Rome Day 2
Friday 10/1 Vatican City
Well rested and ready to take on Rome, we woke up early, ate breakfast in our charming breakfast room and headed out to Vatican City.
The walk was about a mile to St. Peters Square, where we realized we had to go all the way around the city walls to get to the actual entrance of Vatican Museum where our tour group was meeting. We used VA Tours, 50 Euro a person (including entrance ticket) this ended up being completely worth it! Our tour guide, Michelle was amazing and we had a small group under 20 of mostly Americans.
We started our tour in two of Vatican Courtyards with great views of St. Peters Basilica. We then gathered around a large poster of the Sistine Chapel as our guide explained panel by panel of the ceiling, since there is no talking inside the Chapel. After the courtyard we headed into the Museum, first going through the sculptures, ancient baths, tapestries, Raphael's rooms, and finally the Sistine Chapel.
After exiting the Chapel we headed down to St. Peters Basilica. We really wanted to climb the tower of the Chapel or see the tombs but both lines were quite long and it was already 2pm so we were starving! We peeked in the Vatican post office (supposed to be the quickest in Rome) bought some bookmarks as gifts, and a postcard that we mailed to ourselves. 6 Euro for gift/postcard/stamps, and 2 more Euro for bottled water at the beginning of the tour.
We knew that we didn't want to eat right by Vatican City for fear of pricey/touristy restaurants, so we tried to walk a ways back towards our hotel but I think we ended up going even further away! We finally found a cute street lined with trattorias and restaurants and we settled on Ristorchico Restaurant. Absolutely exhausted and starving we comfortably sat outside and planned on staying for a while! We ordered mozzarella fritta, bruschetta al pomodoro, funghi pizza, gnocchi w/sausage and a house litre of white wine.
35 Euro
After lunch we walked back towards our hotel and on the way passing St. Angelo Cathedral, we did not go in but we snapped a few pictures. A much needed nap was in order from 4-6...we got used to these little siestas!
Refreshed and showered we were ready to go explore again. We decided to check out the Pantheon again and it was so beautiful at dusk! We walked in and walked around a bit looking at the tombs and sculptures. We then made our way over to the Trevi Fountain, but of course stopped for a bit of shopping on the way. I bought myself a 'fake' burberry scarf and a shot glass for my brother, who has been collecting them since he was little (family always brings him back one from their travels) 9 Euro total. As we approached the Trevi Fountain you could hear the roaring of the water. We did the whole tourist thing and tossed a coin in with our right hand over our left shoulder to ensure good luck and a visit back to Rome! We kept walking and ended up by the Spanish Steps again so we enjoyed the scenery for a bit until we were ready for a late dinner, 8:30, which is normal or maybe even early in Italian terms. We picked a cute little restaurant off an alley near the Spanish Steps called Don Chisclotte. We both had a glass of prosseco and I had ricotta/spinach ravioli and Rollie had a salami pizza...it was just ok, nothing special and a bit pricy. 28 Euro.
After dinner we walked back to the Campo Di Fior area where Rollie got his nightly gelato, 3 Euro. Then we decided to have a few drinks in the square at the Vinera Reggio (wine bar), I had 2 glasses of prosseco and Rollie had to glasses of Barbera. 16 Euro total.
Around midnight a bit hungry from our light dinner and probably 10 miles of walking we grabbed a midnight snack at a pizzeria right around the corner from our hotel and a large beer to share on our rooftop. 5 Euro.
Bedtime.
Well rested and ready to take on Rome, we woke up early, ate breakfast in our charming breakfast room and headed out to Vatican City.
The walk was about a mile to St. Peters Square, where we realized we had to go all the way around the city walls to get to the actual entrance of Vatican Museum where our tour group was meeting. We used VA Tours, 50 Euro a person (including entrance ticket) this ended up being completely worth it! Our tour guide, Michelle was amazing and we had a small group under 20 of mostly Americans.
We started our tour in two of Vatican Courtyards with great views of St. Peters Basilica. We then gathered around a large poster of the Sistine Chapel as our guide explained panel by panel of the ceiling, since there is no talking inside the Chapel. After the courtyard we headed into the Museum, first going through the sculptures, ancient baths, tapestries, Raphael's rooms, and finally the Sistine Chapel.
After exiting the Chapel we headed down to St. Peters Basilica. We really wanted to climb the tower of the Chapel or see the tombs but both lines were quite long and it was already 2pm so we were starving! We peeked in the Vatican post office (supposed to be the quickest in Rome) bought some bookmarks as gifts, and a postcard that we mailed to ourselves. 6 Euro for gift/postcard/stamps, and 2 more Euro for bottled water at the beginning of the tour.
We knew that we didn't want to eat right by Vatican City for fear of pricey/touristy restaurants, so we tried to walk a ways back towards our hotel but I think we ended up going even further away! We finally found a cute street lined with trattorias and restaurants and we settled on Ristorchico Restaurant. Absolutely exhausted and starving we comfortably sat outside and planned on staying for a while! We ordered mozzarella fritta, bruschetta al pomodoro, funghi pizza, gnocchi w/sausage and a house litre of white wine.
35 Euro
After lunch we walked back towards our hotel and on the way passing St. Angelo Cathedral, we did not go in but we snapped a few pictures. A much needed nap was in order from 4-6...we got used to these little siestas!
Refreshed and showered we were ready to go explore again. We decided to check out the Pantheon again and it was so beautiful at dusk! We walked in and walked around a bit looking at the tombs and sculptures. We then made our way over to the Trevi Fountain, but of course stopped for a bit of shopping on the way. I bought myself a 'fake' burberry scarf and a shot glass for my brother, who has been collecting them since he was little (family always brings him back one from their travels) 9 Euro total. As we approached the Trevi Fountain you could hear the roaring of the water. We did the whole tourist thing and tossed a coin in with our right hand over our left shoulder to ensure good luck and a visit back to Rome! We kept walking and ended up by the Spanish Steps again so we enjoyed the scenery for a bit until we were ready for a late dinner, 8:30, which is normal or maybe even early in Italian terms. We picked a cute little restaurant off an alley near the Spanish Steps called Don Chisclotte. We both had a glass of prosseco and I had ricotta/spinach ravioli and Rollie had a salami pizza...it was just ok, nothing special and a bit pricy. 28 Euro.
After dinner we walked back to the Campo Di Fior area where Rollie got his nightly gelato, 3 Euro. Then we decided to have a few drinks in the square at the Vinera Reggio (wine bar), I had 2 glasses of prosseco and Rollie had to glasses of Barbera. 16 Euro total.
Around midnight a bit hungry from our light dinner and probably 10 miles of walking we grabbed a midnight snack at a pizzeria right around the corner from our hotel and a large beer to share on our rooftop. 5 Euro.
Bedtime.
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