We were up and out early this morning because we had a tour of the Vatican that began at 8:30. It was about a 40 minute walk from our apartment and of course we got a little lost but eventually we found our way. We located our guide and our group and entered the sea of people that is the Vatican.
We started out in a courtyard. Below are a couple of pictures from the courtyard.
While in the courtyard our guide talked to us about the Sistine Chapel. They are strict about no talking in the chapel so she told us the history and what to look for ahead of time. Then we went into the Vatican museum, which is overwhelming, and walked through the papal apartments. Here are a few pictures of the many treasures we saw.
Unfortunately we couldn’t take pictures in the Sistine Chapel but needless to say it is amazing. We were in the chapel itself for about 15 minutes which really wasn’t enough time to absorb all there is to see because it’s visually overwhelming. Another example of Michelangelo’s brilliance.
Then we went into St Peter’s Basilica which is the largest church in the world. As with all the sights in the Vatican there were a lot of people and the tour felt a little rushed. Here are some pictures of the Basilica and Michelangelo’s Pieta
Finally we ended the tour in the St Peter’s Square with its ring of columns, which symbolizes the arms of the church welcoming everyone—believers and nonbelievers—with its motherly embrace.
The tour concluded. It was very good and really helped us understand what we were seeing.
From there we walked over to the Spanish Steps.
One thing I haven’t mentioned is that throughout the trip we have been very lucky and have had great weather. It’s been much warmer than typical. Today was another beautiful day.
After lunch at a restaurant that we ate at the last time we were in Rome, we walked to the Borghese Gardens, soaked up the sunshine and dozed in the grass.
Refreshed we walked back to the apartment. Here are pictures from our walk through Rome.
That evening we went to a nice restaurant in Trastevere for our farewell dinner. They even had a bike on the wall. If you have been following our blog you know I like to include bike and door pictures. I will close our time in a Rome with a bike picture from our farewell dinner.
