WEDNESDAY 
CITTĄ DEL VATICANO

So we're done with the museum. Now to St. Peter's Basilica.
It was on this spot where French king Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman Emperor on Christmas night, 800 C.E.
A big round circle dedicated to Joannes Paulus II, or Pope John Paul II to you and me.
Along the center of the nave are markers that mark where other churches would end if placed inside St. Peter's. This is as far as the Immaculate Conception Church in Washington would get.
It can be a little tricky trying to figure out some of these church names in Latin, but I can see that Westminster Cathedral in London is 110 meters long.
The main altar. Above the altar is St. Peter's Baldachin, a giant canopy sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
Down there under the alter and the floor are the bones of St. Peter, allegedly.
It's below this box containing bishops' shawls.
And it's all under this beautiful dome.
Hey look, there's God!
The Cattedra Petri, or Chair of St. Peter, is also the work of Bernini.
Above the throne is The Dove of the Holy Spirit. It is not made of glass as it appears. It is made of translucent alabaster.
This bronze statue of St. Peter is a popular one.
People rub his right foot as a sign of reverence. For the record, yes I did too.
Lots of confession booths. Have a seat and wait for the next available priest.
The glass tomb of Pope John XXIII. Popes are like Super Bowls and Chicago albums. Lots of Roman numerals.
The Pieta, Michelangelo's only signed work. Some nutjob took a hammer to the sculpture in 1972. The damage was repaired but now the Pieta is behind a sheet of bulletproof glass.
The tomb of John Paul II. He was in the crypt below but was brought upstairs in 2011 after being beatified by Pope Benedict XVI.
Every quote from Jesus to Peter in the Bible is written in seven-foot letters and wrap around the interior of the church.
All the paintings in the basilica are actually mosaic copies as smoke and humidity would have damaged the originals. This is a copy of Guido Reni's Crucifixion of St. Peter, which is appropriate because it is in the south transept. According to tradition, it is the spot where Peter was killed. He was crucified upside down as portrayed in the picture.
The Punishment of the Couple Ananias and Saphira over the Altar of St. Peter, aka the Altar of the Lie. After lying to St. Peter, Saphira fell to the ground before him. In the background on the right the dead body of Ananias is being carried away.
Opposite the altar is funerary monument of Pope Pius VIII.
Below the basilica is the crypt where a lot of past popes are entombed.
A column fragment and some other fragments of Old St. Peter's Basilica, the 4th to 16th century building that was replaced by the current church.
I suppose this is a wall of the old basilica.
The Choir Chapel.
A list of the popes buried in the basilica. It's a lot.
The Porta Sancta, or Holy Door, is only opened during a Holy Year every 25 years. JP II was the last to do it.
The inside of the door is walled up.
"Peter, look. I can see your house from here." Sure it might be blasphemous if you are a Christian, but it is a damn funny joke.
Still a lot of stuff to be put away from the day before.
Including lots and lots and lots and lots of chairs.
You may have a big television at home, but does it have a huge statue on top of it?
Somewhere in this general vicinity is the border between Italy and Vatican City. There's no line on the ground or anything.

TO ROMA