Day 3: Vatican City

May 13^th Day 3 Rome:

Kristina's FitBit Information: 10.9 Miles walked & 24,212 steps

Bright eyed and bushy tailed we were as we departed for Vatican City at 8 am and met Lisa again in the lobby of the hotel to get back on the metro and head for Vatican City! All of us got dressed up due to the dress code which we all took advantage of in our own way. What it came down to was most of us wearing maxi skirts and dresses.

When we arrived and on our journey walking toward the Vatican Museum, Lisa took us through a market place where vendors and local farmers and fisherman came to sell their products. The sights and smells were wonderful, fresh and bright. We all wished we could have come to shop there every day.

Our guide, Angela, took us through the vast Musei Vaticani. In a way we were lucky. Every Wednesday the Pope makes his address in St. Peter’s Square, which means less crowds in the museum. We were able to walk around through countless galleries and halls with ease.

The piece de resistance of the day was getting to see the Sistine Chapel.  Angela walked us through the panels and paintings before we went inside, but there aren’t enough words to capture the beauty that surrounds you in the small chapel. Each fresco is more beautiful than the next. DaVinci’s attention to detail is unmatched and the Sistine Chapel alone was worth the trip there.

Taylor M. wrote “She told us the stories behind the panels painted on the ceiling and the walls of the Sistine Chapel, which I found very interesting and it definitely made me appreciate it more when we got into the Chapel because I had a better understanding of what I was looking at. I also learned a lot about Leonardo di Vinci and the type of guy he was, which was fascinating! The Sistine Chapel was absolutely breathtaking! There is something to see in every corner of the room. Of course you have to remain silent when inside the Chapel and no pictures are permitted, but it's hard to stay quiet and control the restraint to capture the beauty that surrounds you when you are in such a sacred and beautiful place!

Jennie C. wrote “I would like to mention that all of our tour guides on this trip were enthusiastic, welcoming, and knew their facts. Also, as a side note, the guided tours were the best way to visit the attractions. Yes famous artifacts like the Coliseum and the David are magnificent, but it is much better to have a guide there every step of the way to explain the history and interesting facts that you would not have otherwise known. For instance, Angela told the tales of Michelangelo and I now have much respect for the brazenness of the artist during the Renaissance Period.”

Magen wrote “Since I have been there before and have studied Renaissance art for my Art History minor, I knew a lot of what the tour guide was talking about, but that did not stop me from being completely in awe of the art and the history that we saw.” 

Taylor V. wrote “We learned a lot about Michelangelo on this tour since the Sistine Chapel was a big part of it, and the more I learned the more fascinated by him I was. I bought a poster of the Last Judgment because Michelangelo put so many personal elements into it, and really made the painting his own. Speaking of the Sistine Chapel, it is very against the rules to take any pictures of it. It was just so beautiful and I was so Michelangelo obsessed, however, I thought about trying to sneak a picture anyway. That is, until a very scary guard was sneaking up on people taking pictures and screaming at them to get out. That deterred me a bit, and I decided to just study as much of the Chapel as I could so that I’d never forget it. Seeing something so incredibly beautiful up close and personal is very easy to remember. I would have loved to spend all day studying the artwork of the Vatican and falling in love with the armed guards of Vatican City, but unfortunately we had an itinerary to uphold.”

Taylor M. wrote “After we left the Chapel, we attempted to make our way to St. Peter's Square. On the way, I stopped at one of the jewelry counters and bought myself a gold St. Anthony medallion to wear on my necklace with my gold horn. I was very excited about this as it was a goal of mine to get it specifically from the Vatican on this trip! I immediately put it on my necklace and have not taken it off since! I also purchased a Pope bobble head after our museum tour right outside the walls of the city, he would then go all over Rome and Florence with me and I took pictures of him at every site to document his travels.”

Tamara wrote “This trip really showed that tourism will truly always survive”

We stepped out of the chapel and walked around to one of the entrances into St. Peter’s Square only to find that it was still closed after the Papal Address’ conclusion. We left to get lunch and then headed back to explore. A few of the gals ate at a small ristorante across the way from St. Peters Square called L’insalata Ricca, we ordered the best fresh bruschetta and tomatoes, fabulous avocado salad with fresh tomatoes, corn, mozzarella, and arugula with balsamic dressing.

Jennie wrote “We separated for lunch, where I had my first authentic Italian pizza. Remembering what I learned from my pizza presentation during the semester, I knew that Italians eat their pizza with a fork and knife. The wait staff was friendly and charming giving the restaurant an approachable atmosphere, as is with the majority of restaurants in Italy.”

We returned back to the open piazza and tried to take in everything that is St. Peter’s Square (as well as some Vitamin D). We tried to get into the basilica but the line was wrapped halfway around the square. It wasn’t meant to be this time around. But it does give us all a reason to come back to Rome!

We were back on metro and rode it to Barbarini where we met Lisa to go to the Rome Tourist Office for an overview of tourism from Rome’s perspective. Two of the ladies in that office gave us a lovely  presentation, they explained to us that the two main factors for tourism in Rome are cultural and religious: cultural of archaeology, history of art, and independent metropolitan culture, and religious as the capital of Christianity and home of the Pope. Other important sections of their tourism include wine and food tourism, educational tourism, and congress tourism, as well as sustainable and cinema tourism, shopping, and tourism adapted to the needs of the disabled. They promote Rome through national and international travel fairs, communication campaigns, online, and through social media. They mentioned as well that their top three arrivals to Rome are tourists from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany. The representatives in this office also explained to us the city tax, it consists of a per day per person tax applying only to the first 10 nights of stay, applied to guests of establishments providing accommodation in locations classified as tourism resorts or art cities. Three star hotels are four euros for the tax, four star hotels are six euros, and five star hotels are seven euros. Over all they gave us a thorough and interesting presentation, and even gave us small Rome info bags as we left to learn even more about the city.

The gals separated into groups for the evening. One group ended up back at the Piazza della Popola and then at an Italian supermarket. They decided to buy wine, cheese, and meat to share.

Melinda wrote “Sitting in the lobby, drinking wine and chatting with friends was definitely the perfect end to a tiring day in the sun.”