Thursday - "To make our 9:00 entry time at the Vatican we had to get an early start. Our hotel included breakfast at a local café which didn’t open until 8. We tried to time departure in order to grab something on our way past but failed to find the café (turns out it was down the street, not up the street from our hotel). We found the train to the Vatican and then discovered a bakery with numerous tasty looking treats. It turned out the lady behind the counter was a better saleswoman than chef. The waffle was fabulous, but the rest were as the boys would say, “mid.” Lisa and I learned a few new words and phrases as we struggled to understand the boys over a week of traveling together. Their adjectives require a modern dictionary. We must be getting old😉 "
"We found the right line for pre-sold tickets, had our vaccination cards checked and then got the devastating news that I had once again bought tickets for the wrong date—February 24th. (He did this for the Last Supper as well). The security guard looked at me with a mix of incredulity and compassion. He walked us inside where I bought new tickets and he didn’t make us get back in the other long line outside."
Getting inside the Vatican Museum early made me want to hurry to the Sistine quickly to avoid the crowds - may have been a bad choice because we later realized that it was a one way walk to the Sistine. We did turn on our Rick Steve's audiotour on the way and caught a bit of this and that. I don't think the boys were disappointed by our rush but I know Greg was after the fact.
We took our time enjoying the Raphael rooms, especially the School of Athens.
Then the Sistine which did not disappoint although my neck got tired of looking up. Greg may have snapped some illegal pics 🤫. We were all awed by Michelangelo's masterpiece.
The long trek to St. Peters was even more discouraging when we saw the long line to get in. Luckily the line moved steadily and we were in less than 30 minutes.
The cathedral was incredible. "To help appreciate the sheer size of St. Peter’s, there are markings on the floor of the nave to show the relative size of the other great churches of the world."
Our audio tour took us to the Pieta last. Such an incredible piece of art. How does he capture so much emotion in stone?
"We continued to the cupola tour which felt a bit like going to the top of the duomo in Florence. There must have been a dozen different types of steps on the route. At one point as you climb the dome the passage was too short for me to stand up straight. On the dome’s interior the close-ups of the mosaics give a better appreciation for the intricacy and detail of the medium. The views of Rome were worth the effort. The symmetry of the “square” is best appreciated from above. We noted the Tiber, Pantheon, Forum and other landmarks in the panorama."
"We found a café with seating on the street as is common in the country. The pizza was tasty, but Andrew was disappointed that what he thought would be a cheese pizza was actually more like cheesy bread. When we stood to leave she asked, “Where’s my purse?” You could feel the tension and anxiety rapidly escalate as we looked under the table at our feet. It was gone and we knew we weren’t going to find it or get it back. We told the waiter and he immediately asked if it had been the African who had tried to sell us some knick knack while we had been eating. His feelings about the immigrants were clear. He was likely right, that while Lisa had been distracted responding to the salesman, someone had slipped her purse off of her chair. I had my back pack under the table at my foot and would have put her purse inside had I noticed it on the chair’s back. I quickly activated my phone plan for the day and called to cancel Lisa’s American Express and Debit Card. In hindsight we would have immediately turned off her device via my phone but we didn’t really know how that was supposed to work until we got home a few days later. The boys stepped up and took the map to lead us to the Pantheon while I continued to work on the phone.
By the time we reached the Pantheon we were in pretty good shape. Both cards were cancelled and the $3,000 of charges had been disputed so we would likely only be out the $100 of cash I had insisted she carry for emergencies, her cell phone, and the hassle of getting new cards and a driver’s license. Most importantly, her passport was in my pocket so we didn’t have to worry about getting home or wasting the next couple of days trying to get a temporary replacement. Lisa was feeling terrible of course but we did a good job of staying positive all things considered."
Kicking myself and feeling weird without the purse I'd been protecting the whole trip the boys found the Pantheon. This incredible building was one of the things I was most excited to see and it did not disappoint.
"The approach from the back to the Pantheon exposes a large structure made of ancient rough brick. It seems unremarkable until you round the corner and get a view of the front. I don’t think there’s a more stunning building from the ancient world. It is simply gorgeous. Perhaps the greatest compliment to its beauty is Raphael’s granted request to be buried there. The enormous columns stand unperturbed after 2,000 years. The interior dome is a feat of architecture and art even without the typical paintings. The oculus in the center bathe’s the inside in natural sunlight and exposes the interior to whatever the weather brings. Holes in the floor drain any rain that falls within."
This building ended up being one of the boys favorite stops. Its age and engineering success is remarkable.
From there we listed to the Rick Steve's walking tour to take in the Piazza Navonna's massive fountains and gelato. Andrew reminded us that we hadn't had any gelato in Rome yet so..."We couldn’t abstain. There was an actual salesman behind the counter who gave out samples and an extra taste of a flavor you didn’t order with yours. They had a bright blue flavor they called Viagra and he was giving it to some college age students and teasing them about it."
"Our path led by the parliament building and it’s obelisk then to Trevi’s fountain. This may be the most crowded place we visited but the atmosphere was electric in front of the spectacular fountain. Nearby we were led to a viewpoint of a Roman aqua-duct then up an incline to St. Mary’s column and Bernini’s leaking ship fountain at the base of the Spanish Steps. Sitting on the bottom flight was prohibited but near the top we were able to sit and rest and enjoy the views."
"We continued the trek homeward walking past Piazza Quirinale and yet another obelisk. Rome is home to 13 obelisks from 2-4,000 years of age. 8 are of Egyptian origin while the other 5 were built in Rome after the Egyptian style. Carrying these massive monoliths from Egypt to Rome was a testament not just to military conquering but to the wealth and commitment to art of the empire."
"For dinner we tried the other local recommendation from the hotel. It did not go as well. They had called and made a reservation for us so we were quickly seated outside. When we looked at the menu we probably should have just decided to move on but felt bad with having a reservation and I’m often too prideful to choose discomfort over regret in those situations. We ordered and when the food came we knew we had made a mistake—we could smell the unmistakable scent of seafood. For some reason it hadn’t registered that dried mullet eggs were fish eggs, not fowl eggs. I asked them to take it back and make the pasta dish without the eggs. It smelled better, but still didn’t taste good. Mack responded, “I guess it’s my turn to order bad food next.” Mack’s potatoes were better than his steak. We tried some adventurous for us bruschetta which wasn’t exactly bad, but with the other failures we weren’t exactly filling up. We tried to compensate by ordering desert so we had crème brule and another dish I can’t remember. It was our most expensive meal of the trip but rivalled our microwave dinner for disappointment. Mack summed it up best when he said to Lisa, “If you made that for dinner at home, I’d have stayed upstairs.” It’s always good to end a day with a laugh, but especially after 26,000 steps!" (and a stolen purse 😩)
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