Via della Conciliazione, the Way of Concilliation, leading to Piazza San Pietro and St. Peter’s Basillica. Entering the Vatican through the Vatican Museum. We booked a “very small group, early entry” tour. We were among a limited number of other small groups allowed in well before the general public. Given the crowds, we recommend it. Countless halls, each a masterpiece. Where else do you find yourself taking more pictures of ceilings than the stuff they cover? 448 feet to the top of the dome of St. Peter’s. Those are not small trees in the foreground. The Gallery of Maps. Nobody takes pictures of the maps. The official entrance hall to the papal apartments. The Swiss guards in the far distance. I’m not sure what’s with the green light bulbs. The immense nave of St. Peter’s. Inlaid along the floor are markers showing the lesser sizes of other cathedrals’ naves. Even popes aren’t above a little nave measuring, it seems. St Peter’s is as big on the inside as it is on the the outside. Go figure. We exited under a light drizzle, the piazza set for the Pope’s next audience.
