Vatican City, The Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, Via Cola Di Rienzo, Plazza Del Popolo, Pincio Park, The Spanish Steps, Ice Cream at the Trevi

Another wonderful day in Rome was had by the South Family Travelers--much to the dismay and amid whines and moans from worn out from traveling and touring South children.

Yesterday, following our tour at the Roman Forum/Palatino Hill, the guide told us that tomorrow, they would be giving tours of Vatican City and the Sistine Chapel and we were very excited about this for several reasons. #1 We knew very little about the Vatican City and the Sistine Chapel and #2 The tour guide was so much fun to listen to, the kids stayed totally engaged and this was a huge perk from the tour. After hearing the prices, Jason was a little dismayed, but still wanted to, so the kids would get the most they could from the visit here. Just then, a cute young lady came up to us and gave us their brochure and prices and they were significantly cheaper. I was worried that it wouldn't be as well done, but Jason decided we would try it out. The hotel bus doesn't leave until 10:15a.m., and the tour was slated to begin at 9:30a.m., so after breakfast at 8a.m., we walked down the road in front of the hotel to the bus stop, where we got on bus 246. We rode for a few minutes, then got off and found the Metro which took us just a block or so from the Vatican where we were starting our tour. The young lady met us again and told us we could hang out in a nearby cafe/bar until we began. We walked in, sat down, the boys started having arm wrestles when Jason noticed the pictures all around us. We quickly decided that the content of these pictures were not what we wanted surrounding the kids, so we headed outside where they had tables and chairs to sit on. We waited for about 15 minutes, paid for the tour, which was 1/2 the price of the other tour company and were on our way.

I was immediately impressed by our guide. She was so kind to the little boys and asked them question after question about our living in Morocco, all the places we had visited and listened to story after story from the boys as we waited in line outside the Vatican City. The line was huge and took almost an hour to get through before we were able to start our tour. We each got or own little ear phone and receptor, so no matter where our guide was, compared to where we were, we could hear her. As we finally went through security and went upstairs to start our tour, a very ornery, older lady walked up to the guide and asked her if she was going to stop babysitting and start giving us information. Our darling guide, Adrianne, kindly but firmly looked right at The Ornery Old Lady and informed her, that she had been talking to each of the children before the tour started to keep us from getting too bored in line, but Adrianne was sure that she (the lady) would be very pleased with the amount of information she would receive once the tour began inside Vatican City. I wanted to give her a big hug and kick The Ornery Old Lady in the toosh for being so rude.

She was so fantastic and she told about each area we went to. She told story after story to us all describing things in terms that the kids would understand, like how Julius II "texted" Michelangelo, to get Michelangelo to leave Florence and come to Rome to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. It was cute. She explained about how they found many of the items located in the Vatican and about how the Vatican was the richest country in the entire world. The Vatican is it's own little country inside of the country of Rome.

I'll finish tomorrow--I'm wiped out!


St. Peter's Basilica, is located within the Vatican City. St. Peter's has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world, holding 60,000 people.[1] It is regarded as one of the holiest Christian sites and has been described as "holding a unique position in the Christian world" and as "the greatest of all churches of Christendom".[2][3][4] In Catholic Tradition, it is the burial site of its namesake Saint Peter, who was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. Probably the largest church in Christianity,[1] it covers an area of 2.3 hectares (5.7 acres) and has a capacity of over 60,000 people. One of the holiest sites of Christendom in the Catholic Tradition, it is traditionally the burial site of its namesake Saint Peter, who was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus and, according to Roman Catholic Tradition, also the first Bishop of Antioch, and later first Bishop of Rome, the first Pope. Although the New Testament does not mention Peter's presence or martyrdom in Rome, Catholic tradition holds that his tomb is below the baldachin and altar; for this reason, many Popes, starting with the first ones, have been buried there. Construction on the current basilica, over the old Constantinian basilica, began on April 18, 1506. At length on November 18, 1626, Pope Urban VIII solemnly dedicated the church[5].

