Vatican

 Today started at 5:45am...when you are retired, getting up at this time is miserable but it turned out to be a smart decision.

Once we got together with our tour group, we headed inside Vatican City to have a nice breakfast in one of the gardens before beginning the tour. We met some fellow Americans and ate breakfast with a couple from Scotland. 

After breakfast, we started a 3 hour tour and I swear half of the time was spent walking UP stairs!! We saw some amazing marble sculptures frescoes and tapestries.

We finally made it inside the Sistine Chapel, it's smaller than expected but stunning.  Wish I could share a picture but no photography was allowed in the chapel.

We started making our way out down this beautiful spiral staircase.

The rest of the day is unscheduled which is welcomed down time...maybe a nap will be added to the afternoon.