July 8 - Vatican, St. Peter's

What a day! We started the day with a tour of the Vatican museum. We had a wonderful guide. She explained much of the history of the paintings of the Sistine Chapel before we went in. It really helped the delegates know what they were seeing.

The hallways to the Chapel (which are part of the Museum) were filled with artwork and tapestries. The hall of maps was really interesting. And I never had a guide explain the tapestires the way Claudia did.

The Chapel was awesome, as usual. We were fortunate that, while there were a lot of people there, it wasn't as crowded as I've seen in the past.

When we left the Chapel, we had a considerable amount of time to explore St. Peter's Bascilica. I have never had the opportunity to really explore before, and today I was doubly blessed. I found a Mass in one of the side chapels, and I was able to attend!

After lunch we met with a priest at St Anne's Church. St. Anne's is the Pope's partish. It is where he celebrated his firrst Mass after being named Pope. It was unbelievable to be sitting in that church.

We also met with a former member of the Swiss Guard. He described how the guard came to be, the requirements, and the responsibilities. He said he's met all of the Presidents in the last 30 years, and had nothing but high praise for the United States.

We did a lot of walking today (6+ miles) but had some great experiences. It's hard to imagine that tomorrow brings our last experiences here.