If you should have the opportunity to go to Rome and only have time to see one thing, this is it. The ceiling of the Sistine chapel in the Vatican is one of only two artworks I have seen that leave me completely speechless.

The ceiling is without a doubt in my mind, the premiere piece of art ever created. I've been several times and each time I just stand there in awe, unable to grasp the vision, skill and just plain hard work that went into it.

The only word for it is “Perfect.” It is huge and impossible to fully appreciate without seeing in person. You have probably seen bits and pieces of it in magazines or on TV, but until you see it in the flesh, they are meaningless.

I hasten to add that I am not a religious person, I do not believe in God, but if something was going to persuade me otherwise, this fresco would be it.

The Vatican as a whole leaves me cold. It is just an enormous, extravagant display of wealth and does not fit in with the whole “born in a manger in poverty” story of Jesus. If Jesus did exist, and came back for a visit, he would be mortified at the sheer amount of money on display by the Vatican.

But the ceiling of the Sistine chapel is nothing less than stunning. Michelangelo was a genius, and the hundreds of artworks and tapestries you see on the way through the Vatican to the chapel pale to a distant, bland recollection as soon as you see the ceiling.

I don’t have the words to describe it and the pictures I have uploaded do not do it justice. Even if you are not an art buff and do or do not believe in God, you have to see this.

One of the uploaded pictures is taken outside the Vatican of one of the Papal guards. I think the criteria for joining the guards is that you have to be built like an athlete, have a square jaw and look good in a cape. The car is something we saw on the streets of Rome, and has to be the smallest car I have ever seen. I included it for fun.