Rome II

Ellie and Emma in front of our apartment, on our way to breakfast and then Vatican City.  Next picture is on the bridge going over to Castel Sant'Angelo.  The big circular portion was built by Hadrian as a family tomb.  The two Baroque statues on the bridge are by Bernini.  Rome is continually interesting because of the juxtaposition of eras in such proximity -- Hadrian's tomb from 135 AD to the Baroque era of the statues.  The walls around the tomb, which make it look like a castle, were completed by 1500.  The top part of the tomb was added in the 1400s as a chapel.  During the sack of Rome in 1527 the pope stayed here.

The next two pictures are at St. Peter's.  Cindy is wearing an orange scarf which she will later convert to an orange skirt to walk through St. Peter's.  The obelisk in the middle of the square is from Eqypt, brought to Rome in the 100s AD.  

The last picture is the Pieta.  When I was here in 1970 one could walk up and touch it.  After being beat up by a hammer-wielding (Turk, I think -- the google will tell you) in the early '70s, it is now behind plexiglass.