San Pietro in Vaticano, Rome

After queuing for about 30 mins we reached inside San Pietro in Vaticano, the Basilica in the Vatican. This was a fantastic church. One thing to keep in mind is the Vatican Museums, which contain, among many other treasures, the Raphael paintings and the Sistine Chapel: their entrance is about 1km away and it shuts earlier. We therefore missed out on this and now I have to revisit Rome. Shame!

Here are some photos of the amazing art work in San Pietro in Vaticano:

Rome's Colosseum and Forum

Seeing the Colosseum for the first time takes your breath away.

You really have to see this for real.

My photos do it no justice I'm afraid!

My family listening in the guided tour which saved us a lot of queuing time.

I found I have a shorter attention span when I really can't understand accents. Ho hum... something to work on.

Under the arena

Views over the Forum

Rome's Chiesas and Basilicas

Santa Maria sopra Minerva

Sant'Andrea della Valle

Santa Maria in Trastevere

The glitzy ceiling in Santa Maria in Trastevere.

I loved this church. This is Santa Maria in Ara Coeli just off the Campidoglio.

The chandeliers are crazy!

The floor tiles were fabulous in here too. Weird to think they may not be so defined in 10 years time and smooth as a peach in a couple of hundred.

Sant Angnese in Agone just off Piazza Navona.

Another wonderful dome and some fabulous reliefs.

Chiesa Santa Maria Loreto

Chiesa del Gesu

Views overlooking the city, Rome, Italy

View from Spanish Steps

View over Rome from Castel Sant'Angelo

View of Vatican From Castel Sant'Angelo

View from hill top in Trastevere

View of the Forum and ancient ruins

Landmarks, Rome, Italy

Some famous and not so famous Roman landmarks. Enjoy!

Villa Borghese - a beautiful spot for a picnic

View of Vittorio Emanuele II monument from the Forum

Vittorio Emanuele II Monument


Traiana Column, you can see the casts of this in the amazing Victorian cast courts in the V&A

Piazza Navona, we had wonderful ice-cream here.
I've never tasted such rich, smooth chocolate ice-cream.

Santa Maria in Trastevere: a rather expensive but pretty spot to sit and have a beer, about £7 for a pint.

Fonte Acqua Paola in Trastevere

San Pietro in Vaticano

The Trevi fountain, it was crazy busy here and we didn't visit till 11pm!

Spanish Steps, shortly after going up and down the steps there was a power cut across the whole piazza. The restaurant we went to was in the dark too, but only for 10mins or so! Mental.

Campidoglio

Tempio di Portuno

Sun setting on a building

Piazza della Minerva, with a view to the Pantheon behind