Sunday October 31st 2010Rome/Vatican city On Sunday we were astounded by the breakfast basket brought in to us. Delicious cappuccinos and tons of pastries. Yummy! So after eating as much as we could, and putting the extra pastries in my bag for snacks, we headed off to the Vatican because on the last Sunday of every month, the museums are free! We got off the metro and found a huge line. We had no idea where it ended but there were people lined up all along the wall of the Vatican city. We kept walking and walking and when we hit St Peter’s square we found what we thought to be the end so joined the line. The people in front of us then started telling us off in Italian but as it was already 9:45ish and the line was HUGE we just pretended we didn’t understand… how naughty of us! oops. but we are lucky we did because the line was SO LONG that we nearly didn’t make it in. They stop letting people in at 12:30 and when it got to about 11:45 there were tour guide people coming down the line telling everyone they wouldn’t get in unless they came on the tour (which, of course, cost an arm and a leg) because there was still an hour wait. The people in front of us believed them and left the line to go somewhere else thinking they wouldn’t have time. I decided to walk around the edge of the line and see exactly where we were and how far away the entrance was. As it turns out, the entrance wasn’t too far away, stupid lying tour guides, and we got in by about 12:15ish, for free. yay! We knew we wanted to head to the Sistine chapel, and that we didn’t have much time because I think the museums were only going to be open for another 2 hours. So we just followed the signs and got taken through some amazing museums and saw lots of amazingly old art and artifacts. I especially liked the Egyptian artifacts room we stumbled upon where we got to see an actual mummy. So cool. Especially considering my fascination with Ancient Egypt. but the Sistine chapel was by far the most amazing. It was chock-a-block filled with people and though signs said no cameras, Samme managed to get this sneaky shot of The Creation of Adam. Was very cool to see such a famous painting. After we were all museum-d out we headed out through the gift shop and got some postcards to send to our grandparents, which we wrote and sent right from the Vatican so that they could have a Vatican city postmark :) After we came out we grabbed some panini’s for lunch then headed to wait in the line for St Peter’s. I’m sure the wait was quite a while, but after the 2 1/2 hour wait for the Vatican, everything seems shorter! We had a look inside and then joined yet another line to go up to the dome of the Basilica. This line seemed short, but was even slower moving than the one for the Vatican museums! Luckily for us there was a family behind us with an adorable little baby who kept us amused. Me and Samme decided we’d save ourselves a few euros and take the stairs up. It turns out that even if you pay to take the elevator, you still have to walk over halfway.  The stairs up are insane! Samme took this photo on our climb up. the dude in the photo is standing up straight, thats how curved the walls are! One thing is for sure… you have to be skinny to climb up to the dome! But once we climbed up the hundreds of steps, the view was TOTALLY worth it. Absolutely amazing. Quite chilly and cold but definitely worth it! After taking a million photos we made our way down and headed back to the metro to go back to our B&B. Once we’d regrouped we headed out again with our metro daypass and went up to the Piazza Barberini area to find a place for dinner. We eventually found a restaurant and ordered pasta for dinner. Then on our way back to the metro station we had some yummy gelato. While we were eating it by a gorgeous fountain we chatted to some slightly odd Italian guys and declined their offer of a night out. We then headed back to our B&B and collapsed. Waiting in line is tiring!!

Sunday October 31st 2010
Rome/Vatican city

On Sunday we were astounded by the breakfast basket brought in to us. Delicious cappuccinos and tons of pastries. Yummy! So after eating as much as we could, and putting the extra pastries in my bag for snacks, we headed off to the Vatican because on the last Sunday of every month, the museums are free! We got off the metro and found a huge line. We had no idea where it ended but there were people lined up all along the wall of the Vatican city. We kept walking and walking and when we hit St Peter’s square we found what we thought to be the end so joined the line. The people in front of us then started telling us off in Italian but as it was already 9:45ish and the line was HUGE we just pretended we didn’t understand… how naughty of us! oops. but we are lucky we did because the line was SO LONG that we nearly didn’t make it in. They stop letting people in at 12:30 and when it got to about 11:45 there were tour guide people coming down the line telling everyone they wouldn’t get in unless they came on the tour (which, of course, cost an arm and a leg) because there was still an hour wait. The people in front of us believed them and left the line to go somewhere else thinking they wouldn’t have time. I decided to walk around the edge of the line and see exactly where we were and how far away the entrance was. As it turns out, the entrance wasn’t too far away, stupid lying tour guides, and we got in by about 12:15ish, for free. yay!

We knew we wanted to head to the Sistine chapel, and that we didn’t have much time because I think the museums were only going to be open for another 2 hours. So we just followed the signs and got taken through some amazing museums and saw lots of amazingly old art and artifacts. I especially liked the Egyptian artifacts room we stumbled upon where we got to see an actual mummy. So cool. Especially considering my fascination with Ancient Egypt. but the Sistine chapel was by far the most amazing. It was chock-a-block filled with people and though signs said no cameras, Samme managed to get this sneaky shot of The Creation of Adam. Was very cool to see such a famous painting.

After we were all museum-d out we headed out through the gift shop and got some postcards to send to our grandparents, which we wrote and sent right from the Vatican so that they could have a Vatican city postmark :)

After we came out we grabbed some panini’s for lunch then headed to wait in the line for St Peter’s. I’m sure the wait was quite a while, but after the 2 1/2 hour wait for the Vatican, everything seems shorter! We had a look inside and then joined yet another line to go up to the dome of the Basilica. This line seemed short, but was even slower moving than the one for the Vatican museums! Luckily for us there was a family behind us with an adorable little baby who kept us amused. Me and Samme decided we’d save ourselves a few euros and take the stairs up. It turns out that even if you pay to take the elevator, you still have to walk over halfway. 

The stairs up are insane! Samme took this photo on our climb up. the dude in the photo is standing up straight, thats how curved the walls are! One thing is for sure… you have to be skinny to climb up to the dome!

But once we climbed up the hundreds of steps, the view was TOTALLY worth it. Absolutely amazing. Quite chilly and cold but definitely worth it! After taking a million photos we made our way down and headed back to the metro to go back to our B&B. Once we’d regrouped we headed out again with our metro daypass and went up to the Piazza Barberini area to find a place for dinner. We eventually found a restaurant and ordered pasta for dinner. Then on our way back to the metro station we had some yummy gelato. While we were eating it by a gorgeous fountain we chatted to some slightly odd Italian guys and declined their offer of a night out. We then headed back to our B&B and collapsed. Waiting in line is tiring!!