Spanish Steps, People's Plaza, Vatican, Trevi Fountains... all in one day!

I just attempted to listen to a podcast for my online class and pretty much fell asleep. I think I better listen to it tomorrow! We had such a full day here in Rome that it is no surprise I'm ready for an early bed time.

We started our day with breakfast with the sisters. It is so wonderful to get to know some more members of the ASC and they have all been so nice and helpful!

Once we had a couple cups of coffee and some food, Raymond and I went to find the metro. Our first stop of the day was the Spanish Steps! This beautiful staircase is huge and surrounded by famous brands... Guchi, Prada, Burberry, Cartier anyone? Yes, we had to go inside and take a look!

From there we went to the People's Plaza and had a look around the giant square. We also found some delicious gellato... mmmmm it can't get any better than it is here. You can stop at any of the little shops and they are all fantastic!

Before heading to the Vatican we bought pizza. I didn't really understand what was going on between me and the man behind the counter, but we ended up with four giant slices for about $8, and it was the best pizza I have eaten in a VERY long time!

The Vatican was definitely the highlight of our day. We took another tour and so we were able to skip the two hour line to get in, but the place was still packed! I think there were ten times as many people at the Vatican than the Colosseum yesterday. Anyway, we walked through the giant Vatican museum, housing hundreds of thousands of artifacts, and saw some really cool and famous artwork (but not everything because it is estimated that even if you only spend one minute in front of each piece in the museum, you would be there for about 12 years).

This is us, standing in front of St. Peter's.

This is the tomb of St. Helen. It's made of the same marble I was telling you about yesterday! Can you imagine how long it took to carve that? And how much it is worth today?

And here is one giant bathtub that is a solid piece! It was cut from one big chunk of this marble!

At the end of the museum is the Sistine Chapel. WOW! It was so amazing to stand under the artwork and know it was painted nearly 500 years ago. Simply magnificent! Sorry, no pictures were allowed inside.

After seeing the chapel, we finally went in to the biggest church in the world! I was completely blown away by the scope and magnificent size of St. Peter's Basilica. It was also really interesting to look at all the marble and know it came from the Palatino and Colosseum 2,000 years ago! Most of my pictures really didn't turn out well because there was barely any light, but this is the original Pieta--we stood right next to it.

When leaving the church we found ourselves in St. Peter's square. The news coverage on TV does not give it justice. It is giant and can hold so many people! Get ready for a podcast later... that's where we shot it for the day!

We finished the day with cannoli and a trip to the Trevi Fountains. The area was packed, so we didn't stay very long, but it was beautiful!

Mass and a castle adventure tomorrow!