Day 4

We slept in a little more than usual today. Although it was nice because we don't want to completely exhaust ourselves! The weather was great today, a little cooler with a chance of rain. The rain wasn't going to bother us though because we were planning on spending a majority of our day at The Vatican.
I love the location of our hotel...it is right in the center of everything so all we do is walk from place to place. In fact, Wayne has a pedometer and we have walked an average of 10 miles a day! So I don't feel guilty about having pasta, gelato, and dessert!
The first thing we did today was walk to an outdoor market called Campo di' Fiori. There were lots of booths set up with fresh produce, pasta, clothing, much like a farmers market. We then made our way to Vatican City. I did not know this but Wayne told me the Vatican is its own country! About 1,000 people live there and they have their own post office, radio broadcast and newspaper.
We first toured St. Peter's. Of course it was amazing and huge. There was so much to see. The Pieta is here and is a famous marble sculpture of Mary holding Jesus after he was crucified. It was sculpted by Michelangelo. We were also able to climb to the top of the dome of St. Peter's...521 steps! You couldn't do this if you were claustrophobic! The beginning of the climb was easy, a spiral ramp with wide steps, then the spiral hallway gets more narrow and the steps more steep. Pretty soon you are climbing almost straight up a spiral staircase with the walls about 2 feet wide. Wayne's shoulders were actually touching the walls! There was a rope hanging down to help you climb up. The worst part was that it was a bit crowded, so not only were you hot and moving slow, there was no way you could turn around and go back down! There were actually two girls ahead of us crying because they were having a panic attack! Mama, remember the Eiffle Tower??? But once we made it to the top and got out in the cool air, it was all worth it. You could see for miles!
We were going to do the museum and Sistine chapel too, but they ended up closing at 4 instead of 7 like we thought so we will go back in a few days.
After the Vatican, we toured two churches we missed the day before: San Luigi dei Francessi and Sant'Ignazio. San Luigi has 3 masterpieces painted by Caravaggio. They are gigantic and spectacular. Sant'Ignazio was one of my favorite churches. This church is famous for its over the top Baroque style (flamboyant, ornate, elaborate). The ceiling was painted by Fra Andrea Pozzo. The church was supposed to have a dome built but it ran out of money so the painter painted the flat ceiling in a way that gives you the illusion you are looking up at a domed ceiling. It is so amazing. It really looks 3D and like the figures are coming out of the ceiling. It is mind boggling to think someone painted that in 1691!
We ended our night by finding a cute outdoor restaurant. We got bruschetta, a pasta dish each and a prosciutto pizza. We also had wine, coffee and creme brûlée! Perfect day!