Blessed!!!!

Well, the little rest didn’t happen. Instead we went to the Vatican Museum. We bought our tickets on-line, had the hotel print out the form and then off we set. Our entry was timed for 12 but we arrived about 10:30 as we knew we had to get security checks, pick up the real tickets using our printed form and probably line up for a long time. We went through it all in rapid time and were in this vast and amazing place well before 11. It was wonderful and we both really enjoyed the works on display and the Sistine Chapel. The Vatican sells the best coffee in town! – it went well with our prepacked bread rolls. They also have the best decorated gift shops I have ever seen and globes and maps that I would love adorning my house.




We tried to get tickets for the Wednesday papal audience but the queues were huge so we abandoned that plan.

Wednesday morning saw us heading off before 8 to try to get into the audience. We were successful and managed to get seats quite close to the front. There were huge numbers of people of all nationalities, flags, happy smiles, lots and lots of security, enough cameras to suit the news of the world and us. Everybody in the family has been blessed by remote so everyone should feel happy. I never thought I would get so close to the Pope. It was a good experience.


This is the crowd we could see when we turned around - the Pope is riding around in his Popemobile in the middle - he's the one in the red hat!



We lunched in a little park beside the Castel Sant’Angelo near the Tiber and then explored this wonderful fortress built on top of Hadrian’s Mausoleum. The views from the top are fantastic and we had a late afternoon glass of wine in a shady terrace high above the ground. We walked along the Via del Corso on our way to the Piazza del Popolo where we found an interesting church - or churches – there were 2 of them side by side!
Along the way I found another chair - still not up to Emily standard but I am really really trying.



I came home and put my feet up!

We only have one more day in Rome – so it is back to St Peter’s Basilica where hopefully the queues will be short and we can go inside. (Optimism is a good thing!) Then on Friday we are off to Pompeii.

Made it! We arrived early and managed to beat most of the people into St Peter’s where we spent a lot of time – mostly with my mouth hanging open. Our visit included visiting the Treasury and the tombs. Even if you aren’t religious it is a place well worth seeing. The Pieta alone was reward for all our queuing. Then we went up the dome but didn’t do the last bit – it was extremely hot and I attended to a lady who was suffering badly so I called it quits at that point. We sat beside the wall, behind the really tall statues which overlook St Peter’s Square and ate our boiled eggs and bananas and drank Vatican water. What a day.








Arrivederci Roma is the song for tomorrow.