Week Four (iii) - Rome: the Vatican, a Castle Fortress, and 25€ of Dessert!

Sat 2.2.13:
We awoke at 7:30 to the hostel lady bringing us fresh coffee, pineapple juice, and rolls with jelly, showered and took the metro to the Piazza del Popolo, which features an Egyptian obelisk and a pair of churches from the late 1600s. We circled the plaza - we saw some Shetland miniature ponies, posed like a few of the statues, and peered down the adjoining streets, the main one of which runs through the heart of Rome - before setting off for the Vatican.

Piazza del Popolo!

An interesting crest

Bell towers and statues

Far side of the Piazza - the hand fully enveloped Susan

Approaching the Vatican on the main road, we noted lots of fancy shops interspersed with swanky restaurants and gelato shops (about half of which were open at 10:30am haha) as well as the standard hordes of street vendors.

Entrance to the Piazza - the Porta del Popolo

"Does this jacket make my butt look big?"

We got to the Vatican at 11, so we had a few minutes to scan the gift shop and entry area before the guided tour (Shane and Iqbal skidded in just in time!). Our guide began by explaining the history of the Sistine Chapel: Michelangelo painted the entire ceiling on a self-constructed scaffolding, and worked with toxic paints, primarily in the dark, and either lying on his back or looking straight up (sounds painful). His style changes - the first three tiles emphasize the common man and thus have several people depicted, but the later ones focus just on Adam and Eve and God. On the walls, Michelangelo included an image of himself aged 80, to indicate how tired and fed up he felt for having worked on this project for 5 years.

Above the entrance to the Vatican

Our sassy Italian guide

The Pope was visiting the Sistine Chapel this afternoon, so it would close at 1. Due to the time constraint, we rushed through the bulk of the museum rooms - Susan and I were taking as many pictures as we could, and we had to hurry to catch up each time we fell so far behind that our guided tour earpieces stopped transmitting. Nonetheless, it was incredible seeing so many sculptures, tapestries, and paintings, all of which built up our appetite for the Sistine Chapel itself. I was very taken with the famous ceiling and the surrounding walls, especially now that we knew a good portion of the significance.

Me taking artsy shots

Heracles

Enormous gallery with intricate ceilingwork

One of the many tapestries hanging in this gallery

After 5min, we were ushered outside, and we proceeded to the outside of St. Peter's Basilica... only to learn that it, too, was closed for the Pope's visit. How frustrating! Several people on the tour complained, but we just figured we'd return tomorrow during mass and see the Pope speak at noon.

Rafael's School of Athens!

Descending into the palace

One of Rodin's Thinkers

Raphael's The Fire in the Borgo 

So, we took several pictures of St. Peter's Basilica and Square (there was also an impressive recreation of ancient Bethlehem) and then stopped for some souvenirs and postcards. We walked back towards the center of the city and snagged lunch from the first pizza/pasta place we saw as a much-needed recuperation after the morning's exertion. As we headed to our next stop - Giolitti, which has the best gelato in Rome - it suddenly started pouring rain. Though none of us were prepared (flip flops aren't ideal for rain), watching Shane and Iqbal complain heavily and sprint ahead to huddle under an overhang as if they'd never experienced rain before was surprisingly entertaining.

Susan, me, Molly, Shane, and Iqbal in front of St. Peter's Square

Courtyard between Vatican and St. Peter's

I'd happily wear this outfit to work!

St. Peter's Basilica

Luckily the rain subsided, and after me successfully navigating the Italian streets, we found Giolitti. The entrance opens into a grandiose confectionery, which we resisted in order to sample the heavily hyped gelato. It was quite crowded, and the entire staff was surprisingly very unhelpful and unfriendly (they refused to let us sit at the indoor tables, and when we then sat on the steps between the gelato counter and the seating area, a waiter - this was actually pretty funny - said, "You can't sit down, it's not the Spanish Steps"), but at least the gelato was delicious. We had to choose from nearly 30 flavors, several of which - champagne, pear, candied fruit, Bailey's - sounded exquisite; my choices of amaretto, malaga (rum raisin), and visciole (cherry) all proved their mettle :)

Us with a fountain

Amazing facial expressions :)

St. Peter's Square in all its glory

Rome's "best" gelato!

We then saw the Palazzo di Giustizia / Corte di Cassazione (the Italian Supreme Court) and then walked along the river on a whim. We nearly used a plank to leap aboard a boat tethered near the bank but were yelled at by a hidden boatman - oops! Also, the flash rainstorm obviously made everything wet, and we were soon met with huge expanses of slippery mud that we slid through; only through sheer luck did we keep our balance! We then arrived at the Castel Sant'Angelo, which was built in the 2nd century as the Emperor Hadrian's tomb and was later used as a military fortress and the ignition site of fireworks during the Italian Girandola. The castle itself was incredible - six different levels offered no shortage of interesting rooms, courtyards, or art. Among our observations:

 - an indoor trapdoor with a seemingly bottomless pit

 - one courtyard was rumored to be the 'Execution Plaza' where prisoners would be hung or beheaded

 - an armory with authentic military artifacts. Molly and Susan made fun of me for speaking Italian

 - several additional rooms with full-wall murals

 - an enclosed walkway intended solely for the Pope's protection

 - supposedly, there's a secret passageway direct from the Castel to the Vatican!

 - utterly beautiful views of Rome from the top level

 - closing one of the heavy large doors that had a small mini-door in it, then getting told off by a guard

 - a gallery with numerous drawings / paintings of the Castel through the ages

One of Bernini's angels on Ponte Sant'Angelo

The Italian Supreme Court

Within the Castel Sant'Angelo

Surprise firework show on the walk home!

We left around 6:30 and separated for dinner; Molly, Susan, and I wandered around the Ponte Sisto area looking for a particular apertivo bar that we only knew was somewhere near the adjoining plaza, and that its name had two F____ names in it, as in F____ & F____. After much confused wandering and trudging, we snuck onto a wi-fi network to find the place. Though the drinks weren't great, eating an entire meal for 7€ was incredible. My favorite was the cinnamon-doused apples; there were also several good veggies and salads. Funny story - as I piled up a plate for the three of us, the bread soaked up some of the sauces, so I appealed to Susan, "Want this bread? It's half covered in soup and half in cinnamon." ... yum, so scrumptious. Further, what I thought was soup was actually thousand island dressing, possibly an even worse combination.
We then returned to Il Fornaio, the wonderful bakery we found yesterday, and proceeded to purchase everything that looked delicious. Best quotes: "So... we'll start our order on this side of the shelf and will move in that direction" and "We'll have three of this, and three of these, and three of those, and three of that." Thankfully, we were the only ones in the store, as we couldn't stop cracking up at the absurdity of our DESSERT FEAST  :) Also, the waiter agreed that I have a good Italian accent. Phew!

Our 25 euro dessert feast! 3 cream puffs, 3 donut holes,
3 bon bons, 3 marzipan fruits, 3 pistachio marzipan rolls,
a ricotta chocolate torte, a pear walnut pine nut torte,
a candied fruit torte, and a gigantic meringue :D

SO MUCH NUTELLA! Note these 'small' ones are 5kg jars!
The giant one didn't say but it's as big as Susan's torso
I also saw gelato flavors of Baci and of Ferrero Rocher!

Walking home, we chanced upon a seemingly random fireworks show! We paused by the Emanuel Monumento to watch, then returned to the hotel. There we sifted the day's photos while listening to the Phantom of the Opera soundtrack, planned out the itinerary for tomorrow, and then hit the hay.