10/4/10: Rome, Day 5

Well, it was a mostly rainy day today.

Because of the rain, I did not sit in a park, reading. I also decided not to walk over to Vatican City in the rain either. Instead, I did some sightseeing closer to the hotel.
I walked by the Teatro dell' Opera. If I have some extra time on Wednesday or Friday (and if I can get tickets) I would love to see an opera here. From the Opera house, I walked to Plazza della Repubblica and walked inside the church Santa Maria degli Angeli. It's hard to describe, even with the picture I am about so show, but the inside of this church was just sooo big!

After walking around here, I walked to another church. This church, Santa Maria Maggiore, is actually only a 3 minute walk from my hotel room. This was one insanely beautiful building inside. Once again, this was so much larger than I expected. There was so much to see inside the SM Maggiore, so I just sat down for a half hour and watched. They have a lighting system that lights up different parts of the church at different times, so just when you thought you have noticed everything, a new set of lights come on and you see something new. It was very beautiful. There are several mini church halls inside this one and while I was sitting down, I heard mass in the one to my right. The singing was pitch perfect and quite amazing to hear. This was definitely one of the highlights of my visit so far.

After leaving the Santa Maria Maggiore, I walked off in search of Pizza. This was day 5 and I had yet to have a slice of pizza yet. I finally found a place where I could sit down and enjoy a pizza. I ordered the Quattro Formaggi (4 cheese) pizza, and enjoyed every bite. Tomorrow is my day trip to Pompeii and Naples & I can't wait to get that trip started!