We Storm the Citte Vaticano :op

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Ack! i got up at 7:40 but johnny didn't get up til a little late, after i got out of the shower. by the time we were both done getting ready and out the door we hadn't made the bus number 64 to the vatican city in time and as we got over near the stop (which we actually passed, and had to get off and walk back) it was after 9:00, when we were supposed to be there. :o(

oh well - instead of doing the basilica at 9 and then the museums at 10:30 we changed the tickets to do the museums at 10:30, have a break, and then do the basilica at 15:00, no biggie. we putzed about for a little bit, walking up and down the street and popping into every tourist trap there was looking for badges for our bags. we found them, for 6 euros a piece, and declined, then went next door and found them for 5 euros. well - if right next door they were one euros cheaper, i'm sure we could find them for less somewhere else. we walked on. one after the other, across the street, back across the street, each place they had patches but not the kind we wanted. eventually we came to another shop that did have them and they were of decent quality for only 4 euros. we got one for italy and one for the vatican city, since technically it's a sovereign country. along the way i asked every person i could what word they used for badge pr patch and every one of them gave me a different answer, i swear. iscudo, frega, bandiera, frego, and a few others.... i don't think anyone actually knew! lol.

we went back to the general area of the tourist office for the vatican to wait for the group to get there and the guide to take us over to the museums. *ugh* soooo many people. it drove both of us nuts. we walked all along the vatican city wall and went in the museum entrance, which was at the back of the basilica complex. again, we skipped the queue, but then we were supposed to wait for audio guides and we just huddled in a corner for what seemed like 20 to 30 minutes at least. we were not happy. when we eventually did get something from them it was a ticket to get in but no audio guide. we went upstairs, through the ticketing lines, and then got in another line to wait for audio guides. after waiting another 20-30 minutes we finally go them, but then as we walked away someone ran up to us and told us that they were for a tour group and not independent wandering so we had to give them back and directed us to another counter with anther line for the audio guides we were supposed to have. well, by this time we had both had it with the lines and didn't want to get them so we just walked on. we were ushered through the museums in a cattle-shoot kind of way and walked along, or rather shuffled along because of the crowd.... eventually we got to the sistine chapel and as we walked through, which was impressive with all the antiquities and mosaics and tapestries and such, we went all the way through, or thought we did, shuffling through the whole thing. we took pictures of all the frescoes, but then when we got to the end realized we hadn't seen creation yet and so, even though we weren't supposed to, we backtracked against aaaaalll the crowds to the beginning looking for it again. didn't see it. what was going on!?!? ok, so we took a turn into some side rooms - maybe it was in there. nope. i asked three guards where it was and they just said further down and pointed in a direction. ugh. ?!?!?!

so, now for the third time we were walking through and decided that if we didn't see it, we didn't see it - that was it. we got back tot he end and asked another guard where it was and he pointed to the library - so we shuffled down some new stairs and found where everyone was heading into - HA! we found it! actually, the whole thing really was impressive. amazing actually that someone painted it upside down even. the fresco involves putting fresh, wet plaster on something, in this case the ceiling, and then painting on it before it dries. i could see him way up high on scaffolding upside down with plaster dripping down and a set of paints. gives you much more respect for the craft than just a canvas with a still life on a wall.

so - we get our pictures and then decide to run, run away!!! we almost ran out to get away from the crowds, stopping only once or twice to get a few more pictures. we exited next to st peter's basilica and went out into the square. on our way out we saw some of the swiss guards at one of the entrances and snapped a few pictures of them, then some cardinals came out and we got some of them too - the costumes were interesting, but costumes, to me, nonetheless. it's been an interesting trip from my perspective being in jesus-land and having the feelings i do about organized religion. it's more a sociological/anthropological study for me, not a pilgrimage - as the receipt we got from the vatican tourist office read. ( you know - when you get a receipt now it has the pink, yellow, and white copy - well the white copy said "pilgrim's copy" - HA)

my friends got a kick out of the atheist and the baptist storming the gates of st peter's basilica. ha ha ha ha. neither of us could go the entire time without cursing though - LOL. johnny did twice in the sistine chapel and i did in st peter's basilica, LMAO....

