February 12

Day 43

Our day started off by finding some inserts for my shoes... cause my feet are so sore.  Thankfully there was a little drug store just a couple doors down from our hotel.  We also walked through this little park that was across the road from our hotel.  Like I mentioned before, there are ruins all around Rome.  I love it.

This day was spent exploring the Vatican.  There was quite a bit of media around, since the Pope had just announced that he would be stepping down.  Once again, we were so surprised with how many people there were here.   It seemed like it was a day of standing in line.  Long lines of over an hour wait.  We found that the lines usually resulted from security check stops (which I don't understand why they have anyways, because they have metal detectors that you walk through and EVERYONE beeps and they just wave you through.... and that's the case in every museum in Europe it seemed)    Anyways, we enjoyed looking through the museums.   So much to see....

So many people!  And yet, February is the least busy month of the year.

Strategically placed fig leaves... they draw your eye, more than if they weren't there. Only in the Vatican did we see them on the statues.   And obviously only on some.

One of the most famous statues.  Laocoön

They also had a lot of Egyptian artifacts

Beautiful ceiling in the Gallery of Maps

Another famous statue.  The Belvedere Torso.

St Helena's Tomb

Amazing tapestries that covered the walls.

Staircase on our way out of the Vatican museums

 We then went for a walk over to St. Peter's Basilica.    Once again, it was super busy and long lines.  Big and beautiful.  There is no end to all the details.

Pieta by Michelangelo

A lot of statues that look like this

The sun was starting to set.   Made for beautiful photos!

We still had some time in Rome, so we decided to go and see the Spanish Steps.

So busy, even though it was getting late in the evening

Of course we got the geocache that was right at the Spanish Steps.

After a long day, it was time for us to say good-bye to Rome.   We caught an evening train and we headed to Florence.  Thankfully it was a fairly short train ride, just two hours.
On a side note, this is what Cam spent his time doing on the train...

Cam keeps the most detailed records.  He writes down EVERYTHING.  What we spend on food, transportation, hotels, attractions, spending... right down to the penny.   He also has a detailed list of everything we are to see and do and what times are and where they are.....
Anyways, it's a good thing he enjoys this kind of stuff, cause it's not my thing and I will admit that I didn't do anything in the planning of this trip.  In case I haven't said it.... Thank you so much Cam for all your hard work.