Day 2 began pretty early. We got up at 7:30 and headed down for breakfast at 8:00, (of course not without making a quick pit stop on the first step of the hostel to send messages to our loved ones…. considering we have no internet in our sketchy rooms). Breakfast was pretty cozy… NOT.
The bar was clustered, stuffy and reminded me of the dingy pub, Hog's Head Inn, from Harry Potter . We were promised, a full breakfast, and yet got a stale croissant with some weird icing that coated the top of my mouth like a layer of furry wax, and no I am NOT just being dramatic!
Our first stop was that the Borghese Gardens. I had been so excited about getting in the museum but after trying for 2 days to find the number we were told that it was booked out until the following week. Persistent as I am though, and still caught on the idea of possibly getting in the museum, I insisted that we still go just to look at the gardens. It was well worth it! I convinced my friends that we should rent a bike for an hour to ride around the large garden.
BEST IDEA EVER! It was so nice to relax and take some time riding around Rome, rather than speed walking through it all. We made stops when we felt like it; if we saw a nice monument or a friendly dog. It was awesome to see the Italians walking their dogs around this huge gorgeous garden! I would kill to be that posh one day!
We had to be at the Vatican at 12pm, so around 10:30 we left to begin finding our way. We were bound to get lost after all! We stopped at a pizza place for lunch which was the BOMB! Buuuuttt took more time than we planned! By the time we paid our bill it was 12pm and we still didn't know exactlllyy where the Vatican was.. Luckily we met up for a tour guide and they told us where and told us to hurry… I guess they close the line if it is after your entering time?! Well…. there we were 4 girls sprinting down the street with our huge backpacks and a coke in hand… When we finally made it there was no line, so we went straight through security and up the stairs to claim our tickets. We weren't the only ones late for our scheduled time though because after us another 3 groups entered, but just as we were got to the front of the line to claim our tickets they said no one else could join the line at the time. That would of SUCKED if we hadn't made it! Who goes to Rome and doesn't go to the Vatican?! It would of been a sin!
I can tell you one thing, if you ever got to the Vatican make sure plan at least 3 hours. And that is for normal people who don't like to look at everything. If you love art like we do you will need more time! IT IS HUGE!!
We made our way through the parts of the museum we wanted to see the most. Mostly it was just a shuffling of feet because it was soooo crowded.
After roughly 2 hours we finally made it to the Sistine Chapel, which is where the Creation of Adam is! Once again we were the last 4 to enter! Luck was on our side because if not we would of had to take a trip down a part of the museum we did not care about, and by this time we were ready to leave!
The guards to the Sistine were really strict men in uniform that kept coming on the microphone to shout at everyone to be quiet and not take photos... Of course we didn't listen. I got one of my friends to sneak a shot on her phone. Here it is:
.... I bet you can't really see it haha so here is a photo of it incase you have no idea what I am talking about.
So after the grand finale we took a small break by a beautiful outdoor fountain. Eventually after regaining the feeling in our feet we left for St Peter's square, where time was on our side again!
We got here around 4 or 5 and went through security (which by the way: never take a butter knife with you.... LOL One of our fellow classmates warned us because he was stupid enough to do this and had to go through a long process of explanation with the Italian security to explain to them that he was not planning on attacking the pope hahaha. He is very comical so the story is a lot funny coming from him!) When we got to the line of Security a guard shouted "Stop that's enough!"... I had no idea what he was talking about but we made sure squeeze ourselves into the line.
Inside we found a good spot on the stairs and began to sketch. Check out my Instagram for the sketch I did! (Link at the bottom right hand column)
We knew we got there on a special day, but what day exactly I had no clue. Im not catholic so all I heard were sad chants to Ava Maria like every 10 minutes!
Just as I was finishing up my sketch though I heard cries and screams.. seriously it felt like a concert. I got up to see what the huge commotion was and it was the POPE!!! In all of his white glory. I throw my journal in my bag and raced for a good spot to take his photos. Lucky for one of friends, she was trapped in the front with a pack of nuns all crying and calling out "father"! For me, however, I was stuck in the back where he blended in with the wall because he was a mere speck in my lens. I did take a video of it all though and got a souvenir book with the hymns that were sung...all in Latin I believe. I also found out that the day was Preghiera Mariana, at least that's what I thought it was since that was on the book I got... Idk though, and I didn't look it up so take that with a grain of salt.
It was pretty cool. First thing my mom asked me was if I kissed his ring... not really sure what that means.. Was I suppose to?! After about 30 minutes though he looked pretty bored and so were we so we decided to do as girls do and go SHOPPING! What better place than Rome?! The strip of shops by the Vatican is really nice, so make sure bring your cards with you if you ever go!
As for the rest of the day? We finally made it to Trastevere! We met a lady that was going on a bus in the direction and she showed us what all we had to do. The stop we got off at was a little sketchy and deserted but like any blog on Italy you will read, as soon as we turned a corner it was a packed cozy neighborhood! College students were everywhere! (We havn't seen kids our age in what seems like forever!!)
The streets were really cozy and there were a ton of restaurants to choose from. The one we chose was good! But boy was the service crappy. It took forever for the waiters to serve us and bring the food, and give us our check. I had to ask for it 3 times! And then they charged us double and acted like it was huge deal when I told them! RUDE!
Anyways after that encounter I needed to unwind so we went for Gelato... I made it a point to eat gelato everyday for the 3 days we were there. Why wouldn't I?! Mmmm it was sooo good! Which is sad though because "gelato" in Greece is just a fancy word for pretty crappy ice cream & in Springfield, Gelato Mio- my piece of heaven on earth- closed down about a year ago :( Thinking about it now makes me cry. One good thing is that having really yummy gelato has stopped me from eating icecream as much so it is all a win win I guess.
Anyways so Natalie and I got gelato and Julia and Pema got mojitos (alcoholics I swear lol). It made the night a little interesting though because it was around 12am and super crowded but we had to find our way home which was about an hour walk. I stopped for a few minutes on the bridge to journal and take a quick photo.
If you would like to read some more, because all of this didn't put you to bed yet then check out one of my travel buddy's blog: http://natalieingreece.blogspot.gr/
Her writing style is completely different. A.K.A she writes like a professional author. Check it out.
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