Tuesday in Rome...

So, yesterday, we headed to Vatican city.  We started out the day with an audience with the Pope.  We and a few thousand people were seated in chairs in St. Peter's Square to hear the Pope speak.  Let me tell you... it was HOT!  As Ray said, it felt like we were sitting in a slow cooker.  Still, it's the Pope!

Yep, that's him in the middle.  The service lasted about an hour and a half.  We immediately headed for shade and water when it was over.  We had "lunch" at a cafe close by.  I say lunch, but really it was large bowls of gelato (soooo good) along with lots of liquid.

After lunch we headed back over to the excavation offices for the Scavi Tour of the ancient tombs below the Vatican.  It was very impressive.  Hard not to be awed by architecture and tombs that were built around 150 A.D.  After the tour, we headed up to St. Peter's.  It is awe inspiring!  You can't not be impressed with the art, sculptures and tombs.  Michelangelo's Pieta brought tears to my eyes.  Here's a shot of just one of the domes...

Last night we ventured out to the Trastevere neighborhood for another fantastic meal.  Do they have bad food in Italy?  We finished at the restaurant around 11p.  Ray and Maggie got a taxi due to the hour.  I walked back to the hotel with Sara, Tony, Jenn and Paul.  We detoured by the Trevi Fountain on the way back.  The tradition is that you throw a coin over your left shoulder into the fountain to ensure your return... I wanted to toss in paper money to make sure the fountain knew I was serious, but Sara convinced me to throw a penny.  Here they are, ensuring their return!

Then we headed back to get ready for Thursday.  We have more stuff to see!