Thursday 21 June

A very cultural day.  We started at the Pantheon with its amazing dome – the largest masonry vault ever built, a structure so sophisticated that had it been built in modern concrete it would have long ago collapsed under its own weight – so my Rome guide tells me (thank you who ever gave me that!) and of course lovely inside. From there we wandered to St Peter’s Square and the Basilica where we were subjected to bag searches and correct clothing perusal – very strict.  The Basilica is of course Italy’s biggest and most spectacular church –amazing frescoes, alter pieces and sculptures all done by the ‘whose who’ of the renaissance artists! Very suave but stern young men in suits inside watching your every move – no leaning against the edge, talking, exposing of female shoulders.  After lunch we tackled the Vatican museum.  Although I’d been before, one forgets the spectacular array of artworks the Catholic Church has amassed over the centuries.  We spent 4 hours wandering the warren of galleries.  Highlights for me were the Egyptian section, vintage maps, papal carriages and vehicles, Raphael’s La Transfigurazione (in the painting section) and of course the Sistine Chapel with the stunning ceiling and end wall by Michelangelo and the other sections decorated by the other heavyweights of the Renaissance. We finished our day with huge gelatos from the camp bar. Definitely better get the jeans out and see if I can get them done up. Tomorrow we head south to Pompeii.