleaned

Example of dirty travertine

Special signs or those that died in the necropolis

The signs are from the Roman times.  Here is a sign written in Tuscan language

Symbol of Montepulciano

Every store in Montepulciano has a "crypt" where the dead were buried thousands of years ago.

A beautiful cafe in Montepulciano - the oldest cafe in the town

And the view from the balcony

The beautiful basilica of Montepulciano

We met Pino's friend who is a mosaic artist in Montepulciano.  He is world renowned.

This is where I bought a bottle of Montepulciano

Time to make wine!

This winery is over 1000 years old!

 

Time to go to Pienza

And got a cheese lesson from Pino

A church that is tilting due to architectural issues

Orcia Valley where the earth is all clay so only wheat can grow

Traditional architecture at Pienza

A beautiful Franciscan church

The entrance to Pienza

Orcia Valley up close.  One can see the clay up close

Home of the Brunello - Montelcino

Brunello tasting!

I love the streets of the Medieval towns

 

Antinori Wines

 Friday October 2, 2015

Niccone Valley, Italy

Stormy

 

Today  (Tuesday September 29) was an easy day where we drove to one of the famous Antinori wineries.  It was an adventure getting there as we first went to the wrong place and had to get directions to get to the right place.  Once we got there Mariana our wonderful guide explained that Antinori family started with Chianti in the 1300s but grew it to a major wine empire where they bought many boutique botegas to create the best wines of Italy.  The botega we went to is called La Braccesca.  The Antinori family bought the property in the 1990s from a monastery and planted international varietals in the Cortona zone of the property (like Syrah) and Sangiovese in the Montepulciano area.  I learned something new during this tour that the Sangiovese grape is strong that the wines are aged in big oak barrels and not the smaller oak barrels as the wine makers want the grape to shine with minimal influence from the oak. 

After a thorough tour of the bodega, it was time for our tasting while eating lunch and it was fantastic.  We started with appetizers and had our first taste of a Syrah which was DOC (table wine) grade wine.  I liked it.  It was followed by another DOC wine which was a blend on sangiovese with syrah and merlot (didn’t like it so much).  Our fabulous pasta dish came out next (very interesting pasta dish) with the Montepulciano DOCG  (aged wine - sangiovese) which was fantastic.  Then a T-bone steak (from a local cow) was served with their DOCG grade Syrah which was good but I liked the Montepluciano better.    And then dessert (Italian cheesecake) served with a dessert wine.  We had to roll out of there as the glasses of wine were very generous an the food delicious!  Fortunately for us, Stu and Jane were designated drivers so we got safely home.  But I bought a bottle of the DOCG Syrah and 2 bottles of the DOCG Sangiovese for us to enjoy tonite, especially the designated drivers who did not have a chance to enjoy the wines we had. 

Once we got back, it was time for a nap before making a very light dinner of ravioli with the black truffle sauce from Gabrielas.  Another great day in Italia!

 La Brassesca Winery

 

The Wines

T-bone steak from a local cow which are beautiful white cows.

First course a traditional pasta dish.  Meat sauce without the tomato!

 

 

Truffle Hunting with Nero the SuperDog

 Thursday October 1, 2015

Niccone Valley, Italy

Cold and Raining

Today, we are going truffle hunting and then attend a cooking class focused on truffles.  I’ve never truffle (for that matter any mushroom) hunted before.  We went hunting near a Medieval town called Cistina (Cistern) because it had an intricate cistern system which made them self sufficient in case of attack.  Italy is amazing because everywhere one sees these Medieval towns perched on top of a hill.  Cecilia our guide was fantastic.  She explained how the dogs find the truffles with the truffle hunter.  The dogs are specialty trained from when they are puppies.  They are fed truffles so they get used to the taste and smell.  The trick is to get the dog to stop digging  so they will not destroy the truffle or eat it!  We lost a few truffles because our hunter was a bit too late to get to the site and ended up being a good snack for Nero.  Nero was our dogs name and he was very good and smart.  Maniacally focused on getting truffles (and eating them).  We found about 10 truffles all together.

After a quick tour of Cistina we headed to our cooking class which was located at a house that has been turned into a boutique truffle store.  Gabriela is the owner and she makes and bottles truffle sauces that are sold all over the world.  So before our cooking class, we did some truffle tasting, learned how it is processed (found out one can freeze truffles, but the most precious white truffles need to be freezed coated with butter or oil).  The entire house smelled like truffles!

