The Sistine Chapel...(with 1000 of my closest friends) & the joy of trying to speak Italian..

Ok...am trying to get caught-up a bit, as I feel the days are so full and so much to write about.  I am going to do 3 posts right now, as it's the first time I have been on the internet in about 3 days. 

Mostly I am trying to get it all out of my head, as I know the longer it stays there and the more new things we experience, the more likely I am to forget something fantastic.  Have only been here 4 days, so far, and it’s such fun!!

It’s actually Sunday, October 9th and I must say ‘Happy 1st Anniversary’ to Eric and Michelle!!!  Salute!!!!

We finished our last day in Rome on Saturday, but starting our day out on the free shuttle from the hotel.  The driver (and a notice placed under our doors the night before) informed us that they would not be taking us to the typical drop-off point, Piazza Barberini, as there would be demonstrations going on there today.  The driver said we would be dropped-off at Piazza Ottoviano, which is very near Vatican City.  This worked well for us, as we missed seeing the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel the afternoon before and so we hopped on the shuttle and off we went.

We got in a relatively short queue for the Vatican Museum (the way to the Sistine Chapel) and were serenaded by a gentleman playing the violin, as well as offered a large variety of Prada...oops, I mean Prado bags and the like.  Didn’t find one that seemed worth it to me.  ;)

He was quite good.  :)

We made our way into the Vatican Museum and got our tickets and then chose the ‘short duration/path’ toward the Sistine Chapel.  The Museum was fascinating and we saw much of it, but certainly not all of it, as it is incredibly expansive and never-ending.  Let’s just say they have amassed quite a collection over the years. 

As we read in our guidebooks, it’s better to go to the Sistine in the afternoon, rather than the morning, as there are typically a large # of groups navigating the halls, but we really wanted to take advantage of our drop-off point’s proximity to the Chapel, so we thought it will be fine and no big deal.  Hmmm...let’s see how this pans out...

Sistine Chapel...from the outside.

Marble lobster...every house needs one.

Cool floor in the Vatican Museum.

 Well...we made our way through the museum, see all the tapestries, the paintings, the marble animals ~ all of it ~ and we are nearing the Chapel with the masses of folks ahead of us.  The groups are always a fun thing, as the leader carries what is essentially a telescoping antenna with some sort of identifying talisman tied or secured to the top so their group can follow their lead.  We have seen many colored scarves (most of them needing to be laundered, as they are a bit dingy), silk flowers (I saw some lovely lilies on one which was quite nice), or colored pom-pons...so you get the picture.  The leader then has a headset ~ think hands-free device from about 5-8 years ago or think of a headset used to transpose dictation ~ that then is transmitted to each persons head phones that are attached to a receiver.  Quite a set-up!!

Down the stairs we went as they narrowed and narrowed and Leah commented that the staircases to the Sistine Chapel were the only empty walls/ceiling/etc. in the entire Museum!  We get to the door of the Sistine Chapel and walk in and are completely gobsmacked by the sheer volume of people inside the Chapel.  Can you say, ‘Fire Hazard???’  There had to have been nearly 1000 people in there (Leah would agree with my estimation) and the guards at the front of the Chapel were trying to keep order and/or quiet by loudly clapping their hands and trying to shush the crowd.  The were fighting a losing battle, if you ask me.  We joined the throng and as it slowly moved toward the back of the Chapel as folks were exiting I got to look at the amazing work of Michelangelo!  It truly was breathtaking, despite enjoying the view with 1000 of my closest friends!!  The only down-side, as Leah said, is that I really didn’t get to appreciate the floor and the lower part of the walls, as there were just too many bodies in the way.  It really was one step above a moshpit.  So glad to have seen it, but just wish there were a few less people.  Simply beautiful though.

We then decided to wander the city a bit and walked all the way around the city following the river, cutting through what once was called the Jewish Ghetto during Roman times.  We saw some ruins that seem to just pop-up everywhere and saw a building that was in mid-creation that seemed to have been frozen in time, because there were some columns protruding from the ground + some ruins.  I would guess this happens here a lot. 

Interesting mix of new and very old.

We strolled along a bit more and looked at the Trajan Markets, which were the commercial center of Ancient Rome.  We were heading to the Roma Termini Train Station, as we needed to activate our Eurail Pass for our train travels.  Finally, are legs were a little tired, so we stopped for a glass of wine, some water and a little sandwich + chips.  A nice respite. 

Hopped onto the Metro train toward the Termini station after sorting out how to buy a ticket.  Thank goodness for the little button that has all of the flags next to it where another language can be chosen.  :)  Ahhh...the little things, although I am figuring out the Italian thing a little bit more as we go. 

Found the guy who activates the Eurail passes and scoped out the joint for our train travels on Sunday.  We were pretty worn-out at this point, so we got back to our hotel and relaxed for a while before our dinner.

Leah had read about this neighborhood Trattoria, called Pirellis.  The description basically said it’s the best meal you’ll ever have in Rome, the service and waiters are wonderful and amazing and no other tourists will be there.  Well, it did not disappoint!!

The concierge called for a reservation for us at 730p and so we hopped in a cab, navigated the Saturday night traffic and found our way there.  The doors were covered with opaque glass so we weren’t sure what we were getting into and we walked through the doors and...we were the 1st to arrive for dinner that night!!  Every table was reserved and many of the tables were set-up for large parties.  We were greeted very kindly in Italian and with my horrible Italian and some English on both sides we found our table in front.  Our waiter came over and was kind of adorable ~ short, Italian and about 60 years old with a great mustache.  He spoke some English and was very kind.  We were both laughing looking at the reservation times on the cards upon the tables and most of them were for 930p, 1030p, etc.  Happily, though, shortly after we arrived a steady stream of guests also arrived so we didn’t seem so goofy after all.  Clearly, this was a neighborhood joint, as many of the guests who arrived walked in and walked directly to ‘their’ table.  It was so great to see large families dining together with folks of all ages and we clearly were the only 2 people speaking English in that whole restaurant...and we loved it!!

We had a lovely and yummy proscuitto + mozzarella antipasti and then both had a delectable tagliolini with carcofi (pasta with artichokes)!!  We rounded out the whole meal with a delicious Brunello!!  Super-delish. 

Delicious!!

They then called us a taxi and we were back to the Hilton for our last night.  :)

More to come...

xoxo
Stacy


P.S. ~  Just finished reading When Men Become Gods: Mormon Polygamist Warren Jeffs, His Cult of Fear and the Women who Fight Back by Stephen Singular.  Wow...what a scary dude.  An intense read, but interesting. 

Am now continuing reading the new biography of Robert Redford.  :)