anyhoo - so we get out, and walk down the avenue towards the castle of san angelo. we got there but at the end we just sat down and had an orange and some more water, talked a bit then decided that if we didn't do the second half of the tour - st peter's basilica - we'd be wasting half the money we spent on the tickets to the place. we just didn't want to do any more crowds or tours or audio guides or crap. we stayed a bit longer then turned around and walked back towards st peters. on the way down we stopped and got sandwiches, which were over-priced of course, and then continued on down. we got back to the tourist office at 14:00 and the tour wasn't due to get underway until 15:00 so we had an hour to kill basically. we napped. :o) with our bags around our shoulder we sat on a large stone bench against a wall and just leaned back and napped for a while, we needed it.

eventually the doors to the tour office opened and we were to go in and get our audio guides, which was another line and another 20 minutes, then they led us over towards the entrance to the basilica, we went through security - x-ray machines and all- then we were to put our headphones in.... johnny's started for a little bit and then went out... mine never came on. we had gotten to the basilica and the thing still didn't work. i gave up and gave it back tot he tour guide with a disgusted look on my face and just started taking pictures.

i turned to my right and then turned back and johnny was gone! ack! this was worse than the freakin square on the first day - there were hundreds of people in this place! i took a few more pictures and figured i wouldn't freak just yet, he's just gone off to get some pictures. he'll be back. so i'm taking pictures, taking pictures..... dah....dah...dah.... ok - now i'm a bit worried that he ran off and isn't going to come back. dammit! i'm gonna beat that boy... what am i gonna tell cheryl - oh - i lost him at the vatican, they kidnapped him and i'm sure he's in the seminary now.... don't worry, it's well-paid. hmmmmm somehow i don't think that would have gone over too well... :op i turned to take another picture of some dead pope and then when i turned around the little shit was next to me. i told him i freaked and he couldn't run off again or i'd choke him cause his mama would have my hide.

so we wandered around - took more pictures of dead popes, pictures or statues, gawdy gold items, all kinds of religious stuff, and then ran away. we were hungry and wanted to see the castle before it got too late. castle first we thought - so we marched back down the avenue and got to the castle, used our roma pass to get in free, and began wandering around. the castle was really cool actually. i like places you can walk through that have that old-world feel to them and that aren't just floor plans with a drawing attached to show what the building would have looked like.

we walked up, down, around, through, behind, in front of, every which way - we even found that they still used parts of it as offices and/or rooms for people staying at the church. how cool. the view was what i went for though, johnny likes the military crap, not me. we got to the top of the building and it was fantastic! we could see up the avenue towards st peter's and over the river tiber, across to the coliseum and the countless tops of all the churches. too many to count actually, lol.

ok then - we give up. mercy. please, dear god - no more walking. :op we decided we were taking the bus back to the room and exited the castle to cross the street and wait for the bus, which was very crowded but moved quickly through the city to get us back to termini. we went back to the room and downloaded pictures and plugged in cameras then each of us took a shower. it was so good to feel human again - all this mediterranean weather was killing us, it's just like being at home!

so, showered and refreshed we were both in much better spirits and decided to go out again with the cameras for dinner. we're only in rome once so we went out for a nice sit-down meal instead of a quick bite to eat like we had been doing. we went to a small trattoria, or traditional italian restaurant, and johnny got smoked salmon as an appetizer with pasta and a red sauce with various bits of seafood like clams, mussels, octopus, and a langoustine (frutti di mare). i got caprese for a starter (tomato, buffala mozzarella, and fresh basil) and ravioli stuffed with ricotta and spinach in a red sauce. mmmmm we had two huge bottles of water after being in the sun all day and walking around so much.

