Monday, July 03, 2006

Vatican, Sistine Chapel & St. Peter's Cathedral



All roads lead to Rome... a very apt phrase on a Saturday morning as we lined up to enter the Vatican! The visitors occupied 3 sides of the Vatican walls! It took us two hours and a half to finally enter ! A word of warning... be careful of those who cheat and try to enter in between the tour groups... there is no respect for nationality, gender or age... Guard your place!


Even at the entrance, be amazed. Guarding the entrance of the Vatican museum?


I became entralled with the details and the colors of the ceilings ...

As previously mentioned, I did not make any reseach about what I would see in Rome. I had an inkling, based on what I have learned in school and what I have read in books... what I saw far exceeded what was in my mind...




... even the exit stairs personify art itself






Sistine Chapel is really a chapel... but the paintings, high above the ceilings, are great to behold... Just imagine the hardships of MichaelAngelo as he considered the depth, the distance and the size...

I had to settle for a picture of this famous artwork.. taking pictures of the Sistine Chapel's ceiling is forbidden...

The line at St. Peter's Cathedral was much shorter...goodie... but we were exposed under the hot sun, at around 36 degrees!


Inside the St. Peter's Cathedral... now I understand where all the money went... truly it is beautiful, but we wondered... at whose expense and suffering?

Here are the Swiss guards, charged to guard the Pope... so cool ...

See the statues above the columns... beautiful to behold...

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Lion Chaser Manifesto

Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshiping what's right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze new trails. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don't try to be who you're not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away.

Chase the lion.

In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day by Mark Batterson (www.evotional.com)