Vatican City

Today is our last full day in Rome since we move tomorrow afternoon to a hotel at the airport 40 miles away.  This was our day for the Vatican Museums and St. Peter's Basilica.  We wanted to get as much as possible from our visit so we scheduled into an English language tour that was highly recommended.  The company is named "Eden Walks" and had nothing but praise from Tripadvisor.com customers.  It was rated #1.  We were not disappointed.  

Chris and I ran around Vatican City and some of the shops before the tour, eating a slice of pizza for energy - with a little gelato to be sure we had sufficient strength.  Then we met our guide and other participants, splitting into two groups of 15 people each.  According to our guide, the Vatican museums include over 44 miles of hallways of artwork, so any tour is just hitting the highlights.  The Vatican has one of the largest collections of art, both Christian and pre-Christian, in the world.  We spent over 3 hours in the museums, learning lots about Greek and Roman art as well as Christian art and some of its history.  Some of the art is part of the basilica, St. Peter's, such as the famous Pieta by Michelangelo and the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel which was a private chapel for the popes.  Other art was collected over the centuries for the Vatican museums.  There is so much here you can't possibly absorb it all at once.  We got as much as the body could take and will have to read and appreciate more over time or on another trip.  It was a wonderful day.  

Dinner tonight was around the corner.  We were so tired we couldn't imagine catching the bus into one of the popular areas, and as God would provide, Marti Jones had given me a business card for a restaurant near St. Peter's.  It turned out to be 3 blocks from our B&B and was great.  It was a small local place with good food and reasonable prices.  We loved it.  Plus, it had the best desserts we have seen on the trip.  Tiramisu and some chocolate thing were the proper way to complete the day.  

Now it is time to organize our stuff and be ready to catch buses and trains to get to the airport tomorrow.  We'll have a little while in the morning and early afternoon to do some last shopping and looking.  Then we begin the journey home.  It has been good being here on vacation.  But it IS time to come home.  Hope you think it's time as well!  

See you soon.  Ciao!

Chris and Bob