Tour day 1

Our tour day started by a visit to the Vatican . It is inside a wall and this used to be the main gate.

Inside the courtyard you could see the dome of St Peters Basillica.

There were boards there that explained about the Sistine Chapel. In there, we would not be allowed to take photos.

From the courtyard we entered the Vatican museum.

The Galleria delle carte geografiche was amazing.

The ceiling has astounding paintings

All along the walls are paintings like maps of each geographical region of Italy.

It was hard to get a good picture . There are so many people you are kept moving all the time so you are always taking your photos on the move.

There was an amazing tapestry gallery as well.

The detail was fabulous.

The Sistine chapel was not what I expected. It was a large rectangular room, I think I was expecting something more architecturally spectacular but it did allow the art work to be the focus.

Next we went inside St Peters Basillica 

The dome is breathtaking 

And the altar is huge

This is in the square outside where the pope comes onto the balcony.