hellbent hikers homers home

day 2.........  What a sleep!  12 hours or more. We got up at 9am. Today is Vatican day. You need to wear the proper clothing or they wont let you in to the Basilica. We took the shuttle to the Vatican instead of driving,made it alot easier. The shuttle was a few euro from our campsite and the price included a return trip. Once in the Basilica we were amazed at the size. Enormous,huge dome {cupola}.In the centre is the famous canopy by Bernini,situated directly over the tomb of St. Peter. The foot on the bronze of St. Peter is actually worn out from so many people touching it.  We gazed at Michelangelo Buonarottis' "Pieta",a magnificant marble sculpture.WE encircled the Basilica picking up bits of info from all of the tour guides.  All the frescoes,sculptures,paintings.........totally interesting.  We tried to get into the Scavi tour but had to book 3 months in advance.  The Scavi tour is all about the underground excavation work beneath the Basilica.  Catacombs,the tomb of St. Peter etc. For a few euros we were able to climb the stairs to the cupola  {dome} where you can get a true perspective of how massive the Basilica really is.  The people looked like ants down below. The dome was huge,supported by 6 butrices absorbing the enormous weight.  The frescoes were all hand painted and some were done by Michelangelo himself. Another great experience was walking on the roof of the Vatican.  A little souvenir shop and restaurant up there, how cool is that! great view of Roma too! We were glad the long lines to get into the Vatican didn't intimidate us,we were walking through the massive doors in no time.  The Swiss army guards with their colourful striped uniforms gave the Vatican a bit of a fairytale atmosphere.The Swiss have been guarding the Vatican for centuries. We took the metro down to Termini Station to check out the bike rental shop Bici Baci.....27 euros for 3 days but if the bikes get stolen you have to pay for it. The owner said if its not locked up they will disappear so we decided against it. I've seen many locked bikes disappear!  Took the metro back to our camp but not before a quick stop at the Spanish steps to take a few pics of "bob" our intrepid turtle that travels with us.  We got back to the grocery store in time to buy a salad,apples,wine,bread,grana padano and water for tomorrows trip to Napoli.