Woke up early this morning for a long day touring Rome. Docked in Civitaveccia we had about a 45 minute drive to downtown Rome. Our first stop was at the Colosseum. Janine and I had seen it several times in movies and pictures but to see it for the first time was amazing. The tour guide, who spoke excellent English (and who I think has some American in her) was so knowledgeable and articulate. She was integral in our tour in helping us understand the history of the Colosseum. We went inside and toured all levels getting a feel for what life was like inside the gladiator arena back in Roman times.
Before our next tour, we stopped and had lunch at a nice little restaurant in central Rome where they had a meal prepared for us including pasta, veal and wine. It was a nice refresher. Rome was extremely hot and humid.
Our next stop was Vatican City where we headed straight to see the Vatican Museum. Now, the museum is so huge (they say there’s over 3 miles of walking if you want to see everything) that we wouldn’t be able to see everything obviously so we decided to take a short route seeing a few things and then straight to the Sistine Chapel. We saw hundreds of old roman statues created by the many artists and architects of the renaissance period. We also saw some incredible tapestries (huge rugs. These tapestries were gigantic. Some of the biggest rugs you’ve ever seen. The art on them was amazing considering the times back then.
By this time we were getting a bit antsy because the inside of the museum was not air conditioned so it was EXTREMELY hot and humid especially with all the crowds of people we were walking with.
Next up was the Sistine Chapel which was one of the things we were most anticipating. It was beautiful, absolutely stunning to see. The tour guide gave us an incredible take on the inside going detail by detail on just about every single piece of art inside the chapel. She was extremely knowledgeable and it made the experience so much more worth it when you have someone telling you where and what everything is.
We weren’t allowed to take pics (but I did anyway) and we weren’t allowed to speak and the Swiss guard were constantly “shhhing” everyone inside the chapel. We spent a good amount of time in there just ooing and awwing at the marvelous work of Michaelangelo.
Here’s the back wall of the Chapel:
Ceiling:
more ceiling:
Incognito shot!
Our next stop was a tour of St. Peter’s Basilica. Again…STUNNING. Words can’t describe what I felt walking in there gazing at how incredible this place was. Once again, our tour guide was amazing going over every detail as we walked by all sorts of historical artifacts, relics and mosaics.
St Peter’s Tomb underneath the main altar
Stunning! It’s HUGE, look how small the people are!
The “amazing” doesn’t stop as we then leave the basilica and drop right into St. Peter’s Square. Pictures galore, we just couldn’t believe we were finally here experiencing this place. It was truly unforgettable. We had to just sit and stare and try and take it all in as we wouldn’t be there long. I can’t wait till the next time we can come here.
View of the Square:
St Peter’s Basilica from the outside
The Swiss Guard! Yes they still wear those funny outfits.
Great shot of Janine and I in front of the Basilica looking out into St Peter’s Square.
Another view:
After this we were pretty beat from all the walking and the terrible humidity and heat. Hopped on the bus, back to boat, dinner and just relaxed. We had another long day the next day.
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Wow, those pictures are amazing! Sorry you guys had such a hot, and uncomfortable day! But at least you got to see some of the most amazing places in the world!