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Today we wake up in Rome and we start the second week of our travels. It seems that we have been away for a long time but in a good way, I guess it's because we've managed to fit in so much within a relatively short time.
It is very warm as we leave our apartment to catch the 280 bus towards Vatican City, I would say into the early thirties and it's only around 10.30am. The bus stop is located in between two opposing lanes of traffic, and crossing the road in this City is proving to be a hair-raising experience, there is no way you can assume a vehicle will not stop even if the green man is illuminated, cars will still come around the corner as if the crossing simply does not exist.
Anyway after a long wait the bus comes along, a few stops on and Josie shouts for everyone (by which I mean just us give not the entire passenger count) to get off as we had reached our bus stop...except we hadn't. Josie had seen the first word on the stop discounting the full name. The result of this was an unnecessary long walk in the sun (by some 4 stops) and things did get quite heated between the five of us.
All this travelling has been tremendous but I think we are now reaching the point where we are looking forward to a week in Sardinia chilling out by the pool, obviously the heat doesn't help in these situations either.
Anyway, things soon calmed for and The Vatican was in our sites.
Fortunately it was easy to find without the benefit of a bus drivers navigational skills and route as we simply followed the river Tevere that ebbs and flows through the centre of Rome eventually leading to the bridge across from this most famous of religious houses.
The river itself appears calm and not particularly scenic. It also distinctly lacks a constant flow of tourist boats and traffic unlike the river Seine in Paris we had seen a few days before.
Before we would walk to The Vatican we had to find somewhere to eat..on a budget. We managed to find a little place where a toasted sandwich and soft drink was under 7€ each which short of taking a packed lunch is the best you're going to do.
So, off to The Vatican and what an incredible building it is, and that is just viewing the external architecture with it's sweeping curves , pillars and fountains it is truly a sight to behold, this really is tourist central and you can really understand why... Oh and it's free to enter too.
As you make your way up to the entrance there are a mix of gift shops selling all things Vatican , from
Postcards to Calendars, key rings and all the usual items you'd expect to find, but with a religious twist. Also a selection of cafés and restaurants align the route.
Unsurprisingly there is no shortage of
street sellers that seem to appear anywhere there is half a chance of a tourist making an appearance. Amongst the wears they are selling are selfie sticks and the kiddies toy that squashes when thrown on to the floor and rebuilds itself into a head shape...very strange. Madalyn bought one of these toys in Venice which lasted 5 minutes before it split releasing it's gooey insides.
If you ever go to The Vatican you will almost certainly be offered the chance to queue jump and get a guided tour...My advice is don't bother paying as the cost is 15€ per person and the queue moves pretty quickly anyway...and once you are in you are free to wander around this vast and beautiful building at your own leisure.
The interior of this building can only be described as vast, beautiful, intricate, and probably the largest religious structure you are ever likely to see or experience, given this is the home of the Pope you can say without a shadow of a doubt that The Vatican is very fitting for it's most famous resident. Words really can't describe the interior it's just one of those places you need to go and see for yourself, and wallow in all it's architectural glory.
Before entering the building you literally have to pass through airline style security passing through a metal detector and placing any bags through a scanner.
You are also expected to show respect which means covered shoulders and knees, if you don't conform you won't be coming in, we knew about this in advance so made sure we all had the right clothing, especially after our experience in Duomo, Milan.
One other advice I strongly suggest you keep hold of your child's hand when entering, as we walked in there was a sudden huge crowd in which a split second later we had lost sight of our ten year old, there was no sign of the teenagers either, so I ran around the place trying to find her without success...fortunately Madalyn was found but it wasn't the best start to the experience of The Vatican.
We must have spent around 20-30 minutes looking around, Josie and I also viewed the lower floor where the remains of previously serving Popes are laid to rest.
Back outside and the heat of the day had not rescinded, we were all very hot, tired and thirsty, so yet more drinks were bought (This time bottled water which had clearly been placed in the freezer as after a short time the liquid water ran out leaving a block of ice inside). Actually this a great way to keep cool, although it was a bit frustrating having to wait for more of the ice to melt before quenching my thirst.
It's funny that when you look at a map the next attraction never seems too far away and will obviously be within walking distance, even in the searing heat of the day,except of course it ISN'T.
Still we gave it a good go but eventually threw in the towel and jumped on a bus taking us to the incredible Plaza Venezia, this is a relatively short walk to our next Rome tourist trap Trevi Fountain. As it turned out this was to be quite a disappointment as when we eventually arrived the fountain was clearly undergoing restoration and was in the main, shrouded in scaffolding.
Nevermind the Spanish Steps another of Romes famous architectural wonders was but a short walk away...but not before we popped into a Burger King for a huge drink and some chips, I always feel a bit bad about using these big chains outside of the UK but sometimes needs must.
We got a little lost on our way to The Spanish Steps despite this being a stones throw away from Trevi fountain, fortunately I found someone in a shop to ask directions who just so happened to speak the Queens English, OK she was American but that was good enough for me.
On the way we stumbled across a gift shop so I bought a gift for my dad (a Rome mug) he's been in hospital for the last few months (which is another story altogether) and had good memories of time spent in Rome. My sister gift is a Rome keyring. Difficult to buy for some people isn't it.
To be honest when we reached the Spanish Steps these I felt were also a little disappointing, although there was quite a buzz about the place and a lovely fountain too at the foot of the steps which proved to be a great photo opportunity. There were of course plenty of selfie stick sellers in attendance and even one chap offering to take a photo with his camera and charge us for the privilege, quite how he was going to send us the photo I did not know , although according to Millie our 16 year old he had a Polaroid which does make a bit more sense!
After the somewhat disappointing sights we decide to go back to our apartment where we would have dinner and spend the rest of the night relaxing.
The Metro station we boarded at Spagna looked quite rough and run down especially for a station so close to a popular landmark of the City. We changed at Termini for a line B route to Piramide (there are very few lines on the Rome Metro quite unlike the London Underground.
Also unlike London our Metro Train was literally covered externally in graffiti, not a great impression of this great capital for new visitors like ourselves and in fairness to The London Underground network you know this would not happen. I also noticed graffiti sprayed in one of the tunnels just as you enter / exit the train at Spagna.
Next to our apartment is a pizza takeaway and when we were in Burger King Alex had come up with the idea of us having a pizza takeaway for dinner - well we are in the capital of Italy so it seemed a perfect solution for tonight's meal, a cheap option, and convenient too. Probably better than our original idea of cooking something in the kitchen which wouldn't have cost much less than our take-away which for four pizzas and two large bottles of Peroni came to only 27€.
The rest of our last night in Rome was spent relaxing in our air conditioned apartment. Tomorrow we will fly to our last destination of our French and Italian adventure...That being Sardinia.
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