Vatican

So it's Friday, and Mom and Dad just arrived back in Chicago, and I went to the Vatican again today with our art history class.  I'd been there before with Mom and Dad, but I learned a lot more about the building by going there with our teacher.  Mom and Dad, apparently that big red circle you pointed out was also where Charlamagne was crowned.  Maybe you knew that already, but I just learned that today.  What I'm not sure of is if that happened before or after they moved it to the front of the church and let everybody walk on it.  We also went into the grotto and saw John Paul II's tomb.  The only thing I have left to do at the Vatican is take the steps up to the cupola, but that can wait a little bit.
Tuesday was a very eventful day this week.  First, in our urban culture class, we visited Corviale, a kilometer long building on the south-southwestern outskirts of the city.  It was a low-income housing project that used to be a pretty bad place to live but now is a successful community.  We played a quick game of soccer there which was really fun, then headed to EUR to see some fascist-era buildings, one of which was hosting a convention about the "State of the City."  Some of the students there met Santiago Calatrava, a famous architect/engineer.  Patrick, I was telling you once that Calatrava should do something in Minneapolis because he almost always builds near water.  Renzo Piano, another famous architect, was supposed to speak that night, but when some other students and I went back to see him he turned out to be a no-show.  He thought it would be a conflict of interest since he had declined a spot on the Roman Olympic Council, or at least that's what I heard.  The night wasn't a bust, though, because after all of the speakers the convention concluded with a buffet of delicious Italian food and wine.  So we ate our fill and then went to see the jazz band downstairs.  In other news, we had a paper due in our art history class this week, which kept me pretty busy.  We had to write about art in two churches dealing with St. Cecilia.  I mention it because I really liked the sculpture of St. Cecilia.  You can see the photo of it below.  On that note, thank you to Adam for all of the photos below.  We have a shot of the Sistine Chapel, taken without the approval of the Vatican Museum guards, a shot of us playing soccer, the St. Cecilia sculpture, the Baldachino towering over the papal alter in St. Peter's, and St. Peter's dome towering over the Baldachino.  The last shot is me next to a golden ball sculpture in one of the courtyards of the Vatican Museum.  It looks kind of like a decrepit gold death star, and it's exactly the same size as that tiny golden ball on top of St. Peter's cupola.  So that was this week, tomorrow I'm going to Florence for the weekend with some friends, to see the David and the Duomo and possibly make a side trip to Pisa.  I have to get up really early for that, so I'll probably go to bed pretty soon tonight.  That's all for now, arrivederci!