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[See photos of Rome here]

The Alessandro Palace Hostel on Via Vicenza is still our home after a great night here last night. We did, however, switch to a cheaper room. The service here is great, and the free breakfast is well-done. We are both really impressed with how clean the rooms are here.

Today was all about the Vatican and the Popedom in general. Since the location was well across town, we rode the Metro over in the morning. This was both to shave some miles off of the distance as well as to get a head start on the crowds at the Vatican Museums. The Metro ride was fun since it was during rush hour; 3 trains went by before we could push our way onto one and head down the tracks. I got closer to a lot of Italians than I would have liked to (physically speaking).

At the Vatican we extricated ourselves from the can of sardines only to find a huge line at the Museums’ entrance. It went quickly, though, and we were soon entering the Holy City through a impressive rotating door in its north wall.

Since Erin’s last visit (in 1999) the entrance area has completely changed. For security, all visitors now go through metal detectors. No longer do visitors climb up the double spiral stairway. We did get to use it on the way out, however, and I snapped a couple pictures of its ingenious design.

We spent about 5 hours inside the museum complex and barely skimmed the surface. It houses many, many masterpieces by various artists including Raphael, Michelangelo, and della Porta. One surprise to me was the extensive Egyptian Museum which displayed sarcophogi, artifacts, and statues which had been collected through the years.

The main attraction, of course, is the Sistine Chapel, which is worth all the waiting, pushing, and shoving to get into it. The frescoes are stupendous, monumental, and tantalizingly realistic. Though the place was jam-packed with visitors, we stayed for a long time, staring in awe at the artwork. Just like the other frescoes we’d seen during the day, there was so much detail that it was hard to take it all in.

After leaving the museums, we lunched on pizza Margherita and salad at a sidewalk cafe outside the Vatican walls. We needed to relax our over-stimulated brains. Then we walked southward around the flank of the City to enter into St. Peter’s Square. The morning’s Papal address had left 30,000 odd chairs still in place in the square. The largest in Rome, this huge piazza is a marvel of architectural design. Facing the front of the Basilica, it’s hard not to feel the power of the Catholic church.

We stood in another hour-long line in order to access San Pietro, one of the largest and most important churches in the world. In a word: huge. Even the side naves and chapels are the size of normal cathedrals. The roof is 10 or more stories above, and the cathedral’s length is almost 700 feet from front to back. According to excavations done in the 50’s Peter the Apostle really is buried under the basilica.

Erin and I walked around the inside, checking out statues, columns, and Michelangelo’s famous Pieta sculpture. We peered inside Peter’s tombsite, and then marveled at the countless multilingual confession booths available to the faithful from all nations.

Upon exiting, we got a glimpse of two Vatican guards in full regalia helping to clear the way for heavy tractors bringing in chairs from the square. They did allow several pictures, but were very stoic in their talk and manner. I wondered if their heavy cloaks housed modern weapons…all that showed was a sword and radio.

After leaving St. Peter’s Square we walked along the Tiber River. We were happy to stroll along the tree lined riverwalk, away from the traffic and the crowds. Even if you don’t buy into the Pope being the Vicar of God or any of the other religious aspects, the vast amounts of history encompassed by the collections and the immensity of San Pietro are inspiring.