DAY 16 – VATICAN & SISTENE CHAPEL

That's the Vatican in the background,
from the Vatican Gardens
 -- after a long, hot, sweaty day.

I hopped on the Tourbus again, but this time stopped at the Colosseum. It’s spectacular! It’s amazing to think that it’s almost 2000 years old and has survived all these centuries. I rode around the city, passing hundreds-years-old churches – each one more beautiful and grand.

            Eventually I hopped off to have Spaghetti at a charming old restaurant – and sat at a table on the street (all restaurants have them here) and watched the masses roll by.

            Then, the highlight of my trip to Rome – the Vatican and Sistene Chapel. The Vatican contains a large museum, filled with hundreds of years of statues and paintings. Our guide was very knowledgeable and shared highlights along the way.

            And then we got to Michelangelo’s painting in the Sistene Chapel. No pictures or talking allowed, which did seem appropriate to the reverence the subject matter deserves. I’ve seen pictures of it for years, but there is just something about seeing it in person, in this beautiful chapel – it truly takes your breath away.

            After a long day, I just wanted a taxi to my hotel – so I waited in line. A few rude tourists cut ahead, and those of us in line agreed to the order we should get taxis in. A woman with her college-age daughter took the taxi just before me – but the mother didn’t speak English, and the daughter was discussing the high fare with the taxi driver. He had quoted her twice the expected price – so we quickly chatted, and decided that our hotels were close enough that we would share my taxi (since my driver quoted a much better rate). The drivers were upset that we were skipping the one, but we weren’t going to pay as much as he wanted – so we hopped in and let them be upset. And it was nice to have a few minutes to chat with these lovely women from Finland. And we all saved some money by being willing to share the taxi, just from starting a random conversation on the streets of Rome.