It was back to sunny blue skies after a rare wet blip on our european tour. Today we plan to blend in with the tourist crowd and make the pilgrimage to the hallowed grounds of the Vatican as well as to get a peek of ancient Rome.
First the Vatican. We found ourselves at the back of a snaking queue of what we guessed to be heading for the Vatican Museums. Fortunately we were right and the queue moved fast. It was fairly easy navigating ourselves through the Museum as it was all one-way. When we found some exhibits interesting enough, we just had to side track before rejoining the tour which eventually led to the pride of the Vatican, the Sistine Chapel.
Bust and Statues of Greek Gods and Roman royalty
Priest of Troy and his Sons
Perseus and the head of Medusa
Raphael's School of Athens
A contemporary piece of the pope
Michelangelo's Masterpiece ... we could not resist taking a few shots
Inside St.Peter's
The grand facade of St.Peter's Basilica
After a costly lunch near the Vatican, we set off to explore the ruins of ancient Rome. Where better to start off than the Colloseum.
The pits
The Collosuem, looking its age
After the quick tour of the Collosuem, we ventured next door to the Palitine hill and Forum.
Ruins of Ancient Rome
A mighty door that still stands to this day
After a exhausting walk around the hills and forum, we got out near Piazza Venezia but we were not quite done yet. There was one more stop before we called it a day and that was the famous La Bocca della Verita (or Mouth of Truth) located at the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin.
La Bocca della Verita ... where everybody queues up to take a shot like this
