So, we got really brave and booked a three hour tour with our girls to the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel, which I sadly knew hardly anything about before our visit. It was simply amazing! This is me, a very enthusiastic tourist, waiting outside for our tour group to enter the museum. Side note: My hair color reveals my latest "lost in translation" debacle in Poland... the hairdresser didn't understand "blonde." Grrrrrr.
Since we were chasing Emily around much of the time, I only got about 1/3 of what our tour guide was telling us... this is a courtyard inside the walls of the museums with a famous pine cone statue? Anyway, great photo op for Em and her daddy.
Me and random sculpture of I'm sure some important Roman. We did the whirlwind tour, our guide told us that is you spent 60 seconds examining every piece of art in the museum, you would be there for 14 years! Do you think she made that up? She could have made everything up and I wouldn't have known any different!
A giant toe of an excavated Roman statue. The guide said the only thing bigger than these statues were their egos. I guess the ancient Romans loved having sculptures/statues made of themselves.
The museum all by itself is AMAZING. Every square inch is covered in art, and so much of it was created in honor of Jesus Christ. The frescoed ceilings and walls, the marble and mosaic floors. It is so incredibly beautiful.
A fresco on the ceiling. All the gold is real.
Mosaic floor... this was the crest of Pope Leo XIII... I couldn't get it all in the picture but do you see the gigantic golden keys? They represent the keys of the priesthood being bestowed on him... interesting.
Check out the ceiling in this loooonnnng corridor.
An example of how every square inch of the museum is covered in art.
Ben dug this painting because it was painted by a Polish artist depicting a Polish general who beat the Turks in some war back in the 1600s (I think).
The "Immaculate Conception" room.
Raphael's most famous work of art: School of Athens. The central figures in red and blue are supposed to be Socrates and Aristotle. I couldn't believe that we were in the rooms where the most famous artists in the world created their masterpieces.
We lucked out BIG time because Caroline slept the ENTIRE time. She was conked out! Our last stop in the museum was the famous Sistine Chapel where Michaelangelo frescoed The Creation, the fall of Adam, and other biblical stories. They wouldn't let us take pictures, but it was surreal to be there. Did you know it took him 10 years to complete it? And, according to our guide, he wouldn't accept any pay for it, he simply hoped his salvation would be secured for his service. I hope he got it! I must say, I had a great feeling of accomplishment attempting what we did with a 2 year old and a 9 month old. They actually did really well! I walked out of the museum and excitedly punched my fist up in the air. Yes, I am a dork.
Then we ran over to St. Peter's square and got a quick picture. We were literally there for five minutes... we hope to get back tomorrow.
After Ben met with some people from the American embassy we dined at this tasty restaurant... Ben ordered some mozzarella, he apparently had something else in mind besides this gigantic ball of cheese... hahaha
I ordered the bruschetta
Caroline ordered a jar of baby food
This was funny... Ben's friend at the embassy told him as an alternative to the typical super thin pizza crusts you can order a "potato" crust which is supposedly thicker. So, Ben did that and he got a super thin crust with roasted potatoes on top. It was actually really delicious.
And then we stopped for gelato...
And our last stop of the night was the Trevi Fountain. The girls were both having meltdowns at this point so we booked it back to the hotel.
Since we were chasing Emily around much of the time, I only got about 1/3 of what our tour guide was telling us... this is a courtyard inside the walls of the museums with a famous pine cone statue? Anyway, great photo op for Em and her daddy.
Me and random sculpture of I'm sure some important Roman. We did the whirlwind tour, our guide told us that is you spent 60 seconds examining every piece of art in the museum, you would be there for 14 years! Do you think she made that up? She could have made everything up and I wouldn't have known any different!
A giant toe of an excavated Roman statue. The guide said the only thing bigger than these statues were their egos. I guess the ancient Romans loved having sculptures/statues made of themselves.
The museum all by itself is AMAZING. Every square inch is covered in art, and so much of it was created in honor of Jesus Christ. The frescoed ceilings and walls, the marble and mosaic floors. It is so incredibly beautiful.
A fresco on the ceiling. All the gold is real.
Mosaic floor... this was the crest of Pope Leo XIII... I couldn't get it all in the picture but do you see the gigantic golden keys? They represent the keys of the priesthood being bestowed on him... interesting.
Check out the ceiling in this loooonnnng corridor.
An example of how every square inch of the museum is covered in art.
Ben dug this painting because it was painted by a Polish artist depicting a Polish general who beat the Turks in some war back in the 1600s (I think).
The "Immaculate Conception" room. 
Raphael's most famous work of art: School of Athens. The central figures in red and blue are supposed to be Socrates and Aristotle. I couldn't believe that we were in the rooms where the most famous artists in the world created their masterpieces.
We lucked out BIG time because Caroline slept the ENTIRE time. She was conked out! Our last stop in the museum was the famous Sistine Chapel where Michaelangelo frescoed The Creation, the fall of Adam, and other biblical stories. They wouldn't let us take pictures, but it was surreal to be there. Did you know it took him 10 years to complete it? And, according to our guide, he wouldn't accept any pay for it, he simply hoped his salvation would be secured for his service. I hope he got it! I must say, I had a great feeling of accomplishment attempting what we did with a 2 year old and a 9 month old. They actually did really well! I walked out of the museum and excitedly punched my fist up in the air. Yes, I am a dork.
Then we ran over to St. Peter's square and got a quick picture. We were literally there for five minutes... we hope to get back tomorrow.
After Ben met with some people from the American embassy we dined at this tasty restaurant... Ben ordered some mozzarella, he apparently had something else in mind besides this gigantic ball of cheese... hahaha
I ordered the bruschetta
Caroline ordered a jar of baby food
This was funny... Ben's friend at the embassy told him as an alternative to the typical super thin pizza crusts you can order a "potato" crust which is supposedly thicker. So, Ben did that and he got a super thin crust with roasted potatoes on top. It was actually really delicious.
And then we stopped for gelato...
And our last stop of the night was the Trevi Fountain. The girls were both having meltdowns at this point so we booked it back to the hotel.
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