March 16, 2012
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| (MVSEI VATICANI - Vatican Museum and dome of St. Peter's Basilica) |
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| (our tour guide and acorn & peacock statues in the Vaitcan Museum courtyard) |
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| (first statues we saw inside the museum and Caesar Augustus' head in the courtyard) |
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| (really sassy hairstyles. A+) |
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| (an entrance and nakedness) |
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| (ceeeeeiling) |
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| (bronze statue of Hercules and more ceiling) |
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| (in the room of Roman animal sculptures and a floor mosaic) |
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| (HUGE weaved tapestry) |
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| (Angel and Knight painting - "Est rosarium præcipue implorando matris dei patrocinio adversus hostes catholici nominis institutum" -Leo XIII) |
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| (Helena of Constantinople's sarcophagus and the exit) |
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| (St. Peter's Basilica) |
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| (Piazza San Pietro) |
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| (The Laocoön Group Statue - "Trojan priest Laocoön and his sons Antiphantes and Thymbraeus being strangled by sea serpents" and me next to a very red man inside St. Peter's Basilica) |
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| (the inside of St. Peter's Basilica) |
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| (waiting in line to climb to the top) |
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| (halfway to the top) |
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(Totus Tuus meaning "All Yours" & Mater Ecclesiae meaning "Mother of the Church" and the view from the top of the dome!)
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| (view of St. Peter's Square) |
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| (452 feet up!) |
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| (Also, going up and down is the most claustrophobic, horrible thing ever.... 320 steps up a confined walkway that is only about 2 feet wide with small windows only every 100 steps or so) |
