Italia Martedi 25/3/25 (Pictures)
This is another set of like 50 pictures. So if you hate pictures, this is not the entry for you!
My thought process, “Oh! Another statue! I should take a picture”
ChatGPT, “That is the Monumento a Giaochino Rossini. Rossini was the composer of The Barber of Seville. This monument was unveiled in 1926”
My thought process, “Yep… just a nice statue”
Another statue. There are lots of statues. This one was obviously of Victor Hugo. (Says so on the base) it was in the same area as the previous statue. According to ChatGPT, this area was called the Pincian Hill Gardens.
A sign I saw while walking around. I was overjoyed! I love Amano’s art. We’ll circle back to this sign on a later date!
This is a bridge I saw while crossing the Tiber river. ChatGPT calls the bridge Ponte Cavour. I was just wanting to get a picture of the Tiber… But ChatGPT, with the endless knowledge finds something historic in like every picture.
This is where I met my tour group for the day. GPT knowledge says that ahead you can see the Leonine Wall, and the Apostolic Palace. The Apostolic Palace is the Pope’s house.
This is a view of the dome of St Peter’s Basilica. Like so much in Rome and associated areas, this was designed by Michelangelo. ChatGPT mentions that on the right, you can see part of the Vatican gardens. The gardens take up about 50% of Vatican City.
OH! ChatGPT wants to give me a caption! ChatGPT’s caption is:
“First glimpse of St. Peter’s Dome from within the Vatican Gardens. The view opens up past the trees, revealing Michelangelo’s masterpiece rising above the heart of Catholicism. In the foreground, a sarcophagus relief is undergoing restoration—just one of many ancient Roman echoes tucked within these serene, carefully manicured grounds. This was one of the quieter moments before entering the grandeur of the Vatican Museums.”
I zoomed in a bit on the dome. Gives a little better view of some details. No ChatGPT influence here.
Some of the outside of the Vatican Museum. This was before heading back in.
Do I take pictures of some things multiple times? Yep. This is effectively another view of the Dome, from roughly the same spot.
I mentioned the Vatican gardens, here is a shot primarily of the gardens.
I dunno why I took this one, actually… So… Have ChatGPT’s caption!
“Stepped into the Pinecone Courtyard and found a golden globe that spins with the universe. Arnaldo Pomodoro’s Sphere Within Sphere caught everyone's eye—mine included.”
Remember how ChatGPT talked about the Pinceone Courtyard? Well… Here’s the pinecone! Underneath the Pinecone is a fountain.
The Sistine Chapel is a no picture zone. I know, some people break the rules… But considering my height, I would be caught pretty fast. So instead of my own pictures, I took pictures of someone else’s photos of the Sistine Chapel’s paintings.
Remember the picture from earlier? With the sphere? A little closer to the sphere.
I kinda wanna post ChatGPT’s entire fun facts about this picture. But, it’s a little long. ChatGPT does mention that these are generally Roman copies of Greek originals. And there is a statue on the middle right of Minerva. Considering these were copies of Greek originals that would make it a copy of Athena… Athena is the name of one of my dogs. So yeah. There you go.
I mentioned my love of statues, right? More statues, down the hall from the previous statues. ChatGPT has only a little to say about this section. It does mention that these were assembled after Napoleon looted the Vatican. Pope Pius VII just amassed more as a weird flex.
Some busts, because sometimes you just don’t feel like an entire statue! Not a lot of fun info from the GPT… moving on.
More busts.
I liked the view of the city from this window. That is all.
A statue. ChatGPT isn’t completely sure what the statue is of! HA! I stumped the AI! But it does say that Michelangelo and Raphael would come here to study the statues. Leonardo and Donatello were not mentioned… But I think I did get a Splinter.
Okay, I’ll stop.
More statues… I’m still in the Vatican museum at this point. Not gonna even ask ChatGPT about this one.
I will ask the GPT about this one, though.
Apparently the box shaped object roughly in the lower middle of the picture, is a sarcophagus. But GPT isn’t completely sure about the frieze above that.
I was somewhat familiar with this piece, which is to say that I have seen this one somewhere so it looked familiar.
GPT says it is called Lacoon and His Sons. Dating the original back to ancient Greece in the 2nd century BCE. This was a copy of that original dated sometime around 40-30 BCE, And it was found again in 1506 at which point it was placed here.
The story that the statue is telling dates back to the Trojan war. Lacoon tried to warn the Trojans about that shady horse, and one of the gods sent serpents to silence him.
More statues. Nothing special.
The ceiling was also turned into a work of art. GPT would like to add that this was the work of Raphael and was done at the same time that Michelangelo was working on the Sistine Chapel. This is all paint, none of it was 3 dimensional.
More statues. I’m pretty sure I was focused on the doors, you know… us giants appreciate tall doors. I also wanted to capture the giant bowl in the middle of the room, but the sea of humanity, and the guide’s rush through the museum, I couldn’t get a good shot of it.
GPT would point out that the statue in the very center is Hercules. And the one on the right is possibly Juno or Minerva. It also goes on to talk about the bowl that I couldn’t quite capture.
Thanks for rubbing salt in that wound, GPT.
