Day 25 - 29 July Rome

 Still exhausted from yesterday we were up early to be at the Vatican for our tour. We took a taxi at 6.45 that got us to the meeting place with a bit of time to spare and we sat and had a coffee until the tour at 7.30.

Even with the early start there was a fair queue to enter St Peters. Once inside we went up in a lift to the main roof where we could look down. Then I climbed to the top of the dome while Lynn had a break.

Piazza San Pietro, Obelisk

Stairs inside the dome walls


Once I got back down we had time to walk around the cathedral.

Next we went to the Vatican Museums, which meant walking around to the other side of the Vatican and re-entering. The museums is a huge complex of rooms and buildings with endless rows of statues, tapestries, maps, all in rooms that are as impressive as the collections. The crowds also got progressively denser, although we were able to keep moving.



The last stage in the museum was the Sistine Chapel, in which you can't take photos. It was packed with people but we found a spot to stand and later a seat against a wall to contemplate for as long as we needed.
Ourn tour finished a bit before 12. As we were leaving the building we saw a taxi stop and so took this back to the hotel, where we had lunch and spent some time recovering. That ended up being about it for the day. We went out and wandered around, window shopping and looking about. But we were so full from lunch that all we had to eat was gelati - which was probably the best gelati we've ever had.


Location: P.za della Repubblica, 48, 00185 Roma RM, Italy

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