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Today, Sophia and i decided to go visit the place we came to see: Vatican City. We had a quick lunch of the meat and cheese we had bought the night before. Then we walked to the nearest tabacchi (tobacco shop) to buy some week long metro (good for bus, subway, or rail car) passes, grabbed some cappuccinos at a nearby cafe, then walked down the Spanish Steps again to go to the nearest subway station.
After a couple stops, we got off at the stop nearest to St. Peter's Square and walked a couple block. We entered St. Peter's Square from the north side and the sheer scale of the square was unbelievable. Sophia and I had seen pictures and videos, but nothing can capture the size of the square. It was truly a marvelous sight.
We decided to go into St. Peter's Basilica, so we got in line and went through all the security checks. St. Peter's Basilica was also of a massive scale and beautiful as can be. There are many popes and saint entombed in the Basilica and there were many, many alters, all with gorgeous artwork and architecture. One truly feels awe-inspired by all the sites.
Contained in the Basilica was the Historic Art Museum, which housed many beautiful and ancient works dating all the way back to the Renaissance. There were even some pieces which contained relics of saints and even one with pieces of the original cross of Jesus' crucifixion. There were also many Byzantine works. Unfortunately, we could not see all the pieces of art because the church and, hence, the museum were closing. We bought some souvenirs at the shop for people back home and we left the Basilica and St. Peter's Square.
We hopped the subway back to the hotel and stopped by a Pizza stand to grab some dinner. Instead of walking up the Spanish Steps, we took a side elevator up to the level where our hotel was. The Spanish Steps are an awesome sight, but climbing up the 135 steps isn't always the easiest thing to do at the end of a long day of walking.
We enjoyed our pizza in our room and filled out postcards before turning in for the night.
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