Day 2

Today we have had lots of exercise, walking everything from marble steps to cobble stones, narrow roads to alleyways to dodging motorcyclists, cars, buses and people!!and as the Italians do using our elbows to get through the crowds in some of the places we visited... Well what did we visit you may Leaving our Hotel we went to the Vatican Museum...the mind boggles at the ceiling paintings, the tapestries, the statutes, and no modern means as we know them to make or do any of these things..how did they cope with only candles to see with and yet they turned out these magnificent pieces...the Story goes with Michaelango when painting the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel that the paint affected his bones and this eventually was what he died from...from the Museum we went to the Sistine Chapel, and then to St Peter Basilic....not as crowded today as it was last time I was here...our guides then took us to a nearby restaurant going from the State of Vatican back  to the country of Rome where we had lunch ...toasted sandwich €5 and a can of fanta €2.50...off walking again we visited the Pantheon. The light from the open dome reflects onto different parts of the structure at different times of the day, and when it rains a cross wind creates a mist which cools down the inside of the building, the water evaporating through holes in the floor, and draining into the Tiber River....the surprise of the day was when out guides took us to the most exquisite tasting made from natural ingredients, nothing artificial, gelato....absolutely out of this world, the best we have ever had...the owners started the business a few years ago and now have 70 in Italy and 20 in the States...tonight we were back at  Navona Square for dinner..dining outside it was really nice...

Vatican Museum..ceiling

St Peter Basilic

St Peters Square

Pantheon..Sunday rays shining from the dome