A first time summer birthday!

We had a very lazy morning to start the day off. We knew we only had a visit to the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel in the afternoon, so it was a perfect time to just relax and catch up on a few things.

We were planning on doing a bit of washing at a laundromat nearby, but winner, winner, chicken dinner we saw that our B&B had a washer and a dryer. BONUS!!! The decision to do our washing later in the day and use our time for more sightseeing, was alluring.

Anyway, after breakfast we had a short stroll to the Termini station and headed to Vatican City. What would a person do on their birthday? Go to another country? Of course!

Vatican City is the smallest country of the world and it has a 0% birth rate... We're a bit dubious of this statistic though!

Skipping the line is the way to go when you're at a major tourist attraction. Today we didn't pay for a tour as such, but our guide got us into the Vatican Museums within five minutes. Money well spent. Once in, we got our tickets and were off to see some old stuff on our own.

Fifteen minutes into the museum, it was time for a coffee break, but it was quite late so it transpired into lunch. In the square, which was obviously an outside section of the museum seemed like a great place to stop. Lunch was fairly good, but not like many of the other mouth explosions that we have previously experienced. Disappointed in the grub Benedict!

Tan: The waiters....OMG, they were soooooo freakin slow! One was constantly checking his phone and not overly observant of the customers. Finally we were served and we sat back and enjoyed our lunch, but I had to say "mi scusi, venti minuti por caffee!" They were apologetic, but had forgotten our coffee. Too busy gossiping! They were actually quite entertaining to watch.

Anyway we eventually got to continue looking around the many different museums within the Vatican. Wow, it was impressive. We think that so many people commissioned statues of themselves and there must have been a stone carving frenzy going on at the beginning of AD times. Vanity was definitely high on the agenda!

We decided to have a crack today without the headsets, because it was such a huge place! Because of this, we cannot yet explain why the majority of stone statues had their appendages lopped off! Bizarre! They only seemed safe if they fashioned a grape leaf in the region. Did Lorena Bobbit's ancestors date back to these times? Something to ponder!

We basically wandered around for about 3 hours, looking at a range of ancient relics, paintings, the rooms and buildings themselves and the most famous Sistine Chapel. Good old Michelangelo, so, so talented! Seemed to be a jack of all trades.

After leaving the museum, we headed out for a look around St Peter's Square. It was almost 6pm by that time, so there wasn't time to go into the basilica itself. Oh well, we can easily go back in the next couple of days if we feel the urge. We sat in the square for a while taking pictures and feeding the birds.

We ended up walking back to the main train station in the evening from St. Peter's so that we could buy our tickets for Verona. There were a few dodgies about, but we were onto them! We are eagle eyes for the dodgies! Move on rustiferiun, we don't need help!

Anyway, we finished off the evening with an outstanding celebratory birthday dinner. This was incredibly delicious and was a little away from the touristy spots, which was a nice change.

Tan: Happy Birthday to ya, Happy Biiiirrrrthday Richard!! (please sing to the tune of Stevie Wonder's hit single)!