A journey of discovery through the landscapes, art, food, and people of Italy
Day 17: Rome
While the tour was officially over after breakfast, we stayed on for the rest of the day to visit the Vatican. We booked the "Pristine Sistine" tour with Walks of Italy that allows you to get in before the general public and I highly recommend it! We met bright and early, and our guide knew exactly how to get around the Vatican museum and how to arrive at the Sistine Chapel at the best time. We had 20 minutes of peace and quiet to sit on the benches along the wall in the Sistine Chapel and just soak up the masterpieces. You could spend the rest of your life lost in the Vatican museum, I think, so it was so helpful to have a guide! It ends in St. Peters where you are left to explore on your own. St. Peters is probably designed to make you feel as small as possible, and it succeeds! What an astounding building, covered from top to bottom in glamour! Amazing!
After our time in the Vatican, we walked to Trastavere to experience a different side of Rome, and we loved it! We had lunch on a quaint little square with a waiter that most certainly wins the award for the cutest Italian waiter of the trip! He was so professional and concerned when we wanted to walk in the rain on the way home, repeatedly insisting that we let him call us a cab! Trastavere is worth more time than we could afford it, I'm sure, but we were glad we went. We finished off our time in Rome with a romantic dinner on the Piazza Navona, touristy I'm sure, but worth every penny! We will definitely be back!