After getting a lecture and tasting all these different kinds of truffles it was time to start our cooking lesson.   We first made the sponge cake for our dessert which was going to be an Italian trifle.  After we made the sponge cake it was time to make chicken stuffled with truffles.  And then the fun part where we made pici – a thick Italian spaghetti that is not egg based (just water) where we used 00 pasta flour, semoiina flour and a touch of chestnut flour.  The pasta sauce was to die for as it was just chopped truffles in olive oil and garlic.  We didn’t make a first course but Gabriela gave us a cookbook with the recipe which was a cheese flan served of course with shaved truffles.  We enjoyed our dinner with a local white wine which was delicious!

After stuffing ourselves it was time to go back where we met up with my BFF Pricilla and her husband Stu where we had a nightcap together to catch up a bit and call it a night!

Nero, the superdog, ready to hunt

Nero found a truffle in the first 5 minutes

 The hunting crew

View from Cistina

 

Time for the cooking class:  The truffles we found

Before the cooking class appetizers and some tasting of truffle sauces that are for sale

Gabriela!

Bob and the white diamond - white truffle

The Truffle

Special Italian Liquor for the Italian Trifle

Pice Pasta!

Our dinner:  Figs with cheese flan and truffles

Pici pasta we made with truffle sauce

Chicken rolled with truffle sauce (souvite) that we made

Italian Trifle

 

 

 

 

Basilica De Santa Maria before the Road Trip

Monday September 28, 2015

Niccone Valley, Italy

Cold and Windy

 

Before Jane and I were going to meet Nicky at the airport to drive to Niccone Valley where we will spend the next week,  I decided to take a walk to Piazza Popolo and visit the Santa Maria Cathedral that was highly recommended by our tour guides yesterday.  It did not disappoint.  It was beautiful and serene.  Amazing place where original works by Carravagio and Raphael are on display.  I lit a candle by the Virgin Mary and said a prayer for my sister.

I then checked out of the hotel, took a cab, picked up Jane and then met Nicky at the Hertz counter at the airport.  We then did the 3 hour drive to Niccone Valley where Nicky rented a huge house in the valley for us to enjoy.  The drive was uneventful given we had great directions from the manager Elizabeth.  Elizabeth and her assistant Paula actually made a delicious lasagna and panna cotta for us for dinner.  The views are magnificent.  It’s going to be a great one week.

I lit a candle and said a prayer for my sister here.

That's a Caravaggio on the left

 

Our house for the week

Our sunsets for the week overlooking the Niccone Valley

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pompei and Vesuvius

 

On another fabulous Roman Day,  at 715AM,  I picked up Jane and we headed to Piazza Popolo to meet up wit a tour group that was going to take us to Pompei and the infamous volcano of continental Europe Mt. Vesuvius. 

It was a long way to Pompei – approximately 3.5 hours with a 30 minute bathroom break and a stragically located casino/gift shop.  The ride over was very entertaining.  The two guides – Robert from the US and Andy from Australia, were very knowledgeable about the history and art of Italy.One of the highlights of the drive was a view of the Appian way which was dotted by Pine Hat trees.  Amazing that is the original road the Romans took and the Pine Hat trees were brought from North Africa to provide shade to the soldiers.    As Jane says, I guess many art majors end up being tour guides but great tour guides. 

We arrived at Pompei safe and sound and then was met with a local guide – Lucia.  The busload of tourists from English speaking countries were separated into the orange and blue group.   We were with Lucia in the blue group.  She was very very knowledgeable about the area.

What makes Pompei interesting to me,  is the size ( you have to go there to see how big the town was ) and the details of what we know what happened because Pliny, a young aristocratic man saw what happened from the distance and documented it.   Something I learned -  the first eruption was “bad” but not so bad that made the folks from Pompei evacuated.  The city was covered in ashes some 5-6 feet high.  They know this because bodies were found in between 2 piles of ash.  If only folks evacuated after the first eruption.   Also,  not everyone perished thank god!  The second thing I learned was that Vesuvius grew 60 meters from the eruption! 

We had a thorough tour of the ruins.  When visiting (which I highly recommend) you can see what a beautiful and rich town it must have been.  The views were sensational.

After our tour it was time for a Napoli pizza at a restaurant that becomes a disco at night.  The pizza was OK but I guess you cannot ask for more when you are on  a tour! 

After lunch, it was time for us to explore the infamous Mt. Vesuvius.  The bus dropped us off near the top, but we still had to huff and puff for about 30 minutes to get up to the top.   What made us so lucky, was the sky cleared so we had a great view of the bay of Napoli. 

