Due to the Pope's travel pans & the excessive heat however this weeks' audience was cancelled so we instead enjoyed a relaxed walk through the Centro Storico - Rome's historic city center.
After a casual walk we then had to survive the over-crowded buses but made it successfully to our first stoop, Campo de' Fiori - 'Field of Flowers' - one of Rome's most popular & bustling squares, always busy on a weekday morning with its' market & cafes.
From Campo de' Fiori it was just a short walk to nearby Piazza Navona - a much grander 'square', formerly a Roman hippodrome, complete with the spectacular Bernini 'Fountain of the Four Rivers'.
After free time at the Pantheon or sightseeing & lunch, we regrouped & rode the bus to the Vatican for our afternoon tour - the Vatican Museum & Saint Peter's.
Our guide for the Vatican was the superb Stuart Harvey. Stuart masterfully negotiated the bureaucracy & the crowds, entertaining us, educating & enthralling us with information on art, history, the church, & more.
This evening, after time to freshen-up at our hotel, we rode the metro to Piazza Barberini, for dinner at the fun Giardini d'Albino - Albino's Gardens.
As well as a seemingly unending array of foods we were also serenaded by the house singer with Italian songs & even John Denver! Lots of fun & the ideal venue for our two birthday girls.
From Albino's it was just a short walk to the top of the Spanish Steps - an iconic nighttime sight of Rome & a chance for us to see another of the city's 13 Egyptian obelisks.
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