Rome

We started the day at the Vatican.  The crowd was stifling and we only got to see about half of what I had hoped to see.  We did make it to the Sistine Chapel, which, in spite of the crowd and the annoying guards shouting "no pictures" and "shhhh" every few minutes, is still an amazing place.  Two delightful things we learned:  1) a certain cardinal that complained about the nude figures in "The Last Judgement" was portrayed by Michelangelo as the guard into hell just above the entry and 2) when the cleaned the ceiling, they discovered that Eve appears already with God, loving over God's shoulder as he gives life to Adam.  Interesting concept!

We entered St. Peter's Basilica just as a mass was ending.  The abundance of images in that amazing building is overwhelming and provides for some interesting comparisons to the many images we have seen of the Roman era throughout this pilgrimage.

After lunch we toured the Colosseum and part of the Roman Forum.  By then we were maxing out our input tolerance so decided to call it a day and headed back to the hotel for an early dinner.  Tomorrow is our last day and we have decided to visit the Pantheon, then attend a sung Eucharist (in English) and conclude with a visit to the Ara Pacis (Altar of Augustan Peace).  That should leave a fair amount of free time.  The final activity will be a farewell dinner at a restaurant near our hotel.

I have given up trying to get video posted from this hotel so have uploaded more pictures instead on Facebook:  Pilgrims in Rome