Day 6: The Vatican and Rome

Wednesday morning we hopped a train to Rome. First stop was the Vatican Museum. (Wednesdays are the best time to visit because the papal audience at St. Peter's draws the crowd away)

Admiring the statue of Laocoon. Thanks to Dr. Cluff for making me read The Aenied and The Iliad. John loved this 2000 year old mummy. It creeped me out, but I guess he really likes Egyptian artifacts. More likely he was trying to get his money's worth out of the museum. We visited every room of the 4-mile-long building. I Egyptian-walked through some rooms . . . I had to self-entertain after about 300 pottery displays. Don't worry we were the only ones in this room. Actually the whole suite was empty. When I complained about walking so slowly through the boring rooms, John said we had to "urn" our way to the Sistine Chapel. Then he cracked up about his joke, which made it even funnier. Finally we walked through the map rooms, the last long hall before the Raphael rooms! School of Athens is my favorite Raphael fresco. Then we saw the Sistine Chapel, which was great. The ceiling was tremendous and The Last Judgment made me want to behave the rest of the day. Then we went to St. Peter's Basilica, since the crowds had long since scattered. The Pieta there tipped the scales making Michelangelo my official favorite artist. David was the best, but his other works are so incredible. I don't know a lot about art, but some things are just stunning. Outside of the chapel we saw a Vatican guard. He looked like a jester. After the Vatican, we ventured deeper into Rome. First the Spanish Steps. Can you find John? There he is! Then we stepped into the world's fanciest McDonald's. Don't worry, we didn't waste a meal there we just had to see what Rick Steve's hullabaloo was all about. Pretty ritzy for fast food. Then we threw a coin in the Trevi fountain to ensure our return to Rome. We're both safe. And the change gets collected daily for charity. That 4 cents is tax deductible. It was a fun and busy day.