Geez the Vatican is Huge

sculptures everywhere in Musei Vaticano
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I woke up late this morning because I was tired from walking around everywhere yesterday.  My alarm went off at 0700 as I had set it but it felt so early in the morning that I thought my phone was broken and I just shut it off and went back to sleep.  I didnt wake up again until 0945.

I got all my stuff ready and headed out with the surf shorts.  I figured I would give my pants a break today.  Just as I was about to board the metro to get to the Vatican City I remembered that people with shorts arent allowed inside St Peters Basilica...men have to wear long pants.  So I walked back to the hostel and got changed.

Vatican center
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The ride to the Vatican city was uneventful until I got off.  When I was exiting I saw my flatmate from London, Melissa!  I recognized her by the way she walked!  I hung out with her and her two friends as we all entered the Vatican to see the Sistine Chapel.  We stood in a line that was at least three blocks long.  But it went by rather quickly in comparison to the Uffizi in Florence because it kept moving.  We got into the Vatican after waiting for about 45 minutes.  Not bad.

Sistine chapel wall...crane your necks since it's turned sideways
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We all paid and entered to see the Sistine.  On the way to the Sistine is the Vatican Museum full of sculptures, art, archaelogical finds, etc.  The girls moved quickly to the Sistine so I lagged behind and took my time to see all of the sculptures.  There were so many of them that I eventually stopped reading captions and just walked past them and admired the ones that stood out.  I saw everything that the museums had to offer including Raphaels rooms, which were really impressive.  The Chapel itself was great too!  But by then I was so tired from walking through the other parts of the museum that I didnt fully appreciate it.  I hung out for a good 30 minutes just look up at the ceiling, imagining how in the world somebody painted it.  The colors are brilliant and the room truly shines with the sunlight pouring through the windows near the ceiling.  Great experience.

sistine ceiling...how'd he do that?!
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I walked out and headed on to St Peters Basilica.  The entrance was grand with the many columns and great plaza in front.  There were many people in queue to get in but I only waited for about 15 minutes.  The St eters Basilica is easily my favorite of the churches and cathedrals.  Its interior is a massive expansive area.  Everything is huge, sculptures are all larger than life, inscriptions are in letters the size of my body, and domes seem to never end in the sky.  It was soooo amazing.  I thought I was done with churches but I definitely liked this one.  I paid the €4 to climb to the top of the dome and saw the great views of Rome.  It wasnt as nice of a city as the others that I have seen.  But it was still nice to be up there.  The problem was that there were too many people up there so it wasnt peaceful at all.  Oh well...I headed back down and walked through the tombs underneath and saw Pope John Paul IIs tomb.  People were standing around, praying, admiring, etc.  I just walked through since I never really knew anything about him.  It was just neat to be in their presence, even if they arent alive anymore.

St. Peter's Basilica was soooo huge. Look how big it is compared to the tiny people at the bottom!
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I found out that the Pope holds Wednesday morning speeches so I might try to catch that in a couple of days.

I wanted to have some gelato after walking around everywhere so I went to a place that Lets Go recommended.  Apparently three other travel books also recommended it, proof that it was really good.  I had honey and apple sorbet, both were really good.  They were both homemade and so fresh.

From there I wanted to grab some dinner so I went to Trastevere where Lets Go recommended.  It was raining with lightning and thunder storms so I was kind of screwed.  But I was so hungry that I carried on.  I got completely soaked.  I arrived at the right place only to find it closed.  Looked back through Lets Go, sure enough, not open on Mondays.  Boo.  I went to the next place on Lets Go.  Closed, soaking more.  Sure enough, not open until 2000.  Boo.  I said screw it and went to the next place I could find.  It was a nice restaurant where I had a small glass of beer, fresh bruschetta, pasta with tomato sauce, and tiramisu.  Total was €14 and well worth it.  I didnt have much of a breakfast (just some pastries) and no lunch so I was soooo hungry.  Really good stuff.

cool guards
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I walked back along the river and then caught the metro home.  Cleaned up and thatàs all folks.  Tomorrow I will get my new passport...