Day 32 (Oct. 4th) - Our goal for today was to see the Vatican.
In Rick Steve's book on Rome, he recommended seeing the Vatican in the afternoon to avoid the long lines in the morning.
The
HOHO bus actually stops very close to our apartment. After we got to the bus stop, Renae realized that she forgot her money belt (with all of our money in it). Ruth, Leah & her ran back to the apartment to get it, then ran back to the bus stop. They got there a minute before our bus arrived.
Renae talked to the tour guide about when our passes expired. She said that we have until 6 p.m. Wed night to use them, and she marked our tickets to indicate that. It looks like we have another day on the HOHO bus.
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Ben and the girls in front of the Pantheon |
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The Pantheon is an incredible example of Roman engineering |
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Pantheon from the outside |
We rode the bus until the stop for the
Pantheon. This is the most intact structure from Imperial Roman times. It has been used since the 7th century as church dedicated to Mary and the Martyrs. Because of this, the building avoided the neglect most Roman buildings suffered during the middle ages.
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Trevi Fountain |
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Close up of Statue in the fountain (Triton???) |
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Even Renae threw a coin into the fountain |
After visiting the Pantheon, we walked to the
Trevi Fountain. This beautiful marble fountain created in the early to mid-1700s, is a fantastic example of papal support of monument art at this time. Legend says that if you throw a coin over your shoulder into the fountain, you a certain to return to Rome in the future. All of us (including Renae) tossed a coin into the fountain.
We then found a nice Italian restaurant for lunch for pizza and pasta.
Around 2 p.m., we took the HOHO bus to the
Vatican and got in a long security line. I was afraid that my pocket knife would be confiscated going through the x-ray machine, but the operator didn't seem to care what was inside the bags and backpacks going through.
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St. Peter's Basilica |
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Sun beams shining into the church |
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Pope John XXIII lying in state |
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Mary and Jesus by Michelangelo |
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Renae leading the "Busler Tour Group" through St. Peter's |
After going through security, we didn't know exactly where to go and ended up going into
St. Peter's Basilica. The church is enormous. 60,000 people can fit inside this building. Even on a Tuesday afternoon, it was crowded. Renae copied the tour guides and used a purple umbrella held up for us to follow her through the church. Rick Steve's guide was very informative on the history of the building. I wasn't expecting to see a few former popes lying in state for viewing at the basilica. For being dead for decades, they looked quite well.
A little after 4 p.m., we headed to the Vatican Museum to see the Sistine Chapel. We were unhappy to find out that the doors closed at 4 p.m. We'll have to come back another day.
We took the HOHO bus back to our stop, grabbed some gelato, and stopped by the apartment for a rest room break.
While walking over the bridge to the island
Isola Tiberina in the middle of the river, a black street vendor was really interested in selling Renae a purse. He started off at 35€, but kept on lowering his price. As we continued to walk away, he finally came down to 2 purses for 20€, and we snagged the deal.
We then took a walking tour of the
Trastevere area. This district is on the other side of the Tiber River. We stopped by the
St. Cecily church (where an early Christian convert suffered a terrible martyr's death),
Santa Maria's Church (one of the oldest churches in the city), and an Ristorante Indiano (I've been searching for an Indian restaurant since we left London). We introduced the girls to Tikka Masala and Chicken Saag.
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St. Cecily Church |
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Santa Maria Plaza |
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Ceiling in Santa Maria Church |
On the way back from the restaurant, Elizabeth saw another balloon toy that she wanted to buy. Sarah went with her to negotiate with the vendor. He initially wanted 5€, but Sarah got him down to 1€.
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