Day 2 continued!

Day 2 continued
We made our way back to the Vatican and met the Tyndalls before going to Fr Mark's office.  He took us on a guided visit of the Vatican Gardens - a very special thing to do as it's only available with a private tour.  It was lovely to explore the gardens and see beautiful artwork, religious monuments and fountains. We were shown the old summer palace of the Pope, his helicopter landing pad - he comes in each Wednesday from the place he stays during warm months - the window of his rooms and the beautiful grotto holding the original altar from Lourdes in France (Phill you would have loved it!).  Fr Mark promised the kids a few things if he should become Pope - he'll let us swim in the Vatican Garden fountains on hot days, he'll let us fly in aboard the Pope's helicopter, and we'll be allowed to go for a spin in the Pope Mobile.  He thinks he's fairly safe making those promises as he's not likely to have to make good on them, though he thinks he has a better chance of being Pope than his sister does. We finished the tour and then Fr Mark took us through the back streets to a great restaurant where they all welcomed the Padre loudly and gave us the most amazing meal that just kept on coming - antipasti, pizza, pasta, tiramisu, coffee, limoncello. 

Afternoon:He had then lined up a young seminarian, Lewy Barakat, from Melbourne, who gave us a really wonderful tour of the inside St Peter's - it's so good to have the story behind the amazing artwork and relics, and to have things pointed out that we would have missed. For example - most of the original paintings inside St Peter's have now been replaced by mosaic replicas of the painting.  The mosaics are made of tiny, tiny tiles, and the originals are in the Vatican museum, because the year-round humidity inside St Peter's was ruining the artwork.  When you looked really closely and at the right angle, you could see the mosaic, but you would have never noticed it otherwise.  Lewy gave a great tour as long as possible - until a security guard told him no more talking after 5.30. Fr Mark says the security have no authority whatsoever, which is why they like to wield it so strongly! After a long day, we made our way back to our apartments and got the kids some food and ready for bed, before Peggy, Damian and I  headed out to dinner at La Veranda at Hotel Columbus - he'd been wanting to take us there as it was a real favourite from his last trip.  A divine dinner again, and great wine (the waiter made a point of saying our food was good but the wine Damian picked was even better!).  Home through a very packed Campo Di Fiori (Em should have been out partying with the young people), to sit on our terrace again before collapsing into bed.  We're all getting so tired, but can't bear the thought of missing anything!