Orvieto to Rome

day 18 – giorno diciotto

It was such a beautiful day this morning when we left the agriturismo, blue skies and just a bit of a breeze.

This was an extremely tight hairpin turn that Sauro (our bus driver) executed like the pro he is. There was pretty much one precise way he had to turn to make the corner without backing up.

A quick toilet break at an autostrada and a group shot with the bus! Gonna miss our home on wheels.

First glimpses of Rome. The traffic very quickly became gridlocked so we got an eye full of the motorbikes weaving amongst the cars, the multiple (unmarked) lanes of the roundabout converging to get through one archway, and the very creative street parking. Apparently sometimes when people double park, they’ll just leave a note on their car saying where they can be found.

After a bit of a detour, we finally arrived at our planned drop off point and said goodbye to Sauro. I’m sure he was ready to get out of Rome and get home to Florence. Our group, baggage in hand, followed Sarah like ducklings following their mother down a busy street to our hotel. Sarah had warned us on our way to bring down our expectations, especially since we had just left an amazing agriturismo with beautiful views and fancy amenities. This hotel is much more simple but heck, it’s got beds and a bathroom. What more do you need!? We had time to get settled in and grab a quick lunch before meeting up in the lobby to head for the Vatican museums and Sistine Chapel. Lynne, Ed, Mom and I just stayed on our street and found a little spot with pizza by the slice and a variety of plates to choose from. I got a mushroom pizza and Mom went for a vegetarian lasagna. Pretty darn good for under €10!

We gathered up, switched our tour radios for the Vatican approved (holy) radios, and then headed for the metro station down the street. Mom and I already had a dose of metro use in Milan, so this was pretty easy, but Sarah explained how it worked again to everyone. After we’d figured out the routes, we took the metro (plus a few blocks of walking) to the Vatican museums.

The Vatican was nuts. I’m glad we went, but I can see why some people say skip the Vatican and go to the lesser known art museums. There were long lines to get in, the sun was very hot, and as soon as we went back inside to see the art collections, we felt like cattle being herded. We had a local guide telling us more information than we could ever absorb, but it was very interesting at the time.

A few highlights, I do remember. The bright blue of the Madonna’s robes was made by grinding up lapis lazul.

This hallway is called the Gallery of Maps and was quite amazing. The maps were painted in 1580 ish and are astonishingly 80% accurate. They depict Italy, progressing from south to north as we walked down the hallway.

At some point, we popped into rooms painted by Raphael, an artist I only know because Mom has mentioned his name so often. I like that he often painted himself into his painting, looking out as if to see the viewers reactions. In this particular painting, he is on the far right with a black hat.

As we were passing through these rooms, an employee reminded our guide that the last entrance into the Sistine Chapel was approaching very quickly. We picked up our pace at that point and flew through rooms with more modern art. We nearly walked right by Rodin’s Thinker but luckily I spotted it and grabbed Mom at the last second. No time to really look, we grabbed a picture and hurried on. At this point the Vatican museums really were losing their appeal. Another room had a few pieces by Dali. Again, snap a picture and move on.

Technically, talking and photos are not allowed in the Sistine Chapel. Obviously that’s extremely hard to control when there’s probably a few hundred people in there. However, I obeyed to the best of my ability, so I have no pictures of Michelangelo’s ceiling, just pictures of pictures. The guards inside tried to quiet the roar of the tourists by yelling “SILENZIO” repeatedly. It didn’t make much difference unfortunately. I felt for the guards. It would have been a different environment if everyone respected the rules. Prior to entering, our tour guide had described the artwork and explained it’s depictions. I found it very interesting that Michelangelo didn’t do a rough draft, he started at one end of the ceiling and worked his way to the other end. At first, he didn’t account for the viewer’s distance and made the panels far too detailed. By the other end of the ceiling, the panels were much simpler, the proportions much larger.

As we were gathering up and getting ready to head out of the museum, Sarah was impolitely asked for her radio (over €80) by one of the guards. She filled us in later that they were having an especially frustrating day, plus she wasn’t authorized to guide in the Vatican – our local guide had left us at that point so it looked like Sarah had been doing it all along. It was quite upsetting for everyone in the moment but luckily the guard gave it back to her after thinking about it for a minute. Either way, it was time to leave the museum. We were overflowing with information, visually and mentally, plus it had been very loud in there.

Although we were happy to get out of the Vatican, we didn’t want to be done sightseeing. Despite being tired and overloaded, it’s a fact we have a limited amount of time in Rome and we had to take advantage of that time. A few people choose to head back to the hotel for the evening, but most of us stayed with Sarah and took the metro to the Spanish Steps. I unfortunately know no history or importance of these steps, but they were very beautiful. At this point in the afternoon, everyone’s tummy was starting to grumble and we definitely felt like we deserved a drink after tackling the Vatican mid afternoon. Sarah led us to a little restaurant she knew of and the timing couldn’t have been better, they opened in just a few minutes so they were able to fit our group in the back. I got spinach ravioli which was delicious but I could have eaten about four times the amount I got. Tara and I split some bruschetta and the restaurant was nice enough that they brought us all prosecco on the house.

Re-energized, we walked on to the Trevi Fountain. It was pretty crowded but we managed to wiggle our way down to the bottom step. Apparently it’s popular to toss three coins with your right hand over your left shoulder to ensure you return to Rome. We screwed up and did it over our right shoulder so I guess we might not make it back. At least the money goes towards helping Rome’s needy.

From the Trevi Fountain we followed our momma goose back to the hotel. Good thing too because I had no clue which direction to head without studying a map. It’s late now and we’ve signed up to go to St Peter’s Basilica tomorrow morning at 730 so time for bed!