Today started out with a bang! Right off the bat, we paraded from our hotel to meet Forrest at the Termini train station. This has become pretty standard now, and this was not the exciting part of the morning. The exciting part was when we jumped into a caravan of crazy Italian taxis. The caravan was taking us to Vatican City. When we arrived at the entrance and were passing through security, I was “that tourist” that had to go through the metal detector three times. I never actually got through the detector without setting off the alarm, the guard just seemed to think I was too stupid to use whatever metal I had on me as a weapon anyways. 
Once that minor fiasco was over with, we got down to business right away. The first major work that we saw was the Laocoon. As we stood under cover from the rain, Forrest explained to us that this was a statue of a father and his two sons being murdered by snakes for trying to warn others that the Trojan horse was a trap.
Once that minor fiasco was over with, we got down to business right away. The first major work that we saw was the Laocoon. As we stood under cover from the rain, Forrest explained to us that this was a statue of a father and his two sons being murdered by snakes for trying to warn others that the Trojan horse was a trap. .
After some more museum meandering and being denied by a security guard on a power trip, we pushed our way back against the flow of other meanderers, we made our way to the court yard where we stood for our lecture on Michelangelo. After our lecture, we made our way to a room that was painted by Raphael. This room depicted the school of Athens. Raphael painted himself in the corner on the right side of the scene looking back at the viewers as if to say “I am watching you, so don’t say anything bad about my work.” After this, we waited in a tiny room as we waited to enter the Sistine Chapel. After about thirty minutes, we were finally herded like cattle into the Sistine Chapel. This was absolutely unbelievable! The ceiling was so high! The detail that was in each scene was completely mind-blowing. The delicacy of the scene of the creation of Adam, in which God is reaching to touch Adam was so ornate and perfect. This was scene was unfortunately disrupted by security guards that would yell “NO FOTO!” every few minutes (“no foto” has now become a motto among our group in each museum).
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After leaving the chapel, we proceeded outside for lunch and a lecture on John Calvin which took place on the perimeter of St. Peter’s Square. After the lecture, we prepared for one of the most amazing scenes many of us have probably ever seen. Forrest pretty much hit the nail on the head when he said he knew what our reactions would be when we got to the top of the dome at St. Peter’s Basilica. Forrest said that he regretted telling us what we would do once at the top because then we would be conscious of what we were doing, and he was right, but I didn’t really mind. He said that our jaws would drop and we would not know what to do, say, or even how to react in general other than to have our jaws drop. He was completely correct.
As I came out of the small door (it seems like every door in Italy is small, especially when you are 6’3”) my jaw really did drop and I really could not believe what I was seeing. Below me was all of Rome. Unfortunately, it was slightly hazy so sight distance was limited, but that didn’t really matter. I was able to see the Pantheon and the capitol building that sticks out like a sore thumb immediately, and the Colosseo in the distance. People below in St. Peter’s Square truly appeared smaller than ants. I wish that I could have stayed up there all day just looking and admiring the scene that was below me. I hope that I will be able to see something so historical, magnificent, and awe-inspiring again, but that may be the only place I will feel that again. I would really like to take my future children there someday, but not until they are old enough to truly appreciate what they are seeing. This is a scene that I hope everyone will have a chance to visit at least once in their lives, and be completely astounded, just like all of us on this crazy trip were.--Cody Hines
