Rome (the second) - speedrunning the Vatican Museums (new WR)
10/22 - The Pope’s house! Really, his whole country.
Ending our marathon of Rome sightseeing, we finally made it to the Vatican. The Catholics really know how to put together a museum! We started out with a “guided tour” (read: mad dash through the interior of the Vatican Museums almost straight to the Sistine Chapel) which, frankly, was about as much as we were looking for. I don’t think I really have a strong enough understanding of art, or my own preference for it, to decide what to prioritize seeing in such a sprawling and labyrinthine series of museums. We were herded past the biggest sights, often shoulder to shoulder with other guests. Eventually we reached the Sistine Chapel, which was monumentally impressive. Having a tour guide here was definitely worth it; there were some really cool details that she pointed out, including Michelangelo’s self-representation as a flayed skin, that we never would have noticed ourselves. We chuckled a bit (respectfully) at the “voice of god” coming over a massive loudspeaker within the Sistine Chapel in a booming voice to proclaim “no photos.”
After escaping the masses of people within the Vatican Museums, we settled into line for St. Peter’s Basilica. After an hour and a half wait, we finally got inside. Rick Steves yet again provided us with a great tour within the basilica itself. Although much of the interior was under construction, including a crew actively jackhammer-ing up parts of the floor, we got a unique view of the inner altar. The teams working on it were actively taking down the scaffolding today, so we saw probably the most pristine and freshly restored version of the altar itself. On the walk back I finally found a new watch I’d been looking for. Seeing as I hadn’t traveled with one, I had been keeping my eye out for something nifty and picked up a new, retro-styled digital Casio. Nothing fancy, but something fun to have from the trip for sure! Ariel also found some more yarn to bring back and knit into a future memento down the line (probably a sweater or sweater vest). It was an absolutely delicious dinner tonight - we found a local, farm-to-table buffalo centric bistro (Ruma Bottega) . Their entire menu centered around the buffalo on their farm and the resulting produce. Four different types of cheeses, buffalo meat ragu, and buffalo milk gelato formed up the bulk of the meal, all of which was truly incredible.
10/23 - The one where we realize how spoiled we were by our trains so far
With only half a day left in Rome, we checked out and left our bags at the hotel before walking across the river to Trastevere. It seemed like a cool neighborhood to visit, and we hadn’t made it over to that side of the river yet. In the morning, it was really genuine. We saw a weekday farmers market in the square, tons of local families playing around in parks near the Santa Maria Basilica, and lots of locals popping in to cafes all over the place. We picked one to intrude on as tourists, grabbed a quick set of coffees and pastries, and chowed down at the bar. We needed to leave plenty of time to make it to the train station, as it was raining a bit and we had heard taxis would be scarce as a result, so we started our walk back after a bit more wandering. On the way we made time to stop into a Murano glass shop in Rome that Ariel’s folks had recommended to us. The owner had some really adorable hand-blown Christmas ornaments, so we picked up a round little snowman to add to our tree this year.
After a bit of train-travel stress which thankfully resolved itself (both our initial train and our connecting train got delayed by similar amounts of time) we made it to Naples and boarded the Circumvesuviana. Boy, that is… legally a train. After being spoiled by Frecciarossa bullet trains (the fastest and newest flavor) and the very robust Cinque Terre train system, the Circumvesuviana was by definition a train. We rode it all the way from Naples to Sorrento, stopping and starting along the way with no airflow and over packed cars. We’re not looking forward to riding it back in a few days for our plane flight home, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ not much to do about it.
We dragged our luggage through the very narrow streets of Sorrento, and made it to our adorable little hotel here. It’s one of the nicer spots we’ve stayed so far, and Sorrento also includes our nicest dinner (both Ariel and my first Michelin starred spot). We’re ending the trip with a bit more sightseeing at Pompeii tomorrow, but otherwise a nice luxurious last hurrah. Tonight, we’ve got dinner at another nice local spot just across the street.
Spritzes drunk: 14
Espresso shots consumed: 44
Gelato scoops: 15
Liters of wine drunk: 7.25
Cats seen: 5