Roma Day 3: Vatican

For our third day we got up early to head over to St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican Museum before the huge lines.

We also wanted to capture some of the shadows and morning lighting on the basilica.

The basilica was absolutely huge and grand. The only thing I can compare it to was Westminster Abbey, but this was much more open, less busy and more art. I must admit it made me a little upset at the whole Catholic thing though, it was really extravagant and they sold indulgences in order to fund it... Dylan said I would be a Protestant if I was religious then, lol. Either way it was really impressive.

After we headed over to the Vatican Museum. I have never seen such a fully decorated place. Every inch was covered in art and gilded.

We both really enjoyed the Raphael rooms right before the Sistine Chapel.

The Sistine Chapel was impressive, but not as impressive as I expected after listening to the Rick Steve's Audio Tour while we were waiting outside. It was like 90% there. I think the main issue was that it was so far away that it was hard to see the details. I agree with Michelanglo's self-assessment that the first half was too detailed. It was absolutely mind-blowing that one person did it though. No pics of the Chapel though, since they aren't allowed.

Since walking through the 4 miles of the Vatican Museum wasn't enough, we walked over to Castel de San'Angelo and just took some pictures from the outside. This has a connecting passage to the Vatican and was part of the Angels and Demons story. There is also Hadrian's bridge (Ponte San'Angelo) across the river.

Then we went over to the Orto Botanica, run by the University of Rome. It was a great place to go hang out after being in the Vatican all morning and being epically surrounded by people.

After a siesta to rest our very tired feet we had a great dinner with two bottles of wine, homemade egg noodle pasta, some dessert wine. That is definitely one thing I miss the most, eating outside all the time!