In the morning we drove the car to Rome Termini station and got a train to Florence. We're struggling with two opposing priorities now. We're both getting pretty tired of sightseeing and want a break. However time is running out on Yanmei's visa, so paradoxically we're trying to squeeze more stuff in. Florence wasn't in our original plan, but we added it. It is only 1.5 hours from Rome by high speed train.
We got to Florence and I had booked a room at a small hotel near the train station. It was overcast, but fortunately the rain stopped before we arrived.
After we checked in we walked around the city.
Cathedral of Santa Maria del FioreParade through the streetsPonte Vecchio bridgeThere are a whole series of these graffiti on no entry signs. A guy carrying it like a log, paddling it like a canoe, etc.Arno river
For our final day we decided to go back to Rome, see a few sights and do some shopping. We took it easy and got off to a leisurely start at 11am. We went directly to the shopping mall parking instead of trying to find the parking garage again, and we figured that might be full by this time anyway.
Yanmei's everyday sandals have a whole forming in them, so she wanted to find a replacement. She ended up buying some nice Italian leather high heel shoes, although those don't replace her flat heel sandals.
Spanish Steps
We stopped at the Spanish steps again, since it is right next to the Metro station. This is one of the spots Yanmei has been, and she said it was much better last time she was there because it was lined with flowers. They must only do that at certain times of the year.
Then we headed towards the Trevi Fountain. Along the way we bought a slice of veggie pizza from a shop, which Yanmei said was one of the best she's ever had. She may have been starving because I found it mediocre.
Unfortunately the Trevi Fountain is undergoing maintenance. I'd heard that the previous day from other people on the Vatican tour. I still wanted to have a look.
After that we headed towards the Pantheon, which was fairly close. I wanted to see that because it is the best preserved Roman building. Also it is free to go inside. 🙂
In front of the PantheonInside, the hole provides the only light source
Then we headed back to the hotel room to relax for the evening.
That night they had fireworks in Rome, maybe to honor our visit. 😉 We watched from the balcony.
The next day I wanted to visit the Vatican. Yanmei was still exhausted from the visit to Rome so she decided not to come, after all it is just a museum and church. I booked a tour at 8:45am so I left early. Unfortunately without Yanmei to navigate I made a mistake at the confusing part and got on the highway, which took me way off course. I pulled over and started to use my phone as a GPS. I thought it took me to the parking garage, but it turned out to be the wrong garage for some shopping center. I left there and eventually found the outdoor parking area we used the previous day, but it was completely full.
By then I knew I'd missed the tour and I was super frustrated. I was going to give up and go back to the hotel when the tour company called to ask where I was. When I explained, they said there was another tour at 10:15am I could join. So I circled around again to try to find the parking garage and ended up in a garage for IKEA. Then I switched to the backup plan which was to drive closer to Rome and park in the lot for a large mall near a metro station. I finally made it to the tour office outside the Vatican just in time for the 10:15am tour, over 1.5 hours late from what I'd planned. Thankfully the rest of the day would be a major improvement on the morning.
Courtyard of the museum with St. Peter's in the background
It was another skip-the-line tour, and it was worth it because the line was huge. Also our guide was very good and I think that is really helpful in a place like the Vatican museums. First of all he was American, which helps. One of Yanmei's complaints about guides we've had from Cairo to Barcelona is they usually have strong accents and she can't understand them, so she feels like she doesn't get any value out of it. I'm think she would have been able to understand the guide today, oh well. Second he had a lot of good knowledge and mixed in some humor as well. Third he skipped all the crappy modern art sections and focused on the classical and Raphael rooms.
A roman sculpture on display since 1506, said to be Michaelangelo's favorite piece. He used the hair and face from this for Christ's in The Last Judgement fresco in the Sistine ChapelAnother classical piece Michaelangelo admired. He based Christ's torso in The Last Judgement on this.Hall of Maps. You can see how crowded it was.
No pictures were allowed in the Sistine Chapel, although I saw several people sneaking them. As I said in the post about the Louvre I don't see much point in photographing artwork. However I'm glad I took pics of the two statues above because now I can compare them after seeing The Last Judgement and see he really did use those as inspiration.
Christ from The Last Judgement. Photo from Internet.St. Peter's square being set up for some big event
That completed the tour, then I had free time to go into St. Peter's basilica. I was tired from the stress and all the walking so I decided not to take the extra tour to the top of the dome. I did go down into the crypt though. Also saw Michaelangelo's La Pieta.
Pope John Paul II's remains on the main floor
Finally I decided to head back to the hotel, but not before one quick stop along the way.
The Spanish Steps, currently ruined by the car billboard at the summit
Now I feel like I've completed my goals for this trip. Completed the big three, Pyramids, Eiffel Tower, Sistine Chapel.
I'm kind of surprised Yanmei doesn't enjoy Rome more. Every time you go around a corner there is another monument, fountain, church or historic building. She has been here before, but she told me she was sick for several days so didn't get to see much. But when I got back to the hotel she said she had a nice time walking around exploring the small town and shopping a bit. I actually think we're both getting somewhat burnt out on traveling and sightseeing, but I couldn't pass up the Vatican today.
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