Another Day in Rome

Today we slept late and then headed over to the Vatican Museum. It was founded by Pope Julius II in the 16th Century with the purchase of one statue. Part of the museum is the Sistine Chapel. The walls were painted by Botticelli in the 1480's, the ceiling was painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512. The mural behind the altar is called The Last Judgement and took Michelangelo 6 years to complete between 1535 and 1541.

We thought we were going to seven countries on this trip, but we forgot to count the Vatican, so we'll actually visit eight countries. Everyplace was more crowded today, but not too bad. When we crossed the River Tiber there were alot of police and a helicopter, and riot police set up. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was at a conference with 6500 political leaders where two of Italy's main political parties were joining into one. This makes Italy's political system closer to having two main political parties, like the United States. There was also a protest about this at the nearby Piazza Navona.

We went to the Church of Mary Magdalene, where we saw the tomb of Saint Camillus who founded an order of clergy dedicated to helping the sick. He is the Patron Saint of Nurses and Hospitals.

After dinner, we stopped at many gelateria's looking for the perfect type of vanilla. We went back to the Trevi Fountain just to be safe.

Tomorrow we plan to visit the Colosseum and maybe the zoo. Later in the week we plan to go back to the Vatican to visit Saint Peter's and the Pieta.