Rome 10/22-3

Tuesday, Oct. 23 

We went to the Vatican yesterday.  I think you could spend days there and not see it all.  Our guide was very nice and knowledgeable.  She answered all our questions and told us what we didn't know to ask.

We had some time before the tour, so we walked around the neighborhood.  Since we had been in the direction of the train station several times, we went the other way to the shops south and east of the hotel.  We saw the back of Santa Maria Majjiore and lots of tour buses.

 

Our ride and guide came about 2.  We went through the museums on the way to the Sistine Chapel.  I took quite a few pictures of the statues, mosaiics, and paintings.  Italians have been collecting and making statues for centuries, and there were a lot.  The guide said that, like most museums, the ones on display don't begin to show everything there is in storage.

 

I think only pictures can show the magnificence of what we saw.  I know my words cannot.  The Sistine and St. Peters are beyond beautiful and magnificent. There was a mass going on, so we didn't get to go in the area of the Bernini canopy, but we could see it.  Remanants of the canonization services the day before (chairs, curtains, barricades) were still in place.  There were a lot of people there!  We walked on the square and down to the metro for a ride back to he hotel.  The metro was crowded too because it was about 6 p.m.  I was very tired.

 

There is a funny thing about the electricity in the hotel.  When you unlock the door to come it, it is dark inside.  You place your key card in a recepticle by the door for the lights to turn on.  When you leave, you take the card with you.  If you are alone in the hotel room and the other person has left with the key card, no lights will turn on while he is gone.  That was okay with me.  I took a short nap while Garrett was gone.

Sunday we ate at a restaurant in the neighborhood.  I had risotto with asparagus and a pork chop.  Garrett had lasagna and a big salad.  We splurged on dessert, tiramisu and chocolate mousse  It was all good.  Last night I had salad and lasagna and lemon gelato.  Garrett had salad, ravioli, and chocolate cake.  We drank a bottle of sparkling water and a small bottle of wine.  We have only been eating 2 meals each day, breakfast and dinner.