Rome - St Peter's Basilica

Breaking this up into a separate post because there was lots to see!
After getting through the security check and the clothes-etiquette check (slightly worrying because I had shorts on, instead of pants as recommended) we made it in and decided to go inside the Basilica before climbing the dome.

Again, wow, what a gigantic impressive building!
Very pretty though not as ornate as some other churches I've been to - probably because detail would get lost in this huge expanse. Again it doesn't feel as vast and imposing as it really is - Rick Steves explains that many features inside help it feel a bit more intimate, like the statues further up columns actually being larger than the closer ones and the altar canopy (#4, with nice God-rays behind) filling some of the vertical space.

Among the many amazing sculptures was Michelangelo's Pietà (#5), and one I took a really terrible photo of, that turned out to be the Tomb of Pope Alexander VII (http://www.wga.hu/art/b/bernini/gianlore/sculpt…) - I love the way the stone looks so much like cloth.

And I took a pretty sweet photo sphere that is now viewable only on my phone because Google removed the web viewer, grrr :{Read more