Vatican City

Ciao from Roma!

We got up somewhat early so we could eat some breakfast at the hotel before catching the 64 bus to the Vatican. We may have got off one stop too late on the bus, as we had about a 15 minute walk to the museum entrance. We started our second full day in Rome by exploring the Vatican museums and Sistine Chapel. We showed up for our 9:30 slot early and navigated through the long lines and many tour groups until we reached the entrance, where we picked up our audio guides included with our ticket. We went through the museum passing by the Egyptian artifacts, tapestries, map/cartography room, then the School of Athens (Rafael room), and paintings by more contemporary artists. I learned that there are two Salvador Dali paintings on display as well as tiles painted by Henri Mattise. We then made it to the Sistine Chapel, Michaelangelo’s crown jewel and a masterpiece. We stayed in there as long as it was bearable (it was really hot!!) before concluding our visit to the Vatican Museums. We were then ushered into St. Peter’s Basilica for a visit. It was free to enter (you only have to pay it you want to go upstairs) and we enjoyed a quick visit. Most of our time in there was spent looking at Michaelangelo’s Pieta, which we learned he sculpted at age 23! We walked through St. Peter’s square before heading back to the Rome city center.

On our way into town, we walked by the Castel Sant Angelo and Ponte Sant Angelo and went to Forno Campo de Fiori to pick up some lunch. They were the equivalent of flatbreads - some crust with cheese and toppings on them. We got the tomato/ham and the mushroom ones with a lemon soda to share. Our next stop was Campo de Fiori with the highlight being our balsamic tasting. We picked up some white balsamic to use on caprese salads because we liked the flavor so much! 

We then stopped by Piazza Navona and stopped for a quick coffee at Cafe Capracio near the Pantheon. I got a caffe macchiato (there’s an unofficial rule that no cappuccinos should be consumed after noon) and Ray got an espresso. There were several locals in suits eating nearby. 

We needed a little break so we went back to the hotel for a short nap. When it was time to head out again, we waited for a bus to Trastevere after getting a recommendation from our hotel. It felt like 20 different buses went by without being the one we needed, but we started walking and finally caught one at the next stop - likely saved us about 20 minutes of walking! We went to Al Tonarrello for dinner and enjoyed our meal. I got pesto and Ray got Cacio e Pepe. We also shared the artichokes and some house wine. The waiter asked if we wanted any dessert and, while we had good intentions of going elsewhere, we said yes and got some tiramisu. 

We explored Trastevere a bit but still wanted a little bit more of a sweet treat. We stopped by Tiramisu Trastevere and got a good one (I thought better than Al Tonarrello but Ray liked the other one better) there. We also hit the grocery store to pick up more water and found some Trofie pasta, our favorite from the Cinque Terre days!

We got back to the hotel around sunset and I fell right asleep - it’s been a busy couple of weeks!

Amy