Inside the Vatican Walls

Wednesday, November 12, 2008. Rome, Italy.

My alarm went off this morning at 6:00 AM. Well, it was Mommy’s alarm, but the point is I got up at 6:00. GAG. We ate in the hotel with our “free” breakfast, hopped in a taxi, and went to meet our tour guide at the Vatican Museum. We got out of the taxi to be greeted by a cute blonde woman who recognized the three women for whom she was looking. She introduced herself in the most impressive English I have ever heard from an Italian. There was NO trace of an accent! I asked her where she was from, and she said GERMANY! My next question was of course “So, then, how many languages do you speak?” She replied, “only the easy ones.” To me that means English ONLY but apparently to her that means German, English, French, Italian, and Spanish. Obviously. She studied in the US for one year, and she has perfect English. By that logic I should be half way fluent in Italian by the time I get home… yeah right.

We walked through the paining rooms in the Vatican Museum and then got to the Sistine Chapel. It was SO BEAUTIFUL! She had so many stories about all of the panels etc and for a while we were the ONLY ones in there! It was really, really cool! It was also really cool because a lot of the things that she was telling us about history/art/Italian were things that I was learning. It is so cool to be able to understand and relate to history when I am learning it! Then she called her driver (yes, she has a driver) who came, picked us up, and drove us all around Rome. We got out at beautiful views and got to walk around a little. We saw the Coliseum, a bunch of Roman ruins, the 7 hills, a bazillion fountains, the Vatican walls, etc. It was really amazing. Then back to the hotel for a quick rest (we had been up since six afterall!!!)

We went to dinner at the cutest little place called La Pina. I had a great risotto dish and berries and gelato dessert. Food, I love you.