The Vatican, the Sistine Chapel and the Colosseum

The first three are of the Colosseum. There aren't words to describe how huge it is. Amazing.



An angel in the Basilica of St. Peter.

A mumified Pope. weird.

Dad had to cover his knees with a scarf because you couldn't show your knees or your shoulders.

All of us outside the Vatican.

Inside the Vatican, walking to the Chapel.

The courtyard at the Vatican. The ball is complete bronze.

The front of the Vatican, where the Pope is seen from the balcony on tv.

What a day!!! We started out at the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel where we saw Michaelangelo's work on the front wall and ceiling of the Chapel from the Renaissance. It was breathtaking. So many things to look at...everywhere you look is a work of art. We saw the place where the Pope waves from when we see him on tv! We also went to the Basilica of St. Peter, where his tomb is. There, we walked through and saw where some of the previous Pope's have been either placed in tombs, mumified, or enshrined. We learned about mosaics and saw the art done with extremely tiny pieces of tile. The Vatican was so crowded (it gets 26-27,000 visitors every day!) Then we traveled to the Colosseum, where the Gladiators used to battle animals in front of thousands of spectators. They told us that the sand on the ground would be covered with blood and at the end of the battle each gladiator still alive would go to the emporer and the emporer would give either a thumbs up or a thumbs down. (Up meant they put on a good fight and they got to live.....thumbs down meant death.) After the morning excursions, we went back to the hotel and slept for 3 hours. We love our tour guide. He makes my dad laugh a lot. Hope you enjoyed some of the pictures from the morning excursion into Rome.