You are reading KDKB...Killing time with Kaitlynn: When in Rome- Day 5!

Day 5- Vatican City

So, we made sure to set about a million fail-safes to make sure we were at the Vatican Museum by our reservation at 9 am. Whew.

Wake up!! How perfect is this Italian morning?

The courtyard outside our hotel

The Vatican Museum

That's St. Peter's Basilica in the Background

The Vatican Gardens

The Egyptian wing

Imhotep!! Seriously!

And...that's a mummy.

These pots are from 3000 BC.

Check this awesome bath!!!

Jordan took this for my brother Ryan. Ry- this is how he envisions the rest of your life....

The Apollo Belvedere- imagine a big bow in his outstretched hand

This was in a giant hall of old beautiful maps.

One of the muses.

The exit staircase designed by Michaelangelo.

So, the jewel of the museum is the Sistine Chapel, which is the only thing you can't take pictures of naturally. But, just in case you can't remember what that is, here it is thanks to google images:

It was truly incredible to sit in the chapel and imagine Michaelangelo taking four years to complete the ceiling. It was painstaking and he could only do a little piece at a time because of the type of plaster they were using. The vision he must have had to only do a part of a foot one day and then continue it over months and have it become a full scale body in perfect scale is incredible. It was beautiful.

We left the museum and took a stop at the best lunch spot we had all trip, the Duecento Gradi (Fresh €5 sandwiches-- DELICIOUS) and the Gelateria Old Bridge.

We kept walking around the Vatican wall to get to St. Peter's Square (actually an oval) and the Basilica. None of these pictures can truly show the scope of how huge everything is, but we did our best.

The Basilica

The Swiss Guard

They were setting up for a Papal Address the next morning

Try to see the people all the way at the end. Giant. It eats other smaller churches for breakfast.

This is Bernini's 7 story bronze canopy to draw attention to the main altar underneath it.

The Dome, Michaelangelo's last work, is taller than a football field is long.

Underneath the altar, where St. Peter's tomb is.

Statue of St. Peter

Bernini designed this starburst with a dove, symbolizing God, at the center.

Just look at how small the people are on the ground and then the mini-people on the lip of the dome, walking around.

Choir!!

Pietà- Michaelangelo

This statue of Mary holding Christ's body actually brought the Spirit to me stronger than anything else I saw. The Basilica is without a doubt impressive, but this sculpture brought me to tears. Beautiful, and it reminded me of the sacrifice Christ made for our sins.

Peter, holding the keys to the church. Hmmm, interesting.

Paul, the Defender.

This obelisk has been in that spot for thousands of years.

The Papal Apartments. I think the Pope's bedroom is top floor all the way on the left.

We kept walking to the nearby Castel Sant'Angelo-- which was built as a tomb for the emperor and now its a museum. We were museum-ed out, but took some pictures of the fortress and the Ponte Sant'Angelo--this also happens to be a big plot point in Angels and Demons.

The Tiber River

On this, our last day in Rome before we went to Florence, we decided to walk along the Tiber River up to the Piazza del Popolo and back to the hotel for a nap before dinner.