Que Pasta!! (2/5)

Thursday March 3, 2011

I posted some videos in this post. I hope you enjoy those... Anyway...

We got up early to eat our free breakfast from our hotel. Let me tell you I still dream about those free breakfasts. Seriously. They had workers working a bar sort of thing where they would basically make you whatever drink you wanted. So naturally I got hot chocolate. Yum.

After breakfast we finished getting ready to head out for the day. The plan was to go to the Vatican and see everything there. I'll be honest, this was probably my favorite part of my Italy trip. Vatican City was amazing, and beautiful. I would encourage anyone who can to go there at least once in their life time... even if you aren't catholic. The beauty and history in that city is astounding.

Anyway, we took the metro to the Vatican. Metro tickets were pretty cheap. 1 Euro, one way. But, in London the tube is like 4 pounds for a ticket. So, yeah cheap stuff. Anyway, we got on the metro... and people seriously pack into those things. I don't think I've ever felt that claustrophobic. But, it was all good, we got there ok.

We got out of the station and started walking up the small hill past the city wall to get to the central part of the vatican. One thing that no one probably tells you about Italy is that it's notorious for vendors and people trying to scam you for crap stuff. Anyway, we were bombarded along the way for ridiculously priced "tours" of the vatican itself... and they would use lines like "oh we'll get you in right way"... or "st. pietro's is closed right now, but we can get you in." yeah. It's all lies. All of it. So you just have to say no, and usually be rude to get them to leave you alone.

They finally did and we got to bask in the sun while waiting in line to get through security so we could enter into st. peter's basilica. It was a beautiful day. We hadn't seen the sun in a while, so it was nice to actually get to see it. We only waited in line for about 20 or 30 minutes to get through security (another thing those vendors will try to scam you with... "oh it's going to take you hours to get through the line).

 Once we got through we saw a sign that was in Italian so we just followed it. It said something along the lines of: 'to the cupola'. We didn't know what that meant, but it was only 5 euros... if you took the stairs all the way to the top. So, we paid and walked up the stairs.

Turns out it was to go to the top of St. Peters. How awesome is that? We had to climb about 700 steps, but it was totally worth it. We got to go inside the dome of St. Peters and take pictures there, and then we continued onward to the very top of it.

The stairs were so narrow and because we were going around the dome, the hallway was slightly slanted so you almost had to walk while leaned to the side. Pretty cool, huh.

I was holding the camera straight... so this is how slanted the hallways were to the top.

the tiny staircase to the top.

Once we got to the top, we had all of Rome sprawled below our feet. It was amazing. I could have stayed up there for hours and just bask in the beauty of the city. We could literally see everything. It was so beautiful. Anyway, after we were up there for quite some time taking pictures and what not, we climbed back down. About halfway down they have a spot where you can walk around and see the statues that are on top of the basilica. There is also a gift shop where you can buy postcards and stamps to send to people. So, naturally I sent a postcard to my mom and dad and then my nephew, Nathan from the smallest country in the world. How cool is that?! Pretty cool if you ask me.

See all those people. Yeah, that's where we were.

After we made it back to the bottom we went inside St. Peter's. Oh my goodness. It was huge and stunning! It was just full of beauty--with sculptures, paintings and beautiful architecture. I was able to see the original 'pieta' by Michelangelo. It was beautiful. We probably spent about 45 minutes just wandering around the cathedral. I was so amazed by everything there, I just can't begin to describe it.

After we left the cathedral we went on a hunt for something to eat and ended up finding this really cute pizza place. Such good pizza and it was CHEAP! Yay for cheap food. Basically all the money I spent in Italy was on food. So worth it, though. After food our next stop was the vatican museum... because that's the only way to see the sistine chapel. But, turns out the museum was full of beautiful, priceless things besides the sistine chapel. When we got inside the chapel the whole group just sat there trying to take it all in. It was amazing. I got chills from how immaculate and detailed everything was. If I could have taken pictures, I would of, but I couldn't so I just took a picture outside of the chapel.

Inside the vatican museum

Some random sculpture... it had a mouth within a mouth. Weird.

After the vatican city adventure we went back to our hotel to take a nap. I was exhausted--walking around and exploring a city does that to you, I guess. After my nap we met up with everyone at the Coloseum and then went out looking for dinner and found a place that had good pasta. I got some good spaghetti :) The waiter was interesting... he was kinda annoyed with some of us because we couldn't pronounce things right. That's ok though. The food was pretty good. After dinner we decided to head over to the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain. So we walked past the monument--which was all lit up and glowing beautifully. 

Colosseum

We finally got to the spanish steps. It was pretty cool to see all of that,  but I think they are prettier in spring instead of winter because they are decorated with tons of flowers. However, we did get to see multiple vendors (I'm telling you, they are everywhere!) and I was given a rose by some guy who told me it was free (although I know he was lying) and so I left and then he followed me (practically chased me) down the stairs to ask for money. So I told him I didn't want his flower, gave it back to him, and walked off. Ugh those vendors. I wanted to punch them in the face. Seriously, though. After that we walked to Trevi fountain. Trevi was probably my second favorite thing in Rome. It was beautiful! I loved the atmosphere around it. People were just laughing and having a good time enjoying the company of their friends. It was a lot of fun. 

After that we walked back to our hotel, got Gelato, the second for today, and then went to bed.

Me on the Spanish steps. I walked on each step at least once :)