(at the same time that we were!)
Today was the only day for the entire trip where an alarm clock would be necessary. We had tickets for a Vatican tour that required that we be half a mile from the hotel by 8:45 so the alarm was set for 7 am (yes, I am paranoid). The morning routine was interesting: it’s been a long time since four of us shared a bathroom! I was first up and showered so I could be first to the espresso machine in the kitchen. Duncan and I have decided to learn to drink coffee like the locals which means a short shot of espresso (think of how much coffee you use to make an 8oz cup and then brew it with about an ounce of water!) We’re getting there slowly and even Frank is giving up the milk to go native!
After our basic breakfast of pastries, yogurt, and espresso, we headed out to meet the tour group and our guide Sarah, the art history major from a small town just outside Rome who was so excited to be showing us all the works of art in her city. We skipped the horrendous queues to get in and headed through the Vatican Museum – or at least a small portion of it. Apparently, you can spend days there but we only had 3 hours and had to get in the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s as well. We learned that the museum has 20 thousand visitors A DAY and I think we had all of them with us this morning as the Sistine Chapel was closing at noon for the private use of the Pope. The museum was pretty awesome and we got lots of inside info on the frescoes in the Chapel before heading in as there is supposed to be no talking in there.
Of course that is an excellent rule if you can actually make it stick. There had to be couple thousand people admiring the works of Michelangelo and even if they all had been trying to be quiet (which I guarantee was not the case) there would have been substantial ambient noise. Therefore, I shouldn’t have been surprised by the announcements for silencio! that came approximately every 2 minutes. (I think I was the only one who saw irony in the fact that they used a loud speaker system to tell people to shut up repeatedly but that’s me!) I’m not good with crowds in general so today was particularly trying – especially since so many of my fellow tourists were downright rude. Either the Asian cultures are more effective at handing crushing crowds or those that travel abroad spend far to much time battling crowded subway systems at home but I have never experienced such stereotypical rude behavior as I did today. I was repeatedly elbowed, shoved out of the way, and stepped on and all by people who shared the same cultural heritage. No “scuzi” or any word of warning but push, shove and barge through. Argh!
We did get to spend some time wandering around St. Peter’s and the square outside without too much jostling and admired the marble and the statues before heading back towards the hotel for some lunch away from the tourist crowds. We picked a small wine bar near that hotel that had been recommended and had a lovely lunch. Although there was a small eye rolling and some consternation when I asked what items on the menu were “senza glutine” I did wind up with a lovely steak salad while the rest of the family enjoyed their homemade pasta. With a liter of vino bianco, of course!
Then off to wander! The afternoon was somewhat cool and cloudy and the forecast threatened rain but not until after we had wandered around a great deal of the city. We climbed the Spanish steps – where we bought a lovely water color of a scene outside the Colosseum from the artist – and then wandered down what had to be the ritzy shopping street with Prada, Ferregamo, and other high end shops. We found our way to the Pantheon, which was closed for the afternoon, so we headed through the rabbit warren of cobbled streets with shops and cafes to the Tivoli fountain – where some big fat raindrops did fall amidst the blazing sunshine. We then wandered over to the Piazza Navona and got to see another hundred art stalls selling prints of Roman scenes but none like ours. A little more wandering – we hit 10K steps before 4pm today – before settling down to dinner around 7:30 at La Scalletta. This restaurant north of the Pantheon had GF bruschetta and GF pizza which was delicious. We had a bottle of prosecco with the antipasti and followed that by a liter of vino rosso with the pizza. Another family sat next to us as we were finishing and asked about the GF offerings only to be told that they were out of both the bruschetta and the pizza – apparently I had the last of both…. oops.
We got advice on a shop nearby to get GF tiramisu so off we went. As we wandered in the correct direction, we noticed that one of the piazzas in the distance was bathed in purple light with the occasional burst of strobe flashes. This must be investigated! It turns out that this weekend is the Rome Summer Music Festival and tens of thousands of people were packed into Piazza del Popolo to hear some of the biggest names in Italian music – like Greta and Biaggio Antonnaci. Nope, I hadn’t heard of them either but the crowd loved them and sang along, knowing all the words.
But alas, all good things come to an end and so does our first full day in Rome. We have no concrete plans for tomorrow other than to *not* have the alarm go off at 7. Still no luck with the Fitbit syncing or uploading the photos but I suspect I’ll have time to take care of that in the morning as I know I will be awake long before the rest of the family. Bueno notte!
Update: 24,019 steps or 10.34 miles!
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