Vatican rag

JUST BY THE WAY, HERE IS our hotel in Rome. It's called the Hotel Aberdeen.




We set off on the bus to the Vatican, clutching our bags so we would not be pick pocketed and started with a visit to St Peter's Basilica.




These guards must have been hot in the clothes designed by -- you guessed it -- Michelangelo.




Michelangelo's Pieta: Mary with Jesus just taken down from the cross.




The scale of St Peter's is startling. These cherubs are about 6 feet tall.







The John XXIII tomb attracted a lot of visitors. We admired various statuary of other popes and below, the crypt and the remnants of the previous basilica.

Then the long walk to the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel.







There were many rooms to go though including the room of maps. No photos are allowed in the Sistine Chapel, and no sitting or talking. Kissing is right out of the question.




This wonderful spiral staircase took us out again.




- Posted prior to piscine pfeast.