An early rise (really early), hasty breakfast and on to the bus, we were the first tour group in line at Vatican City for the Sistine Chapel and Michelangelo’s glorious ceiling. A pre cursor to the chapel were the halls that we walked which were highly decorated and displayed exquisite marble sculptures of every kind from funeral urns to decorative pieces that once sat in the homes of wealthy Romans. We spent a great deal of time in the Sistine Chapel with our guide providing us with as much information about Michelangelo’s work without us taking an Art history degree. From there we moved down to St Peters Basilica for another jaw dropping experience. If there is one thing you have to do in your life it is to visit St Peters Basilica at least once. They took a mountain or two of marble and carved it into the Basilica. From here we walked out to join the crowds in St Peter’s Square. A hasty half hour to purchase a postcard and set of Rosary Beads if you desired and back on to the bus for our drive to Florence.
We drove through Italy’s famous regions such as Umbria and Tuscany. All were picture postcard with the exception of any contemporary buildings which were just awful.
On our drive to Florence we made a detour to visit the medieval architecture town of San Gimignano. The town was perched atop a hill as most of these types of villages were, with a commanding view of the country side covered in olive groves and grape vines. Rural Italian bliss.
The town has no less than three museums dedicated to torture. Ron found that he was experiencing just such torture when he waited for 15 minutes at a public toilet only to find that the toilet no longer was flushing due to a lack of water. It hadn’t stopped desperate people from using it though! Finishing our walk through San Gimignano’s narrow streets and after my first real taste of Italian Café Latte, we boarded the coach for the final leg to Florence.
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