This day was going to be about exploring the Vatican. The day before, as we were getting off the bus, we asked our tour guide when the best time was to go – we figured he’d say right away in the morning, but he said go over lunch when everyone is eating. So in the morning we got to sleep in for the first time on the trip (on day 7) and enjoyed a relaxed breakfast in our hotel.
We headed out to the Pantheon on the bus a little before 11. To me, the Pantheon is the most impressive structure we saw on the whole trip. It was built in 128 AD and it would be very difficult to build today. It has a huge rotunda (and is the inspiration for all the others) and I didn’t realize until afterwards that the height of the building is the exact same as the diameter. Rome has had several earthquakes, floods and fires over the years, but the Pantheon has miraculously stayed intact. It was converted to a church in the 7th century, so that helped it survived, and fortunately for us, made it free to enter.
Next, we went to the Piazza Navone – a wide-open area featuring the Fountain of Four Rivers that was highlighted in Angels in Demons. It’s a Bernini fountain and it features a river from the known continents including North America, and the river they chose was the Plate river. I have no idea what the Plate River is. We admired that fountain and the other two and then proceeded north across the bridge of the river Tiber to the courts building. From the court building to the Castel San Angelo there were a ton of little shops featuring everything from electronics to records (the 78 speed type) and the staple of knick-knacks and clothes. I’d been looking to pick up a soccer jersey and finally found an XXL one that fit okay. It’s David Villa’s team Spain soccer jersey. I had to spend the better part of the evening trying to figure out who the heck that was. He is number 7, so it fits in well with my Joe Mauer collection.
We stopped for lunch after walking around (but not into) Castel San Angelo. For something different, we tried pasta and pizza – just kidding, that’s what we had for every meal. We got to the Vatican and walked into the forum in front and figured out the line started there for entrance into the Basilica – far on the right side. The line moved fast, so it was only 10-15 minutes before we made it through the security gates. Next was the shoulder check – they looked everyone over to make sure they didn’t have exposed shoulders. We made it into the church – it’s gigantic. I didn’t see until afterwards that it can hold 60,000 people. There was Michelangelo’s Pieta on the right side as you enter. The rest of the basilica had several frescos and paintings and just in front of the alter was St. Peter’s gravesite.
We figured there was an entrance from the basilica into the Vatican Museum since they are both in the Vatican, but things are never that simple. We had to walk all the way around to the north of the Vatican to find the entrance. we didn’t have to wait in line too long and we picked up an audio tour listening device so we could know what was going on. There were a TON of people at the museum, so going anywhere was a chore. We went through the museums of Rome and Greek, the Etruscans, the hall of maps (which I found very interesting), the apartments painted with Rafael’s frescoes and finally we got to the Sistine Chapel. There were so many people in the Chapel it took a way a little of the enjoyment of looking at the marvelous ceiling and the entire room. We spent a good chunk of time there, but it was hard to get past the guards shushing everyone and people tripping over you.
We grabbed our customary cup of gelato after we finished the tour and headed back to the hotel. Becky was pretty sick of pizza and pasta by this point, so we tried to find a Thai restaurant, and when those were too far away, we looked for a Mexican restaurant. We walked a few blocks from our hotel to the place it’s supposed to be, but it was closed. So we ate at yet another Ristorante Pizzoria. This one was quite good – Becky enjoyed her ravioli and I splurged for the steak which was good. It was an interesting scene – they had the waiters who spoke Italian and English serving the customers and trying to draw in new customers, but all the while the owner (who was dressed casually while the waiters were in uniform) would bark at them in Italian. He pretty much never talked to customers and he barely lifted a plate, but nonetheless, he was getting quite the workout.
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