What makes Rome tick

By far religion is the biggest money making machine in Rome, today we are going to visit the Vatican for the second time in in 2 days. This money making machine begins operations away from the walls of this already very wealthy place, the hawkers and any other fly by nighter begin trading there wares in the near by streets and laneways. Trying to get their greedy little fingers on WADDAS hard earned cash isn't easy, as my favourite word to these unscrupulous traders is a very stern no. 1 hour after joining the line we enter this scared site to nose around a bit, again the big bloke is still away and the thousands just keep on coming. We feel like lambs to the slaughter being herded from one place to the next, when we reach the Sistine Chapel and just stare up at the ceiling there certainly is the wow factor. As we follow the line that leads to the dome we shell out more euros to enter another place of interest, to climb to the top of this massive structure is only for the extremely fit and healthy like myself. The stairs leading up to the top are like climbing the inside of a corkscrew holding on to a bit of rope, very very nerve racking and not a thing I would do again in a hurry. The view made this tortuous climb well worth it, and the faithful just keep pouring through the gates. I spot a couple of blokes setting up about 100,000 chairs so just maybe the big bloke is heading home soon, anyway he has missed his chance to meet WADDA and I'm sorry I missed him also. Here's some photos of today's activities ..........WADDA

J