For breakfast, Italians will stop by bars on their way to work (which is not the same as a bar in America). Here, you go up to the counter, order a cappuccino and a cornetto (a croissant), socialize standing up at the counter, and then you're on your way. I'm not a big coffee drinker, but the cornetto is awesome. They often have plain, cream, jam, and chocolate. Chocolate is the best, because it's often more like a whole lot of nutella inside.
Cornetto and Cappuccino breakfast
It was a 20 minute walk to the Vatican, but there's plenty to see along the way.
Below is Castel Sant'Angelo which was built between 123 and 129 AD.
Rome's tap water is apparently very clean, and all throughout the City they have these public drinking fountains. They flow continuously, and you just step up, and fill up your water bottle. The water tastes fine, it's cold, and convenient. On top of that, it's free.
We arrived in the Vatican City to see Piazza S. Pietro. It's cool seeing this early in the morning because you get the vast square with very few people.
From here, we began walking around the walls of the Vatican City to get to the Vatican museum entrance.
Around the corner is a loooooong line of people. Bypassing it is easy, just book a tour online which you should do when they become available two months in advance. I highly recommend a guided tour anyway since navigating the Vatican museum seemed like a daunting task.
The Vatican Museum is quite a collection of work. Some of it very interesting, some of it you can sort of pass by, or maybe it was just overwhelming at some point. Nonetheless, walking room by room, this is probably the museum I enjoyed most. I did especially enjoy the Raphael rooms, or maybe it was because they were toward the end, and by then, I had kind of settled in and began understanding more of the work.
The one below is kind of neat as it features many ancient philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, and for you math lovers, Pythagoras.
Shortly after the Raphael rooms, you can finally make your way to the Sistine Chapel. No pictures allowed in there. I've heard different reactions after seeing the Sistine Chapel, but personally, I found it to be an amazing piece of work. A must see.
From there, we took a short break, by yet another fountain, as we prepared for our climb to the cupola, or the dome of St. Peter's Basilica. You can pay 5 euros to climb it, or 7 euros for the elevator option. The elevator option means you take the elevator to skip the first 231 steps, then you climb the remaining 323 steps to the top of the dome. Elevator please.
As you get closer to the top, the more the walls around you start curving in above you.
Once you make it to the top, great views all around.
Various parts of the Vatican behind the Basilica.
A look back at the Vatican museum.
The City...If you look in the distance, you see a large white monument which is the Victor Emmanuel Monument. From here you can also see the famous Pantheon. And finally, if you follow the river on the right, I believe that first bridge you see is the Ponte Sisto, where we were staying.
Once we made it down from the dome of St. Peter's Basilica, we made it inside the Basilica itself. Note, although there's a line to climb the dome, if you do this first, once you come down, you go straight into the Basilica without having to wait in line.
Walking into St. Peter's Basilica immediately puts you in awe of the size of the church. Can't really put into words how impressive the place looks, pictures probably can't do it either.
Michelangelo's Pieta
After St. Peter's Basilica, we had a quick meal at one of the many yellow food trucks that you often find at tourist attractions. Our first experience here was decent, but our next one on another day was not very good. After this, we went for our first slices of pizza at Alice pizza a block away from the Vatican wall.
The pizza was nice and crunchy and tasted great. So yes, pizza in Italy is awesome, and we had plenty more of it.
Pizza by the slice works a little different in Italy. They have big slabs of pizza, and they position their knife to show you how much they think you want. Then you tell them smaller, or bigger. They cut your piece and put it on the scale. What we had above was about 7 euros and enough for both of us.
Below is an obviously popular gelateria called Frigidarium, not far from Piazza Navona. (Yes, they serve real gelato, more on that tomorrow.) This was Sophy's favorite gelateria.
Rome was probably my favorite place in Italy. I think a lot that contributes to that is the feel of these small back streets, while just a street over may be a more lively street with restaurants lining the way.
After less than an hour of rest for our feet, we took a short walk to Piazza Navona. We visited these fountains in the day, but they're much more beautiful at night.
Not far from there is the Pantheon. We'll visit the inside of this tomorrow.
At Campo De Fiori, Piazza Navona, and here at the Pantheon, there's plenty of tourist trap restaurants. Many of them will have someone standing in front trying to get you to come in and try their restaurant. The food is much more expensive, sometimes frozen, and just not your traditional good tasting food.
I did my best to find those restaurants that locals believe to serve good authentic Italian food. In the historical center, Armando Al Pantheon is one of those.
The three most traditional Roman pastas are Amatriciana, Carbonara, and Cacio e pepe. This restaurant did all three very well, but the Amatriciana here was probably my favorite. Definitely recommend this restaurant. Good, authentic food, and the price tag is moderate.
Some things to note about eating out in Italy.
Ordering: It's customary to order multiple dishes at Italian restaurants. A good rule of thumb is 2 dishes per person, whether it's an antipasti, a primi, a secondi, etc.
Water: Water's not free. You'll have a choice of either bottled still or sparkling water, and it will be about 2 to 3 euros.
Coperto: Many restaurants have a cover charge which covers the restaurant's overhead, bread, etc.
Servicio: Some restaurants will add tip, usually about 10%. If they do, it's up to you if you want to tip on top of that. If they don't, it's up to you how much to tip.
We made it to the Trevi Fountain after dinner. This is supposed to be an amazing looking fountain, but unfortunately it was under renovation during our visit to Rome. I think it's the one in front of Caesar's Palace in Vegas haha.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment