Strikes, Shopping, & Sistine Chapel

On Friday, we slept in, foregoing a mass at St. Peter’s in the grotto and the cupola tour. It was the day we walked to the Vatican because there really was a strike for the metro and buses and we found out it was actually faster to walk than to go to the next metro station, like we had been doing all week. Since we got there early, we went back into St. Peter’s and I was able to take some decent pictures since there was better lighting. Grandpa enjoyed being able to spend some time there and well as getting some prayer in. It was overflowing with tourists though; it was kind of insane. If you took the time though, you could see the amazement on people’s faces as they took it all in for the first time. It was like seeing kids on Christmas morning and being able to share in the excitement over and over again. Once our time there was through, we met up with the rest of the group at the Christmas Tree so we could go tour the Vatican Museums. They are extremely extensive, but Fr. Jason gave a good tour. The Sistine Chapel was something to see. I must admit though that I have very little attention span for museums. I would rather be out roaming the streets, so you will not find a detailed review here. I will say that the rooms were overwhelming, especially the Vatican Rooms. I like simple things, but the walls and ceilings were covered with intricate and extensive artwork. One could probably spend a week in one room and not be able to take all of it in. I was almost relieved to leave, it was such a sensory overload.

That afternoon, I slipped out for some alone time and headed for the taxi stand by St. Peter’s. I waited for quite some time and managed to get a taxi to the Piazza de Spagna. Once there, I saw the Spanish Steps, but I had a goal to find the Lion Bookshop, one highly recommended as a good English bookstore by my guidebook. I walked down the street it was on and then backtracked, only to find that it was closed permanently. Feeling a bit defeated, I went and climbed the Spanish Steps and then went back down them to the taxi stand. The line was insane, and the metro strike was due to end at 5:00pm, so I waited for it to open. When I got back to my stop, Cipro, I went and bought a bottle of water and a bottle of wine. Once of the few things that made me feel Italian on this trip was walking home from the store with a bottle of wine. Once home, Grandpa and I decided to go finish our Christmas shopping. After completing it in and around St. Peter’s, we decided to try and find a restaurant that the Gray’s had recommended earlier in the week. We walked up and down the street a few times and as I was hoping in vain that they had a cell phone I could call, we ran into them and they pointed us in the right direction. It was a quaint little restaurant where we split a bottle of white wine and ate the best spaghetti I have ever tasted. When I ordered, the waiter encouraged me to speak Italian confidently, which is difficult but it was highly amusing. The waiter, after we declined dessert, brought us some sort of almond treat, which was tasty. We were in the restaurant rather early at 7:30pm, most of the customers didn’t start wandering in until we were finishing up and getting ready to leave. It was quite American of us to eat that early, but we were starving and tired. All in all, it was a frustrating day that took a turn for the better.