I took a picture of this statue for some reason… GPT says it was a statue of Artemis. The mythological connection is probably why I took the picture.
I don’t need GPT for this one. This was a painting. Yep. Not statues or reliefs, just straight up painting. The artist was skilled enough to make the 2D image look extremely 3D.
This is after the Sistine chapel, down seemingly endless stairs. This is the front of St. Peter’s Basilica. GPT translates the Latin on the building as “In honor of the Prince of the Apostles (St. Peter), Paul V Borghese, Supreme Pontiff, in the year 1612 and the 7th year of his pontificate.” GPT also mentions that the statues atop the building represent Jesus, John the Baptist, and 11 apostles. Apparently, despite really owing Judas a lot for the mythology of their deity, they decided to cut him out. Each statue is over 5 meters tall, that’s like 18 feet tall in real measurements! (I kid. don’t kill me metric system people)
I knew this particular statue. There was a copy of it in the church I used to go to in the long long ago… I did however use GPT, because I couldn’t remember the name. This is Michelangelo’s Pieta. Some GPT facts. This was made in 1499, and was carved from a single piece of marble. Also, Michelangelo was only 24 when he did this… 24!
More fun facts from GPT:
Signature: This is the only work Michelangelo ever signed. His name is carved across Mary’s sash—after he overheard someone attribute it to another sculptor.
Youthful Mary: She appears unusually young, intentionally. Michelangelo believed her purity and sinless life would preserve her youth.
Restoration: In 1972, a mentally ill man attacked the sculpture with a hammer, damaging Mary’s nose and arm. It was painstakingly restored and is now protected behind bulletproof glass.
Symbolism: Mary’s lap is unnaturally wide—a sculptural trick to hold the adult body of Christ gracefully. It’s meant to evoke motherly care, not realism.
More impressive statues. GPT says these were a monument to Pius the VIII, commissioned by Pius the IX. The central figure is Pius VIII. I’m pretty sure if GPT were a person, it would be annoyed at how much information it throws at me, and how little of it I actually include.
If I remember correctly, only the pope is allowed to officiate a service from this particular altar. Also, I was told that if you went straight down from the cross, you’d find the body of St. Peter. Above you can also find the big dome.
I have officially exited the Basilica. This is St. Peter’s square. GPT says there are 140 statues of saints along the tops of the buildings. Also noting that there is a 2000 year old obelisk from Heliopolis.
Moving closer to that obelisk I mentioned before. Now, I am going to make some assumptions based on the previous information I was given… That cross isn’t an original part of the obelisk, and is just catholics sullying another country’s ancient treasures.
This is the Castel Sant’Angelo. Interestingly, I had a tour that was supposed to start there on a later date, but I ended up skipping it because the tour started at 2000, and was 3 hours of walking, not to mention the hour long walk to get there, and the hour long walk to get back… Look, I walked like 58 miles over the course of this vacation… I was frikkin tired.
Okay, some GPT input here. This was apparently originally Hadrian’s Mausoleum. It was built for Emperor Hadrian and his family. Later Emperors wanted in on that action and also got buried there. Then the middle ages happened, and it was turned into a military fortress. It was eventually connected to the Vatican by a secret passage.
It was apparently named Sant’Angelo after Michael the archangel. You can kind of see the statue of Michael atop the castle in the distance.
Look, this is The Half Empty Pint! Did you honestly think I wouldn’t have a drink while out and about? Open Baladin wasn’t too far from the Vatican, and they offered a nice variety of beer. They even had super alcoholic ones that were like 60% alcohol… but those only came in a tiny cup. Fun little side note… this was the first place I lost my hat! Unlike in Japan, I noticed that the hat was missing, and retraced my steps. The staff saw me come in, and knew the hat was mine.
The back of the beer menu at Open Baladin. I thought this was a pretty good little turn of phrase. I found it even more amusing considering my two beer limit. Although I’ll be honest, I had three beers here. It’s not like I was gonna drive anywhere. Honestly after this I was going to a cooking class, and was killing time.
Amen, random sticker on the back of a sign… I couldn’t have said it better myself.
A church? that I passed along the way from Open Baladin to my next destination.
GPT says this is the Church of the Most Holy Trinity of the Piedmontese and was built in 1723.
I took special note of the Latin above the door… I recognized the term “plenary indulgences” so GPT says this says “Perpetual daily plenary indulgence
for the living and the dead.”
Betty Boop graffiti. No deep spiritual meaning… nothing for GPT to tell me about… just some simple graffiti.
DONKEY PUNCH! Again, no deep meaning… I just randomly found a restaurant called Donkey Punch, and I had to go get a picture. If I wasn’t on my way to something else, I would have stopped here to eat. Because look at this menu:
See? Doesn’t that look good?
Piazza Navona, almost to the spot of the cooking class.
Some GPT tidbits. The fountain in the foreground of the top picture is the Fountain del Moro, and features a dude fighting a dolphin. Behind that, is the Fountain of the Four Rivers and the Obelisk of Domitian (better view of that in the second picture). And finally, on the middle left is Sant’Agnese in Agone. You can also see some of the random stalls selling shit in the second picture in the bottom left corner.
Tiramisu. I made this. It wasn’t awful. Not pictured? The ravioli and fettuccine I also made.
