To everyone who has succeeded in reading my ridiculously long blog posts, I thank you and apologize for their length. This blog is doubling as my travel diary to look back on, so some of what I write is just so that I can remember after the fact where all I've been. With that in mind, the posting continues...
Today we set off early in the morning for Vatican City. When we arrived, things were pretty empty so we quickly made our way to St Peter's Basilica, and paid the fee to climb all the way to the top to look out. The view was beautiful and it was already quite hot out, even at 8 am!
After climbing back down, we explored the Basilica. The artwork was beautiful and I was blown away by the intricacies in the decorations. After the Basilica, we sent postcards using the Vatican's mail service, supposedly a very good mail service. Whatever... I am allowed a few 'dumb tourist' moments.
Then it was time for the Vatican museums. When we found the line up we quickly realized that we had seen the buildings in reverse of the ideal order. The lineup was HUGE and after exploring how far it went for a few minutes and not seeing any end, I went back to stand with the girls. For the first hour, I stayed entertained by getting immersed in a conversation with a 6 year old girl standing next to me. She had no shortage of things to say and by the end of the hour, we were best friends. She invited me over to watch Happy Feet, but alas, she lives in Germany. Jasmine and Winnie kept busy singing Sound of Music (their tour in Salzburg still fresh in their minds) and with my sound of music repertoire something lacking, I struck up a new conversation with other people closer to my own age (6 years old may be my maturity level, but I think the next people were at least into double digits). After another full hour we were nearly at the front, and I was feeling exhausted from the heat (even with drinking a bottle of water).
Into the museum we went, in the direction of the Sistine Chapel. We moved at a reasonable pace, taking time occasionally to pause and admire the ceilings, the walls, and the sculptures and other pieces of artwork all around us. I couldn't get over just how crowded the whole place was and just how many languages I was hearing all around me. Eventually, we reached the Sistine Chapel. Wow. I found it to be even more breathtaking than I had imagined. I can't fathom how the ceiling was painted as my neck began to hurt just from leaning back to look at it. We spent a while admiring the chapel and then slowly made our way through the rest of the rooms en route to the exit. We ate some lunch and decided we had enough of the Vatican Museum and perhaps we would go somewhere else. We pulled out our list of museums only to be reminded that nearly EVERYthing is closed on Mondays. We opted for some pretty outdoor areas instead and so off we went to Piazza Del Popolo (where we saw some teens having a water fight) and then we meandered our way through Villa Borghese, which reminded me at times of Central Park and High Park. We had bus passes and so when we saw a mini bus (one third the size of a regular city bus) go by, we hoped on to enjoy the scenery. After riding around for a bit, we were ready to head back to the hostel. We stoped at the train station and attempted to sort out more of our travel details. I thought the ticket agent was going to kill us with all of the questions we asked, but he managed to stay calm despite other people in the line behind us begining to curse us (or so I imagine I heard).
I grabed a salad from the grocery store for dinner while Jasmine and Winnie went out in search of some authentic Italian pasta. I think we were all satisfied with our meals selections. Tonight we will head out to Campo De Fiori, an area known for good nightlife.. though I wonder if it will be quiet since it is Monday!
Tomorrow we are off to Florence. Rome has been fun, but I am ready to explore somewhere new....
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