Kate's Fantastic Adventure - Rome Day 2

On our second full day in Rome Kate, Cindy, Cherie, Emily and I made our way to the Vatican Museums.  Before leaving Seattle I made reservations online for a 10 am entry.  It worked like a charm!  We were able to bypass all the lines, make a quick stop at a window to exchange our voucher for tickets and then we were past the turnstiles.  I highly recommend it if you are going to Rome and want to see the Sistine Chapel and the rest of the museums.  We did a pretty quick run through but it still took us a couple of hours.  The Museums do have great bathrooms and reasonably priced food.  The premium for the reservation is also only a few Euros and the convenience is well worth the cost.

I did forget that unless you are with an organized tour you have to exit the Museums in about the same place you enter them and then walk quite a ways to visit St. Peter's Basilica.  If I recall correctly, we found a place for lunch after we finished at the Museums and then trekked over to the Basilica.  Both inside the church and outside in the piazza the chairs and barriers were already set up for Palm Sunday and the rest of the Easter week masses so we were unable to walk freely through the center of the Basilica.  Still, one was able to get a good feel for the enormity of the structure, the grandness and the history.  Although the church decoration is about 300-400 years old, I always think the church has a quite modern feel.  It is an odd combination of ornate and simple.

Having been to St. Peter's a number of times, I discovered later that I took only one picture. Here are Emily, Kate and Cindy propped on the base of a faux column waiting for Cherie and me to exit the restrooms. 

After this we needed to find a grocery store to buy a few small items.  Knowing the area to the south of St. Peter's is a residential area we headed over there and, after asking someone on the street and in a bar, found one on a back street.  The items we needed were purchased (plus cookies and water and who knows what else) then we headed back to the hotel.

As we were off to Sorrento the next day we actually went to Stazione Termini to buy our train tickets.  It was a good thing we did as the lines to purchase were long.  It took us about 45 minutes before it was our turn at the window.  The gentleman from whom we purchased the tickets really seemed to enjoy selling to 5 American women.  He was interested in where we were from and was a nice contrast to the usual taciturn Italian train officials. 

From the station we took the Metro (subway/underground) back to our hotel and rested (or went out shopping) before heading out for dinner.  We went to what I thought was a really touristy spot (Old Bear near Piazza Navona) that a friend of Emily told her about and we had stumbled on the evening before.  It turned out to be the favorite spot of everyone in the group except me.  The restaurant did have great service and loads of food.  The squash lasagna was very cheesy but not very squashy.  Still we had a fabulous time our last evening in Rome.

Here are a few other pictures from Rome.

The room Kate, Cindy and I shared did not have a shower, just a large soaking tub.  That would have been fine except the tub did not drain very well. 

Kate, being used to a shower, was not sure how to manage her hair in the tub.  So, our second evening there, Cindy washed it for her.  Kate sat on her suitcase and hung here head over the side.  It all worked out just fine except for Auntie Lou Lou taking a picture!

We saw lots of Smart cars in Rome, many of them parked the way this one was.  I wish I had taken a picture of the row of three Smart cars parked next to each other in this manner.

The weather we had in Rome was terrific.  It might have sprinkled a little but in general it was warm and sunny.  The first day we were probably overdressed but the second we all managed better.  The evenings were a little chilly but still a welcome contrast to the weather we left in the Seattle area.

One last photo from Rome.  On two of our three evenings there we walked past Via Condotti on our way back to the hotel.  I always love looking up it at Trinita dei Monti at the top of the Spanish Steps.  The streetlights seem to lead one's eye right there to the prize at the end.  This photo really does not do it justice.

Although Dom and I rarely stay in the area because of parking issues, I love being at a hotel in the Spanish Steps area.  There is just so much to do and see at night, all within an easy walk.

As was mentioned above, after Rome we took the train to Naples and then Sorrento.  More on that in a future post.