Ciao a tutti!
No, we didn't fall into a gelato vat. But while we did find an internet cafe in Orvieto, we were having too good a time to go in. Now we are in Florence, but more about that in another post. Let's back up to Thursday.
Thursday morning, we got up a bit late and had breakfast in the room before heading to the Vatican. Dad had told me the night before to poke him if he snored too loud. He did, but me, kind and wonderful daughter I am, just put my earplugs in. So imagine my surprise when he accused me of poking him--and not from the side of the room my bed was on. We decided that either I'm sleepwalking (sleep-poking?) or he was poked by a ghost.
We just missed the first metro train to the Vatican, but it was stuffed full of people. The second train was almost empty, so I felt pretty smug after that hehe. Now I was back on my 'home turf'from last year. We did wander over to the food street market but didn't buy anything and ended up at the Vatican about 30 minutes before our reservations. They had almost no line though, and we were able to walk right in. The Vatican is as huge as ever, but they have it set up in a very orderly, strict fashion. We did the painting gallery first, as I had to skip it last year, then worked our way through 2 miles of museum and multiple tour groups to the Sistine Chapel. We found a spot to sit and listened as Rick Steves told us about the Chapel, then we used his sneaky 'shortcut' out to St. Peter's Basilica and explored that. Then, of course, we climbed the Dome as it was a beautiful day. The climb seemed much easier this time--perhaps because I built it up too much in my mind? Anyway, it's still quite a hike and even more of a view. Well worth doing if you have the stamina.
No, we didn't fall into a gelato vat. But while we did find an internet cafe in Orvieto, we were having too good a time to go in. Now we are in Florence, but more about that in another post. Let's back up to Thursday.
Thursday morning, we got up a bit late and had breakfast in the room before heading to the Vatican. Dad had told me the night before to poke him if he snored too loud. He did, but me, kind and wonderful daughter I am, just put my earplugs in. So imagine my surprise when he accused me of poking him--and not from the side of the room my bed was on. We decided that either I'm sleepwalking (sleep-poking?) or he was poked by a ghost.
We just missed the first metro train to the Vatican, but it was stuffed full of people. The second train was almost empty, so I felt pretty smug after that hehe. Now I was back on my 'home turf'from last year. We did wander over to the food street market but didn't buy anything and ended up at the Vatican about 30 minutes before our reservations. They had almost no line though, and we were able to walk right in. The Vatican is as huge as ever, but they have it set up in a very orderly, strict fashion. We did the painting gallery first, as I had to skip it last year, then worked our way through 2 miles of museum and multiple tour groups to the Sistine Chapel. We found a spot to sit and listened as Rick Steves told us about the Chapel, then we used his sneaky 'shortcut' out to St. Peter's Basilica and explored that. Then, of course, we climbed the Dome as it was a beautiful day. The climb seemed much easier this time--perhaps because I built it up too much in my mind? Anyway, it's still quite a hike and even more of a view. Well worth doing if you have the stamina.
Which of these statues are scarier? I think #2!
Believe it or not, although we started off about 10:30am, it was now after 4pm just doing those three "tiny" sights. We walked down towards Castel Sant'Ángelo, aka Hadrian's Tomb and saw hundreds of starlings swarming overhead. They looked like giant insects.
We walked across the Ponte Sant'Ángelo as dusk fell, then worked our way back up the river towards the neighborhood of Trastevere. After a quick pizza stop, we simply wandered in circles around Trastevere and found the church. We went in, not realizing they were doing Mass (in English no less) and ended up staying to watch/listen. Finally we found the best gelato we've had so far in Trastevere. Gelato is gelato--the temperature outside doesn't mean anything!
The last challenge for the last night in Rome was managing the bus system. I was determined to use at least one bus correctly, and while we wanted the 271 (haha) it never came, so we caught the 280 to the metro station instead. We turned in somewhat 'early' to begin packing and decided we'd try to hit Saint Peter's in Chains and Trajan's Forum before catching the train.
The last challenge for the last night in Rome was managing the bus system. I was determined to use at least one bus correctly, and while we wanted the 271 (haha) it never came, so we caught the 280 to the metro station instead. We turned in somewhat 'early' to begin packing and decided we'd try to hit Saint Peter's in Chains and Trajan's Forum before catching the train.
1 comment:
SOOOOOOOO....what you're saying is, since you've arrived in Italy, you've had 8 meals of gelato and one piece of pizza?
Hmm.....no wonder yer lackin' stamina!
Hee hee
Ok...I'll tromp over to the other post now. :)
Hugs,
Hannah
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