The perfect tourists: yes and no........

Today we've made some progress, and also failed badly, in our conquest to be the best tourists around.

On the plus side we headed off bright and early arriving at St Peter's Basilica at 8am. Our early arrival was assisted by the fact that we are staying in an apartment which is only 5 short bus stops away from the Vatican - probably walking distance for someone younger and fitter. With Ewan's 'dicky ' knees and my sore foot, the bus was a quicker option.

We decided to climb to the top of St. Peter's dome and there was no queue at that time of the day. We did have to go through security only to discover that Ewan's pocketknife was not acceptable - I'm sure we looked like maniacs intent on destroying the art work! He threw it in the bin, expressing some concern about how he would open the Peroni beers he had chilling in the fridge without the bottle opener (never fear there was one in the apartment: phew!).

We purchased tickets for the lift in the hope that most of the ascent would be covered. Instead we climbed lots of spiral stairs ever decreasing in size until we could barely fit our feet on them, and the last few with a long rope hanging vertically instead of a bannister. Finally we emerged to a wonderful view across St Peter's Square and all of Rome. It was fabulous.

Fortunately the way down was easier and brought us into the Basilica itself where we wandered for ages marvelling at the artwork, the stone work and the number of tourists! Mass was being heard in one small section and reminded us that this is a functioning church revered by Catholics. Outside there was much activity, lots of police , cameras being set up, very well-dressed dignitaries arriving. As I sit here writing this we are currently watching TV describing some very important occasion for the Pope there today: no idea what the fuss was about as our basic Italian doesn't stretch too far!

Our next excitement was going on a tour of the Scavi site beneath the Basilica. Some months ago a friend told me about these tours and I booked the tickets in May!! It is a tour run by the Archaeological section of the Vatican consisting of small groups of visitors (up to 10 only) interested in the escavating that had taken place under the site of the current Basilica reportedly to locate the grave of Peter. Run by a very enthusiastic 'iconologist' and historian we spent two hours in the humid and stuffy air in tight corridors underground. It was fascinating as you could see the different walls and mausoleums built by the townspeople centuries before the current Basilica was built. The upshot was that there was a skeleton found in a tiny hole in the vicinity of the grave and she said it was 90% possible from a scientific perspective that it was Peter's skeleton, but it was 100% if you were Catholic!! There were also a number of beautifully decorated altars and pope's sarcophagi underground as well. All very fascinating.

At this point our best intentions to be the perfect tourists went astray - overcome by the relentless humidity and heat we went to the entrance of the Vatican museum but couldn't find the energy to queue and so that was as far as we got!

We headed for the nearest Enoteca for lunch and walked slowly back to the apartment fortifying ourselves with gelato on the way. Baci and strawberry for me and pistachio and fig for Ewan. We stopped at our local mini supermarket for beer, olives, cheese and prosciutto which we are currently enjoying. Thank heavens for the hours I have spent listening to the 'How to speak Italian CD' in the car! I managed to order the right items without too much embarrassment!

Now we are just debating which of the little trattorias nearby we will go to for dinner: so much choice and great food to eat.

your apprentice tourist,

Dianne