Thursday 20 August

Yesterday the day started with pouring rain which I have not really seen at all while we have been travelling although I know that London did have this on the day we were at Stonehenge. We spent the morning with me working in the hotel and then went for a walk to the Spanish Steps. By the time we had started walking the weather had cleared up and it had become very hot. Although we needed to be very quick with our walk we certainly covered a large distance.

We returned back to the hotel in time for a pick up by the tour company that was taking us to visit the Vatican City which included the Sistene Chapel. Our tour guide's name was Antonio and he proved to be a very good tour guide who shared a great deal of his knowledge with us.

We began by entering the Vatican City and looking at the museums inside. They are incredible. Antonio found a shady place to tell us about some of the things that we would see especially when we went into the Sisten Chapel. He need to explain these things to us as you are not allowed to talk in the chapel out of respect. He said that if you did speak you could actually be arrested by the guards. He also daid that he had been arrested four times for speaking in the chapel.

After Antonio had explained some of the interesting information about the Vatican we were able to view the gardens from the top of the building. They are very extensive and look beautifully well kept.  Some very good gardeners work at these gardens. The Vatican is actually the home of the Pope although the current Pope, Pope Francis does not always live there. There are a couple of different times during the week where you can actually go to the Vatican and hear the Papal Speech from Pope.

Papal guard

One of the many statues in the Vatican City.

The dome of St Peters from the rooftop of the museum.

Approaching the Vatican City

The Vatican City Gardens