At the stadium, at the stadium...

The view this morning

Today we went to the Vatican and then the Colosseum.  We thought we had the directions to the Vatican sussed but ended up going in completely the wrong direction!  On a positive note, we did find where we were going after we went to the Vatican, and it was completely in the opposite direction.  We decided to follow the advice of someone we asked and catch a number 64 bus.  The first two were incredibly full and there was no way in, though Alison managed to get on one, no room for me.  The third one was also similarly full and made even more full by a woman loading a pushchair in.  It was extraordinary to watch her being swallowed by the crowd.  We were lucky with the fourth bus as there was enough room.  It then proceeded to pretty much empty out at the next stop.

Once we arrived at St Paul's we got out and went into a queue that we thought was in to the Vatican.  We were security checked and in we went.  We then followed some people into this room full of even more people.  Not sure what we were walking in to, in we went.  Turns out is was an audience with the Pope.  After watching him for about five minutes we left bore the huge crowd did and asked one of the many, many soldiers which way to go.  It seems we had another ten minute walk around the corner.  We walked around the corner and up the hill and collected our tickets with no queueing whatsoever.  We were led to believe there would be long queues, but there weren't.  So it was off to the Sistine Chapel.

An audience with the Pope

The Vatican Museum is a veritable rabbit warren of stairs and corridors and nooks and crannies.  Luckily it is well signposted.  It was great going through the Borgia apartments on the way to the Chapel.  Once in the Chapel there was a huge crowd of people.  You are asked to be silent in respect of it being a sacred space and also to not take pictures.  There were guards there who were shushing people and growling at them for taking photos.  It is a pretty magnificent space and the paintings are awesome.

Once we had finished there, we were going to meet The Right Reverend Sir David Moxon who is a friend of Alison's and also the Anglican ambassador to Rome.  We had coffee with him and then he invited us back later for a look at an archeological site that they are pretty sure is where St Paul was interred for two years before Nero had his head cut off.  It was below ground and a pretty interesting apartment.  It wasn't below ground when it was built 2000 odd years ago but the ground level has risen as it filled up with dirt.  He also told us that where we are staying is where Pope Francis was staying the night before he was elected Pope.  It was here that he went back to pay his account before moving to his flat behind the Vatican.

In between seeing him we headed off to the Colosseum.  It was a gentle walk past ruins and statues of Caesars and then into the Colosseum itself.  Quite a few armed guards and two sets of searches to get in.  David had told us prior to going that ISIS have made a threat against it and also against the Pope, hence the heightened security.  I don't feel at all unsafe so that is good.  The Colosseum is a pretty impressive structure and I felt like I was at the stadium in Wellington.  I did think a couple of times that there was no way that in over 2000 years people would be visiting the stadium like we were in the Colosseum.

After a walk back to see the dig site we headed back to our room for a rest before we go out to dinner.  There seems to be some kind of gathering outside the window and someone speaking through a loud hailer.  There is also applause.  No idea what about though.