We did as the Romans. Today was a great finish to a great vacation. The weather was forecasted as 70% chance of rain, but it turned out to be sunny all afternoon! We started the day in Vatican City--we figured if we weren't going to church we should at least try and see the Pope. The place was packed but we were still able to get into St. Peter's square without too much trouble.
We also went into St. Peter's Basilica.
The Basilica is probably the most impressive church that we've been inside during these last 2 weeks. We felt like such church critics being in there. I'd say something like "it's much more beautifully decorated than the Florence Duomo," and Wendi would say "and the lighting is much better than in Notre Dame." Yeah, we are experts now.
We also went up to Michelangelo's Dome (the top of St. Peter's). We walked around on the inside of the dome, then made our way outside with a great view of Rome and the square. We climbed nearly 550 stairs to get there, ouch.
Apparently, the Pope speaks to his flock every Sunday at noon--hence the masses in St. Peter's square.
We just so happened to be there at that time, and we got to see the Pope!!!
See!!! If you look really close you can see his arm coming out of the window.
Pretty cool, eh!? I guess we heard him speak too, but I dont speak Italiano or German (I heard he's German).
One bummer about today being Sunday is that the Sistine Chapel is closed. I was so sad to hear that because I wanted to see the famous ceiling painted by Michelangelo. Bummer. The Vatican Museums were closed too. Next time.
We did see the oddly dressed Swiss Guard.
Next, we headed back over to the Colosseum area to see the rest of the ancient Roman ruins. First we walked through the Roman Forums, which is said to have been the Beverley Hills of Ancient Rome. It was cool to think about what it looked like in it's prime.
We also saw the Palatine. We still aren't entirely sure what the Palatine is, just that Romans lived and worked there. Also there was a small stadium where games were played.
There isn't a whole lot to say about the area, it was mostly just a cool sight to see. We spent a couple hours walking around the area before we moved on.
We also wanted to see the Pantheon. The walk was long (I swear we walk 5 miles a day in the bigger cities) but we made it. The Pantheon is the oldest structure of ancient Roman times to still be standing.
It was converted into a church a couple hundred years ago, but it's structure is unchanged. It has a large opening at the top that lets light in, but there isn't glass to protect it from rainfall.
There are 22 small holes right in the center of the floor that allow for drainage when it rains. The whole area was filled with ancient ruins at ever turn, and the city closes the streets to cars in a lot of these areas so we just wandered around without worry.
Wendi had her little heart set on buying something while we were here, but she couldn't find anything. It's so sad. After we did all the sights we wandered the shop areas so she could fulfill her every desire, but she found nothing. We wandered back to the Spanish steps and the Trevi Fountain, but no luck.
We ate dinner at a little pizza kebab place near the Trevi Fountain. It was a nice way to finish our trip. We talked about the highlights and our favorite parts. We each named our favorite city (Paris for both of us), and our favorite sight within a city or area(Positano for Wendi, the Louvre for me). We talked about what we would do differently and what we wouldn't change. There weren't too many things we'd change! We have a few regrets, but nothing huge. We have thoroughly enjoyed being in Europe and being out of our comfort zone. The people have been so nice and the sights have been amazing.
Now, off to bed so we can get up early and make it to the airport in time. We can't wait to get home and see our kids!
-Cameron
