Vatican & Colosseum

We got up this morning at Hotel Diana, had a nice breakfast and then went down into the lobby to wait for our tour guide. She was going to take us to the Vatican. It had never made sense to me why Vatican City was able to be it's own country but this changed my mind. The garden + St. Peters Church + the Cardinal's and the Pope's apartments was 5 miles long. 

From the outside, all you could see was the huge brick walls that surrounded it. Once we got in we had to go through security and check any backpacks that were big. The security was kind of a joke because Dad got through with his Swiss army pocket knife in his bag. 

We started in the gardens as we made our way to the Sistine

Chapel. We passed many statues that I thought were really pretty. We stopped to look at 2 marble tombs that were meant for two people so they were enormous. D-Daddy told me they were bathtubs and I completely believed him until our tour guide told us otherwise. The chapel was really cool, all work done by Michelangelo. The guide told us that he did some of the chapel in his 60's! 

Once in St. Peter's Cathedral, I learned that it was the biggest church in the world. We also got to go down into the basement of the church and see where St. Peter's bones were. That is why the church is called St. Peter's, the whole church rests on the top of his grave. Creepy! After leaving the Vatican we took a lunch break and went to a place with a big buffet AND gelato. I got a seafood pasta that was really good with a side of mussels. 

We went back to the hotel and played cards until the tour

guide came again to take us to the Colosseum. This is where gladiators would fight each other to the death or have to fight lions, tigers or other wild animals instead. The picture of the people watching the fight was very sad. None of them were the least bit worried about the people or the animals. They were drawing, playing games, cooking barbecue, drinking wine, getting into fights and betting. If I were them I'd be scared to death that an animal would come after me! 

After the Colosseum we went to the Trevi Fountain. All of us threw a coin in and hoped that our wish to come back to Rome soon would be granted. It was around 7:30 so we were all tired from a long day. Sadly it was our last night in Italy with our cousins. I will miss them a lot but I'm also excited what traveling on our own will be like again. I guess I just have to find out!