On our 3rd day in Rome we got up quite early & took a tour of Vatican City. Of course, the rest of the tourists in the city decided to do this, too. However, our pickup from the hotel was at 7:15 AM. We went outside to hop into the van and were greeted by two Italian men carrying really big Italian guns. It seems that the President of Afghanistan checked into the hotel overnight. It turns out our hotel is popular with the famous. Apparently, President Bush stayed here the last time he was in Rome.
Anyway, we joined two other couples from the hotel in the van. We discussed with some folks from Texas and Wales the difference between "Y'all" and "All Y'all" -- the latter being plural for the former. Who'd of thunk!
Once we got started, our tour included the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel and San Pietro (St. Peter's Basilica). If we had not taken a tour we would probably still be standing in line waiting to get in. Once we were in we were herded like cattle through each part of the museum. However, it was still a very powerful experience & we are now "very best friends" with the 3,000 others who were crowded into the Sistine Chapel (Sardine Chapel?).
We got to see the Sistine Chapel!
After the tour we spent some time shopping next to the Vatican. In one of the stores we ran into the big, hairy guy from the TV show "Lost" (Jorge Garcia, aka "Hurley"). Because we know you are dying to know this, he bought a poster of the Sistine Chapel and a magnet.
We got to see the Sistine Chapel, including the ceiling!
From there, we did some exploring on our own. We stumbled across the Trevi Fountain and from there found our way to The Pantheon.
