Day 24

Friday morning - lining up for the Vatican Museum

Musei Vaticani

the inner court yard of the museum

Nobelmen.......

the view from court yard to the Dome of St Peter

The Vatican Museum is big and has

lots of treasures on display

Roman marble bath tub

marble torso




Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo's famous

ceiling paiting

on the way to the Sistine Chapel - the room

of painted maps

painting by Rafael

Karla jumping in front of the camera

- modern art exhibition of the Vatican Museum

metal sculpture........

St Peter's Square, after we climbed up to the

top of the Cupola

The seal of Vatican City - our final and 8th country

overlooking Vatikan City from the top of the

Dome of St Peter's Basilica

The Swiss Guards responsible for the security

of the Vatican for the last centuries

meeting point: St Peter's Square

not a streched Hummer but a decorated

Fiat is waiting foor the Newly Wedds - Italian style

fountain at Piazza Navona

souvenir hunting.....

.....shot glasses, coffee mugs, venetian masks........

gelato to keep them going





Trevi Fountain

Piazza Spagna - the Spanish Steps

Rome

For our second last day in Rome Stefan decided that we hadn’t yet done enough walking and another couple hundred more kilometres was needed! Thanks mate.
Another jammed packed day that began with a 9 o’clock departure via the shuttle bus from our camping ground to the train station.Then into the city where we were able to walk to Vatican City which I now know is its own country! Learn something new everyday.
We were a little worried at first seeing the size of the line (roughly about four hours!) but luckily we got to jump that with a trusty group booking.
Once we were past the security checks and bag drops (which truns out are not that secure as ‘someone’ managed to get through with a pocket knife – not mentioning names LACHLAN! ) we explored the galleries and Sistine Chapel or in Mine and Alex’s case – get very very lost and confused – keep forgetting we cant read Italian signs! But with the help of the ridiculously good looking swiss guard (where do they find these guys?) we were back on track.
Finally made our way to the (cupola dome thing??) after a small fee we skimmed a bit of the walk with help from the convenietly located elevator but still tackled another 350 stairs. As usual it all became worth it when we reached the top to discover a 360 degree view of Rome we could even just make out the Colloseum in the distance.
After a short lunch break time to set off again for a fountain/city sightseeing trip.
Spent the afternoon wondering through the city and finally made our way to the beautiful Trevi Fountain , where we all made some wishes and added to the coin colllection.
Just another day like any other (or not :)

Alex f