My Defining Decade: "Everyone is so friendly here!"

This morning, we woke up to a hectic day. After getting ready modestly (knees and shoulders covered), eating breakfast, and packing up my many bags, we were out the door and headed to the Vatican by 8am!
Our tour there started with the art and sculpture museums. I wish I could convey the beauty of the intricate ceilings and beautiful paintings with words, but I'd never do it justice. Check out the pictures to get a glimpse of the beauty that I could fit in a small rectangle. One thing that amazed me was the Gallery of Maps. It had paintings of many Italian cities as well as the Renaissance Italy and modern Italy. I even found my last name on one of the city maps! Not only that, but the ceiling had tons of realism paintings decorated with gold plating and sculptured frames. Again, I can't do it justice, so just take a look at the pictures!
After visiting the museums, we went to the Sistine Chapel. Oh how I wish I could've taken pictures to remember that beautiful chapel. (I actually tried but then got yelled at in Italian. Oops.) The details were striking! I can't believe Michelangelo painted it upside down, only in candle light. I loved that it told the whole story of the Bible, from creation to the Final Judgement, in a way that appealed to any person - Christian or not. It was breathtaking to say the least and what an honor it was to be able to witness it in person.
Then, it was onto St. Peter's Basilica and St. Peter's Square. The Basilica was massive! If something wasn't made out of marble, it was made out of gold. The altar had a beautiful canopy type structure over it with several gold tabernacles behind it. Large sculptures surrounded each vestibule. There was nothing I didn't want to take a picture of! Out in St. Peter's Square, I got to see the massiveness of the Basilica and Vatican from the outside. I loved seeing the obelisk and statues on top of the columns out in the square. It looked like a town center, except everything around it was statues and chapels.
After visiting the Vatican, we picked up our luggage at the hotel and walked four blocks to the train station to head to Modena. Luckily we figured out the train station in time to eat lunch and make our train. We committed an Italian faux pas on the train where we waited until the train stopped to get our luggage down from the overhead bins and then started to exit (like on an airplane). This apparently was not the correct way to do it. We ended up having a standoff with a line of Italians trying to get on the train as we were trying to get off, and no one was moving. Finally, between our very broken Italian and his English skills, the Italian man in front of the stand off line told all the others in Italian to move out of the way so we could get off. This whole situation probably only lasted 60 seconds but staring down a line of confused and frustrated Italians made it feel like an hour. Anyway, we made it off and onto our next train without much of a problem. This time we stopped, we were prepared five minutes early at the door with all of our luggage! At least we try to be quick learners...
We finally made it to Modena and wow, what a different city it is from Rome! Rome was every man for himself, getting run over in the middle of the sidewalk by people trying to get places, and was just so crowded. It's a big city, so it wasn't a surprise but Modena is a quaint town with more bicyclists than drivers and locally owned boutiques than corporate chains. People stop and wave at us on the streets even though we clearly don't belong. It's just a friendly, calm atmosphere where wine and friendship are plenty. We even met a young couple, the man from Sicily and woman from New Orleans! We talked with them for about 15 minutes just on our way to dinner. We walked away talking about how everyone is just so friendly here in Modena!
We went to a small restaurant in a plaza square with great outdoor seating for the perfect cool night we had! It reminded me of Kirkwood, only less crowded. I ordered a sweet, sparkling red wine, gnocco (a puff pastry) and meat platter for an appetizer, tagliatelle (basically flat spaghetti) with bolognese sauce, and tiramisu for dessert. We hadn't had a solid meal all day, so I made up for it at dinner. Everything was perfectly portioned, and made with such fresh ingredients. I have not had a bad meal here yet, and I'm not sure I will! It was the perfect relaxing night after a long day of hauling everything I own around the streets of Italy.