Three Coins in the Fountain...A Return Trip To Roma
Nov 5th, 2009, 05:31 PM
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Day Five, Monday, October 12th
Today was our Vatican morning! We were out the door just before 8am and we walked to the end of “our” street and found a bar/café for a quick breakfast. The bar is Gerri’s Bar at Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, 213/215. I wished we had found this place a couple days ago; it was the perfect place for a good cappuccino and cornetti. We had 3 cappuccino and 3 cornetti for €7, that included a €1 charge for sitting at a table.
After fueling up for breakfast we got on the #64 bus, the bus stop was just a block away. We were at the Vatican by 8:30am. We walked across the piazza and then over to the Vatican Museum entrance. We arrived about 30 minutes early for our 9:30am Vatican Garden tour.
I had purchased the tour tickets on-line before leaving home, so we did not have to wait in the long line outside. I walked up to the main entrance, showed the guard my email ticket confirmation and was able to walk right in and go through security. We went to the ticket counter to get our tickets and waited for the tour to start.
Right at 9:30am the guide passed out the headsets that we would use during the 2 hour tour. There were about 30 of us on the tour and once all the headsets were deemed to be in working order we were off.
The tour was fantastic. I will mention that they are very strict about tour participants not wandering off on their own. One woman on the tour continued to walk off on her own to look at things and the guide reprimanded her several times. Apparently guides get into “hot water” if they cannot control their groups.
The gardens are enormous, 44 acres; I had no idea how large it was behind St. Peter’s Cathedral. If you are looking to see lots of flowers, this is not that type of garden; it was mostly lots of greenery, hedges, and several fountains. It was really quite lovely. And I have to admit, I know the Vatican is a city-state, but I never thought about there being a city hall building on the premises. There is a huge city hall building on the grounds and the head grounds keeper, who lives on the property, is a Vatican citizen. I just thought that was pretty interesting.
The tour ended at about 11:30am and we stopped in the cafeteria for a breather and some water. With the purchase of the garden tour, we also had entry into the Vatican Museum, however, since mom and I had been a couple years ago and we were coming back later in the week to do a Vatican Afterhours tour, we decided not to brave the huge crowds.
We took the bus back towards our apartment and had lunch at Mimi & Coco Vinoteca at Via dei Governo Vecchio, 72. We had passed this place for the last couple days and no matter what time we walked by it was always crowded. The lunch we had was good. CL and I shared a Parma Pizza and mom had the spinach & gorgonzola crepes. With 2 glasses of house white wine, 1 beer and a bottle of water the total cost was €36.
After lunch mom and I walked over to my favorite leather shop (Ibiz). We had found this shop last year when we stayed at a hotel just across the street. There are all kinds of leather goods in this shop, from belts to hand bags to briefcases. Last year I purchased a beautiful hand bag and I found another great bag this time too…of course I couldn’t leave without it! As luck would have it, as we came out of the shop it started to rain, the only real day of rain the entire time we were in Rome. We walked over to a small grocery store for a few things.
On the way back to the apartment we made a quick stop at Al Forno in Campo dei Fiori for a small slice of piazza bianca. We were dying to try this pizza since for the last 2 years we’ve heard raves about it. It did not disappoint…it was delicious! We walked back to the apartment through the rain.
At about 7pm we walked over to Cul de Sac and because it was still raining we sat inside. This was the evening we would meet Fodorite Kristina, her mom and 2 of her friends. We were able to get 2 tables, but because this enoteca is so small the tables were separated by a narrow aisle. This wasn’t the greatest set-up for conversation, but we didn’t have a choice.
Just around 7:30pm Kristina arrived and it was great to finally meet her. Kristina and I had been (what I call) traveling around in circles for the last couple years…France, Rome, San Francisco, with months of each other. We had some wine, and various tapas, and chatted about travel. Service at Cul de Sac was less than stellar this evening, but the company was great.
The evening seemed to end too soon and we all said good night and walked up the street for our evening dose of gelato! It was a fairly early evening because a trip to Orvieto was on the agenda for tomorrow.
