Trailblazers Too: Saturday, June 2, 2018 (Rome)

We woke up to breakfast being served on the plane (yogurt and a pastry). Excitement was building as we were finally close to beginning this journey.

Long line but Tiffany tried to grab a picture of these flour sack pants that several passengers were wearing

Upon arrival in Rome, we were sent to an extended coil of passengers waiting to go through customs, which took about 50 minutes. Our next hurdle was praying our luggage had arrived along with us. We were singing praises at first site of our luggage. (Looking back, it was kind of a double-edge blessing. We were happy to have our things but now we had luggage to haul across Europe). I’ve been here twice and knew to pack light but still overdid it.

We headed for the Metro only to find our exit station was closed due to Fiesta del Republica. This was similar to a Declaration of Independence Day and the parade would be marching right past the Coliseum, which turned out was right where we were headed. The Metro worker told us it was about a 20 minute walk. Needless to say, it was easy to point out the “Americanos” since we were the only ones walking through the crowds of parade watchers with luggage and backpacks. The walk would have been 20 minutes, except roads were blocked off so we had to walk around the Colosseum, adding about another 20 minutes.

Tiffany had made all room reservations and she had booked us at a Monastery. We walked to the address and it was this beautiful building with about 500 steps up to the entrance. We did not see any signs but relieved to see two Catholic sisters walk past, we asked if the building ahead was the Monastery. She told us it was – for men – and she didn’t know if they let women stay. The room had been booked through Monastery Stays and surely they would have put “males only” on the site if that was the case. We really hated to haul our luggage up those stairs if this was the wrong place, nor did we want to stay in an all male monastery. It was the correct spot and we were relieved when we saw other females and families staying there also.

We had a 1:30 reservation at the Vatican so we had to quickly get settled in our room and head that way. We took a taxi because the buses were still not running due to the holiday. We grabbed a quick slice of pizza and hurried to our lines. We found out we were on the wrong side of the Vatican and had to sprint around to the other side to make our tour. We had an English speaking guide who was very challenging to understand. The tapestries impressed Tiffany the most – they are the size of a large mural and they tell a story, full of details and color. The Sistine Chapel always puts me in awe of such splendor and ornate features. Michelangelo was young when he painted this and he did not want to because he considered himself a sculptor and not a painter. Yet his paintings are breathtaking. Tiffany did not appreciate the talking amongst the crowd nor the museum security sternly telling the crowd to move to the middle, be quiet. The place is holy and visitors should be respectful. After the Vatican we were able to see St. Peter’s Basilica. We headed back towards home and for dinner we took a walk down the street from the Monastery and found a restaurant. After dinner we headed to our room. We were both looking forward to sleeping horizontally on a real bed.