Saint Peter's

We got to sleep in (a little) today! Our tour of the Vatican was a little later in the day, so we left at 10am this morning instead of 8:30. We got to do an underground tour of the Vatican, which took us under the foundations of Constantine's church through the Necropolis (city of the dead) where a good number of mausoleums are being excavated. We got to see a few mausoleums and one Christian tomb with lots of beautiful symbolism in it. We weren't allowed to take pictures, but it probably wouldn't have turned out anyway, since it was so dark. It was hot and stifling down there, since they have to keep everything the right temperature and humidity to preserve the frescoes and mosaics down under the Vatican. It was pretty exhausting. We saw Peter's tomb, and all the layers that had been built over it. First was the trophy of Gaius, which was built over the tomb to protect and mark the grave. Then Constantine, a couple hundred years later, built a church around it and stuck his altar above Peter's tomb. The basilica today still has its altar above the tomb. We got to go very close to the original tomb--which not everybody gets to do--and saw the bones of Saint Peter inside. Most of the relics we hear about in Rome are laughable at best (the cradle Christ laid in, the post he was chained to during his flogging, etc.), but the information surrounding these bones' location and surroundings sems pretty legit. It was a little crazy to think that those were probably the remains of someone we read about in the New Testament all the time.
When we were finally able to see the church itself, we were exhausted, and all of the ornamentation inside was a little overwhelming. There were so many tourists there, it was a little like a zoo. I don't think we appreciated that part of the visit so very much. We were definitely ready to get out of there to get something to eat. We found a little place across the river that had a painting on one wall of Snow White's cottage and all of the little Disney animals. It was a little weird, and there was the witch on the menu. Aside from that, the food was really good. I had lasagna for lunch, and linguine al pesto for dinner. Both good choices. Gelato from this really amazing place by the Pantheon (the kiwi stuff tasted like real kiwi. It was phenomenal!), and then home. We have a three-day weekend this week, and I'm really looking forward to sleeping in.

A few pictures...