25 September - Rome, Italy

Our second day in Roma. We travelled to the Vatican City by taxi this morning. Rosa and I booked in for the Vatican Museum Tour which included access to the Sistine Chapel and St Peter's Basilica. The guided tour entitled us to jump all the queues which by the time we arrived at 09:00 were already 500m long.
Our guide was Sara, who spoke excellent English, and quickly conveyed her knowledge of the subject and her passion for it to our group of about 15 people.

The Vatican Museum is a huge complex which houses the art collected by various popes over the last 2000 years and is truly astonishing. To properly view all the exhibit and understand it would probably take years, but Sara expertly guided us through the highlights.

After a couple of hours of viewing the most amazing sculptures, paintings and tapestries we were finally allowed into the Sistine Chapel, which features the famous ceiling painted by the then 30 year old Michelangelo. No photography is allowed inside the chapel - it would be impractical with all the people there - so I've borrowed a photo here.

The overall effect of entering this incredible place is truly overwhelming. One can only imagine the effort it took to paint this incredible work of art in only 4 years. The final phase of our tour was to visit the St Peter's Basilica, and the first thing that struck me was the sheer size of the building which is just over 180 m long.

The dome of the Basilica, also designed by Michelangelo is also incredibly beautiful.

Priceless works by Michelangelo abound including this beautiful statue of Mary holding a dead Jesus after the crucifixion.

Finally after three full hours it was time to catch up with Sandra and John. By then it had started to drizzle a bit (the first significant rain on our holiday) and to go back to the hotel for lunch and to plan the afternoon activities. After a great lunch of pannini and cafe late at a nearby restaurant, it was time to head out for an inside look at the Colloseum. The rain had eased to a few occasional drops and the walk from our hotel was only 20 minutes or so. Once again, to stand inside a structure which was built more than 2000 years ago is truly amazing. Today, it is possible to walk around two levels of the Colloseum which provides a great opportunity to imagine the activities which took place here during the height of the Roman Empire.

What a day. We staggered back to our hotel late this afternoon for Heinekens and Spumante and a much needed rest. We found a fabulous Trattoria for dinner last night and we are that impressed we're heading back again tonight.