ROM. 3rd day

What a Day! In bullet points:

• Steffen turns 50.

• The Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica have their pitfalls.

• No need for long queues at entrances.

• Foot, knee, and back pain are overrated.

• Running 12 km is worth it 😱

Conclusion: Saw a lot today, walked even more, and learned something about different dynamics in the family. 😉

The highlight of the day should definitely have been St. Peter's Basilica. However, it had its pitfalls.

Our day started with a supposedly convenient transfer from the campsite to the Vatican. However, we were dropped off quite a distance away and started the Vatican tour with a long walk to the Vatican Museums. Thanks to the pre-booked tickets, we were able to go past the long (in reality, very, very long!!!) queue and straight in. Here, we visited the many interesting artifacts from ancient history to modern times. Lots of Vatican history, wonderful chapels, murals, art, and attractions 👍🏻 with an impressive Sistine Chapel by Leonardo Da Vinci at the end (no photography allowed).

At the end of the museum tour, we should have joined a tour group (if I had understood the tip from the brochure better) so that we could have gone directly to St. Peter's Basilica 😳😕 Instead, we took the regular exit from the museum. 😱 Result: in order to visit the basilica now, we had to stand in a looooooong (even longer than the one at the museum!!!!!) queue 😟😩 nobody really felt like doing that.🐑😝

So, we decided to simply visit the Castel Sant'Angelo (also very interesting), then go back to the campsite, and come back later when the queue to the basilica is shorter.

A good decision because later, around 5:30 PM, the queue 🐍 was very short, with a waiting time of only 20 minutes 😊👍🏻😎 Now we could calmly admire the largest church in the world from the inside, with beautiful evening light. Breathtakingly tall and beautifully decorated with treasures, especially Michelangelo's Pietà.

We then ended the rest of Steffen's birthday, all pretty exhausted, at the campsite's restaurant with pizza 🍕 and spaghetti 🍝 After that, we went to bed quite tired.


Tomorrow we head back home. Via Florence, Bologna, and Modena to our stopover in Switzerland 🇨🇭 at Lake Lugano. We plan to drive continuously for 6.5 hours 👍🏻