Today we took a non-Catholic pilgrimage to see the
Vatican City. The crowds weren't too terribly large, and we only had to wait in the drizzling rain for about 20 minutes... After going through security we made our way up to
St. Peters Basilica only to be shuttled off down into the crypt where we got to see all of the past popes (or at least their sarcophagi) -- sorry, no pictures allowed.
Finally we figured out how to get inside the HUGE basilica and wandered around in awe for a while. We also took the tour up the dome of the basilica -- up inside the dome, and then out on top! What a view! I can only imagine how great it must look when it
isn't raining! There are a total of 551 steps to the top of the dome (and another 551 steps back down again) so we definitely got our exercise today.
After St. Peter's we headed over to the
Vatican Museum where we stood in line for another 20-30 minutes in the rain. Once inside the museum we wandered around looking at old sculptures, paintings and draperies. However the obvious attraction was the
Sistine Chapel. There were huge crowds of tourists everywhere we went and they seemed to get thicker the closer we got to the Sistine Chapel. We again were not allowed to take photos in the Sistine Chapel. Evidently the paintings were recently cleaned and restored, and because of some legal agreement no one is allowed to take photos of the new and improved artwork. So we stood in the packed chapel, all staring up at the ornate ceiling... There were so many things to see there was no way to take it all in.
...sigh
Leaving the museum we decided to wander back across the city toward "home" hitting a few points of interest along the way. First we stopped and got some real Italian pizza from a little side street pizza shop then headed over to the
Trevi Fountain. Again, this was a popular hangout for tourists and locals alike (even in the rain).
Then we walked the rest of the way "home" along the cobblestoned streets of Rome, still in the rain.
Italy08vacation
