Vatican City

We started out early today by catching the metro to the Vatican City. We pre booked a tour, and when we arrived I was so pleased that we had! There were so many people there and the tour guide estimated 40,000 people would be coming through today.

Mariola once again, impressed me with her innate sense of direction and I’m really glad it’s not left up to me. She did remind me that I am navigating from Salerno to Matera……..that’s another story, so wait for that one 😊

Vatican City did not disappoint. We were met by Oscar ,our very friendly, informative guide and he took us on the most wonderful 3 hour journey.

I learnt today that the Vatican City is an independent city-state enclaved within Rome. It has its own radio and television stations, bank, post office , schools and much more. You are also issued with a passport when residing there! There are about 800 citizens at any given time.

The stunning ceilings and architecture once again were incredible. I have never seen anything like it.

We were not allowed to take any photos in the Sistine Chapel, but we were allowed to photograph St Peter’s Basilica which was huge and quite breathtaking.

This is actually a mosaic not a painting.

After a very stimulating morning, we ventured out into the beautiful little side streets on our way home and found a nice little cafe serving fresh ravioli. So delicious.

We then moved on to another little gelato shop( and we think it’s the best so far)

Wandering further up the streets, there were lots of people enjoying the pleasant afternoon and beautiful food. There were musicians serenading the customers and lots of chatter and laughter.

We also popped into a lovely shop full of local oils, spices and limoncello

I have really loved the water fountains all over the city ready for you to fill your water bottles and I took this photo of a favourite one today.

We found our way back to the Metro(well Mariola did) and hopped on the train back to our apartment.

On the way back we once again saw a beautiful doorway open into the courtyard of an apartment. I’m always so intrigued to see what is hidden behind.

We are now resting up at home before heading out for another delicious dinner!