We decided to make it an easy day as we had a late night planned. It had rained until late in the morning plus the day before had involved lots of walking. We even ate lunch before we left. Larry, Jerry, and Joyce went to the Chinese Buffet where they were given star seats in the front window so everyone could see them eating. (They didn’t know Fausto either). Debbie knew that she would not get full buffet value so ate an egg at the flat. (Did you know that they don’t refrigerate eggs in Europe? That should be worth an Adventure Award).
Our goal that day was to follow the Jewish Walk. The start was approximately 20 minutes away beginning on the river. We walked down to a bus stop and asked an Italian lady how to get to a certain bridge and if we could walk under a car tunnel? The lady spoke no English and we spoke no Italian. She kept saying “St. Peter” and pointed us to the Vatican.
Joyce told her “Grazie” and turned to the other 3 and said “She is wrong.”
At that fateful moment a priest and tour group of about 20 college age kids walked by. Joyce and Debbie said “Let’s follow them”.
Turns out that the tour group was walking straight up one of the 7 hills of Rome. The four split into groups. Debbie and Jerry’s function was to try to keep the tour group in sight. A German Mom and son also fell between the tour group and us. We felt confident that we were on to the correct way. (Germans are efficient and they know what they are doing) Larry and Joyce fell to the back consulting maps as we went. (No, they were not huffing or anything like that. Why would you think that?) Jerry’s role was to keep both Debbie and Joyce in sight if the group got too strung out. We walked straight up that hill for 30 minutes. (We never did see the priest again – he must be in excellent shape). The tour group peeled off and went into a garden. We arrived at the top of the hill with the German tourists, no river and no idea where we were. The German tourists were more lost than we were. (So much for German efficiency).
Joyce did an excellent job finding someone who spoke English and the old Joyce that we were in Trastevere. At this point, the Jewish Walk was abandoned but we still needed to find the river to follow the Trastevere Walk (Yes, this was all just a clever plan to not go on the short Jewish Walk). It is more difficult to find the Tiber River than you might think. We found another English speaking man that we asked “Where is the River”?
He responded “Go down this hill and turn left and then right. There are stairs but you will have to ask someone to find them. It is not easy”. Then he really insulted us and said “It is not a close walk. It is about 25 minutes”. (Seriously, we just hiked up one of Rome’s seven hills.)
We responded that we liked to walk. He looked at us doubtfully and walked away. (Hey mister, we didn’t have to drive a car to get where you got today now did we? We walked it).
After several starts and stops, we found our way to the river seeing some interesting sights along the way. Jerry did find the secret stairs without asking (How you like that mister? Can’t find the stairs… Yeah we did)
We visited more churches:
Church of Santa Maria in Trastevere Church Moment: One of Rome’s earliest churches. Probably the first church to be dedicated to the Virgin Mary. This church is plain on the outside by surprisingly beautiful on the inside.
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San Crisogono Church Moment: This is a church dedicated to the martyr Saint Chrisogonus.
We had now been out 5 hours on our short walk and returned to our flat.
That night, we went to the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel. History Moment: The Vatican Museums are the museums of the Vatican and are located within Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection built up by the Popes throughout the centuries including some of the most renowned classical sculptures and important masterpieces of Renaissance art in the world.
We were surprised that you went inside and then upstairs to begin the tour outside. The crowds were more manageable at night. The museums contain amazing art with pieces that you hear about all your life.
Our next stop was the Sistine Chapel for 30 minutes or more. History Moment: The Sistine Chapel contains Michelangelo’s ceiling and his huge Last Judgment. The Sistine is the personal chapel of the pope and the place where new popes are elected. (The small, old-fashioned stove that burns pope-vote ballots – which send out puffs of tell-tale colored smoke- is located in this room)
The chapel was packed as the opening had been delayed. We were all eventually able to find chairs to sit and view. Woe to the visitor that (A) sat on the steps or (B) took pictures. We are happy to report that the guards did not clap or yell at us. Although at one point, someone yelled over the loud speaker “Silenceo!” to the room. This seemed ironic to Debbie to yell Silence over a loud speaker.
So what two lessons did we learn today:
- Listen to the local when they tell you how to get somewhere (We still think she was wrong so not sure how well this lesson will stick)
- Do not follow tour groups
