On this rock I will build my church

Day Two

A trip to the Vatican today, and if it was difficult to capture the scale of the Coliseum yesterday, to explain the wonder and the magnificence of the museums, Sistine Chapel, St.Peter's Basilica and square is impossible! So I'll just say WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Walking from the Metro towards the Vatican you immediately get accosted by tour guides touting their guides to take you around the museums and avoid the queues. Not being one to take towards that direct approach we avoided most of them, but as we got closer it became clearer that the tour was the way forward.

And fair play the tour was the best way to do it, we had a running commentary from the guide and access to all the museums and then directly into the Basilica. The art, tapestries and statues are grand, magnificent, spectacular and beautiful. I think that was enough superlatives! And as for the Sistine Chapel there are not enough superlatives in the world to describe it! Sadly though you're not allowed to take photos in there, and supposedly not allowed to talk but it was nowhere near quiet when we were in there as everyone was talking, that was slightly disappointing as it is supposed to be such a holy place.

With the tour ended and now in St.Peter's Square we had the opportunity to go into the Basilica or climb the dome of it. 551 steps later we had reached the top of the dome, with simply stunning views of Rome. It was well worth the effort! After walking back down we now entered the Basilica, I guess you could probably fill a couple of St.Paul's Cathedrals in it because it is massive. An amazing place but we did have an opportunity for peace and calm, as one part of the Basilica was available for prayer which we took advantage of. Despite the loads of tourists in the Basilica the peace within this small section was wonderful, and we even got to be part of a proper service as one of the priests of the Basilica held a short service of prayer.

Having been in there all day, and believe me you need more than one day to do this place justice, it was time for a fuel stop and an opportunity to sample proper Italian pizza, and my goodness was it good. Lush!

This was the view by night!

Oh and by the way yes the Pope was in, as we saw the lights on in his private rooms.