We’ve flown all night, we’ve checked into our hotel, now let’s go tackle the Vatican!
After figuring out our location our hotel is just a 1/2 block to the Metro station. How ‘bout that? Getting from our hotel involved going back to Termini and grabbing a different Metro line out to the Vatican.
A couple things are becoming obvious here in Rome:
- Europeans smoke A LOT more than Americans.
2. Most train stations are not “climate controlled for your comfort”
And I forgot to mention, Rome has been going through a heat wave for the last month.
The saving grace for the Metro is that the actual train cars had operating Air Conditioning. That fact saved me from getting the Nana Fisheye till much later.
After getting off at the Ottaviano station we headed off down the street to the Vatican. (We’re off to see the Wizard….)
Before we made it to the Vatican we look down a street and see Bar Della Grazie. Open air seating on the sidewalk that had awnings providing some shade. Next thing you know we are ordering the sampler platter and eating everything on their menu that is fried.
After our al fresco lunch we finally make it to St. Peter’s square.
We are now at midday and it is sunny and HOT! There are a lot of groups standing in line in the hot sun waiting to go through security to go into the church. We are staying in the shade of the arcade surrounding the square. At this moment we make the discovery of the day: Pope water!
Paris may be the city of light but Rome is definitely the city of water. Besides the grand fountains all around Rome there are also regular water fountains all over the place with cold running water for the taking. Since we discovered this at St. Peter’s, Rome’s fountain water is “Pope water” in our book. And if you think about it, everyone in Rome is drinking the same water as the pope……
After looking around St. Peter’s square; the heat (mid-90’s) and jet lag were beginning to take it’s toll. We decided to head back to the room to regroup/cool off.
It was at this point that we learned a couple things about the Rome metro:
- It’s really crowded on Saturday afternoons
- Not everyone in Rome takes pride in their personal hygiene….
It was at this point that I got the dreaded fisheye…….
The Traveling Hippogators 