Rome
We were in Rome in 2019 when we took our Mediterranean cruise. We really liked what we saw so we decided to come back and see some of the things we'd missed on that trip.
In 2019 we just had time to do a driveby of the Colosseum because we had lost a travel day. This time we arranged for a private tour that included getting us onto the arena floor.
Click here to see these photos on Flickr or to download higher resolution versions
The next day we did a Vatican tour, also something we missed in 2019. We started with a lunch (the most expensive meal we had in Italy, atabout $180 for 3). The lineups were really bad—you can see all the people with tickets in the first picture. If we hadn't had a private guide, it would have taken hours to get inside. What we saw was essentially another museum. There are hallways and rooms loaded with pictures, statues, etc. and after Florence it got fairly repetitive. I stopped trying to take photos of the statues and pictures and just tried to capture the sense of the place. In the last shots you can see where the Pope addresses the masses.
Click here to see these photos on Flickr or to download higher resolution versions