Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, Papal Tombs, and Castel Sant'Angelo

Why hello there, United States and world at large. Today was another great day, and tomorrow is shaping up to be an early morning and a busy day. Anyway, on with the details from today.

I went to the Vatican Museum today, where I saw tons of statues, artwork, and historic relics. I also got a chance to see the Sistine Chapel, which, although I wasn't allowed to take any pictures, was absolutely stunning. I then went down to the Papal Tombs, and again, out of respect, didn't take any pictures, but saw Pope John Paul II's tomb, which is still quite an emotional sight. Many people were crying around it. Last, I went to the Castel Sant'Angelo, an old fortress built in the 1st century AD and revitalized in the 1500's. Below are some pictures of my day, as usual:

These statues with "eyes" were really cool to see. I particularly liked this statue and this photo.

One of the many frescoed ceilings within the halls of the Vatican Museum.

A sculptural globe in one of the courtyards within the confines of the museum. If you look closely, you can see the photographer's (my) reflection!

Another stunning frescoed ceiling!

I think this picture is hilarious. From the Egyptian collection within the museum, this dog-man appears to be on the beach with the backdrop they put him on... hilarity!

A closed-off room with lots of amazing statues!

Hey Mom and Dad, recognize this one from your kitchen!? This version's bit larger, and very cool to see.

Andy, this is the hall where the "Genio" statue is. The entire hall was open, and they closed off the last 1/3 of it... just where our statue is... crap! Anyway, this hallway was quite the sight to see!

The outside of Castel Sant'Angelo

Another one of my panoramics. This one is made up of photos depicting the inner cylinder within the fortress of Castel Sant'Angelo.

Another panoramic from within the walls of Sant'Angelo looking out onto St. Peter's, Roma, and the Vittorio Emmanuel Bridge.

A shot looking out one of the turrets of the Castel onto St. Peter's, etc.

One of the turrets atop the castle is named the turret of "San Matteo!" NICE!

The info on my turret!

A simple panoramic showing what my turret looks like!

That'll do it for today. It's late and I have a very early morning, as I have a 7:35 train to Cinque Terre to catch. I won't be back until 11:30 tomorrow night, so I won't blog about Cinque Terre until Friday afternoon. Until then, wish me luck on my day travels! Thanks for stopping by! Ciao!