Rome: The Vatican

St Peter's Basilica where this outdoor area can hold 100,000 people

When in Rome, the Vatican is a must. We bought tickets in advance online and then set off early this morning to get there with plenty of time to spare.

A collection of Roman busts in one of the galleries

We took the metro to get there, and getting a ticket is easy at the machine. For a ride (or more) within 100 minutes it's 1.50 euros. We just happened to catch the rush hour period so the trains were quite packed, but by the time it was our stop the commuter crowd had thinned out considerably.

Stationed near the metro stations and around the vicinity of the Vatican are volunteer guides who explain the best way to get there and pass out maps. It's a few blocks' walk from the metro station to the entrance and already there were many people there.

The Gallery of Maps from the 16th century

Following a security check and getting an audio guide we were set to go. The audio guide is good in some parts, tedious in others, or didn't have information on things we wanted to know more about.

Nevertheless it's about soaking up as much as you can and also how long your legs and feet can carry you.

Lots of the art in the Vatican was either collected by popes or given to the institution as gifts. Many are artists who hope their works will be received by the Pope; in return they are forever remembered in their association with the papacy.

One modern artist is sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro, who created a giant bronze sphere within a sphere to show the Vatican is a city within a city that's placed in the middle of a garden.

Nearby are galleries filled with lots of Roman marble statues; they remind me of characters from stories in my Latin textbooks from high school. The mosaics are also very impressive, some with intricate designs, others telling stories of mythic proportions.

A Chinese text of "The Pope's Decrees"

We had to go room by room, slowly moving our way around the museum in order to get to the main event -- the Sistine Chapel. Everywhere you look there is art with some kind of religious meaning, or made in hopes of exalting Christ.

Meanwhile in the Gallery of Maps, the latest in science and cartography was displayed here, as friar and cartographer Ignazio Danti painting sections of Italy in as accurately geographically as he could as well as artistically from centuries ago.

The room was commissioned by Pope Gregory XIII in 1580 and it took Danti three years to complete the 40 panels in the 120 metre-long gallery. However, the ceiling is more impressive, painted by several artists, including Cesare Nebbia and Girolamo Muzanio, featuring "paintings" complete with frames and decorations covering the curved ceiling.

One room featured books that were elaborated decorated, presumably religious texts. In the corner of one display case had a book covered in Chinese fabric with a white crane with cloud motifs and flowers, and written in Chinese "The Pope's Decree".

The Sistine Chapel still looks vibrant and meaningful

Getting ever so close to the Sistine Chapel, we then went into the Raphael Room, where he painted the famous The School of Athens fresco from 1509-1511. Here he connects science with the heavens, and there are several well known figures in here, such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras, Euclid, and Raphael himself. On the opposite side is the depiction of the father, the son and the Holy ghost together as represented by the eucharist.

Another room was called the Matisse Room, featuring several of the French artist's works, that look simple but figuratively clearly show their deep meaning.

Finally we made it to the Sistine Chapel -- security constantly told the crowd in there to be quiet. We stood in the middle, trying to soak up as much of Michelangelo's amazing work as possible. Even after the restoration many years ago, the colours are still vibrant, the facial and muscular expressions impressive.

This is where the cardinals gather after the pope has died in order to vote for the next one. They make four votes per day, two in the morning, two in the evening until there is a clear winner.

The Bramante Staircase at the end of the Vatican Museum

The last few galleries feature numerous gifts popes have received over the years until we finally arrived at the Bramante Staircase, designed by Giuseppe Momo in 1932. The staircase has a double helix and is more like a ramp than a staircase. It's so beautiful to look at from above and below.

We then took a break in the downstairs cafeteria before heading to St Peter's Basilica. It was really hot in the early afternoon waiting to get inside. We went through yet another security check before being able to go inside. Our priority was to see The Pieta by Michelangelo. It's behind bullet-proof glass, but is still an amazing sight to behold despite the figures not being proportionally correct and Mary looking much younger than her years.

The Pieta by Michelangelo in St Peter's Basilica

Everywhere you look in the basilica there is so much to take in, it's overwhelming but beautiful and magnificent. You feel so privileged to see all this beautiful architecture and art work in one place. But six hours later, our legs and feet were giving way and we slowly made our way out and back to the metro station to get back to the hotel for much-needed nap!

Two of Florence's Basilicas

The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore is so huge I can't take the whole thing!

There are so many things to see in Florence like the Uffizi, the Baptistry of St John, and Ponte Vecchio, but we only had time to see a few sights, like David in the Academia, but also the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, or Basilica of Saint Mary of the Flower, the main church in Florence. It is also known as Il Duomo.

Inside is austere and has plain pews

Construction of the basilica began in 1226 in the Gothic style and completed in 1436 with a very ornate exterior featuring white, red and green marble, that coincidentally are the colours of the Italian flag: green means hope, white is faith, and red is charity.

