We woke up a bit earlier than normal this morning because we needed to be at the entrance to the Vatican Museums at 09:30 for our private tour of the Vatican. This particular tour company (run by a wonderful woman named Livia) was absolutely a pleasure to work with, and our tour guide, Claudia, couldn’t have been better! Not only was she incredibly knowledgeable and able to select the highlights of the museums, she also went well out of her way to make sure that we were treated like the only people there!
After seeing one of the exhibits, we went outside the main museum entrance to the Vatican Gardens. They were very peaceful, and we sat down on a bench to look at a book. At first, we couldn’t figure out why we were sitting there looking over a book when there were so many things to see! However, perusing the book about the history of the Sistine Chapel proved to be a highly valuable experience—one that we would more greatly appreciate later when we actually got to see the Chapel.
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As a quick aside, the coffee at the café near the Vatican Gardens was some of the worst I’ve ever had… ever. Okay, enough of that.
Over the course of the day, we saw many different exhibits within the Vatican, and, in my opinion, some of the highlights were the Hall of Roman Statues, and the Carriage Pavilion. The Hall of Roman Statues had many different busts, but also some replicas of famous and not-so-famous Greek statues. Being intrigued by the Greek myth of Ganymede, I was excited to see a replica of the statue of him with the eagle:
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The Carriage Pavilion was one of the newer additions to the museums, and contained the various carriages (read: “Popemobiles”) used by the Popes when they travel. There were some incredibly ornate ones, as well as the more modern vehicles (some of which were donated by well-known automobile manufacturers like Mercedes and Alfa Romeo).
After viewing many of the exhibits, we ended our tour of the Vatican with a visit to the Sistine Chapel and lastly St. Peter’s Basilica. The beauty of the Sistine Chapel can’t really be captured by words, and we were certainly glad that Claudia had told us some of the history behind the paintings. The only downside was that people were very rude and disrespectful in the Chapel. They were talking, and taking photographs, even though both are prohibited. Frequently, priests would proclaim “Sliencia!” in effort to quiet the masses, but it seemed of little use. St. Peter’s Basilica was remarkably beautiful as well, and the most stunning part (in my opinion) was seeing Michelangelo’s Pietà:
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We exited St. Peter’s into the main square, and looking back, the main façade was beyond grand!
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There was a near-disaster when I was told that the Vatican Museums had already closed, so they weren’t sure how I would pick up my camera bag (which had to be checked at the beginning of our tour). Fortunately, though, there was another entrance to the Museums, and I was able to get into the coat room, and grab my bag.
After quite the full day, we walked back to the hotel, changed clothes, and headed out for our dinner reservations at La Fata Ignorante. The restaurant came very highly rated, and the owner (Gianluca) was an exceptional host! He indicated that the key to a nice restaurant is balance between food, service, and ambiance. I have to agree, and say that La Fata Ignorante had a wonderful combination of all three elements! Deb and I again split three dishes. This time, they were Pappardelle (one of my all-time favourite pastas) with wild boar sauce, Risotto with saffron and mushrooms, and Carbonara. I think that both of us greatly preferred the Pappardelle, but all three dishes were quite nice.
It started pouring down rain, so we took a taxi back to the hotel. However, we stopped in at Café Friends near our hotel for one last bottle of wine before ending our stay in Rome. We headed back to the hotel, packed our bags, and prepared for our journey into the heart of Tuscany tomorrow.
Cheers,
Zach
