Day 35 - Rome

Today we saw the Vatican Museums including the incredible Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Square and St. Peter's Basilica. It is amazing how much art and wealth is packed into these buildings. the front facade of St. Peter's Basilica has been restored since my last visit in 1998 and it is a beautiful, gleaming, creamy white. We climbed the dome of the basilica (500+ steps) to the highest point in Rome. We found it funny that, by Roman law, nothing can be made taller. And what can be said of the Sistine Chapel, which has also seen its recent restoration completed? It is simply magnificent and indescribable. You must see it for yourself.

This turned out to be a day of clumsiness! I am usually quite sure-footed, but today I tripped and fell down a short flight of 4 stairs in the Vatican Museum. My attention was on the view, and I landed noisily on my face! Besides a minor twisted ankle and a bruised ego, I came out of it relatively unscathed. Soon after, my wife whacked into a turn-style in the metro, severely bruising her thigh. It would be swollen like an apple and all kinds of purple for weeks to come! What a pair we make.

We walked from the Vatican, across the Tiber River and had a late lunch on the sidewalk patio of a small pizzeria. Then we walked on to the Pantheon and continued to the Trevi Fountain for a day-time view and to watch the hoards of people crowded around. After a smooth gelato, we caught the bus down to some small ruins at the foot of the Capitoline Hill and walked to Circus Maximus where we enjoyed a great veiw of the Palatine Hill with its old emperor palace ruins. We returned to the hotel to plan our Switzerland leg of the trip and make a few hotel reservations.