The Vatican and the Coliseum

JULIE :

Today was dedicated to Vatican City and the Coliseum! We began our morning with breakfast from the Sicilian Bakery near our hotel; seeing as I was still full from our food indulgences, from yesterday, I wasn’t too hungry so I got a doughnut and Jake got a Suppli filled with ham and cheese. Due to having a ways to go and taking the Metro we didn’t sit and have a Cappuccino we ate on our way to the Metro (very American of us).

SIDEBAR – Jake and I are both fast walkers however Jake walks so fast it is as if the Terrorists are after us – it gets to be ridiculous.

Upon arriving at Vatican City we immediately took note of the crowd – Vatican City was CRAWLING with people roaming (haha!) around – it was a sea of people, literally a sea of people, and the school children, sweet Moses, where are these children coming from? I seriously doubt elementary school aged children care about Vatican City.

SIDEBAR #2 -Jake declared that he hopes to never chaperon Mason’s class on a field trip, however seeing as Parker school children probably go to McDonalds, Jack –in – the Box or Wal-Mart, for field trips, I really don’t think it will be an issue.

It was so crowded if the Terrorists really were after Jake there would be nothing he could do about it, everyone was slowly moving as there was no where to go. Finally we make it to the Sistine Chapel, which was absolutely, breathe taking! Thanks to the Rick Steves, pre downloaded, audio tour we learned that it only took four years for Michelangelo to complete the chapel! Yes, only four years! I can ‘t begin to conceive how fast and how many hours he put into the chapel. After we finished taking in the beauty and after some dirty Europeans sat on my leg we were off. Next stop was to get lunch at The Pizzarium (highly recommended from Eleonora). Of course we got lost and of course we were starving – but snaps to the local police for pointing us in the right direction. Eight blocks and two Metro (P.S. Zach Kirk I saw your European doppelganger on this Metro) stops later we were at The Pizzarium – a seemingly small and inconspicuous place, but oh so worth the wait – the pizza was fantastic! I had a slice of the ricotta (imagine I just said that with an Italian accent) cheese and zucchini as well as the tomato while Jake had sausage and tomato. It is important to note that Gabriele Bonci cut the square pies with real scissors and sells it by the weight. This is also the sort of place that does not have any seating but a “counter” outside to eat. Maybe it was the fact that we are on vacation or maybe it was the fact that we were starving but this pizza was absolutely fantastic! We sat on a bench outside of the building and were showered with pink rose pedals as the wind quietly blew them off of nearby trees – what a great setting!

We raced to the Coliseum and again had to dodge the school children and masses of people.

SIDEBAR # 3– Okay I know I touched on this in an earlier post but where do Europeans get these crazy outfits?

The Coliseum is, of course in ruins, surrounded by tragic history. Very cool to walk where ancient Romans spent their entire day watching animals and people slaughtering one another.

SIDEBAR # 4 – Is it appropriate to request a traveling Nun to take your picture? We witnessed several people asking them to take their picture and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think of it as well – what are they going to do throw your camera in their habit?

SIDEBAR # 5 – Why do little girls feel the need to share a stall in crowded bathrooms? If each one is peeing, in theory, it should still take the same amount of time; crazy little girl scouts!

Dinner tonight was excellent! We went to another highly recommended restaurant, per Elenora, Trattoria Monti family owned and operated (mother cooks and sons serve tables). I had what appeared to be a giant ravioli filled with ricotta and spinach topped with truffles while Jake had rabbit (I am not a fan of rabbit but this was incredible!). Both of our dishes were fantastic and followed by a cheese dish which was good but way too much cheese and the creepy French guys, occupying the table next to ours kept spying on our dishes then would order the same thing we were eating. This excellent meal ended with an aperitif for Jake and a failed attempt at a cappuccino for me. All in all is was another fantastic day in Rome!