Vatican City

It's the smallest country in the world, but has some of the greatest artwork known to man-kind. On Wednesday, we toured the Vatican Museum, which concluded essentially at the Sistine Chapel. The Museum was enormous! There were so many different exhibits that we kind of just stuck to the main one's that Dr. Doyle highlighted, but I tried to see as much as I could see without being overwhelmed. I thought that the marble sculptures and frescoes of other museums were impressive (and they still are), but the stuff I saw today was some of my favorite artwork. These works and The Book of Kells cannot really be compared; they're both breathtaking, but because their styles are so different, they're both my favorite. Yes, I am allowed to have two favorites. Who said you can't like gold and silver? Anyway, the Sistine Chapel was incredible as well, but slightly irritating as this was the only place where the security wanted to enforce the "No Photo" rule, and they were constantly yelling "Silence" and other rude things that kindof rushed our visit along. It's crazy that the conclave for the new Pope is going to happen there soon. Wild.

Enough of my rambling. I know what you came to see, so here ya go...

Belvedere Apollo. Look at the detailed drapery and realism.

Laocoon and sons. This is my favorite sculpture. There's so much emotion, definition and power.

 Do you like daugs?

I said do you like dogs? Cause I do :)

Cuneiform script. Earliest written language ever!

School of Athens by Raphael. Majestic and vibrant color.

Another brilliant fresco by Raphael showing Aeneas escaping from the Battle of Troy.

Those were some of my favorites. I didn't want to post all of them because my camera skills are lacking and I might not have captured the beauty of the immaculate artwork. When I marvel at this stuff, I feel so insignificant and wonder if we've lost an appreciation for beauty and a dedication to creating quality in our culture? I know we spend our time with loads of other stuff that is brilliant and cutting edge for technology and society, but art, and especially Christian art, was these men's livelihood. It was given highest priority, and I don't know if anything that we make now-a-days is as beautiful or has as much detail, passion and dedication as back then... I don't know. What do you think?

After the Vatican Museum, we grabbed lunch and I went into Peter's Basilica where the Pope normally hosts mass. This is the biggest and baddest church you'll ever see. Imagine ceilings with domes probably 200 feet high, massive sculptures of smooth marble that is all surrounded by an abundance of gold trimmings. Now imagine having church inside of there...Yea. I grabbed a few pictures, but again, forgive me for my lacking camera abilities.

 Saint Peter's (incredible) Bascilica.

We made it back to the convent and rested for a minute before going out to find a soccer game. Finally, I know. First time playing in Rome! So, Karmyn and I went to the Colosseum, and we were the only ones playing on a little field there, so we were just kicking it around for about 30 minutes. The surface was a dirt and gravel- like. It was tough to keep traction and change direction. Then, about 7 Italian teenage guys walk over and say something in broken English. I responded with "giocare" which means 'to play' and of course they were excited and ready to play. I asked some other soccer stuff, and surprisingly, they didn't like Messi, but they liked Ronaldo and some other English players. So we got to playing, but here's the thing though. They were all wearing jeans, sweat pants, coats and Nike Air-Force One shoes. I thought to myself, "these guys are going to play in this stuff?" Of course they did. It almost was Sandlot-esque. Each of the guys had his own personality, they didn't really care about the score, and ragged on each other the whole time.

One guy carried an unlit cigarette in his hand the whole time, which was funny, but he was a surprisingly decent player. Of course the Italian guys had better chemistry with each other, but they weren't anything special. They weren't selfish and passed to me and Karmyn, so it was good to get involved and combine, but everybody wanted to attack all the time; defense was of little importance. All in all, it was a fantastic experience. I got to play with locals in Italy! Ahhh!

It's wild to think that we've been here for one month. Everyday has been incredible. I don't want to use these experiences to brag how great it is here. I just want to share the richness of this trip with you guys who are following along. I am truly blessed to have this opportunity from God and am enjoying taking in what He has to show me. I enjoy reflecting on all of the trips and resting in God as my rock in unsure circumstances that come with traveling and the unknown.

1 Corinthians 1:30-31"It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God- that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."