Day 16 - Vatican City

Donna got whistled at by an Italian man early this morning.  Mary and
she went to the ATM to get cash, and on the way back Donna saw a statue
through a huge arched doorway.  As she entered through to take a
picture, she was reprimanded by a security guard...the whistling
Italian man!!

Mary turned fifty today!!  Happy birthday, Mary!!  Thankfully, being in
Rome (her favorite city in the world) has eased the pain considerably.

We began our day of touring with another treasured ride on the
over-crowded city bus, making our way to the Scavi tour underneath St.
Peter's Basilica.  Here we saw the tomb of St. Peter and the
foundations for two other ancient churches built to honor him which
were beneath the current Basilica.

Upon completion of that tour, we stopped for a quick Gelato at the Old
Bridge Gelateria, then headed to the Vatican Museum and the Sistine
Chapel.  We thoroughly enjoyed making silly faces and taking goofy
pictures by the many statue heads which lined the halls of the museum.
 Occasionally, the other tourists appeared to find our antics rather
entertaining.  We were always very respectful of the chapel requests
for silence, but would find a new way to view the statues when we were
free to do so.  However, a very grumpy German tour guide was not so
amused by our smiling faces and told us to be quiet, and that we were
not "natural".  We had to use all of our super human strength to
restrain ourselves from laughing out loud right then and there.

The hallway leading to the Sistine Chapel is fabulously painted,
especially the ceilings.  We saw Michelangelo's famous creation
painting with God and Adam touching fingers.  We also viewed his
wall-sized painting over the altar called "The Last Judgement."  We all
felt a sense of satisfaction when the German tour lady was speaking
loudly and Donna calmly turned to her and stated, "You're not supposed
to talk in the Sistine Chapel."

We took the secret exit out of the Sistine Chapel.  It bypassed the
actual museum exit and took us right back into the Basilica.  This was
bliss, since we passed majorly long lines.  
We climbed steps to the top of the basilica, stopping part way to view
the inside ceiling of the dome (painted by Michelangelo).  We then took
 more steps to the very top of the basilica to see the best views of
Rome from outside.  we were told that no other building in the city is
allowed to be taller than St. Peter's.

We had cappuccinos near the top, then descended the stairs and  went
into the basilica. It truly is breathtaking.  Our favorite things were
Raphael's mosaic of "The Transfiguration" (done so well that it looked
like an oil painting) and Michelangelo's statue of "The Pieta" (Mother
Mary holding the dead Christ) which he did as a 24-year-old.

We waved goodbye to Vatican City and took a taxi to Piazza Navona to
see the Fountain of Four Rivers.  It felt good to sit on a bench and
people watch.  We ate at a trattoria called Cul de Sac on Piazza
Pasquino and the owner, Marco, was kind enough to print off our tickets
for our Colosseum tour tomorrow.  It was quite a production getting
this accomplished, so we were thanking God to have them printed.

Our meal was different than others we had eaten, and totally delicious!
 We had meatballs in white wine sauce with mashed potatoes, zucchini,
artichoke pie, broccoli pasta, salmon in paper, hard-crusted bread,
tirumasu, orange glazed almond torte with cream, chocolate mousse,
custard ice cream sprinkled with pistachios, and a fabulous bottle of
red wine.

On our walk back to the hotel, we visited the lit Trevi fountain and
threw coins in to ensure our return to Rome.  Upon our return, we met
an Italian mother and her 19-year-old daughter who are also staying in
the Sweet Dreams 2 B & B.  We learned that Gaia auditioned today for
David Zara's "Romeo and Juliette" and received the leading role of
Juliette.  She was all smiles and finding it hard to believe that she
would be performing at the Grand Theater in Rome.  

We giggle at how Gaia and her mom speak so loudly and with such
enthusiasm.  Add a lot of hand motions to this, and they almost make
our group (okay, maybe not Mary and Donna) look quiet:  )