Roma - Day 2 (Saturday)

Today we went to Vatican City. We met up with Alfredo in the morning and took the bus to Saint Peters. We had to wait in line to get into the church because we had to go through security, but the line wasn't too bad only about 15 minutes.

Me in Front of Saint Peters

Facade of Saint Peters

We first went into the crypt, where most of the Popes are buried including Pope John Paul II. The Swiss guards are in charge of protecting Vatican City and the Pope. Their outfits are blue and orange and supposedly designed  by Michelangelo. After the crypt, we walked through the basilica which was massive and so impressive. We also saw Michelangelo's Pieta which is in one of the chapels of Saint Peters. The canopy above the alter was designed by Bernini and is about 98 feet tall. Everything is colossal in size and so amazing.

Pieta

Inside Saint Peters

Outside

We left the church and headed to Via Borgo Pio where we were given free time for lunch. We met up again half an hour later to go to Castel Sant'Angelo which used to be a Roman tomb and was converted into temporary apartments for various Popes. It was really neat to walk through Roman passageways! We also got a really great view from the top of the Castel where our tour ended.

View of Ponte Sant'Angelo from the Castel

View of Saint Peters from the top of Castel Sant'Angelo

Another View from the top of Castel Sant'Angelo

After taking some pictures of the view, we headed to the Vatican Museums. We were expecting a line, but there wasn't one at all - we walked straight in, through security, and bought our tickets (which were only 8 euro!). The Vatican Museums were huge and filled with so many cool things! We saw Raphael's School of Athens and the Sistine Chapel! It was amazing!! We sat for a long time looking at the Sistine Chapel and in all other parts of the Museum we could take pictures. After visiting the Sistine Chapel, we walked through a hallway of Roman statues and the Egypt exhibit. In the Egyptian exhibit there was the mummified body of a woman from 1000-970 BC which was amazing. After the Egypt exhibit we headed back to the hotel.

Inside the Vatican Museum

Raphael's School of Athens

To the Sistine Chapel

Hallway up to the Sistine Chapel

On the way back, we passed Saint Peters once more and then went over the Ponte Sant'Angelo. We also stopped at the Church of Saint Luigi dei Francesi which has some Caravaggio paintings including The Calling of Saint Matthew which is one of my favorites! After the church, we went to a famous gelato place near the Pantheon, it was sooo good! We made it back to the hotel after that and rested for a bit then reconvened in the lobby for dinner.

We asked the concierge for his suggestion about a place to go to eat and he told us about a place nearby called La Sacrestia. It was amazing! The food was absolutely delicious. I got the spaghetti carbonara and it was absolutely divine. Emma and I split a chocolate mousse which was amazing! We were so exhausted after dinner that we went back to the hotel to watch the Olympics and hang out.

Spaghetti Carbonara

Chocolate Mousse