This was a BIG sightseeing day. Arguably the biggest sightseeing day ever and a very successful one. But it started poorly. We both woke up with raging headaches, presumably from a severe caffeine deficit. So, at 6:30am Rome time (and who knows what time our bodies thought it was as we were very jet-lagged), we went down to the breakfast room to seek coffee. But breakfast begins at 7 we were told. Using our best hang-dog puppy faces we begged for a cup. No dice. The two workers were adamant: 7am.
The problem with waiting until 7am was that we had been advised to get to the Vatican early if we wanted to avoid long lines. So we headed to the Vatican, heads throbbing, and passed about 6 cafes along the way that opened at 7. But we finally found an open cafe near St Peter’s Square that was open. We ordered two Americano coffees which were served promptly. We consumed them voraciously. And got refills, then got in line for St Peter’s Basilica where we met a lovely couple from the Ukraine. We only had to wait about 20 minutes and by the time we entered our headaches were nearly gone.
It is a good thing our heads were clear because St Peter’s was mind-boggling. What a place! Huge, beauty everywhere we turned with countless pieces of magnificent art. Just incredible. More amazing than either Marlene or I expected. Very much worth the wait.
While we were wandering about the basilica we encountered a large group of very well-dressed Africans, accompanied by a number of African priests. We learned later that a couple from Nigeria was married in a small chapel.
I was fascinated by the architecture. The paintings and sculptures are fine, but I think the ceiling, arches and floors don’t get the attention they deserve. Everything everywhere is beautiful.
We left St Peter’s after touring for a little over an hour and headed back to the hotel for breakfast. Which turned out to be excellent. Then we headed back out.
First stop: thrift store where Marlene was tempted by a green gown but passed. She will be doing a lot of looking at clothes from now until the end of the trip as we are no longer constrained by the 50-pound airline luggage limit.
We walked to the Spanish Steps via the Piazza del Popolo where we posed in front of the fountain.
Next we headed toward the Trevi Fountain and along the way discovered the Basilica of Sant’Andrea delle Fratte which was yet another beautiful cathedral in Rome. We also stopped for coffee at McDonald’s – one of the few places in Rome that serves more than a 4-ounce cup of coffee. We didn’t get a front view of the Trevi Fountain because the entire space was filled with about 10,000 gawkers. But no big deal – we have seen it in the movies.
We next went in search of thrift stores. We didn’t find any good ones but did discover other interesting things, including the presidential mansion, some government building, Roman ruins and friendly police. We also popped into yet another cathedral (the name escapes me) and passed near the Pantheon but didn’t stop as my ankle was hurting. We walked (well, Marlene walked while I limped) back to the hotel. We passed the Castel Sant’Angelo and, once again, did not go in.
We rested a bit then went out to dinner. Nothing fancy, but quite good: we split a large take-out plate of fresh spaghetti with pesto sauce. Yum!
Total for the day: over 20,000 steps. That is about 10 miles. We slept well.