The Pope, A Friendly Waiter & Our Last Day In Rome

Our last day in Rome......full of the unexpected and a longing to be able to stay longer!!

We arrived at Vatican City by 9:30 and there weren't a lot of people there yet. It's a beautiful place to see. Vatican City is about 110 acres, population approx. 900 people and the smallest country in the world both in size and population. So much history!

As we wandered around we noticed a steady stream of people coming in and they all had a piece of paper. They were going into a fenced off area that had chairs. There was a platform set up and our curiosity grew.

Papal audiences are held every Wednesday at 10:30 in the Vatican. So we saw the Pope and what Ben calls the Pope Mobile. It was neat listening to him in Italian. The audience was made up largely of school groups from all over the world, even one from Oregon :)

We then headed to an outdoor cafe for cappuchinos and pastry treats before going to the Vatican Museums. Then we stopped and did the tourist thing......bought tshirts and sweatshirts from a street vendor. It started raining as we walked to the Museums.

The Vatican Museums.......if I could in any way describe to you what they're like I would give it my best shot but it's one of those places you have to see to believe!
To say they are HUGE, overwhelming to a point and seemingly non-ending is an understatement! You seriously could wander and not find your way out for a good 5 years or so!! ( ok, slight exaggeration:)
It's somewhere you should see. There are some very interesting areas and beautiful things to see. A lot of history gathered from over a long period of time. We all agreed that once was enough tho and it was our least favorite thing we did in Rome.

DJ, Mom and the kids went on ahead of us and found a cafe outside the Museums to eat and relax while waiting for Dad and I. We were of course taking pictures!

The waiter at that cafe was so friendly and had a great sense of humor. He was one of the highlights that day!

We then hit the street just wandering and looking at store fronts. The atmosphere was so great. Lots of people with a rainbow of umbrellas, tree lined streets with the light green haze of budding leaves, beautiful store fronts and the rain added such an adventurous feel to the day!

Overall, we absolutely love Rome and can't wait to go back in a few weeks!! And what a treasure to share that time with Mom and Dad :) Sweet memories..............