First stop, back to the Colosseum. But this time we were going to go inside.
And then we got there. And there was a line. A long line. Around the building. Like 2-3 hour long wait.
Why?!?!??!
Okay, well the reason is that, although we were technically in low tourist season, we had chosen the week of:
1) All Saints Day
2) the 150th Anniversary of Italian Reunification
So every Italian brought their WHOLE big ole family to the city for the week to sightsee. Totally screwing up my Rome plans. But it will get worse....
Now that the Colosseum is off the list, we decide to head to our next stop: the Vatican.
Our plan was to walk to Vatican City, get a bite to eat, and then head inside. But on our way to lunch we saw the line for the museum [which is what you go to the Vatican to see]. Well we saw part of the line. It went past where we could see. We are talking at least a 5 hour wait. And the Museum shuts down at 6. This was noon.
We were screwed.
I tried not to let myself get too upset.
It was what it was. At least I would get to see St. Peter's Basilica [tried not to think about missing the Sistine Chapel...].
So we go to lunch and have some lasagna, and I try to keep upbeat. But Eric knows me too well. And he knew I was sad. And he later told me that it made him sad that I was going to miss it because he knew how much it meant to me [seriously, one of the best friends a girl could ask for!!].
After lunch we head back of to the front of the line and start walking towards the back. While we are walking this guy standing on the sidewalk asks if we are trying to get into the museum. We tell him yes. He says for 30 Euro he can get us in on a guided tour in 20 minutes. I laugh at him. Eric says "Yeah, we're in."
We start to follow this guy, then get handed off to another guy. And then taken down a side street to an office. About halfway there, I'm ready to bolt. Daniel is ready to bolt. Eric says, "Lets just see what happens."
So we end up paying 40 Euros to get the audio tour [if we are going to get scammed, we want to be fully and 100% scammed]. And they give us a white sticker dot that says Yellow on it. And then they take us to entrance of the Museum.
Now we have a receipt and a sticker. So we are starting to accept that this might be legit.
But we still are doubtful because WHY would anyone stand in line for hours when just a few euro more get you right in...
Then we are in line...and moving quickly towards the door. With about 20 other people. Also with stickers. Following a guy with a water bottle in the air.
Eric is sad that we ever doubted him!
And then we were inside the building!! But still no tickets.
And now we have audio tour headphones!! And the tickets came just a few minutes later!!
WE WERE IN!!!! ERIC SAVED THE DAY!!
That statue there. That marks were Peter was crucified...yeah.
Oh really. Da Vinci lived here. Thats pretty cool.
So much cool stuff. Everywhere you look. On the walls, the ceilings, and even a lot of the floors were awesome mosaics!
And then there was this bathtub. Made of a now extinct stone [apparently stones go extinct too?]. As such it would cost like a bajillion dollars. And it is obviously now on my Christmas list. Bath time in that? YES PLEASE!!
And then it was time for the Sistine Chapel.
Just a disclaimer, you aren't supposed to take pictures in there. So these are kinda terrible. But here it is.
It was UNBELIEVABLE. Its like the Grand Canyon. You know its going to be good, but its so much more than you can every really imagine.
From there it was into the Basilica
Pieta
Where Pope JP2 is buried
Where St. Peter is buried
And the requisite Swiss Guard Picture
Out in the Square
So pretty!!
After that Daniel W. had to leave to go to the airport to fly to Casablanca for the rest of his break.
So Eric and I went and had dinner and drinks and crashed early that night.
Sorry that was so long, but it was just so cool and I want to make sure that I remember it all! [In my first post I warned you that this was first, and foremost, meant for me. Don't mean to be selfish...]
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