Today was more sight-seeing in Rome, our main activity being a wonderful tour of the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel, enjoying Michelangelo’s homoeroticism. We were taken on the tour with a very knowledgable (and, appropriately, slightly bitter) British tour guide. He told us that days earlier, when returning deposit money for tour participants’ headsets, he was arrested by the swiss guard for receiving payment on the Vatican’s Holy grounds - it seems that privilege is reserved for the gift shops and donation boxes in the Basilica.
Enjoying a beer and panino we saw a car hit a scooter and learnt that a few passionate words and hand gestures will get you out of anything. La polizia were quick on the scene, but seemed to do little more than hang around and have a couple of cigarettes.
After a stroll up Janiculum Hill with breathtaking views of Rome we had gelato by the Tiber in the very trendy Trastevere. We ended the evening with dinner in the Jewish Ghetto, where the Jewish-Italian community have responded to the Pope’s 16th century banishment with well priced pasta and a lively bar scene.
Something I learnt today: It’s possible to have a crush on a statue.