The Vatican Calls ....Day 3

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This morning both Gry and I woke feeling the effects of yet another two bottles of wine only hours before awaking.

That didn't stop the two of us though! We were up and off to see the Spanish steps. On our agenda was to find a place for brunch somewhere between the Spanish steps and the Vatican as that was next on our things to do today. We walked to the steps taking in all of Roma. After seeing the Spanish steps both Gry and I were feeling a little disappointed in the lack of grandeur that the steps presented. This may have been due to the construction happening at the foot of the stairs where the fountain lies. From the steps, we found a number of cafés close to the metro where we could have some lunch.

This was quite comical actually. We were ushered into a small. Age by a waiter. "Come ladies, you want pizza, you want good food, no service charges". So we sat. we ordered our drinks three times looking at one another like someone is crazy hahaha. While sitting waiting for our drinks, two waiters came over without saying a word and lifted our table moving it three feet over and inserting a table. gry and I were in shock. Then they seated a large German family that also seem to be a little apologetic and surprised at this Or at least the kids of the family did. As we sat. Ow like one big party at a long table, waiting still for our cafés, the woman of the group decided to light up a Smoke. Not uncommon to smoke on patios or even on restaurants here on Rome but since we hadn't got our coffees yet and it was not what Gry and I were hoping to sit next to, we picked up and left.

Only a few cafés down, we found a spot that looked quiet and the waiter that ushered us in seemed nice. It was a good choice. Our waiter, spoke very good English as he had lived in USA some time ago. We had lasagna with our coffees today while we people watched. This is one of the things I like to do best.

After brunch, we headed to the subway station. That was a bit confusing. There are a number of tunnels and of purse they are in Italian. Gry knew her way around the subway better then I having traveled them many times in London. We took the train to the Vatican and arrived in time for our tour.

The tour we booked on line before leaving and so very glad we did as to just get into the Vatican was a line that went all the way down the street and around the Vatican walls. It was ridiculous! One can purchase tours on the street but we didn't take the chance.

Our tour guide was an English man in his late 50s or early 60s Who had a permanent smile on his face. He appeared to be a retired history professor but we later found out he had not been in education at all but loved Rome and came to work here From England.

We began the tour outside in a small atrium set up with photos of the Sistine Chapel. There, our tour guide told us all about the paintings within the chapel, the history behind it and what we were to expect. This was very very long out in the heat but it was so interesting. This is something that can not be done in the chapel as no tours are permitted and no photographs were permitted. It is amazing to know that it was built in the 1400s and that all the paintings I was about to see were done by famous artists such as Michelangelo and Botticelli of which I have only seen in books.

We walked for two hours through the Vatican viewing the gardens, the office of the past Popes, sculptures, paintings, tapestry and so much more! The Vatican has more then 1400 rooms. It was pretty incredible. I enjoyed viewing the baths. enrols bath, which you can see in the photos was a giant red marble bath the size of a small pool. One of the bath tubs, a pink stone tub, was said to have had Cleopatra in it on one of her visits. They were all so beautiful and huge!

After the tour, Gry and I grabbed a coffee and pastry at a cafe in the Vatican. We sat for a brief spell and tried to cool off.

We were then off to visit the Sistine Chapel. As we approached the doors, one could feel the heat coming out from all the people inside. As we walked in, there was a sea of people looking up and all around, security officers ushering people to "keep moving", " no pictures", "no talking". We could see people all around us taking photos of the chapel but the officers did their best to keep it at bay. With 20,000 visitors a day, they were doing a pretty good job I thought. As I looked up at the paintings, it wasn't too difficult to remember what the tour guide had told us. I looked for the Creation of Adam, probably one of the few I could recognize immediately. It amazed me though Michelangelo painted it In the early 1500s over a period of two years. It was originally painted as golden stars on a blue sky. We left the Sistine Chapel and started our walk back to the hotel to freshen up.

Walking out of the Vatican and down the street, we heard music coming from the square where we had been to see the Pope on Sunday. the area was all gated off and it was full of young people from what appeared to be various churches, clubs or scouts. Each group of young people and their leaders had on the same coloured t-shirt with their location on it. We asked a local what was going on he said, "I don't know it's the Germans and some sort of political thing". The music was quite good and although in German, Gry said it was gospel music that she was familiar with but in Norwegian. We walked along the street buying a few items of souvenirs then headed towards the Trevi river. Having had spent a couple of evenings down at the river, we knew how to find the hotel from there Or at least the direction.

We got to the hotel, showered and cleaned up for dinner. Both feeling really quite tired and not too much in the party mood, we decide to head down to a cafe inside the Pantheon square. We found a quaint little spot for dinner that faced the fountain and the Pantheon. There we were entertained by a mime, some musicians and some locals selling their goods to the tourist. People stopped by and sat around the fountain and as the night went on, more people came out walking their dogs or stopping by to say hi to those working in and around the cafés.

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Photos

Brunch time
Lasagna and iced coffee. Mmmmmmm

Pigna
The Fontana della Pigna or simply Pigna ("The Pine cone") is a former Roman fountain

Sfere Con Sfera
This is called “Sphere Within Sphere” (Sfere Con Sfera) and it was created in 1990 by Italian sculptor Arnoldo Pomodoro.

Sfere Con Sfera

Bust of Augustus Caesar
Vatican City Courtyard Of The Pinecone Bust Augustus Caesar Art History