After sweating and then slowly going down the hill so I don’t destroy my already bad knees, it was time for the long drive back.  We ended up getting back a little after 830pm and then met Bob and Rick for another wonderful dinner.  (I’ll blog just about the food later).  

The tour and our tour guides were FANTASTIC.  Highly recommend the tour.

Pompei!

Bath House

A victim

Warning Dog in Residence

View of Napoli from Vesuvius

Vesuvius is Alive

 

 

 

Spirituality - re-Discovering Catholicism

 Thursday September 25, 2015

Rome, Italy

Another Glorious Day

I had a pleasant dream last night.  So happy and pleasant that when I woke up, I wanted to tell my sister about it.  As I was waking up, something inside me told me she is gone, but I told myself she can’t be gone so I must have been dreaming.  When I was fully awaken, I realized she was really gone so could not tell her about the happy dream I had.  I cannot remember the dream, but remember the urge to tell her about the dream.  Once fully awake and back to reality, the wave of sadness overwhelmed me again where I felt I was drowning.  But somehow found the strength to put away the sadness in a box, wrap it up and put it away. 

So its with this heavy heart I go to on a tour of the Vatican with my BFFs Bob and Rick.  Rome was my sister’s favorite city in the world so I am embracing it to experience the love she felt for the city.  One of the most precious gifts she gave me, was a rosary blessed by the Pope.  I still have it and thought about bringing it to Rome but decided against it as I was afraid to lose it.

Our guide Louisa met me at the hotel and we took a cab to the Vatican and picked up Bob and Rick on the way.  Louisa was fabulous.  She studied art in Florence so was very knowledgeable.  Given she got the tickets beforehand, we did not have to wait in line to start our tour which began at the Vatican museum. Founded by Pope Julius in early 16^th century, it contains one of the world’s greatest art collection.  It’s pretty overwhelming as it is the second largest art museum after the Louvre. 

After getting overwhelmed it was time to enjoy the Sistine Chapel which is a sacred sight and home to one of Michelangelo’s greatest works.  Here we learned how Michelangelo created his famous frescoes and probably one of the most famous pieces of artwork in the world – The Last Judgement.  The Sistine Chapel is to be enjoyed quietly and without taking photos.  I also learned how difficult it is to make frescoes.  First, one creates an outline of the painting on a piece of paper.  Then the artist, traces the outline to the wall.  Wet plaster is applied to the wall a little at a time and before it dries, the artist must complete the painting.  This way the paint is “absorbed” by the wall so the “paint” does not chip.  Of course, if the plaster falls off, that is another problem.  In many areas of the museum, we saw specialized artists carefully restoring frescoes and another pieces of art.  A very tedious process. 

After thoroughly absorbing Michelangelo’s masterpiece, it was time to go to St. Peter’s Basilica, the largest Catholic Church in the world and home to Michelangelo’s hauntingly beautiful Pieta.  This is where St. Peter was buried after he was crucified by Emperor Nero.  St. Peter is the Catholic church’s first pope.  

After visiting the Vatican and also watching the new Pope Francis on the news while visiting America,  I could not help but feel comfort and hope in Catholicism. I went to a Catholic school and during college “abandoned” the religion.  Yes it’s not perfect as many people use religion as a weapon.  But when visiting the Vatican and also hear the new pope speak, it really is about living in peace and by giving to those who are in need, you fill your life with more happiness and peace. 

May Peace be with You.

Entrance to the Vatican museum.  To the left is Michelangelo and to the right is Raphael

St Peter's Basilica Dome

The humble looking Sistine Chapel in the back

Court of the Pine

See the pine cone?

A room with a View

Masks from Greek Tragedies everywhere

Beautiful marble carving of lions.  The attention to detail was amazing.

Venus I believe

Another Greek masks - comedy?

Room filled with animals!

Goddess- the picture does not do it justice

Hercules

Emperor Nero's huge and decadent bath

Beautiful mosaic - this is want menus looked like a long time ago!

Candelabra

Marble Statue with glass eyes.  Scary

Unbelievably gorgeous tapestries

The hall of maps (beautiful maps of different areas of Italy)

The holy door of St. Peter's Basilica

View of the square

The balcony where the pope appears

Pieta - one of the most beautiful pieces of work from Michelangelo

The dome of St Peter's Basilica - not paint, mosaics!

The most famous alter in the world

St. Peter

Swiss Guards

View from the courtyard