We walked the few blocks to the river where we stopped for a few minutes at the Castle St. Angelo, and then walked up the main road that runs into St. Peter's Square. The square was set up for Christmas Mass (I presume), but once again, we were there relatively early, so the line was very short to get through the metal detectors to enter the Basilica.
We strolled around this massive structure, completed in 1626 (on top of the old Basilica built by Constantine). If you follow Catholic tradition, Peter is buried underneath the Basilica, as this was supposedly where we was crucified (upside down) during the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero. Supposedly he was crucified near the Obelisk that now sits in the middle of St. Peter's Square. Within the Basilica one can see the spot underneath which Peter is supposedly buried and we took a brief walk through the tombs underneath where we saw where Peter "is" and also where Pope John Paul II is buried.
We gazed at Michelangelo's "Pieta", situated just to the right as you come in the entrance. We stared at the dome, the highest dome in the world, imagining the architectural marvel that this is, by today's standards, but particularly by the standards of 400 years ago.
We decided to walk up to the top of the Basilica, to get a good view of the church from above as well as a good view of Rome. We took the elevator to the base of the dome and then hiked up the 320 steps to the top. Heather wanted me to ensure I wrote that she carried Ryan up and all I had to do was carry him back down (that kid just keeps getting bigger and heavier, especially hiking up 320 steps in a claustrophobic corridor.
We enjoyed the view for a bit, plus the brisk air that high up before hiking back down the stairs (the girls did great, by the way!). At the base of the dome Heather fed Ryan while I played "hide the coin" with the girls, a children's version of the wonderful game I created many years ago called "hide the keys".
We left St. Peters and walked around to the Vatican entrance before deciding we were going to skip the Sistine Chapel. Both Heather and I had visited it before, and while I know we will soon regret the decision, but we decided the girls wouldn't appreciate it. But we did catch a photo of the Swiss Guard, the merceneries from Switzerland hired to guard the Vatican.
We visited the Christmas market in front of the Vatican, which was a lot better than the lame one at Piazza Navona. We grabbed some crappy food from the many sidewalk vendors (again, we did not find the greatest food here) and then headed to the Piazza del Popolo. 
Here Ryan ate lunch and we ran around the plaza playing hide and go seek (again!). I was very pleased that Ashley recognized the Statue of Liberty, so we had to get our picture with her.
We continued our walk to the Piazza Spagna and the Spanish Steps. I didn’t climb up them, though, as I stayed with Ryan, Ashley, and the stroller while Heather and Katie went to the top and visited the church. 
We tried to grab a hot chocolate at the McDonalds off the piazza but I have never seen such a chaotic McDonalds in my life. It was quite large, but absolute chaos and not a single place to sit. It was like McDonalds was a brand new concept to Italy or something! Anyway, we didn't feel like we were missing anything by just leaving, so not a big deal.
From there we decided to just make our way back to Campo di Fiori for dinner, so we retraced our steps from the day before passing by the Trevi Fountain, the Parthenon, and the Piazza Navona (where we saw this "statue" that was actually another street performer...could not have looked more real!!)
Finally we arrived at a restaurant on the Campo di Fiori. It was the third best meal we had during our Roman holiday (which isn't saying much, since this one wasn't that great either). 
Afterward we got some more gelato, bought some purses for Heather (they had a nice Louis Vuitton "outlet" set up on a street corner…incredible prices!) and then went back to the apartment for the night. I wish I knew exactly how many kilometers we have walked during this visit, it has to be double digits, which is saying a lot considering the company Heather and I were with!
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