The next day it was time to pay our respects to the pope at the Vatican. I'd been here a few times before and knew that the lines were horrible, so we got up early, and arrived at the Vatican museum by 8.30. It was a half hour before the place opened, but the line still stretched along the half mile of formidable walls (built by Michelangelo no less). The line moved quickly, though, and we descended the funky spiral staircase and into one of the world's greatest and most congested museums.