Inside however is very severe and restrained. Our guide explained that it looks bigger when empty and gives man the feeling he is insignificant and small. Nevertheless the importance of the city is indicated by the size of the church and this is the third-largest one in Florence.

It also has a dome designed by Filippo Brunelleschi, and the inside of the dome is decorated with frescoes of the last judgement which cover an area of 3,600 square metres, which is larger than a football field. It is considered the largest fresco in the world which took seven years and 15 painters to complete, led by Giorgio Vasari Federico Zuccari.

The front facade of Basilica di Santa Croce

They had to get up to the top of the dome and build a wooden scaffolding so that they could lie on them and paint. Talk about a precarious occupation... Basically at the bottom of the dome are images of hell, and heaven at the top.

After the September 11 attacks, the basilica was considered a target and the original pews were taken away and replaced with plain ones. We were told the original pews were beautiful but they were designed such that one could perhaps easily hide a bomb in them. Now there are some wooden pews and plastic chairs which don't quite match the grandeur of the cathedral...

Another wonderful place to visit is Basilica di Santa Croce, or Basilica of the Holy Cross, about 800 metres southeast of the Duomo.

Michelangelo's tomb with three women...

The basilica is best known for being the final resting place for many famous people, including artist Michelangelo Buonarroti, astronomer, physicist and philosopher Galileo, composer Gioachino Rossini, writer, politician and philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli, poet Dante Alighieri, as well as Guglielmo Marconi, the inventor of long distance radio transmission.

Our guide pointed out to us that Michelangelo's tomb has three female statues, representing architecture, painting and sculpture, while Galileo only has two for astronomy and surveying; the church does not acknowledge him as a philosopher.

Santa Croce is like the Italian equivalent of Westminster Abbey, where many of the great (men) of Italy are laid to rest.

In the end we had a very short (and wet) visit to Florence... but perhaps that gives us a reason to come back again...

... while Galileo only has two...

Michelangelo's David Up Close

Visitors capturing a shot of David in Florence

On the day we planned to go to Florence, it was already raining in the wee hours, and we heard the rumbling of thunder, though no sharp cracks of lightning.

Nevertheless, we had to arm ourselves with raincoats and umbrellas for the day. We took the train there which took about 50 minutes and after we arrived our first order of the day was to go to the Galleria dell'Accademia, where we had tickets to go in between 10.15am and 10.30am.

An unfinished sculpture for the pope's tomb

After a short wait we were able to go inside, be subjected to a security check and then head straight for the room with Michelangelo's David inside.

But before that our guide told us a bit about the sculptor, painter and architect. He was born in Florence in 1475 and his family, the Buonarroti, were aristocratic, so Michelangelo had a good childhood and education.

At the age of 14 he recognized his calling to be an artist and practiced his craft until he died at the age of 89 which was very old in those days, where the average lifespan was about 50 or 60. He never married, nor had any children, which perhaps also explains his prolific output.

Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to work on the pope's tomb and wanted him to carve 40 statues in five years. This meant he had to work on each of them bit by bit. But then the pope changed his mind and decided Michelangelo should paint the Sistine Chapel even though painting -- or painting frescoes was not his forte. But when the pope orders you to do something -- akin to a king -- you do as you're told.

The Virgin Mary holding the body of Christ

So just before seeing David up close, visitors can see seven blocks of marble with various states of carving. Some the faces are barely made out, while a leg muscle is starting to be formed after chiseling and then polishing.

The guide told us it is said that if you are a good artist, your hand follows the mind, and in a block of marble, a person is waiting to be liberated by the artist.

It is also interesting to note Michelangelo lost his mother when he was around five or six years old. And so his portrayals of the Virgin Mary are more human than angelic with a halo over her head.

We finally got to the highlight of the Academia, the statue of David. He is made out of one giant block of Carrara marble and Michelangelo began working on it when he was 27 years old for two years. He did it all by himself, working from top to bottom.

David looking like he is ready to strike Goliath

It's pretty awe inspiring to look at, pretty much anatomically correct except for the extra large hands and feet. Nevertheless, you can see the veins and muscles, and the leather strap of the slingshot, signifying he looks ready to strike Goliath.

There is a tree trunk at the bottom of his right leg to support the statue, though it has some cultural significance, being an olive tree which represents peace. The enlarged hands may mean the importance of strong hands, the hands of a worker.

After the statue was completed, it was painstakingly transported from the Duomo to City Hall, carefully lining the path with carpet and the 11,000-pound statue was pulled by 50 men. It took 10 days to reach city hall where it stood outside for some 300 years.

It was then moved inside to where it stands now, while a replica stands in its place outside.

See the leather slingshot over David's back?

In 1991 a man attacked the statue with a hammer he had concealed in his jacket. He damaged the toes on the left foot before he was restrained. You can see the restorers have tried to do the best they can to patch it up, but we're just glad he's still in one big piece for everyone to admire.