We were on our feet for 13 hours and walked 11.5 miles! The weather was perfect with need for a jacket to start and end the day and otherwise we were in shirtsleeves enjoying the sun and clear skies..

The morning started with a quick subway ride to the Vatican. We rode  the bus (very clean and efficient) last night, so it was fun to see how the subway worked. The group spent the morning in a private tour of the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel, and Saint Peter’s Basilica, the largest (by a long shot) Catholic church in the world. We each had a headset so we could hear our amazingly well informed guide dazzle us with facts, figures, ancient tapestries, paintings, statues, and mosaics. It was all truly amazing, so it was easy for the guide to keep us spellbound. Favorites for me were seeing marble tubs made in Egypt and shipped to Rome for the baths; going downstairs in Saint Peter’s to see where 100+ popes are laid to rest; and being inside the Sistine Chapel.

We had the afternoon free, so we six laid out a walk that took us to all sorts of easily accessible ruins, sites, monuments, and outdoor sculptures and fountains. We did it all at a leisurely pace and had such an enjoyable afternoon. Everywhere we looked there was yet another amazing thing to see. We stopped four times to snack in spite of having had a wonderful lunch. Our favorite was a rooftop restaurant with amazing views of the city where we enjoyed Prosecco,  soft drinks, and snacks. It could not have been a half hour later when we shared a paper cone of French fries. Next was coffee.

Biggest surprise of the day: a bird pooped on Josie’s head. I hate to say we laughed, but we all did get quite a kick out of it. What made it funny in part was that Matt had mentioned earlier in the afternoon that he read about this possibility and the advice to let it dry and then it will brush right off. Who knew how handy that tidbit would be?

Best toy of the trip so far: the selfie stick that Josie bought on the street. That little thing has brought us joy.

It’s a bit embarrassing to say we also had dinner, but we actually did. To tone it down a bit we shared dishes so we’d have room for gelato. We had to earn the gelato though since it was a 20 minute walk from the restaurant.

We got back to the hotel at 9:15 with the task of getting organized for an 8:30 departure tomorrow. First order of business was to take off my shoes!