Day 2 of Rome

I know I said Anguillara was up next but I was too anxious. I still have the second day of Rome to show you. Liz left us on this day, she had a cooking class in Tuscany I think and Lauren and I would do this day and Anguillara together. It was awesome. I hate to use that word because it is so overused but it was truly awesome.  We got up, got ready, had coffee and headed out. We took the bus to the Vatican.

We got there relatively early so it wasn't too crowded. Yet. It would get really crowded later on. 

              The photos do not do any of this justice. Believe me when  I say it is             massive,  impressive and beautiful. 

This, of course, is Lauren. We took each other's photos with our own and each other's cameras because that's how we roll. 

                         

Lauren at the Vatican. I love saying that. "yes, we were just standing around at the Vatican, you know just chillin and checking out the rosaries".

So here is a little history lesson about the Vatican. Vatican city was established in 1929 through the Lateran Treaties which made it an independent state and country. The Pope is the head of state and at the time the Lateran Treaties were signed, the Catholic religion became the state religion of Italy.  At that time also, the church was allocated a certain amount of money to be  paid in one lump sum annually.  Just recently, that was changed and now on citizens personal income tax return there is a series of boxes to check to make your decision about who you would like to get 8% of your income tax. The Catholic church usually, well, always wins and so gets 8% of the people's income tax which actually amounts to more than they were getting originally. Also the church is not the official religion of Italy anymore although over 90%  of Italians are Catholic. However, less than half of those are practicing. Having the Catholic Church not be the church of state has actually made the church more influential rather than less in political matters. 

                                                               The obelisk.

 I know these are bad photos but it's what I have so look at them and maybe you can figure out what it is!! I'm not sure but when Lauren sends me her photos I can probably figure it, replace the photos and describe what it is. But for now, these can be markers of a sort. 

        This is a dragon that I liked on the wall going in to the basilica. 

                                                  And here it is even bigger.

 These guys are the Swiss guards. They have to be Swiss, between 19 and 30, Catholic of course, single and at least 5 foot 9 inches tall. They are the Pope's personal bodyguards. There is a jail at the Vatican and a police force for the approximately 800 plus people who live there.

                               The garden area before going into the Museum.

 So, we were restricted as to what we could photograph. Some things were ok but the good stuff was usually not.  We went to the Sistene Chapel and we were stuffed in there like sardines but it was beautiful. I thought it would have been bigger and the ceiling huge but it isn't. When you think how long it took him and what he had to do to paint that it just doesn't seem possible. 

                                           So beautiful I wish you could see it. 

 We stopped in a little restaurant on our way back to the hotel to have some lunch. The monkey was tired but he was ready for lunch . Lauren had to read the menu to him because he was so tired. We walked alot and there were alot of stairs plus you know, we got lost a few times. We had soup and bread which was delicious. Even the monkey commented on the soup and he usually doesn't like it too much but he thought it was good and wondered if I could possibly get the recipe.  He was hoping I might make it on a rainy day at home for him.  It was cloudy and cool outside and it threatened to rain and then it did rain on the way to the bus stop. We stopped and got umbrellas and waited for our bus. To say the ride back was adventurous is to say the least and it is best left for another day but we got back and decided to go for the Coliseum. We were leaving in the morning and if we didn't see it then we wouldn't see it at all. At least not on this trip.  The Vatican had taken longer than we thought it would so we were running late.


           But this is what we saw when we walked down to see it. 

 We came down the steps and this was just sitting there on the street. 

                                                   In all it's magnificent glory.

 I truly wish I had better photos for you of the Coliseum and I will as soon as I get the ones that Lauren took. So sorry.  All I can say is that it probably was my favorite part.