It was my last day here in Italy, and I’ve gone out with a bang.  It was an action packed day that ends a wonderful trip of a lifetime.

I awoke this morning and took the subway to the Vatican subway stop to have breakfast with my friend Hannah from Venice.  We ate at a little cafe where I ordered a croissant and orange juice.  I was pleased to find it was American style orange juice instead of blood orange juice.  I can’t tell you how excited I was!  I don’t even like orange juice that much, but i paid four euros for another glass, because I had been so sick of blood orange juice.

Hannah and I left and then headed for the entrance to the Vatican Museums.  She had a voucher for an entry ticket, while I had a voucher for a guided tour.  We said goodbye and she headed inside while I waited for my tour.

The tour began with a brief history of the Sistine Chapel and a model of Vatican City.  After this we proceeded into the museum.  We passed the Hall of Sculptures, a few courtyards, and entered a room where Nero’s pool sat in the middle.  It was quite a big pool that sat in the center of the room.

We followed that by walking through the Room of Tapestries and then the Room of Geographical Maps of Italy.  Following this, we toured the rooms that the painter Rafaello had painted.  He had painted them for the Papal Residence in the earlier days.  There were numerous murals and they all seemed fit for a pope.

The Vatican Museums are among the largest in the world.  Our tour guide said it would take two days to make it through all the museums, so of course we only saw a little portion.  The parts we saw were quite interesting and I feel it could compete with most art museums in the world.

We then took a short break before arriving at the Sistine Chapel.  It was quite beautiful.  Pictures weren’t allowed, but of course I secretly took them anyway.  Fun fact: Michelangelo did not actually paint the Sistine Chapel lying down.  He was just standing up.

After the chapel, we took a group exit and arrived at the side of St. Peter’s Basilica, the central point of the Vatican.  We went inside and I immediately dropped my jaw.  This place was huge!  It was by far the largest church I had ever seen.  It was quite a hike from one end to the other.  We started around the sides of the church and arrived at a statue by Michelangelo of Mary holding her son’s dead body.

After this we saw the grave of Blessed Pope John Paul II.  We learned that any pope who was undergoing the beatification process would have their body moved to the Basilica.

After this we saw the grave of Blessed Pope John XXIII.  His body is unique in that it is in a glass tomb.  You can see the embalmed body of John XXIII and I found that to be quite neat.  His body is well preserved and was one of the most interesting parts of the Basilica.

We then saw the main alter, which featured Bernadini’s Baldacchino, a large wooden structure over the altar.  Under the altar is the tomb of St. Peter, the first Pope of the Church.

We then exited into St. Peter’s Square where the tour ended.  From the front of the square, you can only see the front of the church and not the enormous dome.  You have to walk to the far edge of St. Peter’s Square to be even able to see the entire church with the dome.  The tour guide pointed out the window where the Pope lives, the balcony where the newly elected Pope is revealed for the first time, and the chimney where the smoke indicates if a Pope has been elected.

After the Vatican I came back to my hotel and rested until I met my high school friend Jerelyn at the Spanish Steps.  She did a fun walking tour and we got to see the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, a bunch of churches, the university she attends, the Tiber River, Castle Sant’Angelo and the Vatican again.  It was quite a fun night and it was great to see her again.

Tomorrow I leave at 9 am for the Rome airport.  I can’t believe another Europe trip has come and gone.  It seems like it has been a long time since I have been in Venice.  I have three days at home before heading back to Ole Miss.  I will update one last time when I arrived home in North Carolina tomorrow.  Ciao from Roma.

Here are the links to the final two Rome albums:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2550893657286.2118082.1402200167&type=1&l=4e65787081

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2553382319501.2118130.1402200167&type=1&l=78c5735b5b