Although the Vatican basilica is neither the Pope's official seat or first in rank among the great basilicas, (St. John Lateran) it is most certainly his principal church, as most Papal ceremonies take place at St. Peter's due to its size, proximity to the Papal residence, and location within the Vatican City walls. In the apse of the basilica is Bernini's monument enclosing the "Chair of Saint Peter" or cathedra, sometimes presumed to have been used by Saint Peter himself, but which was a gift from Charles the Bald and used by various popes.[8]

Sistine Chapel (Italian: Cappella Sistina) is the best-known chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City. Its fame rests on its architecture, evocative of Solomon's Temple of the Old Testament and on its decoration which has been frescoed throughout by the greatest Renaissance artists including Michelangelo, Raphael, Bernini, and Sandro Botticelli. Under the patronage of Pope Julius II, Michelangelo painted 12,000 square feet (1,100 m2) of the chapel ceiling between 1508 and 1512. He resented the commission, and believed his work only served the Pope's need for grandeur. However, today the ceiling, and especially The Last Judgement, are widely believed to be Michelangelo's crowning achievements in painting.

The Sistine Chapel takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who restored the old Cappella Magna between 1477 and 1480. During this period a team of painters that included Pietro Perugino, Sandro Botticelli and Domenico Ghirlandaio created a series of frescoed panels depicting the life of Moses and the life of Christ, offset by papal portraits above and trompe l’oeil drapery below. These paintings were completed in 1482, and on August 15, 1483,[1] Sixtus IV consecrated the first mass in honor of Our Lady of the Assumption.

Since the time of Sixtus IV, the chapel has served as a place of both religious and functionary papal activity. Today it is the site of the Papal conclave, the ceremony by which a new Pope is selected.

Sistine Chapel (Italian: Cappella Sistina) is the best-known chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City. Its fame rests on its architecture, evocative of Solomon's Temple of the Old Testament and on its decoration which has been frescoed throughout by the greatest Renaissance artists including Michelangelo, Raphael, Bernini, and Sandro Botticelli. Under the patronage of Pope Julius II, Michelangelo painted 12,000 square feet (1,100 m2) of the chapel ceiling between 1508 and 1512. He resented the commission, and believed his work only served the Pope's need for grandeur. However, today the ceiling, and especially The Last Judgement, are widely believed to be Michelangelo's crowning achievements in painting.

The Sistine Chapel takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who restored the old Cappella Magna between 1477 and 1480. During this period a team of painters that included Pietro Perugino, Sandro Botticelli and Domenico Ghirlandaio created a series of frescoed panels depicting the life of Moses and the life of Christ, offset by papal portraits above and trompe l’oeil drapery below. These paintings were completed in 1482, and on August 15, 1483,[1] Sixtus IV consecrated the first mass in honor of Our Lady of the Assumption.

Since the time of Sixtus IV, the chapel has served as a place of both religious and functionary papal activity. Today it is the site of the Papal conclave, the ceremony by which a new Pope is selected.

Sistine Chapel (Italian: Cappella Sistina) is the best-known chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City. Its fame rests on its architecture, evocative of Solomon's Temple of the Old Testament and on its decoration which has been frescoed throughout by the greatest Renaissance artists including Michelangelo, Raphael, Bernini, and Sandro Botticelli. Under the patronage of Pope Julius II, Michelangelo painted 12,000 square feet (1,100 m2) of the chapel ceiling between 1508 and 1512. He resented the commission, and believed his work only served the Pope's need for grandeur. However, today the ceiling, and especially The Last Judgement, are widely believed to be Michelangelo's crowning achievements in painting.

The Sistine Chapel takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who restored the old Cappella Magna between 1477 and 1480. During this period a team of painters that included Pietro Perugino, Sandro Botticelli and Domenico Ghirlandaio created a series of frescoed panels depicting the life of Moses and the life of Christ, offset by papal portraits above and trompe l’oeil drapery below. These paintings were completed in 1482, and on August 15, 1483,[1] Sixtus IV consecrated the first mass in honor of Our Lady of the Assumption.

Since the time of Sixtus IV, the chapel has served as a place of both religious and functionary papal activity. Today it is the site of the Papal conclave, the ceremony by which a new Pope is selected.