Rome!

 Our next stop was Rome! The port for Rome is actually like a two hour train ride away from Rome so we didn't have very much time in the actual city at all. We were there on a Sunday so we did not get to see the Sistine Chapel- however we did get to go inside the Vatican City and see St. Peter's Basilica and the Colosseum. Both were awesome!  

Inside the Vatican

I couldn't help but laugh at these awesome uniforms the Vatican Guards have to wear....

Jesus and the twelve apostles on the top of St. Peter's Basilica

The Pieta by Michelangelo - I loved this sculpture of Mary holding Jesus after the crucifixion. It was behind bullet proof glass so you didn't get a really good look at it but beautiful none the less

I guess some Popes have themselves preserved in wax after they die and then their bodies are displayed in St. Peter's forever. This was legitimately one of the creepiest things I've ever seen though...

The Dome of St. Peters

We walked to the very top of the St. Peter's dome up a million stairs in these crazy stairwells that were teeny tiny and eventually you had to move up the stairs at an angle because you were up so high in the dome! It was sooo crazy!

We finally made it to the top!

The Pope's residence- visible from the top of another dome we trekked up to

And the reward for our labors... the most wonderful pistachio gelato!

Another shot of the top of St. Peter's

On the roof of St. Peter's- you can the sculptures of Jesus and the apostles in the background

After St. Peter's we headed over the Colosseum

a panoramic shot of the inside of the Colosseum

This building- though I can't remember what it is- was made from granite that was taken from the Colosseum after it was no longer in use... I guess the whole outside and inside of the Colosseum was originally covered in beautiful granite that was bit by bit taken and used elsewhere in Rome to build other magnificent structures... pretty funny huh?