Day 9: Rome

Ok, I'm going to try and keep this short. It is already 9:15pm, and I have to be at the Vatican at 7:10am for a early morning (beat the crowds) tour. Up until this point, I've been doing well if I'm even awake at 7:10am. Italy or not, I am on vacation…..

We headed to the Vatican this morning for a tour called the Scavi tour, which is a tour of the Necropolis underneath ST. Peters….it dates back to the 1-4 Centuries. It was a burial place for mostly paegans, but also some Christians, including a certain St. Peter. So you have the current St. Peter's; beneath if you have the Vatican grotto, and beneath it you have the Necropolis. The Necropolis was excavated between 1940-50….they knew it was underneath the bascillica, but they didn't know exactly where until the excavation occurred. If anyone is headed to Rome, I highly recommend the tour. It was just 13 euros and worth 4x that amount. Tickets are in high demand; you need to request months in advance. Cameras were absolutely forbidden, but if you google Necropolis St. Peter's, you can find pictures online. Pretty amazing stuff. Susan, with her master's degree in Anthropology, was in hog heaven.

Post tour we did a quick jaunt through St. Peter's but didn't hang around long since we have the tour tomorrow. What can you say….it is gi-normous, beautiful, opulant, and full of people. They had about half the seats set up inside for Midnight Mass, and I counted about 4000 set up outside. We also picked up our tickets for Midnight Mass (which actually starts at 9:30) without a hitch. I'll write more about the Vatican Experience on Christmas Day.

After that we had lunch (risotto with asparagus (very very little asparagus, but it was good) and gnocchi), the roamed the streets. We went through the Pantheon, which was pretty cool. I've attached a few pics from it. We had this famous chocolate dish that I was insanely expensive (12 euros). It was good, but not mind blowing. I'd take Graeter's Black Raspberry chocolate chip ice cream over it any day. We hit a couple shops, I bought a few scarves, and we called it a night early. Stayed in for dinner and had potatoes with onions and broccoli.

Random things:

Police and military presence is strong in Rome (although probably not as significant as I expected). I was surprised at how insignificant it was in Venice and Florence. In Rome it is similar to what I experienced to my trips to Paris (which were both pre-2015 bombings.) I expect (and hope) the security presence is insane at Mass tomorrow night.

I am getting really tired of getting lost (it isn't as bad as Venice, but is ain't great), and the smell or urine and cigarette smoke. Since we've been in Italy, we've come across two men peeing on the streets, not making much effort to hide it. Let's just say there are lots of unexplained puddles around town. And the smoking is crazy. Worse than France. For us non-moralists who believe in sin stocks, rest assured. The Europeans and their drinking and smoking should keep our investment portfolios strong.

The weather has been divine. We had one drizzly date in Florence, and the temps have been climbing ever since. Rome is about mid 50's during the day, mid 30's at night….perfect for me. The skies are a beautiful blue and sunny. Sorry to those of you in Ohio, I'm not trying to rub it in!

Susan thinks I cuss a lot.

Most of the Swiss Guard we saw today looked like babies. I'm fairly sure a couple of them weren't even shaving yet.

I'm out of touch with world events, but I heard about Berlin and that the assailant was killed in Milan (near a train station?) We travel to Milan's Central Train Station on Thursday. Terrible and heartbreaking news about Berlin.

I figured out a way to watch American TV by using a website that was originially set up for American military families abroad. You can only watch it live; you can't watch past episodes or anything 'on demand", and there are only a few channels. However, I was tickled to watch a little Steve Harvey tonight. Italian TV is controlled by the national government (I believe), and there is not a single channel in English. Not even a BBC news channel. I can't go on American network's website and watch shows like I could if I was in the US; they are all blocked. I'm hoping I can find an English newspaper tomorrow and spend part of Christmas day reading it. I saw a New York Times in the Florence train station, so I may stop at the Rome train station tomorrow and see what I can get my hands on.

It is closing in on 10pm, so I'm going to wrap this up. Plan for tomorrow is the early AM Vatican tour, which lasts 3 hours or so, then come back to the apartment for a nap. We think we need to queue up at the Vatican 3-4 hours prior to the start of Mass so we have a shot at a seat inside (the ticket does not guarantee an inside seat; you can end up sitting on the piazza watching on a big screen). WE both have paperbacks to read while hanging out in line. (I picked up Me before You.) All mass transit ends early tomorrow night, so after Mass we will have a solid hour's walk home unless we can grab a taxi (like everyone else will be trying to do.) Violent crime is rare in Rome; I have no concerns walking through the city at midnight. Biggest fear is having to witness more public urination. Seriously men, keep it in your pants. And on that note….

Ciao!