Tuesday 17th January

An early start today as we were off on a tour - a combination of walking and bus rides, which took us to the Pantheon, Piazza Navona and then on to Vatican City to St Peters Basilica.
The Pantheon was amazing, to think that such a structure was constructed some 1800 years ago, quite unbelievable.
Unfortunately it wasn't such a good morning for walking around, as by 11.30am the temperature was still only -1 and I think even colder in the shade.
There was a bit of excitement at St Peters as today there was to be a special blessing of animals, so lots of people around with their pets, plus a parade of soldiers, police, etc on horseback. There was a mass being celebrated in the Basilica so we weren't able to get past the altar used by the Pope, but still were able to see most parts of the church. We will be back to the Vatican on Thursday for a tour of the museums and Sistine Chapel.
This afternoon we went in different directions - Peter to do even more shopping, me to the hairdressers. The hairdresser knew even less English than I know Italian, so there was quite a bit of sign language going on.
In other news, we've received advice from FedEx that the most expensive duck in Italy (bought when we visited the glass business on Murano) is now flying south for summer, so should arrive in its new home soon.
Photos today of the Pantheon - the dome and floor (there is no glass in the top of the dome, the rain comes in through the roof and flows away through the holes in the floor (the roped off area in the photo) and into the drainage system, exactly as it has done for the last 1800 years), inside St Peters Basilica, and Peter in St Peters Square.