Vatican City

The balcony off our hotel room.

We dedicated our entire last day to Vatican City and boy was it worth it. For art lovers, it doesn't get much better than this. The Vatican museum houses some of the most famous religious artwork in the world. Seeing Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel in real life was just breathtaking. We didn't take a lot of photos in the museum because we were trying to just focus on soaking in the experience. We did catch a few shots of some of the big works.

Raphael, The School of Athens

I had never heard of Van Gogh's Pieta. It was the last piece he painted.

When in Rome! After having an art overload, we stopped for some espresso at a local coffee shop. I definitely could get used to this! By the way, Grant is hooked on espresso now.

Next, we walked around St. Peter's Square. It is hard to understand the vastness of this square. It can hold 400,000 people. It was a gorgeous day with sunny warm weather.

Then it was into St. Peter's Basilica. This is the largest Christian church in the world. It was mind blowing.

St. Peter's Basilica

Inside the Basilica.

Michelangelo's Pieta. I have seen this piece in art history books and there it was in real life! 

Heavenly light shining through?

We climbed 500 steps to the top of the basilica. Got a little tight toward the top.

View from the dome. Worth all the huffing and puffing to get to the top.

St. Peter's Square from the dome.

It was just one of those perfect days. We ended our trip with walking along the streets and window shopping. Rome is quite a bustling city after dark. Grant got this great shot of the street near the Spanish Steps.

Then it was time to head back to America. Thanks for following us along our trip. We certainly filled up every day to the max. Now the question is, where to next?