An afternoon abroad

The day after we arrived in Rome, my grandparents and I traveled abroad for the afternoon, wandering into the 110-acre Vatican City, the world's smallest independent state.

Aren't my grandparents adorable?

In front of Saint Peter's Basilica, the focal point of global Catholicism.

After eating delicious sandwiches filled with strange (to us) Italian meats (we avoided the menu item that translated roughly into "lard"), we wandered the basilica, which was built in the 16th and 17th centuries on the site of the tomb of Saint Peter, one of Christ's apostles and the first Pope. After all the churches I've seen in Ireland, France, and the Czech Republic, it was incredible to walk around the one that every other is modeled after.

Saint Peter's, setting the standard high for Catholic places of worship.

There's been a church on this site since the 4th century, and a bunch of Popes are entombed in the downstairs grotto (no photos allowed). We also climbed to the top of the cupola, which has the highest view of both Vatican City and Rome. We wondered whether the Pope went up there with his buddies and hit golf balls into the city. At least, that's what I'd do.

Enjoying the view of Rome from the cupola of Saint Peter's.