Vatican City

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We woke early this morning and caught a cab to Vatican City, a 110 acre independent county with a population of 283 located entirely inside the City of Rome (thank you Wikipedia).

It is ... obviously ... the religious center of the Roman Catholic Church.

To stay ahead of the crowds, we arrived at the Vatican about 7:00 a.m. After taking some photos we marched into Saint Peter's Basilica. Nothing really prepares you for its size and grandure. A truly beautiful and spiritual place.

We attended an English language Mass and took a load of photos.

We then grabbed some breakfast at a sidewalk cafe before meeting our guide Simonetta for our tour of the Vatican Gardens, Museum and the Sistine Chapel.

Because we were with a licensed guide (Simonetta is an art historian who has provided guided tours for nearly a quarter century) we were able to skip by the four million people who were in line for the Museum.

Once we were in, we first visited several beautiful gardens that are not part of the regular tour. Simonetta then spent the next couple of hours educating us on the beautiful art and the history of this amazing place.

During the tour we walked almost 8 miles. We were tired and so we retired to Campo de Fiori, had some beer, wine and good food and then crashed.

Tomorrow we are going to the Forum and Colesseo.

Stay tuned.

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Comments

[Macy]

Breathtaking photos! You all look so happy! Thanks for continuing to blog so we can see all your amazing adventures!

[Kris]

Sounds like an awesome day! The Vatican is truly amazing I'm so glad you all got to experience it!

[Lisa]

Hello from St Louis! Thank you for the blogs they are awesome! Rome is so amazing and it looks like you all have conquered the major sites. Now go and enjoy some rest in Tuscany and keep the vino coming! Have fun and be safe!