Up early to try and beat the crowds at The Vatican.......magnificent morning clear blue skies and warm, 30C coming up.
Much better breaky, the funny grumpy maitre de dumped a whole lot of biscuits, cakes and a whole loaf of GF bread still in the packet, on a plate and handed it to me exclaiming 'oh your the one!'.......the Italian Way!!!! Bless him.....
Well how impressive is the Vatican Museum......I have to say it has been my personal favourite museum so far. To think that the marble statues you are looking at were created 2000 yrs ago is mind bogling......the tapestries....the ornate corridors and the gallery of maps.
The Artwork is so beautiful, there are paintings 100's of years old that appear to be 3D.....even the ceilings of the corridors are the same. One painting has a table in it, if you look at it and keep you eyes on it as you pass by, the table appears to turn with you....weird.
As for the Sistine Chapel....absolutely extraordinary!
It is in this Chapel that the cardinals meet to elect the pope..... Even saw the fire stain on the floor of the chapel where they bring in the fireplace to let off the 'puffs of smoke' after the decision has been made.
Next stop.....St Peter's Bascillica......the largest building in the world under one roof.........
The Church to end all churches!
Once again it leaves you speechless. You totally lose any perspective of size once you enter. The bronze canopy dwarfed in the distance is 27m high....definitely a must see!
The Vatican City is symbolically guarded by the Swiss Army.......they were originally commissioned by the Pope in 1506 as mercenaries.....they are still dressed in uniforms designed by Michelangelo.
The Colosseum.....the 'Roman Entertainment Centre'.......no football here.......just blood-sports!
Walked past the archiological forum site, saw where Julius Caesar was killed. Currently there are a group of cats living there!
The Pantheon (Temple of The Gods).
Built in 27BC, it has a 43m dome, identical to it's height.....architecturally amazing for it's time. The dome has a 9m whole in the top to let the light in....spectacular site (we were lucky enough to see it on a sunny day) even the floor and drainage holes are the original marble. It is now a church.
Seeing as the Romans dont't have any seaside to keep cool by, they hang about the fountains......some alfresco restaurants have water sprinkler sprays from the roofs to keep customers cool!
Home for a rest and get ready for another Italian dinner and throw a couple of € in the Trevi fountain.
Wow how spectacular is the Trevi fountain.....chucked our coins in.....very crowded of course.....had a great huge Italian dinner....I even had GF pasta.... Yummy. We had a little too much wine....as you do...
Back for a big sleep.....
We certainly saw a lot in the time we were in Rome......such a wonderful city with a great personality.
Saw lots of 'Danny De Vitos'! Romans (if thats what their known as) are not very tall.
Found the Italians to be very friendly, helpful and very sweet.
Arivadeci Roma (?spelling)

Roger's added thoughts for the day......

Vatican very impressive....the biggest single roof building in the world apparently.
Walked through the street of Rome with our guide, feel safe here, even used an ATM.

The Romans seem to be very patient drivers, or forgiving, they blow their horns a bit but only when someone does something really stupid.
I saw one girl cut across 3 lanes ofoving traffic to get a carpark, no one tooted her, she just put her hand out of the window and zapped across.

This trip is really full on.....lots of very
small cars here, no parking space so if they see a gap of 4ft they park vertical to horizontal with the bonnet sticking out. No underground parking because as they excavate they find old relics which cannot be destroyed of course.

A lot of pushy people selling their stuff here, but seems safe. I like the Rome people, they can't do enough for you.