Vatican Cameos

One room in our amazing apartment

One of the hundreds of hallways in the Vatican museum

One of my favorites: a statue of Laocoon and his sons being attacked by snakes from the story of the Trojan War

The altar in St. Peter's Basilica underneath which St. Peter is said to be buried

One of the most beautiful things we saw- the Pieta

It doesn't look as big as it really is.

The steps in St. John's Lateran chuch

Enjoying our Italian meal

The Roman city walls (imagine trying to get through those!)

Our Gelato store

The third day in Rome we spent touring the Vatican.  The Vatican museum is huge, to say the least.  It is packed with statues, ancient artifacts, mummies, paintings, tapestries, maps, coins, anything you can think of.  If only we had such amazing museums in America!  At the end of the tour of the museum we went to the Sistine Chapel.  We were not allowed to take pictures, or I would share them.  Someday, if you get the chance, you simply must go and see it for yourself.  The paintings are so breathtakingly good.  Even now I can't describe how amazing it was.  And then we went to St. Peter's Basilica.  Wow.  Just wow.  It maybe didn't look like it was that big, but it was huge.  And it was so cool.  The best part was seeing the Pieta, which I think is one of the most beautiful pieces of art ever.  Once again, breathtaking.

But being those over-achievers that we are, we didn't just stop after touring the Vatican.  No sirree.  Before we even got to the Vatican we toured the Catacombs (once again- no pictures allowed).  I surprisingly went through the whole tour even though I'm claustrophobic and I was certain I would have a panic attack in the middle of the tour.  They were very neat, and we learned some not very well known facts- such as the Christians didn't hide out in the Catacombs.  The air down there would have poisoned them after too long.  After the Catacombs and after the Vatican we went to St. John's Lateran church, where the steps to Pontius Pilate's palace are kept (or at least that is what tradition says).  We, being the Lutherans we are, found the steps especially interesting because Martin Luther climbed up them on his knees as is the custom.  While we were there, a Jesuit priest who works there rather fell in love with our family and took us on a tour of the church.  What a wonderful thing that we never expected!  But still we weren't finished for the day.  We stopped by our favorite gelato shop (I had strawberry, raspberry, and chocolate chunk), and we made our way back to the Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine to view them at night.

I still can't believe how wonderfully full our three days in Rome were.  We managed to pack so much into those 3 days that it still baffles me.  Rome, I can't wait to see you again!