I set aside my next day in Rome for visiting the Vatican. I had already been on St. Peter's Square on Christmas Eve, but it was time to see all of what the world's smallest state has to offer. I started with a tour of the scavi under St. Peter's. It is an excavation that was begun in the early twentieth century to determine whether St. Peter's bones really were located under the eponymous cathedral. The excavations exposed the Roman street level of two thousand years ago and show an ancient necropolis--a city of tombs that exists under the floor of St. Peter's. Walking the same streets as ancient Romans and thinking of the thousands of people above my head in the church who had no idea what was underneath them was fascinating. And sure enough I saw the tomb that is believed to contain the bones of St. Peter. I'm not very religious, but to think that I saw the resting place of one of the world's most influential people is spiritual enough. 

I then went into St. Peter's Basilica, which was quite an experience. I was able to skip the monstrous line because I went on the scavi tour. We of course studied St. Peter's in my architecture class, so I marveled at things I had only before seen in photographs. What a place. 

I then got an amazing lunch of cacio e pepe (according to Anthony Bourdain, that's the most traditional Roman lunch pasta) and a roasted chicken, which was hands down the best piece of poultry I've ever eaten, all topped off with a decanter of chianti. It was the second big, expensive meal that I allowed myself, and it was worth every euro cent. 

My next stop was the Vatican museum. Somehow I missed out on the giant line that everyone seems to experience there; I just walked right in. The place was crowded with people of every nationality, and I can understand why--what a museum! I have to be a little sacrilegious, though: I didn't really appreciate the Sistine Chapel. Maybe it was because the famed room was packed to the gills with tourists, but I didn't feel any sort of overwhelming power or beauty. I liked the sculptures and mosaics in other parts of the museum a lot more.