Day 10 in Rome!

Our final day in Rome. We somehow managed to leave the Vatican Museums for last. It was Monday and many other things were closed in Rome, making the Vatican a popular choice for many. We decided to wait until after noon to go so that the line would die down. In the future we'll book our tickets on line and pay the extra booking fee to avoid the line!


We were actually pretty lucky and didn't have to far to go. It was about a 30 minute wait. One draw back to going late in the day is that they close the Sistine Chapel before the rest of the museum. Since Aud had never been, the chapel was of course a big item on the list of things to see! But first we joined the herd, ummm, line and made our way through as much of the museum as possible.


A reconstruction of the paint on the Augustus from Prima Porta, where Lex dug one summer.








Lots of long halls.


Apollo Belvedere.


Laocoon.


Ajax and Achilles.


Prometheus and Atlas.


Mars.


A view.





The Pope's parking lot.


The Pope's broadcast center.


A map of the Abruzzo where Lex will be working the rest of the summer. She'll be living in the little town of Tornareccio which is located in the bottom right hand corner.


Aud in Venice.


Some Raphael...





We also got to tour through the modern art galleries as we approached the Chapel.











And finally we made it to the Sistine Chapel. But "no foto." After scoring seat along the side of the Chapel for a bit we headed out to take our last tour through the centro storico.


We threw some more coins in the fountain to ensure our return to Rome.





And then we headed back to our hotel to pack and then eat dinner.