This was our Vatican day and it started early. The ticket office to the museums opens at 9 and we planned to be there early enough to not have to stand in line for hours and hours. We left the hotel just after 7 and started our long walk there. We probably should’ve tried to take a bus or the metro because our feet were absolutely dead by mid day, but oh well. It was a good walk. Not too many people out yet and we stumbled upon the Trevi Fountain with absolutely no visitors which was kind of cool. We stopped in at a little café for panninis and lattes before continuing on the way.
There was very little line when we joined everyone else waiting for the doors to open. There were so, so many people trying to sell tours and postcards and avoiding eye contact with them was quite the challenge. But even though it makes you feel like kind of jerk you just have to be rude to them. We only had to wait about 35 minutes in what was thankfully the correct line since there was no signage at all. Once past the guard controlling the crowd we entered what we like to think was the customs line up for a bag search and trip through a metal detector. We were entering the smallest country in the world after all. Another quick line up for tickets and then up the stairs we went to start the long journey through the endless galleries of the museum. The ultimate goal of course is to make you way to the Sistine Chapel but every possible surface is painted, carved, filled with statues…it’s amazing.
We were herded along like sheep with the rest of the thousands of people (estimated 5 million in a year) until we finally reached the Michelangelo’s chapel. It really is beautiful, and I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but it’s kind of a let down. There were so, so many people in there that you could barely move and you’re pushed and pulled in various directions by everyone vying for a better spot to look up at the ceiling. The atmosphere is made ever worse by the security guards at the door shushing the crowd when the noise of 1500 people whispering started to get a little too high. It probably would’ve been worth it to get onto the tour that Scottish buy from the day before was selling that offered an hour in the chapel before the museums opened. We didn’t spend a whole lot of time there but made our way out into a couple more galleries and eventually to the café where we ate pizza before finding the exit.
Next stop was around the corner into St. Peter’s Square. The line snaking around the square to get into the Basilica looked terribly daunting, but we joined it and it moved quite quickly. Once inside our breath was taken away. We’ve seen a lot of churches this year but this one really does win as the most grandiose. Marble covering every surface, domes so tall you can barely see the top, monuments and statues so big you almost can’t fit them into a photo. The centre altar with the remains of St. Peter himself underneath is massive and ornately decorated to the point of overkill, but it is stunningly beautiful. We also saw the tomb of Pope John Paul II in front of which many people were stopped to pray.
We stumbled upon a staircase going down below a statue of St. Andrew which is an entrance into the grottoes, the lower floor beneath the church where the tombs of many popes are placed. This was kind of a blessing because there were many fewer people down there and it felt like we were in a very secluded and much more sacred place.
Back up the stairs took us to the area where we could line up to take the 500 or so steps to the top of the dome. We were ready to do it, but then were told that’s it, the dome is closed. No other reason, just that it’s closed. It was only just after 2 so maybe there were too many people already up there…not sure. It was disappointing though.
We sat on the steps in the square for quite a while resting our feet and planning to attack the walk back to the hotel. We’d stopped to talk to a lady on a Segway before we went into St. Peter’s about taking a tour and she gave us a business card with a number on it to call for booking. Brandon decided that he for sure wanted to do the tour but I was scared. Not knowing how hard it would be to ride one, I didn’t want to pay the money and then not be able to do it or hold up a whole tour group by going too slow. We finally figured out how to use a payphone and got the company on the line but were told we had to go to the office to buy the tickets. The office was close to the hotel so that was fine, but the tour took place closer to where we were which was kind of annoying. We started the long, long walk back and had to stop for a break along the way because I was absolutely done. My feet were burning, I was hot, I was tired…not a happy camper. Gelato made it better.
Ticket booked, we spent about an hour in the hotel taking naps and showers and then back out we ventured. I decided to go along with Brandon to at least see what it was like and then I was going to wait for him to do the tour in a restaurant. We finally, finally found the place where we were able to catch a bus to where we needed to be after getting very little help from an information booth. And when bus H finally got there, Brandon tried to ask the driver if we were in the right place and how long it would take but he just brushed us off and told us to hurry up and get on. People here are not that nice. There are very few seats on the buses so we had to hang on for dear life and sway back and forth as the bus sped away through traffic. We finally got out where we hoped was where we needed to be and tried to find the place where the tour started. We got horribly lost. Brandon got directions from a guy in the grocery store and that got us closer, but were still lost. Finally, 6 minutes late we ran into the office where a guy sat at a desk but there were no other people around. He quickly calmed us saying there was no one else on the tour! He let me try out the segway first and explained all the ins and outs so I decided I would do it too. And oh man that was fun! We had about an hour following Mario through the little streets and alleys of Trastevere which is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Rome. Sidewalk cafes, churches, balconies covered with vines…it was perfect. And riding the Segways was so, so much fun. Totally worth the money and not at all worth all the worry.
We asked Mario where to get some good but inexpensive dinner in the area and he took us around the corner to a local place where he told the waiter to speak English to us, which he didn’t. As he put it, it’s good food for cheap, but service - they don’t know what it is. We really felt like we were eating like locals for that meal. We had a liter of wine poured out of a jug into what we would use for juice glasses, pasta and a rolled beef dish each with a side of chicory (because that’s what everyone else was ordering and I wanted to try it) for 33 Euros. A really good deal, trust me.
It was a long walk home but filled with good, good food and wine, it didn’t seem to take nearly as long this time. It was a long, but really good day.
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