Vatican City (Saturday 14th October 2017)

The Sweet Life Guest House was really good, even though we were there for only one night. It made it into the itinerary when we changed some dates and bookings around to accommodate Emily’s availability. We has hoped we could extend our stay at Guestlovers Biscione 95 for one more night but couldn’t so Sweet Life got a gig.

Even though one was only 2.2kms from the other we took a taxi from Via Nazionale. The morning was warm already, warm enough for the shorts and summer dresses to be aired again. A lovely, cheery taxi driver (all the Italian drivers have been like that so far) took us the short distance to our new accommodation. It was an other glorious day in Rome!

Our accommodation is on the second floor of an ancient building in Piazza del Biscione, a small square that adjoins the larger and more well known Piazza Campo de’ Fiori. The location is not far from Piazza Navona. We sat in the square’s cafe for breakfast while we waited for 11:00am and the agreed arrival time of our host, Joseph. At 11:15am I ventured into No. 95 and found Joseph on the second floor, a charming young chap who manages/owns four rooms within the building. I went throught the check-in procedure while Kerry and Emily stayed with the bags downstairs. Check-in took a while so the girls were getting a little worried that I might have become a victim of foul play.

After we’d unloaded the bags we headed back down stairs to continue the days adventures. Every day in Piazza Campo de’ Fiori is a market, mostly of fresh produce and some other general items. This was a great opportunity to get lunch organised. On the menu were some cheeses and an Italian bread-stick. We bought some prosciutto from a nearby small supermarket on the way to our lunch destination in the gardens surrounding what was for a long time the refuge of the Popes in times of danger, Castel Sant'Angelo. The building was originally constructed in 139AD by the Emperor Hadrian as his mausoleum and was even a prison during the 6th century.

In the gardens two chaps playing electric rhythm guitar and lead guitar were playing all the great tunes of our era, everything from “Hotel California” to Pink Floyd’s “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” and the “Sultans of Swing”. We listened their music from a park bench under a shady plane tree while we enjoyed our lunch. After lunch we went back to hear some more and buy a copy of their CD. Their act is purely instrumental, no vocals, which will made the show really different and special.

From here we circumnavigated the castel and found our way to Via della Conciliazione, the main entry point to Vatican City. The view of St. Peter’s Basilica from here is outstanding. The touts selling “Skip the Line” tickets is not. Every ten metres someone else is in your face trying to sell you the best tickets to see the Vatican. After the 2013 Versailles con, I treat them with no respect at all. Instead we went into a shop-front and bought tickets for a guided tour of the Vatican Museum, which led to the Sistine Chapel and Michelangelo’s famous fresco and then to St. Peter’s Basilica. The latter is free but the queue is long, The tickets were not cheap but the two hours guided tour did allow us to “skip the line” and provide us with informative commentary. The Sistine Chapel was very crowded but it was worth seeing for Emily’s sake. It was much better in the winter of 1987 when no one was around.

St. Peter’s Basilica is huge in every proportion and it’s actually quite difficult to grasp its enormity. Having seen it again and in the last few years, the Duomo in Florence (we didn’t go in this time), the Duomo in Milan, the Duomo in Siena and St. Paul’s Cathedral in London the La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona is still far and away the best. The forward part of the massive St. Peter’s Square has been set up for the canonisation of the Blessed Angelo d’Acri. Tis poor chap’s been waiting since 1825. Il Papa is doing the job so we might pop in if we can tomorrow. I imagine the square will have a million people in it just on the off chance of catching a glimpse of Pope Francis. The Vatican guard were giving away tickers for seats to the event to lucky people who asked them nicely. We could have easily got some.

As we departed for home I turned to tale one last photograph of this spectacular sight and saw this eerie message in the sky.

Back along Corso Vittoria Emanuele II was walked to the deli we ate at last night. After another light but tasty dinner we ventured into the dark lane-ways to find a “shortcut” home. After fifteen minutes of navigating the wonderful maze of lanes and passages, all of which we full of life, we found ourselves geographically challenged so Emily took over and we shortly popped up, through a very small archway and gate, in Piazza Del Biscione. Map reading, navigation and a good sense of direction must be in her genes. At a gelati shop we bought our evening desert, which was curiously sold by weight, and wandered into the lively Piazza Campo de’ Fiori to finish off a great day.