The Vatican

Today we began our tour at the Bascilica of St. Peter.  This church was built over 18 centuries.  It is longer than two football lengths (715 feet). At the tallest point it is 450 feet high). It seats 60,000 people for a service.   St. Peter is buried there.  The Pope greets crowds from the balcony of the church.  It is impossible to describe the magnitude of the structure.

From there we went into the Vatican Museum.  It has 1400 rooms of paintings, tapestries and sculptures - mostly of naked people.  If you spent 1 minute on each exhibit it would take 12 years to tour the museum.

Amy's turn:  This was an amazing day.  There were more crowds than we've experienced so far.  Everyone wanted to see the Vatican.  When we entered St. Peter's Basilica, we heard music from a mass that had just begun.  It was amazing to hear the music, see the ornate decorations and the massive structures.  It was a very spiritual experience.  The Swiss guards, the obelisk, the statues all reminded me of the books "Angels and Demons" and "The DaVinci Code".  In the Vatican Museums, we saw lots of wardrobe malfunctions on the paintings and statues. The Sistene Chapel was truly miraculous.  The colors are brilliant and no photography is allowed.  We walked around Vatican City and grabbed lunch while a roving violinist played and a random opera singer sang on the street corner.  nope, we're not in Matthews anymore. . .