Saturday 12th September - St Pauls Basilica

It was already hot and as it was after 11.00am we decide to stop for a coffee so off on a side street was a place in the shade to sit but once seated we decided to have a beer instead. Two small beers cost €17. Right up there with the jacket.

We wandered off further down Condotti and made a turn to head for St Peter Square. We got to the River Tiber and peered over the wall and what a scummy river. The weeds were high and the water was a greenish brown colour. There were swampy places and rubbish everywhere. There were 2 scullers on the water and in any other city there would have been water craft of every description.

There were 2 pontoons, one of this was sunk and the whole area was like other parts of Rome - in decay and it shouldn't be like that with the millions of tourists every year all paying city taxes per head per night of about €6.

We crossed one of the bridges, a walking bridge Ponte Vitorrio Emannuel, and headed for the Vatican. The long road up to St Pauls Square was lovely and there were lots of buses and hundreds of people everywhere.

The sites were spectacular. The carved figures were spectacular. The church is brilliant. The double rows of columns in a semi circle on both sides of the square are magnificent.