We were greeted with clouds and rain, but we were happy to track down our hotel in drizzle as opposed to while melting under the mid-day sun. We had a short stroll that afternoon, bought Joe some underwear, saw the Vatican, found a nice little restaurant for dinner. But I'm ashamed to say, as with the following nights, bed time was early. We're not exactly used to the vast amounts of walking, and curling up in bed, in preparation for an early start, was just what we needed. It also saved us from walking round late at night in a city we didn't know.
We spent the weekend walking around the city. The Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish steps. On the walk to each one we were surrounded by gorgeous buildings and interesting ruins. You could be on a small street looking for a cafe or on a main road filling your bottle at a fountain, you will be able to see an amazing building from where you are standing.
On Monday we went to the Vatican and its museums. We had visited St Peter's Square every day but saved a proper visit until the last day. It is hard to explain how magnificent it all is. Each room is filled with incredible paintings and sculptures and everything is enveloped in spectacular architecture.
The Sistine Chapel surprised us though. Not only as we expected it to be a separate building, but we expected the Creation of Man (the painting of God reaching out to Adam) to be so much bigger and to be more of a centrepiece. Yes it was a beautiful painting, but it's one of so many beautiful paintings in that room. Why is there so much fuss around that one?
I took my fancy new camera with me and I'm surprised I didn't take more than 300 photos. There is so much beauty to be found in Rome, I guess I just spent more time looking at it through my own eyes rather than through my camera. (But here's a few of the views through the digital eye.)
