The Vatican City

We visited The Vatican City a couple times during our trip...all in the hopes of climbing up to the top of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica.

On Sunday, we attended the Pope's speech, hoping he would give a "shout-out" to AISA, but either he did not do it or we did not hear/understand it. Either way, it was fascinating to watch such a powerful man/world leader speak to his followers.

On Monday, we had tickets to visit the Vatican Museum. We tried to climb the dome before our appointment, but it was too crowded and we didn't have enough time. After we were finished with the museum, the dome was closed for the day, so we decided we would have to try again another day.

Jordan and Jessica infront of St. Peter's Basilica

We had a great view of the Pope during his speech.

Although we are not Catholic nor Italian, it was still interesting to listen to the Pope address his followers.

St. Peter's Square

A Swiss Guard

On Wednesday, we made our way back to the Vatican City in hopes of climbing to the dome of St. Peter's Basilica. Unfortunately for us, the Pope also addresses his followers on Wednesday.

We were told the Basilica was closed to the public until early afternoon. We decided to take a double-decker bus ride to waste time, but when we returned at 1pm, the crowd had moved from their seats into a line. They had the same idea as us; to climb to the top of St. Peter's Basilica. The line would have taken hours to get through, so we made the tough decision to skip St. Peter's Basilica. As Jordan always says, "We have to save something for our next visit..."

Cardinals waiting for the Pope to speak

Yes, we were on TV.

A view of St. Peter's Basilica from the Vatican Museum

The Vatican City walls