St. Peter's (because one can't go enough)

I feel like an utter jerk, not posting about all the amazing adventures I've been having here in the Eternal City, but I've just been soaking it in. Everything here is so amazingly beautiful. On Wednesday, for example, we went into Rome in a really nasty hail storm, but it soon dried up, and we found ourselves admiring this view:

If you've never been to the Cupola of St. Peter's, you absolutely must go. Of course, there are a million and one tiny passages and stairs to go up to reach the cupola, but the view is simply stunning. We went into the dome too, and while it was beautiful, it didn't even compare to this breathtaking view of Rome. 

The big, white building is a monument to Vittorio Emmanule. 

While we were up there, we had a "small world" moment because my friend, Amy, met a very nice Jewish man from New York State, who now lives in Israel, but is well acquainted with her hometown. Who'da thunk it? 

The inside of the dome was also gorgeous. We had a great view of all of the mosaics on the walls. All those intricate designs inside the dome are mosaics! Thousands upon thousands of tiny little pieces are carefully placed to make up all the angels and saints that line the dome. 

We also had a great view of the main altar and the baldacchino. I always thought that the baldacchino was wood, but it's actually twenty-nine meters of pure bronze, designed by Bernini.  In case you wanted to know, they also store a large aluminium ladder on top of the baldacchino.

From our perch we could also see the mass where we had mass last Sunday, which was pretty cool.
My favorite view from the dome was, however, the window behind the main altar. It's an image of the Holy Spirit in vibrant golds and reds. I wasn't able to get a great photo of it, but I think my slightly fuzzy ones are rather good.