The Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica

On Wednesday, we went to the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica. It took us about 25 minutes to walk over from our B&B to the Vatican. The weather was sunny and promising to be a hot day indeed, but we were dressed modestly as required when visiting the Vatican (ie. shoulders and knees covered). We walked up the main street towards the square and took a few pictures:Once we got closer, however, we started to notice crowds like this:We had to walk through a metal detector just to get into the square, and the main entrance was all blocked off by barricades. It seemed that the Pope was going to make an address, despite the fact that our guidebook said he would be on holidays until later in the fall. Anyway, we decided to stay for a bit and see if he was going to show up before we went to the Vatican Museum. We didn't push into the main crowds, however, and just stayed at the back, but we didn't have to wait too long before something started happening. First, a helicopter flew by. Minutes later, the Pope-mobile drove into the square with the Pope inside, and it drove around the square (on pre-blocked off roadways within the crowd) for several minutes while music played over loud speakers. As well, the Pope was filmed and put on large screens around the square. Here is a picture of the Pope in the crowds:Can you spot him? He's the guy in white! After cruising around the square, the Pope-mobile drove up to the stage at the front of the square and offloaded the Pope. After hearing him talk for awhile (in another language - is he German?) we headed off to go to the Vatican Museum.

Here we are in a courtyard in the Museum:Another courtyard in the Vatican Museum:With some modern art:Inside a fancy room full of marble statues:Statues:View over Rome from a window in the Museum:After the Museum, we went back to St. Peter's square and took some more pictures now that the crowds has dispersed.Next, we went inside St. Peter's Basilica. It was difficult to take pictures in there because it was quite dark, but we managed to get some.After all that walking, we were pretty tired so we headed back to the hotel to rest before I got ready for the conference banquet that night.