VATICAN:
For me the Vatican is a very polarizing enigma. Was very interesting to see it for myself.
I have a lot of new ideas about it all.
It is a very strange, strange, place on multiple levels.
The MUSES.
As a person compelled to create certain things, like any artist, I often wonder about 'muses' & where it comes from, and if something like this may be real.
Look at this craziness:
This is all FLAT/PAINTED. There is a huge long hallway that is all like this. As an illustrator I noticed it and marvelled at how well its done, because if you don't look real hard you would think for sure it;s all carved/3D
FLAT/PAINTED. It is an ILLUSION:
DRAGONS EVERYWHERE!
I saw this and remembered it from some old conspiracy movies, but as I started looking more, I could see TONS of dragon symbols ALL OVER THE PLACE. Everywhere, once you start looking for it there are literally maybe hundreds of them, centered in important crests and doorways etc.
I asked our tour guide about it, she said it was the symbol of one of the important families that was Pope for a time, and that was all. She didn't seem to find it odd whatsoever.
Look in the red parts, in the center of that 4-sided shape. This was a tricky one to find, most were way more obvious. But you get the point, all you have to do is start looking for dragons and they are literally all over the Vatican. I only took pics of a few there were so many
The Sistine Chapel with Michelangelo's ceiling was banned from taking pictures, it was a 'holy' place, no one could talk or use their phones etc. So no photos.
But quite honestly, other than the myth of Michelangelo himself being the painter, I didn't find it much more impressive than a ton of other amazing ceilings etc within the Vatican, and through other places I saw throughout Italy.
Many times you;d go into a less-famous basilica and see SPECTACULAR artwork in there, but people pass on by because they are not famous.
Things like this in the Vatican were not significantly less impressive imo;
Supposedly the Pope walks down these steps to make his show or whatever the fuck he thinks he's doing.
I didn't know this was still a 'no photo' zone, and was warned but was not made to delete it, so it's a rare photo, I suppose lol
The place is just amazing & surreal.
And I only got to see the tourist parts. There is literally a whole city behind it that answers to no governments or law
ST PETERS BASILICA is the granddaddy of all Basilicas in Italy. There are tons of HUGE domes and shurches all over Italy, but St Peter's just fucking crushes them. It is massive, perfect, and unfathomably beautiful.
Honestly I still have a lot of difficulty how humans in the past as we are told could have ever built such things. It looks like the work of angels.
These pics do not convey the scale of it but whatevr;
CHRIST and his angels:
The biggest of the many OBELISKS all over Rome:
ST PETERS & the OBELISK from down the street/outside vatican borders:
More authentic Obelisks in all the piazzas;
Parthenon:
Rome is amazing but I likely won't go back. Too crazy for my tastes. But worth seeing I think.
I was glad to get out, lol
