Roma, l'ultimo giorno.

Monday morning we woke up to a quaint, traveler budget-esque breakfast of fresh fruit and toast, with some succa d'arancia (orange juice) we found left over in the fridge. I checked around in the kitchen's cabinet for a Moka pot to make some coffee, but had little success. We decided to grab a cup on the way into the city, at one of the dozen or so bars along our street.

After coffee we randomly ran into one of our good friends Dan walking across Piazza Reppublica. He had rented a bicycle and was on his way to the Borghese. We were all pretty ecstatic to see each other, as we both had some decently interesting travel stories to share, he especially. We decided then to spend the day together because we all really cared about seeing one thing in particular: the Vatican.

Because of lack of time (we're in Verona now! O, dio mio it's gorgeous) and a bit of a lack of sleep, I'm just going to upload the pictures sans explanation, unless absolutely warranted. It works well this way, though, because I couldn't begin to explain in words what we saw in the Basilica and Piazza San Pietro. We spent two hours completely speechless. Unfortunately, none of these pictures can adequately convey the sights either, but...it's better than just my aimless rambling.







Seeing Michelangelo's Pieta was without a doubt the highlight of my day, after spending about a week studying it in a class last year. Again, I forgot where the statue was located, so seeing it behind glass, under the light from the Dome of St. Peter's Basilica, was absolutely amazing. Again. A picture can't suffice. It's not possible.

After the Vatican Dan, Frankie and I all went on a goose chase around Rome, looking for three of four Caravaggio paintings that Dan was on a mission to see. We found a priest in the Piazza of the Vatican who pointed us to one church in Particular, San Luigi dei Francesi, in which three Caravaggios are prominently displayed by the altar. It had been a while since I studied Caravaggio, but the paintings were fresh in Dan's mind. Se we searched, and we found them. And they, again, were breathtaking.





This painting, of all, The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew, was the gem of the series. They all were flawless, but this one in particular drew our gaze for what seemed like an hour. And, as my friend Dan pointed out, this series of paintings in San Luigi rival any painting in any museum, because Caravaggio painted them all specifically for this church, almost 500 years ago, and there they remain to this day.

Unbelievable.

Afterward, we headed back to the Pantheon with Dan, because we were early enough to get inside.



And, because after a year of reading Shelley's Rome blog, I've had yet another sighting of her posting material. This one, however, is quite the find. I present to you, Mr. Arrotino.



Here's the full story, if you'd like some more information. I suggest you do, too. Her pictures are much better than mine, but I was walking down a street market in front of our hostel when I saw him walk by. I had to be quick, you know.

Anyhow, both days in Florence and both in Verona are on their way.

Ciao, ragazzi.