MaddieEms

annhig -- I'm with you! I don't think I could walk into a cafe and ask for the bathroom (or toilet), but never say never! Now that I know it's culturally acceptable, I might try it if need be =)

kybourbon--I'm trying to find the streetview of Il Colonnato so I can see what it looks like. I might run in for a short break/potty stop before my Scavi tour since this is so close to the security entrance. Do you have a link to what the building looks like? I'm a really visual person and I recognize things by landmarks, etc. That would help a ton. Thanks!

MaddieEms

Ooops, nevermind I found it!

So..Il Colonnato is quick service/takeaway? I wouldn't have time for a sit down meal. Just a quick drink/snack/potty break before rushing off to the Scavi security entrance.

Thanks!

annhig

maddie - it's amazing what you can do if your bladder is bursting! after you've done it once or twice [gone into a cafe to use the loo] it gets a lot easier.

I still prefer to use the facilities in a museum or cafe where I've been having a drink or something to eat though.

old habits die hard.

kybourbon

>>>--I'm trying to find the streetview of Il Colonnato<<<

Click on the address (Piazza del Sant'Uffizio) in this link and click the street view.

https://plus.google.com/117002177606...ut?gl=us&hl=en

Turn the picture until you see the bus and then move it once or twice down the street towards the bus and you will see Il Colonnato on the left side. One door before Il Colonnato will say Savelli (Savelli has a 2nd entrance/exit on Via Paolo VI). Both are right there together. In the self-serve area in Il Colonnato, you can grab a slice of pizza, etc.

http://www.italiadiscovery.it/dove_m...hp?user_lang=2

The ramp people are going down in the street in front of Il Colonnato is to a major underground bus hub, terminal Gianocolo and it will have places to grab a snack too.

http://www.gianicolo.it/index_eng.html

Rostra

re; Scavi tour

http://tinyurl.com/petermuzzy44 This was posted on a Usenet ancient history/archaeology NG about St. Peter's tomb/grave and in the following debate quite a bit more info was posted.

Sometimes google NG archives wouldn't let you click-on a URL so cut, copy and paste them and also tinyurl.com can sometimes be quirky so don't give-up if it doesn't come-up the 1st time or later. If you have a problem I can post the *long* url.

I'm not Catholic or even religious but the poster makes a good case for it very possibly being the grave, tomb and bones of St. Peter.

kybourbon

>>>This was posted on a Usenet ancient history/archaeology NG about St. Peter's tomb/grave and in the following debate quite a bit more info was posted.<<<

The poster, Walter aka ParadiseLost posted that on Fodor's along with a lot of other detailed posts about the Forum. He had been on Fodor's for years, but it seems his name has been recently deleted and makes it hard to now search his very informative posts.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...or-fiction.cfm

You have to use Google to find them since you can no longer click on the ParadiseLost screen name.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...lking-tour.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...location-1.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...lking-tour.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...our-part-2.cfm

KayF

This might prove useful, it lists toilets all over the world, you could make a note of any you might pass by:
http://thebathroomdiaries.com/

I once, foolishly obviously, asked a girl in Sicily in the tourist office, where the public toilets were. She looked at me as if I were mad and said, shrugging, 'you go into a bar'. It does feel strange when you are used to public toilets but they are scarce in most of Europe. You nearly always have to pay and take a packet of tissues with you.

Another time we walked for miles to find a public toilet in Paris, only to find it was closed while the attendant was at lunch for an hour! I could have cried. I have lots of toilet stories

Kay

bendigo

Certainly good, clean toilets inside entrance at Vatican Museum, and I think, reasonable ones in St Peter's Square.

There were toilets at Colosseum entrance, but not particularly clean in December when the crowds were reasonably small.

We adopted the "see a toilet, use it" rule when we were out and about in Italy, with cafes being very handy, and I also think that some store toilets on via del Corso were utilised.

Our kids were 16/18/20 though, so a bit easier to get them to "self-manage", even though it was hella-cold when we were there!

Rostra

Maddie, Getting forgetful as I get older.

<<<...in the following debate quite a bit more info was posted.>>>

That would be here; http://tinyurl.com/petermuzzy5

In http://tinyurl.com/petermuzzy44 that is his post taken out of the 'thread format' which makes it alot easier to read.

It was posted 6 months after his post here in which he has made corrections, added info and combined his seperate posts from his Fodor's thread, so alot easier to follow.

What I like most in the 'thread debate' is his very plausible theory that Emperor Constantine didn't know the actual location of the hidden bones of St. Peter when he built his altar and Basilica over the empty grave.

annhig

The poster, Walter aka ParadiseLost posted that on Fodor's along with a lot of other detailed posts about the Forum. He had been on Fodor's for years, but it seems his name has been recently deleted and makes it hard to now search his very informative posts.>>

that's a shame, ky - he was an absolute mine of useful information. any idea why?

MaddieEms

Thanks again for everyone's help. We are back and we had a PERFECT day in Rome. We really couldn't have asked for anything better. All the bathroom stops worked out (some better than others hahaha).

Kybourbon -- thanks for the tip on Il Colonnato. It was crazy but it worked out. My Scavi tour was at 1:30 pm on a WEDNESDAY. You can imagine the crowds at the Piazza at 1:00pm when I arrived. The Vatican guards turned me away from the security screening since Pope Francis was still in the square and everything was closed.

I went to Il Colonnato and waited 22 minutes for the restroom.......that was the longest wait my bladder has ever handled =) I cut it pretty close. At 1:25 I ran up the staircase, sprinted to the gate, and made it to the Scavi office right at 1:30pm. I knew that they'd start late due to the square being closed but still.

The tour was amazing and humbling at the same time. It felt so surreal when I was actually walking through the Necropolis, seeing St. Peter’s final resting place, and walking through the various Chapels underneath St. Peter’s Basilica. The experience was unforgettable.

Thanks again to everyone who has commented on this thread. We had a really wonderful day.