Our day at the Vatican City

Hello all - Well i've been home for a day or two now - the Dr said i 'may have' german measles - i don't feel too sick but i don't want to make anyone else sick either so i'm staying at home. I have had my shots so it probably isn't german measles but better to stay put - esp if i came across anyone that was pregnant - Amanda I bet you are glad i'm all the way over here now!
So after lounging about all day i thought i should post some more pics of Rome - Day 2 and here they are...
Well day two it pretty much just rained... We slept later than we wanted to and then had to make our way quickly across Rome to the city Vatican to meet our tour guide out the front of the Vatican Museum. I should point out too that on this day that the Romans thought it might be good to practice what it would be like if the terrorist attacked... i know... wha? Trains were out, so were buses and traffic lights, there were police everywhere and helicopters were buzzing over head. Of course this also meant that all the tourist attractions in Rome were shut and every tourist in the land had decided that it would be a good idea to go to the Vatican City... that day.... Our tour guide said he'd never seen lines so long for the museum and St Peters and with the rain still steady pouring... cancelled our tour... Being tough young things though we decided to join the MASSIVE lines to see what we had planned. You can see above what it was like in the line for 2 hours in the wet with soggy feet and people tipping water off their umbrellas straight down your neck... shiver...
The Vatican museum was well worth the wait - it was just amazing. The photo I have included here is of the ceiling in one of the many rooms of the Vatican (and yes i was allowed to take photos). Our guide Brendan was really great. We all wore headphones on the tour so that we could hear him talk about many of the different painting and go in to detail about just what we would see when we entered the Sistine Chapel - which was stunning - more breathtaking than I had ever imagined and to think that it had been painted by just one man.
From the Sistine Chapel we went to visit the St Peters Bacilica, the biggest church in the world. Nick and I were blown away with just how massive it was. St Pauls in London is second to St Peters and it beats it by a long way. While we were there Mass was being given but the crowds around were too thick for me to be able to get close enough.
To give us a guide of just how big the church was our guide told us that you could fit the Statue of Liberty inside the building... whoa... and then the other story he had was that the pen that the hand of the man in the picture is... 6ft high - now that is huge!
Another amazing thing about the art was that it was all in mosaics, I didn't believe it at first but on closer inspection it was true. On our way out of the church we were lucky enough to pick up invites to attend the Pope's meet and greet on Wednesday. An opportunity we could not pass up.
That concluded our Vatican tour and the next stop was the City postoffice where we sent a souvenir postcard to our families - complete with the Vatican stamp. We spent the rest of the day strolling along the river.. (it had finally stopped raining) and enjoying Rome. We were exhausted that night and fell in to be... nursing aching feet but it was well worth the wait.
Hope you've enjoyed the latest update - will post more and hopefully will have some exciting news then too.
James and Lex all the best for Saturday. Nick and I both wish we could be there for you both. Congratulations and be sure to send photos!
Love Cherry xx