Hello again Auntie.....I have just woken up to the fact that I do have a photo of this Church wall, I have scanned it and I include it in this post for your interest.... It was not in France as I remembered, it is actually in Austria. Best wishes to you Aunty.......

That sounds cool.
I'm mindful of walking in history wherever I've lived.
Nearby here are ancient cliff dwellings, native village sites.
Rome would be interesting - in the footsteps of Tiberius.

I spent a couple of weeks there studying The Popes and the Papacy for my history of Europe degree. At that time there was a garbage strike going on and Rome didn't look or smell so great. There were lots of "bag ladies" carrying bags of pasta around for the hundreds of cats occupying the city. We saw so many Basillica's they all started looking alike. We visited the catacombs which were amazing. Our instructor lived there for a few years and knew the city. I was the only one who turned down a chance to see the Pope (John Paul II). One truly amazing place for me was the basement of St. Peters. This Basillica was built on the top of a Roman necropolis. Pius the XII started to excavate underneath and the necropolis as found. Imagine walking down streets and going into houses that were once used 2,000 years ago.

I found the Romans somewhat arrogant. They considered themselves superior because their predecessors were once rulers of the known world.

that's why we never signed up for any tours . we just took it all in. as a carpenter i was stunned at the beauty but have to say" try the kings palace in Bangkok for amazement"

Well spoken Auntie, one of my memories along the same lines, was a visit to a church in France,
[ I am a kiwi from New Zealand ] here was a magnificent building, constructed by someone with an acute imagination, where translucent [ partial see through ] marble had been chosen to encase the building.Viewing the scene in daylight from within, the walls were lit up with the different colors of streaks of multicolored minerals, present in the marble,. lit up with astounding brilliance which I will always remember.

I first went to Rome when I was around 13 or 14. I was at a Catholic school and we did Rome (easter blessing!) Pisa, Florence, Milan & Venice. I thought it was great but little did I know the seed it would sow.

25 years later I did a degree in History & Archaeology (90% Roman) my eldest daughter is named after Julius Caesar and my youngest after the love interest of Ovid.

I am making a trip to Italy - Rome included - later this summer. Even as a non believer I can appreciate the art, architecture, and history of the place.

I've been to Rome, but never visited the Vatican.

Flash back .... You know what they say, if you go to Rome then do what the "tourist" do. This is 2003, smart phones didn't exist as the ones today. I was carrying a digital camera. I am standing at the plaza outside the basilica and I see Wonder Woman !!!!! ... It was a girl that I guess, was going to pull some sort of political protest ... Not sure. Pulled my camera and turned the knob to get it ready. I was very impressed that within the 3 to 4 seconds my camera took to boot and get ready, the secret service personnel wearing suits came out of nowhere, got a hold of Wonder Woman by the elbows and in a jiffy she was gone. My picture captured the suited dudes and the rear of Wonder Woman walking away and pretty quickly and quietly...puff...the rapture, she was gone. Very efficient indeed....