July 4, 2009 -Rome

St. Peter's Dome

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This morning a couple of shuttles came to pick our group up to take us to the Vatican City. We met with our guide and started on our tour through the Vatican Museum. The Museum is a long hallway with decorative ceiling and it is full of sculpture, paintings, and tapestries. Then we made our way into the Sistine Chapel. The ceiling was painted by Michelangelo in. Then we went into St. Peter’s Basilica. It is the largest church in the whole world. The ceilings look as if they are full of paintings but as we went up inside the dome you could see that they were all mosaics that were made with tiles as big as my fingernails. To get up in the Dome we had to walk sideways in some parts and up over 350 steps plus an elevator ride. Once on top the view was stunning. You could see all of Rome stretching into the horizon. Then a group of us headed on our way to the Pantheon. The Pantheon is a huge domed building with pillars in the front. While we were inside they started a Mass service so we sat down and watched. It was all in Italian so we had no idea what was going on so after about a half hour we left. Then we made our way back to the hotel. Later a group of us got together and sang the Star Spangled Banner in remembrance of the 4th of July.

Ceiling in the Vatican Museum

View from St. Peter's Dome

Interior View of St. Peter's

Sistine Chapel