Italy - day 4 (Roma to Tuscany)

Our final day in Roma. We visited the Vatican museums (including the Sistine Chapel). Then we had some free time so we visited the mouth of truth and then walked around the ruins of a fish market and down some random streets. We ran into more ruins and more fountains and more shops. Rome is full of all three. We were told that everyone has a hard time building something new in Rome. Every time they start digging, the find ruins. The site then turns into an archeological dig and all new construction is halted.

We then had a four-hour drive to Montecatini, our home base for the next couple of days. Allison couldn't wait to get to this hotel! When we got there, we were not quite so excited. The elevator was broken so we had to walk up the stairs. Well, we were on the fourth (4th) floor and in Italy, that meant walking up FIVE flights of stairs. Apparently, the ground floor is really the ground floor and not the first floor. I wonder if they break tradition enough to have a 13th floor? Here are my fave pics from the day.

The visitor's gate of Vatican city. I love being on tours. We walked to the front of the line and through the gate. No need to queue for tickets or entrance or anything.

So, we kept seeing these big bathtubs everywhere inside the museums. We couldn't figure out why the church would spend so much money on such a huge slab of marble, just for a big tub. Well, we finally figured it out later that day...see more below.

The only thing I can remember about this statue is that when found, the arm was missing (the one that is raised). Someone created an arm but Michelangelo told everyone that it was wrong. In looking at the muscles and shape of the shoulder, he told everyone that the replacement was incorrect. Well, about 50 years ago, they found the correct arm. And it was sculpted exactly as Michelangelo said it should be. So, the museums replaced the poor substitute with the correct arm.

Tapestries inside the Vatican. These are HUGE!! Knowing how tapestries are made, it was completely amazed. They are made with only three colors: red, blue and gold.

This is just one of the ceilings in the Vatican museums. I love these ceilings. They look like cameos. However, they are just painted. Even standing in the room and looking at the images, it was hard to see that they were just painted and not sculpted.

Ceiling in the gallery of maps. I love maps so I loved this gallery. It was fascinating to see how to view of the world changed over time. As you are walking down the gallery, you can see more accurate maps and places further away from Rome.

Yes, I saw a Hello Kitty car and just had to have a picture. If I could have folded her up and carried her home I would have. Instead I settled for a book of Hello Kitty paper dolls.

The Mouth of Truth. If you are telling the truth when you put your hand in the mouth, nothing will happen to you. However, if you are telling a lie....

...you will lose your hand! We were lying. We said we were ready to go home.

The church in which the Mouth of Truth is housed. It was beautiful in a very simplistic way. Nothing compared to St. Peter's but still beautiful. Notice the wooden ceiling? 

And here we found the real purpose for those giant bathtubs. Who would have guessed they were really alters. Well, now we know why the church used precious marble to make a tub...uh, I mean alter. Below are some pics of the tiled floors inside the church.

 

 The beautiful Italian countryside. It was loaded with sheep and castles and sheep and castles and more sheep and more castles. :)

 My kiddos are totally into medieval stuff right now. Wells fights with the local ARMS group and Kaitlyn is designing medieval looking prom dressing and wearing cloaks to school. This is a pic of a real life medieval town. People still live here! Can you see the cliffs and single ramp and cool buildings? Not really but it's all there!



So, Montecatini was one of my favorite places. We didn't get to spend much time there as it was just home base to go see other things. We did walk around this night for a little bit but most of the shops were closed or closing. The pics below are the view from our window. Being on the fourth floor, we didn't get a balcony, just a window. Still, loved, loved, LOVED the view.