Sistine Chapel and Vatican Tour

One of my favourite experiences in Rome is being in the Sistine Chapel, but in the past that has not always been very enjoyable. Massive crowds and guards yelling "silenzia!" do not allow for much peaceful reflection on Michelangelo's masterpiece. So to counter all that we booked a private tour that takes place after the Chapel has closed. Expensive but definitely worth it. We had an excellent guide who took us on a 2 hour tour of all the Vatican museum treasures and then brought us into the Chapel for 45 minutes with absolutely no one else there ! The guide explained all the wall frescoes and the entire ceiling. What can i say, a once in a lifetime experience.

Today we visited the Caracalla Baths - enormous Roman baths built around 200 AD and now nothing but magnificent ruins. Fascinating to tour through, and even though now only ruins, you get a real sense of life in Ancient Rome.










We also visited Trajan's Column near the Forum. A marble column commissioned by the Roman Emperor Trajan beautifully carved, depicting Roman battles against the Barbarians.









Statue of an angel on one of the many bridges spanning the Tiber river.


A view of the Tiber river.

Delicious dinner tonight at L'Arcangelo restaurant in the Prati. Definitely recommend to anyone coming to Rome.

Beautiful weather continues here.

Ciao for now.

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