Day 9: 5 July 2010

Today we explored our Catholic roots.  Joe and I first ascended the Scala Santa on our knees.  The stairs are supposedly the ones Jesus went up to go before Pontius Pilate that were brought to Rome by early Christians.  The original stairs are made of marble, but they are covered with wood today.  Afterwards, we went into St. John Lateran Basilica to view Constantine’s church (1^st Christian emperor) which supposedly housed the altar and and heads of St. Peter and St. Paul.

Next, it was off to the Vatican to take Rick Steve’s tour of St. Peter’s.  Tried to go to the top of the dome, but the line was too long so we walked around inside the bascilica instead, and went to the crypt below to see where Pope John Paul II is buried.  St. Peter’s is always a beautiful site no matter how many times you’ve been.  Although, it was a little too crowded with tour groups today.

Met up with Lisa & Benson to visit the Vatican Museum later.  The Museum has a collection of Roman statues, a hall of old world maps, and several rooms devoted to the paintings and tapestries of Raphael.  Our favorite works of art were probably the Belvedere Torso (a marble statue that Michaelangelo use to rub) and Raphael’s School of Athens which features Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, Euclid, da Vinci, Michaelangelo, and Raphael himself.  Unfortunately the Museum was beyond crowded today so we didn’t enjoy being herded like animals through the exhibits.  However after going up and down stairs, through countless long hallways and rooms, we finally arrived at Michaelangelo’s Sistene Chapel.  It was worth the wait.  We grabbed seats along the side of the chapel and listened to Rick’s audioguide.  The room really is fascinating.  It was neat to see the Creation Story depicted on the ceiling and learn about Michaelangelo’s Last Judgement.  My neck hurt just from looking up for a few minutes so I can’t imagine what it must have been like for Michaelangelo to paint it! 

Walked down to Castel Sant’Angelo, then back to St. Peter’s for pictures before sunset.  Although the sun still goes down late here (8:30-9ish), it’s not as late as it was in Germany and Austria.  Joe and I decided to explore the Trastevere section of Rome tonight.  We couldn’t have made a better choice.  We stumbled upon a fantastic restaurant, Trattoria da Olindo, for what will probably be one of the best meals we’ll have on our trip.  Olindo is a family run place where the nonna was right inside in her apron along with a few other people cooking and taking orders (Joe’s guess is her son and granddaughter).  We tried the bucatina alla romana (or alla gricia, with pancetta and pecorino cheese I think), spaghetti with pepper and cheese in olive oil, chicken in butter and sage, and tiramisu.  Everything was absolutely delicious…and we got big portions for a great price.  Wished we had found this place last night with Lisa and Benson.  However, we agreed that we probably would not have made new friends had we been with them.  We were seated on the outside patio with a nice Canadian couple, Rob and Jen, who were vacationing in Rome for the 5^th year straight. It was nice to swap travel stories (including their flight from Frankfurt to Rome in the jumpseat of a Lufthansa jet!), hear about Amy’s job with Air Canada, and get their recommendations for various places in Italy.  Rob and Jen couldn’t have been nicer.  We all went for Blue Ice gelato (Joe's favorite Rome Gelateria) after dinner and they walked us back to the bus stop before we went our separate ways.  Didn’t make it in time to catch the Metro, but we somehow found our way back to the hotel on a bus.  So much for an early night!