anu(e)scape

2003.9.1 8:34 AM EST, Cannon Powershot S40, 1/8 sec., F/2.8, ISO 50.

Almost all the walls and ceilings of the Vatican Museum are georgeous and ornate. After about 2 hours, we had a sensory overload.

The Vatican became a sovereign state within a state in February 1929, by the Lateran Treaty, and is ruled by the Pope. In addition to its own post office, shops, radio station, newspaper, and publishing house, there are the Vatican Museum, and the Sistine Chapel. It is also the winter residence of the Pope (the summer home is Castel Gandolfo) and about a thousand full time residents who staff the premises.