Sunday, July 28, 2013
We woke
up so early this morning again…the trick today was attempting to make it to the
Vatican on the “free day” they have one Sunday per month.
After a
quick breakfast at 6am, we headed down to the shuttle busses that would take us
to the end of the port. Then we walked
as fast as possible to the train station where we bought our ticket and raced
over to the train gate where the train was supposed to have already left – and
made it on to that train by a fraction of a second! I was so impressed with our timing!! This meant we would get into Rome a good 45
minutes earlier than if we had to take the later train.
We
arrived in Rome around 8:30 and found the correct Metro and then the correct
bus to make it to our camping hostel.
Because we couldn’t officially check in so early (It was only 9:30) we
left our bags at the deck, changed into proper Vatican clothes, and headed back
onto the bus and the Metro back to the Vatican.
The
line for the Vatican was definitely not as horrible as I anticipated! I was really impressed, to be honest. We spent a good 2 hours inside of the museum
in total. I was really impressed with
the frescos and the ceilings overall were amazing. It was spectacular to finally see the Sistine
Chappelle, but I must say I was slightly disappointed. It was wonderful, for sure, but not as
detailed as I anticipated – perhaps a funny thing to say because clearly it is
quite detailed for a fresco, but I think I had just built it up too much in my
mind. It was still wonderful to see!!
We
walked in the extreme temperatures to St. Peter’s but after seeing the extreme
length of the line- completely in the sun – we decided that we would “save it
for next time”. Instead we walked back
across the river and found a cute little restaurant for lunch where we shared
some awesome tortellini on a patio in the shade!
En
route to the Trevi Fountain we saw the Pantheon, the columns, a lot of plazas
and quite a few churches. Outside of the
Pantheon we went into an actual “paper” store where they sell hand-made paper
and beautiful leather –bound books and fountain pens. Shawn bought this beautiful leather
book. It is really classy. It is so easy
to just run into everything “important” as you are walking along. Quite impressive, actually. The Trevi
fountain was amazing! It is absolutely
beautiful and totally tucked away on a random street. It was packed with a million tourists,
however, and I know both Shawn and I are getting sick of the crowds.
Along
the way I bought a coin from a street vendor.
It is pretty ironic. It is a
Canadian Penny that was cut out so only the ring around the outside and the
maple leaves are intact. They sell the exact
same thing in the Victoria Inner harbor!
I have always thought they were cool, but they are pretty pricy at
home! Here it was a good deal, so I
bought one and she made it into a necklace for me on the spot. There is something poetic about a Canadian
buying a Canadian penny in Rome. I like
it.
We
almost made it back to the metro stop without spending any more money...but
then I saw a sale! Fortunately, just
like when I try on clothes in France, nothing really fits me here – I am shaped
like a North American and not a European!
I did end up buying this cute little (cheap) t-shirt, however! J And because the store was air conditioned
Shawn was more than happy to have me trying things on – forever!
We
stopped at the grocery store that is located across from the hostel to pick up
some things for dinner. We had a lovely
dinner of artichoke dip, grapes, bread, cheese, and meat….along with an entire
bottle of wine. Before we managed the
dinner, however, we went for an amazing swim in the pool at the hostel. It felt almost like an infinity pool because
the one side backed onto the edge of the property and there was a nice hill and
view over the side. It was amazing to
cool down a bit!!
It will
be sad to leave this great Hostel and Rome tomorrow morning, but it will be
nice to be in Florence for a full 3 days starting tomorrow.
-Allison
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