We started our day at 9am with another, final pastry and nutella filled breakfast. We then headed on the Appaian Way, which is the road the ancient Romans created to go between Rome and Naples (?). Jason wanted to walk the road a bit then head to "Chiesa del Domine Quo Vadis?" where Jesus left his footprints. Of course, I lead everyone in the wrong direction off the bus and we walked about a quarter of a mile extra. Oops.
The church was tiny and nobody but us were in there. Jason said when he saw the church on TV, it was flooded with tourists. My response was that the church was near impossible to find- just like the church I tried to find yesterday. There's very minimal markings and signage, like they wanted to keep the location a secret.
After visiting the church and getting on the right bus, we went to the Vatican for the Vatican Museum tour. This is what I have been waiting for through our whole time in Rome. I wanted to see the Vatican treasurers and view the Sistine Chapel. We waited in line for about 45 minutes (which I was totally fine with), wareded off tour group offers ("You join our tour. 45€. Skip line!") and made it in. The Vatican Museum is huge- it takes up over 4 miles worth of exhibits. We of course didn't get to see them all, and we finally made our way to the chapel. You go down this long, chunked up staircase, crammed into the stairwell for a bunch of flights, then BOOM! You walk into a sea of people craning their necks upwards. It was beautiful. I would love to see it less crowded, but I understand why everyone was there- it was worth the wait. You weren't supposed to take pictures or flim of the ceiling, as some Japanese business owner owns the rights (?!), but people were snapping away anyway. I would have loved to spend more time there, but it was hot and crowded and, by now, we hadn't eaten in about 6 hours.
As we left, we passed (I kid you not) 6 gift shops. I know the Catholic Church is hurting for money, but.... really? And, you have to walk through all of them in order to get out of the museum. Creative, yet a little annoying.
The restaurant across from the Vatican (with the green awning) was the WORST dining experience I've had here. Not only was the food crappy and tasting like canned Italian food, but it was overpriced and, when we were figuring out the bill, the hostess (restaurant owner?) hovered over us like we were going to dine and dash. There was no rush to get us out of the restaurant, there was no line to get in, but we were hurried out. Horrible.
Jason and Pam bought some glass necklaces for friends, then we headed back to the hotel. We all have to pack, clean up, etc. and get ready for our long trip home tomorrow. I'm already packed (I unpack when I get to the hotel then as stuff gets dirty, pack it back up), so I went for a walk around the hotel. For the last few nights, people have been flooding into the gelateria (gelato!!) about 6 blocks down from the Roma Globus. I went in to try it for myself, despite the knowledge that we were having an early dinner. I had a small cone-- and THIS is the perfect gelato. Light, fluffy, and like a chocolate cloud. I now believe in the addeage that a long line means good food.
We had our last dinner in Rome in a seafood restaurant- of course, if we knew Italian, we would have known that walking in. Only Jason ordered seafood- I went with a spicy pasta dish, and Pam and Justin went with Pork and French Fries (note: everywhere in Paris and Rome serve french fries -- with *everyting*! I don't get it- are they trying to kill people with carbs??). We talked about going back to Valentino's for that really good gelato by the Trevini fountain, but it was late and we were leaving early the next morning, so we went to my gelato shop from earlier. Perfect- minus the rain. I'll take it though- rain in Rome is better than not being in Rome at all.
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