Today we went to the Vatican! Did you know that it is the smallest state in the world? It became independent after one of the popes (too many to remember) made a deal with Mussolini in the 1930's (40's)? We went to the Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museums and Saint Peter's Basilica.
Travel tip
If you want to see the Vatican as well as Rome museums etc, buy an Omnia Pass instead of the Roma Pass that I talked about in my last post. The Omnia Pass is the Roma Pass plus a Vatican Pass, and if you're even slightly interested in seeing the Vatican, you should get this pass. The line for Saint Peter's Basilica was suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuper long. The pass allows you to skip all the lines. We also got a guided tour of the Vatican museums, which I do not recommend.
(The ticket shows a cropped picture of Raphel's School of Athens where Plato and Aristole argue with each other about their opposing philosophies.)
First of all, they packed waaaaay too many people into one tour: 53!! That wouldn't have been too bad, but a couple factors made it awful.
1) we were given little radio transmitters that would relay the tour guide's voice so she wouldn't have to shout. Cool, but if you're out of range, they don't work.
2) we were out of the museum within 30 minutes or so. This does not do the 6,000 or so works of art justice!! We were just zoomed past the important works (see one below) and I would have loved to stay longer.
Pictures weren't allowed in the Sistine Chapel, but it was soooooo beautiful. I saw The Last Judgement painted by Michelangelo as well as the work he did for the ceiling. I saw Perugino's Jesus Handing the Keys to Peter, which is on the wall if the chapel as well. Did you know that when Michelangelo was painting The Last Judgement, a cardinal snuck into the room, didn't like all the naked bodies and complained to the pope? Michelangelo got back at the cardinal npby painting him nude in the deepest part of Hell, which is the very bottom right hand corner of his painting!
Saint Peter's Basilica was really, really awesome. It's ginormous and elaborately decorated. Michelangelo designed the dome, and Bramante and Maderno are responsible for the facade.
The Baldacchino of Saint Peter, designed by Bernini, is a huge bronze canopy above the alter of the church. It stands over Peter's remains. The bronze used for the work was stripped from the Pantheon!
I also saw the Pieta, which Michelangelo carved when he was 23.
After exploring the Vatican, we ate gelato!!
The address of the place is 51 Via Octavia. If you walk out of the Vatican and continue straight, you will hit it in 5-10 minutes, depending in how fast you walk and if you are able to cross the street without dying. I liked the caramel gelato, but the stracciatella, which is vanilla with chocolate chips, was also good. Every shop offers a creme flavor, which I like as well. My mom had mango. That was good too. I'm not too fond of coconut- it's too coconutty. Also, whichever flavor you like more, ask for first. The ratio is about 80/20, with the first flavor you ask for making up about 80% of your cup.
Driving in Italy is crazy! Everyone is zooming around in their little cars. I almost got run over, and a Fiat almost ran over a guy. Also, there aren't really driving lanes. People drive in the middle of the road if they want to, which is what the taxi driver who drove us to the hotel did. People are also not very fond of turning signals. Pedestrians step off the sidewalk and cross at will. Be careful!
The Vatican is next to one of the main shopping areas in Rome.
Castroni is a specialty foods shop! Chocolate, honey, Nutella (and its cousins), fresh ground coffee, wine, etc can be found here, and it's really expensive!
At Fanchi, it's kinda like a fancy butcher shop. Here, you can find shrimp and lobster salad for €89 per kilo and fish for €110 per kilo. They also sell little potato-risotto-mozzarella balls for €1.50. My mom liked them. I don't recommend the fried zucchini, it was on the soggy side.
We did some preliminary shopping at the night markets in front of the entry of the Vatican. You can haggle here; I paid €8 for a €12 bag. Also, there is an abundance of peddlers selling wares in the street.
Bye for now friends!
Love, marissa
