Ending our trip in Spain

We've been in a Barcelona for a few days now. We couldn't decide where to go after Rome. Barcelona was cheap enough to fly to and has some of the best beaches. Italy was oppressively hot and swimming sounded like the perfect solution. The weather is so much nicer, the streets are spotless (Rome was a dump). We are staying in a Hostel that shares the street with an Armani and bunch of other high end stores. It's one of the nicest and best run places I've ever stayed in. The goal here has been to wind down. Sleep in, swim, see what can at our own pace. The city stays open late, so there is no rush. Museums stay open until 9 and restaurants until after midnight. Barcelona has a reputation for robberies so we've been traveling light just in case we are mugged. It feels very safe, but some girls at our hostel were robbed and we saw the crime scene of a shooting on our second day.

Skateboarders and Break dancers:

Around the city:

Contemporary museum:

The POPE!

Sunday was our last day in Rome so we woke up and went and saw the Pope give his Angelus prayer in St. Peter's Square.  It was packed. It really did feel like going to see a pop star. Everyone was giddy, they rolled a banner out of his window a few minutes early and everyone cheered. Flags and banners were waving, people were singing and chanting.  The energy was amazing. I'd have gone and seen any pope speak just for experience, but the fact that I actually really like what this pope stands for was a huge plus. His prayer wasn't in English, but I found it in Italian and translated it. I'll link it when the Vatican posts their official translation.

It's hard to see, but that's Francis in the window in the top right.  

The Vatican

NO way I was going to be in Rome and not go see the Sistine Chapel. You have to pay to get into the Vatican museum to do so. They have a huge collection of Greek, Roman, and Egyptian artifacts, typical religious stuff, an interesting contemporary gallery and of course Michelangelo's famous ceiling. The museum is packed to the gills with tour groups. It feels more like a rock concert than a cultural institution, but it is more than worth it for the time you get to spend in the chapel. No pictures or talking. I actually saw a guy get kicked out and then have his camera 's pictures deleted! I snuck a few pics anyway.  The Colosseum may have seemed smaller than I envisioned it, but the ceiling of the chapel was much more overwhelming than I thought. Your neck hurts by the time you are done. So many details to pour over, so much beauty. It really is a modern wonder of the world. I don't think I've ever seen people react to a work of art like they did to the chapel. Everyone seemed star struck (myself included).

Shots taken from the hip of the ceiling:

Random pics from the Museum:

The pope-mobile!

The Vatican owns and displays a Bacon?

Van Gogh 

ROME!!!

We almost skipped Rome. That would have been sooo dumb. I couldn't deal with a city that was just as hot as Venice, but with bigger crowds. I was wrong and I'm so glad we ended up taking a train here. We are staying in a cute apartment that is a 20 min walk from the Colosseum! We walked around the city our first day here and then got up real early to get in line for tickets. We only had to wait about 25 min. By the time we left, the line was wrapped around the building! The Colosseum is actually much smaller than I was expecting it to be. There really aren't any bad seats, I'm sure you could have seen the action from just about anywhere. The Roman forum is right behind it, so we went there too. There's not much left of it but random pillars, but it still feels amazing to be walking through what was once the heart of the Roman Empire. The circus maximus is nearby too, but it's just a big dirt track now. There aren't even any signs telling you what it was.

Rome at night:

More stuff from Milan

I guess I didn't really write about Milan as a whole. It's big and expensive just like I thought it would be. I assumed everyone would look like they crawled out of a fashion magazine, and some people did, just not as many as I thought. The apartment we rented turned out to be the attic of a gigantic place owned by a high up in louis vuitton! She had us over for coffee before we left and our jaws dropped when we entered her place. You know you have an amazing apartment when you can rent out your attic as a luxury BnB. The bathroom was about the size my bedroom. 

The buses and metros were all very efficient even though no one but us ever paid for the bus (we skipped out a few times too). Eating out was entirely too expensive, but we were able to dine like kings. At the grocery store, we bought fancy olives, bread and cheese, made mixed drinks, and bought $1 bottles of wine. The $1 bottles were great! We just took it all back to our fancy attic apartment and pretended we were rich. Lol.  

some random pics:

20th century museum -

around town-

Free music in the city center