On top of St. Peter's

After being here 7 weeks, we finally made it into St. Peter's Basilica. We had felt quite snobbish going down to St. Peter's square, sizing up the lineup and saying, "Nah, not today. Poor tourists."

But eventually we decided to spend 20 minutes in line and make our way into the church. We went to the Basilica the last time we came to Rome and fell in love with Michelangelo's Pieta statue and were in awe of the sheer size of the place. This time when we entered, it was no less impressive but the shock factor was gone. So we decided we needed to see or do something we hadn't done before. Since the church follows all blogs, I wasn't invited into the Vatican museum to see all their secrets, so we were left with the option of going up, way up.

It takes 550 steps to get to the top of the dome. For 2 Euros you can cut the steps by 200 and take an elevator part way up. But 4 Euros between us gets a drinkable bottle of wine so we decided to walk. Our four flights of stairs at our apartment was perfect training for the trek and except for a few claustrophobic moments when the stairs were about 18" wide and the arc of the dome forced you to bend to the side while you walk, we made it to the top.

So there we were with a hundred other people fighting for space on the railing that overlooks St. Peter's square. Now I'm not one to judge... ok, sure I am.  But I don't care how much you pretend that you're having a religious moment standing at the railing, you're supposed to have a look, take a few pictures then back away to let the next layer have a crack at the rail. Darn nuns.

My vertigo kicked in (makes it sound like a medical condition as opposed to just fear), so Sue was responsible for taking pictures. We eventually decided to descend to a lower deck below the dome and actually on the roof the Basilica. Although we had great rear views of the statues that adorn the roof top of St. Peter's, it was the souvenir shop that caught my eye. I can imagine the Pope and Cardinals discussing what was needed to get the young back to the church. I believe it was the hip cardinal from Chicago that suggested a rooftop patio, but they settled on the souvenir shop. I was lamenting the possibility of drinking a Corona on top of St. Peter's.

Given that Michelangelo designed the dome, it was a worthwhile adventure and I'm glad we conquered the Catholic Everest.