It was a good day. We began by sleeping in… oh glorious sleep how I have missed you! We had a 
leisurely breakfast and then meandered over to view the pyramid followed by St. Paul’s basilica. Compared to some of the other sights we’ve seen on this vacation, neither one were jaw dropping, although St Paul’s was an incredibly beautiful church. The pyramid, which was built as Gaius Cestius’ tomb and is now part of the Aurelian wall, had a protestant cemetery behind it which we also visited. The cemetery is also a cat sanctuary/shelter so I had fun petting the kitties (I miss mine!) Next, we attempted to see the Cappuccian crypt, a crypt decorated entirely from the bones of more than 4,000 monks, but it was closed so we retreated to our hotel for a picnic lunch in our air conditioned room. After lunch (and a quick siesta) we headed back to the crypt which Lucas found fascinating and I found very disturbing. Afterwards we hopped on the metro to return to the Vatican to see St. Peter’s basilica and marvel at its monstrosity. The truth is that while it is breathtaking and vast we both felt that it was rather over the top. However, that is apparently the style of the Baroque period in which the majority of the church was constructed. The sheer size of the church is incredible with the letters on the wall standing over 7 feet tall! The real highlight was also seeing Michelangelo’s Pieta, the sculpture of Mary holding Jesus’ crucified body; Michelangelo sculpted this when he was 24 years old… incredible! To end the day we visited the Borghese gardens and then found dinner in a quaint, but tasty, pizzeria.
leisurely breakfast and then meandered over to view the pyramid followed by St. Paul’s basilica. Compared to some of the other sights we’ve seen on this vacation, neither one were jaw dropping, although St Paul’s was an incredibly beautiful church. The pyramid, which was built as Gaius Cestius’ tomb and is now part of the Aurelian wall, had a protestant cemetery behind it which we also visited. The cemetery is also a cat sanctuary/shelter so I had fun petting the kitties (I miss mine!) Next, we attempted to see the Cappuccian crypt, a crypt decorated entirely from the bones of more than 4,000 monks, but it was closed so we retreated to our hotel for a picnic lunch in our air conditioned room. After lunch (and a quick siesta) we headed back to the crypt which Lucas found fascinating and I found very disturbing. Afterwards we hopped on the metro to return to the Vatican to see St. Peter’s basilica and marvel at its monstrosity. The truth is that while it is breathtaking and vast we both felt that it was rather over the top. However, that is apparently the style of the Baroque period in which the majority of the church was constructed. The sheer size of the church is incredible with the letters on the wall standing over 7 feet tall! The real highlight was also seeing Michelangelo’s Pieta, the sculpture of Mary holding Jesus’ crucified body; Michelangelo sculpted this when he was 24 years old… incredible! To end the day we visited the Borghese gardens and then found dinner in a quaint, but tasty, pizzeria. 
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