St. Peter Picked a Peck of Popes

Friday, 6 July, 2012

Wow, today was exhausting!  We went to the Basilica of Saint Peter and to the Vatican Museum.  The line for the basilica wasn’t too long but we still had to wait in line to go through security (metal detectors and X-ray) and then be checked that we were appropriately dressed.  Women must either wear skirts or pants knee-length or longer and sleeves (no bare shoulders), Men must wear sleeves and long shorts (close to knee-length) to show respect.  I keep a scarf in my backpack for times like this.  I’m OK, but the girls have worn tank tops and shorts and need to cover up.  One church we went to had little tissue paper coverups to wear as shirts or tie on as skirts--why that makes a difference I don’t know.  It was pretty funny though watching men and women walking around shrouded in see-through tissue paper clothing.  At St. Peter’s you simply weren’t allowed in.  It was pretty, but not wow like some other churches we’ve been to.  Some nice statues.  We got to see the Swiss Guard in their striped uniforms.  

One of the domes

Joshua is pretending to be the Pope looking out over St. Peter's Square

Swiss Guards

St. Peter's square

Basilica of St. Peter

Then we went to the Vatican Museum.  Wow, great paintings, mosaics, and tapestries.  Lots of sculpture.  We also went down to the museum of the Pope’s carriages and cars.   We saw the “popemobile” and a very fancy carriage that Shelby wants--it looks like it should belong to Cinderella (except not a pumpkin).  We saw the Sistine Chapel and agreed that it was uninspiring (sorry Michelangelo).  

A ceiling (I like ceilings!)

More ceiling art

The staircase going down

That night, we went back out and walked to a different neighborhood with a lot of restaurants and Annie got to choose which one to have dinner at to celebrate her birthday.  (She unwrapped a present and opened a card this morning).  We ate (very good ravioli stuffed with cheese and spinach) then kept walking.  We walked by the ruins of the forum and the coliseum.  We’ll come back tomorrow to walk around inside, but nightime photos are nice to have as well!  

The Coliseum at night

Two lovely young women with tired feet