Roma

Lovely to be back in Rome - the crowds, heat, traffic, food - it is all insane!

Vatican:  From the floors to the ceilings the whole experience was a breathtaking spectacular.  We took a tour of the Vatican today, avoiding the queues which can be up to 4+ hours, which put us off last time.  The museums within are amazing – I particularly enjoyed the colour and attention to detail in the Museum of Tapestries.  We had lots of information given to us outside in the area containing the copies of works in the Sistene Chapel, learning that it wasn’t built to be a chapel or church, but built as a fortress.  The Chapel was the final part of our tour, where the guide left us, as they are not allowed to speak within the chapel, so imagine or horror when we went in, the entire floor was covered with people and many of them taking photos and videos, which they had clearer asked and reminded to respect the works and not use cameras.  There were no quiet moments to be had, with or without the guide speaking.  We left through the door in which the Pope uses, which is also used by tour groups, and on the way out saw the roped off entrance the Pope uses also. 

An amazing few hours spent within the enormous walls of The Vatican and we were both pleased to have done the tour….Needs to be seen to be believed - Any photos I have taken will not do it justice but some I have tried to show the comparison of size .  31 degrees today - Ciao