Peeling the Apple: Mom's Holy Birthday

Day 7 / June 1 --- St. Peters & the Vatican Museums

We arrived in Rome about 9 am after a night on the train. It was actually pretty nice. A whole lot better than the overnight flight from the US. We were refreshed and ready to celebrate Mom's birthday in the eternal city.

First we jumped in a couple cabs and headed toward to the rental apartment. It was about 1 block from the Spanish Steps. Amazing location. We were above plenty of restaurants and the subway was right there. After getting acquainted with our new digs, we spent time exploring the area. Around 4 pm we started walking to the Vatican for our evening tour of St. Peters and the museums.

The last time I was in Italy, I was 20 years old and with a large group of college kids. I remember it being very confusing to get around the city and I didn't have a good grasp of how it was laid out. I must not have been paying attention, because this time it was pretty easy. Maybe I've learned how to get around in a city better since moving to Manhattan. Or maybe we just had a good map and I'm not a 20 year old drinking wine for the first time.

Likewise, I'd been to St. Peters and Sistine Chapel before, but this was a much more in depth experience. Mom & Dad hired a personal tour guide for most of the big sites in the city. His name was Rich and he loves his ipad. Can't say I blame him, it made for a great tool. He was able to bring up photos, maps, and sometimes just a close up of what we were looking at. Helpful for the nearsighted like me.

Rich was a pretty good guide, but there were a few things we had to work through. My first beef with him was his assumption that we should all know Catholic history. We'd walk by sculptures in the church and he'd casually say "that's Veronica" and walk away. Why would I know who Veronica is? She's not in the Bible. He got better as the days went by though.

Trey had the most succinct comment on St. Peters for me. "It's beautiful, but doesn't feel really spiritual." That sums it up for me, too.

The museum was massive. Just full of stuff. Lots of long hallways with paintings and sculptures. My favorite new hall was the Hall of Maps. All these frescos of old maps painted along the walls. From regional Italy to North America. I love all maps, so this was very cool. Some of them were wrong, which just makes them more interesting.

And of course the Sistine Chapel was nice. Rich's advice to buy the night tickets paid off. It wasn't really crowded. We even found a bench and could just stair up at the ceiling painting. At one point, Rich was explaining something on this ipad and the lights in the Chapel suddenly came on. He ran off without a word. I thought "oh, now it's easier to see the paintings." It maybe lasted about 15 secs. Rich came back practically breathless. "That NEVER happens!" He's probably visited the Chapel over 1000 times giving tours and said that's happened 3 times before. Must be a mistake by one of the guards or something. So pretty sweet that we all got to see the Sistine Chapel with the lights on!

Happy Birthday, Momma!

The morning after our night trip on my bunk. All in all, the night train was pretty comfortable.

Tiny closet sink. E had to show T and me how to turn on the water. It's that big red button - doh!

The birthday girl!

The bedroom E and I shared in Roma.

Spanish steps were about 2 mins away from our apartment. Super great local.

On top of the steps.

Walking through the streets to the Vatican.

St. Peters at the Vatican. Obviously.

Not sure why they had the middle blocked off. It really is an amazing building. Although I can't say it feels spiritual to me.

I love how the marble looks like cloth.

Our tour guide, Rich, and his ever useful ipad. It was a great tool and really added to the tours. Mom taught him how to hold it still when displaying to us. So I think we all learned something.

Rich said this was a good place for a family picture. I kinda disagree, but we still took one.

The Vatican Museum was filled with halls like this. Just an endless amount of old art. I asked Rich what it all was, "just a lot of busts. No one special really." But then why are they all on display in the Vatican? I think he shrugged his shoulders.