Today we answered a 5:30 wake call to go visit the Vatican. Both of us were a little bleary eyed after last night, but we managed. When we got to the Vatican there were already huge lines, but we had reservations so we went right in. As we entered we were greeted by a large gallery full of nude statues of young men, displaying their penis and tight buttocks, the biggest display of homo erotic art that either one of us has witness. We found this rather odd but who are we to question the wisdom of the Catholic Church. From there we proceeded to visit endless displays of wealth, might and power. The paintings by Michael Angelo were magnificent, it was a great museum. The only things that we did not see were signs of humility, compassion or spiritually. Our toured ended with a stop at the Vatican gift shop, the most expensive gift shop that we ever seen. After that we boarded our bus and headed to Venice. A very enjoyable trip thru rolling green hills and farmland, and not one stop at a souvenir shop. We reached Venice around 6:30 left the bus and walked a few blocks to our hotel, there are no roads in this part of the city it’s only accessible by water or on foot. We have not been here long enough to form an opinion, but Venice seems like a great place, will let you know tomorrow if it really is.
