On our first full day in Rome we decided to visit Vatican City, the smallest country in the world, for most of the day. We woke up early and stopped by a cafe on our way to the metro. Unlike in the U.S. where you can get eggs and toast , most Europeans choose coffee and a pastry. We decided to grab some croissants filled with chocolate/jam and I added on a cappuccino.
Cappuccino and croissants for breakfast
When we arrived at the Vatican museum, we were immediately bombarded by street guides trying to convince us to hire them. One told us that the line to get into the museum was 3 hours long and I believed it. The line must have been at least 500 people long, but luckily we had bought our tickets ahead of time and were able to skip the line. I had read that the Sistine Chapel can get packed early on so we decided to go there first even though it was towards the end of the walking tour. If I could describe it in one word I’d say it’s impressive, but that doesn’t do it justice. The ceiling is at least six stories high and makes you appreciate how someone could paint it without stepping back to get a perspective. Unfortunately they don’t allow you to take pictures. Shelley tried to be sneaky by using her front camera and pointed the screen to the ceiling, but the guards called her out.
Once we had enjoyed the Sistine Chapel we went back through the museum to view more of the art and wall carpets. In one of the courtyards there was a Sphere Within Sphere sculpture by Arnaldo Pomodor. I’m not sure why but these sculptures are my favorite. It’s probably because there are different renditions of it across the world. This one is now the third one I’ve seen in person outside of Dublin and Berkeley.
Sphere WIthin Sphere by Arnaldo Pomodoro
If there’s two things that Rome has a lot of it’s selfie sticks and basilicas. The biggest basilica in the world is at St Peter’s Square. Unfortunately, when we got there it was closed because the Pope had just held a papal audience. We took some pictures and decided we’d come back towards the end of the day to walk through it.
St. Peter’s Square
We wandered around and stumbled upon a street lined with restaurants where we grabbed some sandwiches for lunch. We found some chairs along the street where we ate, enjoyed people watching and seeing peddlers try to sell knock off purses. After lunch we walked along the river up to the Piazza Popolo where we found one of the most photogenic street performer I’ve ever seen. At this point of the trip we had been harassed by street peddlers for selfie sticks but at this piazza they had a similar type of scam to the fake monks in San Francisco. Give a “free” flower to the girl, tie a friendship bracelet and then demand money in return. Luckily, they left us alone pretty quick.
This guy has done this before
We walked down the Via del Corso where you’ll find the high end stores like Gucci and Fendi. At the end of the side streets we found the Spanish Steps, but like most attractions in Rome, the Trinità dei Monti church was under construction. Nonetheless, the square and steps were a great place to sit, relax, and watch the crowd. There are even some guys selling beer and water, but we weren’t in the mood.
Sitting on the Spanish Steps
We picked up our pace back to our hotel because the sky was getting dark. We entered a tunnel and by the time we got to the other end it was pouring. Like magic, all the selfie stickies being sold instantly turned into umbrellas.
After resting for a bit the rain started to let up so we headed back to St Peter’s square to visit the basilica. I was worried we wouldn’t make it through the 100 person line in time since the basilica was going to close in an hour, but it moved pretty fast and we were inside within 30 minutes. I think the Romans coined the term “go big or go home” during the baroque era because everything they built during that time period is huge including St Peter’s Basilica. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words:
Michelangelo’s Pietà
My friend, Charles “Cheese” Cossell, recommended we go to this restaurant called Dino & Tony’s near Vatican City. He said it was the best italian food he had in all of Italy. They technically have a menu, but you’d be a fool to order from it. One of the brother’s recommends the entire meal for you and you really don’t know what’s going to come out. Be ready to eat though, this is a legit italian dinner. Here’s what our meal looked like:
Antipasto
Primo
Secondo
We tried to stop here because we were stuffed and knew we had contorno and insalata (yes they serve salad at the end of the meal) left, but our waiter insisted on dessert. It was tiramisu, Shelley’s favorite. We couldn’t pass it up and I’m glad we didn’t. It was hands down the best tiramisu I’ve ever had.
Overall, the food was amazing. My favorite dish was easily the first pasta dish. It was penne pasta cooked al dente with olive oil, pepper, parmesan cheese and pancetta. The service on the other hand was a bit lacking. However, I hadn’t really received great service anywhere in Italy yet. Everywhere we went people seemed annoyed to serve us. Nonetheless, it was still a great meal and experience.
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