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.
We decided to go to Rome. I never plan to drive in Rome, except when I return the car. To get there we planned to drive the car to the end of the subway, park there and take the metro into town. The station is about 15-20 minutes drive. The last little bit right before the station is a confusing set of turns. The hotel proprietor printed out a special map for this part. He also mentioned the entrance to the parking garage is tricky to find.
With Yanmei navigating we managed to get there without trouble, but we didn't find the entrance to the parking garage. We could see it behind the station, but all the roads seeming to go there were one way coming out. We pulled into the free outside parking area and by a miracle found a spot as someone was leaving.
Rome metro
The Rome subway is surprisingly undeveloped compared to the other cities we've visited. There is an A and B line and an airport train, and that is it. They are working on a third line but it is 15 years behind schedule so far (was supposed to open in 2000). At least it is easy to find your way around. Paris and Seoul have apps that tell you the best way to get between two stations, because there are usually multiple options.
Paris metro map, for comparison
First stop, the Colosseum.
This is basically the view you get as you exit the metro station
To go inside you can either line up and pay €12, or you can join a skip-the-line tour group for a higher price which also includes a tour guide. We joined a group and it cost €30 each, but was well worth it not to wait in a long line. It was a hot day. The guide was basically useless, providing very little information I didn't know. The one useful bit was that she said all the parts made from brick were restorations from the 1800s, only the large stone blocks are original. Unfortunately the majority is restoration. The Colosseum was used as a quarry for about 1000 years after they stopped holding games, meaning they dismantled it to use the stone in other buildings. Unfortunately it is a common theme.
Original arch, restored brick arch on the left
After the tour we had some free time to look around, before a second tour of the Palatine hill (included with our €30). Luckily the second guide was much better. Palatine hill is where the palace of the emperors was. It was five stories tall, but each story was over 60 feet, so the scope of it was massive. Unfortunately it is mostly buried or gone. We walked for a long way on what the guide said was the third level. It must have dwarfed the scope of places like Versailles.
Emperors' own indoor circus
We ended the tour overlooking a spectacular view of the Roman Forum.
Ruins of the Forum with the Colosseum in the distancePanorama of Forum from Palatine hill
We walked down and looked around the Forum for a while.
After a while the sun and heat started to get to us so we trudged back to the Metro and headed back to our hotel.
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