Rome - Day 3 - The Vatican

We had a great plan for the day - head to a few churches to see some more dead saints, tour the Villa Farnese and then meander toward the Vatican. Our first stop was a quaint little church that wasn't so little - the grand marble entrance and interior was fantastic. The Villa tour was equally great -with amazing paintings to sit and ponder. As we made our way closer to the Vatican, you could feel the energy change. More people, more tour guides with their ridiculous umbrellas and the temperature rising.

We grabbed lunch and ate it in line to see St. Peter's Basilica....not a long wait, only about a half hour. We made sure we were wearing church appropriate clothes as to not be stopped by the church clothes police at the entrance and made to wear a paper poncho. As we entered, my jaw dropped. Holy holy places! It was ENORMOUS! It was neat to see the floor markers where other churches compare in size. I was in awe of the sculptures and grandness of the entire place. Wow - that's really the only word I can come up with right now.....I'm sure I'll come back and re-write this one, but wow.....that's my word.

Next stop.....the Vatican Museum....yep.....standing in line.....with about 10,000 others.....waiting....to see.....the Sistine Chapel.....in line......all together.....in the hot sun......for 2 and a half hours.......

There may have been an "issue" with some of the tour groups that CUT IN FRONT OF US in line...but I've vowed to remain calm, and take deep breaths. It was just amazing to me - see all of the people in line, dump out your tour bus and just cut in line - it doesn't matter that people have been waiting forever. grrr. Ok, I'm done. For now. I really tried hard not to be the ugly american bitchy woman....I really did....and I really hope that Czechoslovakian guy that I was wearing as a cape didn't understand english. Anyway- we got in, we headed directly to the Chapel....and after about a 15 minute walk we entered......and we stood in amazement as we read through our book learning about all of the different panels. It was kind of like the Louvre - I'm really glad I went, but don't really need to go back. I'd rather be dropped in the grape fields of Tuscany, thank you.