The Vatican and Beyond

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Today was our visit to the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica. Taking the bus from the hotel we arrived at the Vatican and joined the line of visitors waiting to enter. After getting into the Vatican we explored the grounds outside the museum until our time to enter the museum. The museum is lined with a large variety of artifacts and antiquity. Also lined with people. The collection includes statues, vases, wall hangings and paintings. Once through the museum, we entered the Sistine Chapel. Photos are not permitted due to the delicate nature of the frescoes and painting on the walls and ceiling. Leaving the chapel we entered St. Peter's Basilica. Stopping to rub St. Peter's foot smoothed by many fingers rubbing it.

After leaving the Vatican we made our way to Piazza Navona which was once a Roman racetrack. The focal point of the piazza is the Fountain of the Four Rivers. Here we had a delicious lunch before continuing our walking tour of the piazzas of the city. Our next stop was the Pantheon, built between 118 and 128 A.D., it started as a temple and became a Christain church in the 600's. It houses the Raphael's tomb and those of two Italian kings. From there we walked to Trevi Fountain throwing in our coins. It was then on to the Spanish Steps to finish off our tour for the day.

This evening we had dinner at an Opera Theater which was very entertaining and also coincided with our 50th wedding anniversary.

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