Rome Day 2
We started our morning on the rooftop terrace of our hotel for a continental breakfast, Yum! The coffee here is rich and delicious, along with fresh ham and roll sandwiches.
A bus (packed with lots of people and no A/C) dropped us off at our first stop of the day, the Pantheon. This is the oldest building in Rome that is still used today. Each column on the front of the building is one entire piece of marble all imported from Egypt. Citizens can and still get married inside and worship services are held regularly. The tallest column in the entire building is the column of light that beams down from the rooftop onto the marble floor 142 below. This is the largest dome building in all of Rome.
Taking after his grandmother, JT is taking time each day to journal about each of our stops along with way. 
After a quick pizza and fruit lunch, we walked to the Vatican. Quick fact: Vatican City is the smallest country in the world and is not apart of Italy… but no passport is needed to get in or out :)
The most grand and marvelous church in the entire world is St. Peter’s Basilica. Hopefully the pictures speak for themselves.
Anyone care for some Holy Water? Tons of people had their bottles and were filling them up.
Once in the Vatican museum, you can walk through 4 miles of art. In the room with the giant rugs depicting various biblical stories, I caught this photo…
This trip we also have a favorite friend to guide us on the way, Rick Steves. Once we arrived in the Sistine Chapel, we listen to the audio guide (free podcast on itunes, gotta love it) and gazed up in amazement at the famous ceiling paintings of Michelangelo. Out of the 9 scenes of creation depicted on the ceiling, the most famous is the one of God’s creation of man.
23 years after Michelangelo finished the ceiling, the Pope asked him the depict the final Day of Judgment on the back wall behind the altar. This is what he painted:
Even though the photo does not do it justice, you can gaze in amazement at each detail while you sit among hundreds of people and take in the depth and meaning of one of the most famous paintings in history.
Internet is limited and our days are full… lots to update you all on and I hope to post more tomorrow!
