Had a leisurely breakfast after a long day yesterday.
Trenna was suffering from a sinus infection so it was a slow paced morning. Went to get a snack and bought pizza by the slice, cost by weight. They call it pizza to go....

The Vatican tour was a little disappointing - so much hype and expectation but not much to see in the end. My expectation of the Sistene Chapel was a huge painting of God giving the spark of life to man but the painting itself is quite small. The chapel has many paintings across the roof and the story of Genesis on one wall (something on the other) and ........ - each of them is intriguing in the story it tells and the detail in each is also quite remarkable
The roof took Michael Angelo about 4 years to paint and is broken down into many individual scenes. The roof itself is flat but the pictures are made to look like the roof is curved.
I would find it hard to recommend the Vatican as a destination but I guess it is one of the things you just have to see when in Rome.

After getting back to our hotel we took a stroll and saw some side streets and markets. Just as you think you have seen it all you walk down a lane and another piazza opens up each with it's own pillars/columns of majestic history.
I am not much of an arts fan or history buff but Rome captures my imagination - it really is a city that cases a spell over you. I could go back there every year and never tire of it.

Trenna ... I agree with Ross that the Vatican tour was a little disappointing, probably not helped by restrictions for the wheelchair. We had picked one up on the Wednesday, just to be used when we wanted to keep on going but my body had other ideas. Let me tell you ... Being pushed around on crowded, cobble stoned streets is quite an experience. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, but a few times I nearly ended up turfed out and on the street. But totally grateful that he was both willing and able to take on that task when needed. Hah hah certainly gets you to the front of a queue quicker!!

Anyway we missed out on the proper tour as we couldn't go the way the guide was going because of stairs. So probably missed out on some really important facts.

However just to be there was quite overwhelming for me. These are paintings, statues and buildings that I have known about for so long, and I was there seeing it! The Vatican is a very smooth operation, coping with the millions of tourists it gets every year.