Europe Part 3 Rome

Ok...I need to start by saying we have a MILLION pictures of Rome. We went into so many museums and cathedrals I can't even keep track of them so I am only posting a handful.

What I loved about the Vatican besides the artwork and sculpture was the ornate stairways and ceilings.

One of the main gallery ceilings. This was the room of maps.

On our way to St. Peter's

The Swiss Guard

This is out in front of St. Peter's. You can see the Pope's apartments and stuff. He comes out of the center top balcony on Sundays and one other day during the week and waves. They have chairs all set up so people can see.

St. Peter's Square

And this gate into St. Peter's Basilica is only open once every 12 years I think. Catholics believe that if they enter through here to the basilica, their sins will be forgiven them. I'm sure I'm not doing the story justice.

Inside St. Peter's. AMAZING! It is SO BIG! You can't tell from the picture but you just feel like a tiny ant inside.

The main dome. You can climb up and walk around the top but we were too tired.

We thought this shot was cool. This altar is built right over St. Peter. He's of course down below in the crypt but right under this huge beautiful altar. Only the Pope can conduct mass from here.

And this one is for you Mom. There are all these huge beams of light shining in and Mom got a picture like this when her and my Dad went.

We ate lunch at this cute place right outside the Vatican. The sandwich was so good! That's eggplant and artichokes on there. They just don't make em like that in the states. And it was grilled with a bunch of other stuff.

And here we are looking like total tourists with our headsets so we can hear our guide in the Coliseum.

Again...pictures just can't show the size. This was the part that they were cleaning but hadn't touched yet.

Inside...again looking like total tourists. It was SO HOT this day in Rome.

And that....is my gladiator!

Cool place!

Here we are in the Roman Forum which is a part of Rome that they have preserved since the ancient times. It has so many levels where they just kept building up on different ruins. It was really cool.

And here is where we wrote a lot of emails and tried to cool off for a bit with some Gelato for an hour trying to recharge. It had already been a really long day and we had walked ALOT!

We stopped in one place that people were coming out of and what did we happen upon?? Uh...Michelangelo's Moses with horns. Who would have known...

Inside the Pantheon right before if started to POUR rain. And thank goodness it did because it was so hot. We have video of the sky darkening and then this amazing thunder bolt and sheets of rain coming down. It was crazy because people just poured into the Pantheon. We watched the storm for about 1/2 an hour from the Pantheon's front porch (for lack of a better word). It was so cool! And then the water just spirals down the opalesk (spelling?). It was really cool! The floors are concave so the water drains out.

Then it cleared away and we were off again. I'm so tired by this point.

It looked really cool after the rain. There were HUGE puddles in the streets everywhere.

Nothing recharges you better than an amazing meal! Again outside on this quaint side street. This seafood pasta was LOADED and so good!! Then they brought out salad and swordfish and Tiramisu for dessert. Hmmmm..

We ate with this family from our tour from New Zealand. They were just the kindest people. We loved them. Their nickname for New Zealanders is Kiwis.

And then we walked around that night soaking it all in until about midnight. We loved Rome. I'm in front of the Pantheon again. Off to Pompeii and Sorrento tomorrow. Stay tuned for more pictures.