really good conversation - i have to hand it to johnny, he's a good listener and lets me babble on, adding in his own points of view every now and then. he's a good travel buddy and i'm glad he chose the trip instead of the money. :o)

so - done with dinner, on with walking around. i wanted to get in a few more things at night so that we saw them but didn't have to do them the next day when we had decided to go to ostia antica and the appian way. the first was the piazza di spagna. we were wandering around for a bit before we actually decided to look at a map and figure out where the hell we were and how to get where we wanted to go. typical boys. ha ha. actually, we had been wandering in the right direction and it didn't take long to find the square at all. we arrived at the top of it and took pictures looking down. it was saturday night and there were sooo many people out. all over the steps of the piazza in pairs sitting there sucking face. we've noticed the italians don't bat and eye at PDA. well, it's a little more than PDA - it's more like get a room already... lol. i don't really care, but johnny is horrified every time he sees a couple sitting there sucking face. ha ha ha ha

we walked down the steps to the bottom of the piazza and took pictures looking up as well, it's just as pretty as the postcards. so the next stop was the fontana di trevi - trevi fountain- but along the way we wanted to stop and get gelatto one more time. we stopped in this on gellateria and waited in line, picked out our flavors, and ordered - now - when i picked the cone i thought it was just a regular waffle cone but he repeated twice that it was the "special". i didn't care - how much could it possibly be, it's only freakin gellato... well - there were two HUGE scoops put on top and then he turns around and must have put 20 other pieces of decorative bits and bobs on it - it was a work of art in ice cream for sure!

wait - there's more -- johnny was still getting his and i went to pay for mine. i get up there and she wants 16 euros for the thing?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! holy crap - that's the most expensive ice cream i've ever had, but i guarantee i'll remember it for the rest of my life! we tried taking pictures of us and our gelatto masterpieces but i think they came our blurry.. i haven't downloaded the pictures yet. lol. we walk on and i'm furiously trying to eat it all before it melts and drips down my hand onto the ground and me and everything and anything else within a five foot radius of me, :o). i got coffee and creme caramel and johnny got coconut and something else .... i don't know how he did it but he managed much better than me when it came to managing the melting - i had it aaaalll over my hands by the time i was done but he hardly had any on him. what the?!?!

good thing we were going to the fountain... after only a little wandering this time we made it to the foutain and i washed my hands, first and foremost, and then we kind of sat and took it in. it really was beautiful. poseidon with the seahorses of the different seasons and coral and such - all carved out of beautiful white marble. wow. it looked sooo inviting too. the same crystal clear water that feeds all the free drinking fountains throughout the city also feeds the fountains and sot hey are clean and clear. we didn't thrown in any coins and ask for wishes. but it was cute to see others do it. again, tons of people all about. we took some pictures for a few people then tried to get the whole thing in one shot - a difficult task to say the least. the fountain takes up almost the whole square.

we got our shots and then there was one more we wanted to go see - the pantheon. it wasn't that bad finding it, in fact we went through the square where we had written postcards at the day before. we turned a corner and then there, huge as everything, was the pantheon. wow. another monumental building. it hadn't been refurbished as well as the other buildings i don't think and there were homeless people here and there in the square, but it was nice nonetheless. it had huge doors on it and there was a light on inside so i went up to it and through a crack about and inch and a half i could see the altar and other religious stuff. no fun. so got a few more shots and by that time we looked at the clock and it was 1:00 int he morning! how'd that happen?!?

i gave the map to johnny and he directed us to the closest main street, but after walking a ways we were like ... wait... we should have hit a landmark by now... hmmm.... so we took the map back out and we had taken the wrong turn! ack! again with the walking ... omg. we were almost all the way back over by st peters so we decided to find a bus stop and wait. surprisingly, it didn't take very long and before we knew it, we were on another bus zooming through the streets (thee people can't drive for crap!)

we got back to termini and stumbled back tot he room tired and worn out. i showered again and by the time i was out johnny had already fallen asleep.

tomorrow - the dead city of ostia antica!

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