Rome

We started our day in Rome with a walk along the water heading for the Vatican!

We passed by Castel San Angelo, the nearly 2000 year old structure which used to be a fort to defend the royal family.

We approached the Vatican through St Peter’s Square - there was lots of people around but thankfully we had skip the line tickets and were able to avoiding queuing for hours! We entered into the Vatican Musesum entrance and began exploring the many museums. There were many sculptures, paintings and tapestries as well as beautifully detailed ceilings. It took us a couple of hours to see all of the galleries and take everything in. After this, we went through to the Sistine Chapel to see Michelangelo’s famous ceiling which was brilliant (no photos allowed!)

We then had a quick slice of pizza for lunch before heading out into the gardens where we stumbled upon a nice surprise for the day! Beneath the Vatican gardens, there is a display on papal mobility where there were all the different riding saddles and cars that the Popes have used over the years - very interesting! We enjoyed viewing the different popemobiles and other vehicles gifted to the Pope from various car companies.

We then strolled around St Peter’s Square and listened to the bells at around 3pm. We didn't go into the Bascillica and the lines were hours long in the square. We then made our way back to our place to escape the heat!! We chilled out and had some pasta dinner in our apartment and enjoyed some chats, aperol spritzes, beers and card games.Read more