Capitalone. It is HUGE

I decided I needed some introductory guidance to Rome so I signed up for a free tour of Rome that started near the Capitoline Hill, a giant white building with Italian flags, a structure of a man on a horse centered in its foreground. I was almost late to the tour, but eventually found a large group of people huddled, with a sign that said “Free Tour.” I struck up a conversation with a young woman, who happened to also be traveling alone. She was a Stanford University student studying abroad in Florence who wanted the chance to see Rome before she finished her exchange. As we walked along, the guide showed us the ruins of an ancient society that once was:

The young woman asked if I wanted to tag along with her to the museum since we were both lone travelers (I won’t mention her name just because I didn’t obtain permission to talk about her). She told me she was going on a museum tour that would lead her into the Vatican and Capella Sistina (The Sistine Chapel). As we walked through the museum, making our way into the Sistine Chapel, I guess we were expecting to be completely swept off our feet by its sheer beauty, but my friend said she wasn’t feeling–though we didn’t fail to get our Insta moments by sneaking a picture of walls Michaelangelo painted centuries ago (you aren’t supposed to take a photo, but everyone does it anyway). I was captivated by the incredible detail. The sides of the Capella Sistina were adorned with what looked like silk fabric, but after blinking and squinting a few times I realized that it was actually painted fabric–that was the intensity of Michelangelo’s eye for detail. 

This was my elated smile after having made 60-second long eye contact with an incredibly handsome police-man in the Vatican  

 

 

Me smiling after looking at handsome police dude