Vatican Museums

I don't really remember many individual details about this day - to be honest the entire first week is a bit of a blur. And furthermore, the Vatican museums have a blurring effect all of their own, largely because, like an Ikea store, you aren't allowed to see any part in isolation; you've gotta do a marathonesque dash the entire length of them. By the time you reach my favourite thing - Raphael's papal stanze - you are heavy footed, visually overloaded, and more than a little cynical about the amount of money held by one small nation state versus the ammount of hunger and poverty in the world outside it. But then again, the state of affairs can hardly be blamed on one Raffaelo Sanzio, b. 1483; d. 1520. Raphael's The School of Athens has stood the test of time, and remains a striking examplar of the Renaissance's sweeping humanism and faith in the great minds of both past and present. There aren't any photos of it here because my poor little camera struggled to cope with the low light in the room, but a quick google image search should yield plenty of results.