Here is a link to Day 5 pictures:
http://tinyurl.com/y9jmoub
Today was our Vatican morning! We were out the door just before 8am and we walked to the end of “our” street and found a bar/café for a quick breakfast. The bar is Gerri’s Bar at Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, 213/215. I wished we had found this place a couple days ago; it was the perfect place for a good cappuccino and cornetti. We had 3 cappuccino and 3 cornetti for €7, that included a €1 charge for sitting at a table.
After fueling up for breakfast we got on the #64 bus, the bus stop was just a block away. We were at the Vatican by 8:30am. We walked across the piazza and then over to the Vatican Museum entrance. We arrived about 30 minutes early for our 9:30am Vatican Garden tour.
I had purchased the tour tickets on-line before leaving home, so we did not have to wait in the long line outside. I walked up to the main entrance, showed the guard my email ticket confirmation and was able to walk right in and go through security. We went to the ticket counter to get our tickets and waited for the tour to start.
Right at 9:30am the guide passed out the headsets that we would use during the 2 hour tour. There were about 30 of us on the tour and once all the headsets were deemed to be in working order we were off.
The tour was fantastic. I will mention that they are very strict about tour participants not wandering off on their own. One woman on the tour continued to walk off on her own to look at things and the guide reprimanded her several times. Apparently guides get into “hot water” if they cannot control their groups.
The gardens are enormous, 44 acres; I had no idea how large it was behind St. Peter’s Cathedral. If you are looking to see lots of flowers, this is not that type of garden; it was mostly lots of greenery, hedges, and several fountains. It was really quite lovely. And I have to admit, I know the Vatican is a city-state, but I never thought about there being a city hall building on the premises. There is a huge city hall building on the grounds and the head grounds keeper, who lives on the property, is a Vatican citizen. I just thought that was pretty interesting.
The tour ended at about 11:30am and we stopped in the cafeteria for a breather and some water. With the purchase of the garden tour, we also had entry into the Vatican Museum, however, since mom and I had been a couple years ago and we were coming back later in the week to do a Vatican Afterhours tour, we decided not to brave the huge crowds.
We took the bus back towards our apartment and had lunch at Mimi & Coco Vinoteca at Via dei Governo Vecchio, 72. We had passed this place for the last couple days and no matter what time we walked by it was always crowded. The lunch we had was good. CL and I shared a Parma Pizza and mom had the spinach & gorgonzola crepes. With 2 glasses of house white wine, 1 beer and a bottle of water the total cost was €36.
After lunch mom and I walked over to my favorite leather shop (Ibiz). We had found this shop last year when we stayed at a hotel just across the street. There are all kinds of leather goods in this shop, from belts to hand bags to briefcases. Last year I purchased a beautiful hand bag and I found another great bag this time too…of course I couldn’t leave without it! As luck would have it, as we came out of the shop it started to rain, the only real day of rain the entire time we were in Rome. We walked over to a small grocery store for a few things.
On the way back to the apartment we made a quick stop at Al Forno in Campo dei Fiori for a small slice of piazza bianca. We were dying to try this pizza since for the last 2 years we’ve heard raves about it. It did not disappoint…it was delicious! We walked back to the apartment through the rain.
At about 7pm we walked over to Cul de Sac and because it was still raining we sat inside. This was the evening we would meet Fodorite Kristina, her mom and 2 of her friends. We were able to get 2 tables, but because this enoteca is so small the tables were separated by a narrow aisle. This wasn’t the greatest set-up for conversation, but we didn’t have a choice.
Just around 7:30pm Kristina arrived and it was great to finally meet her. Kristina and I had been (what I call) traveling around in circles for the last couple years…France, Rome, San Francisco, with months of each other. We had some wine, and various tapas, and chatted about travel. Service at Cul de Sac was less than stellar this evening, but the company was great.
The evening seemed to end too soon and we all said good night and walked up the street for our evening dose of gelato! It was a fairly early evening because a trip to Orvieto was on the agenda for tomorrow.
Here is a link to Day 5 pictures:
http://tinyurl.com/y9jmoub
Nov 5th, 2009, 08:09 PM
#62
The Vatican State website has some pictures of the gardens (including the heliport). You can mouse over the pics instead of clicking.
http://www.vaticanstate.va/EN/Monume...tican_Gardens/
http://www.vaticanstate.va/EN/Monume...tican_Gardens/
I've also discovered several Vatican webcams. Next time you will have to waive to us.
http://www.vaticanstate.va/EN/Monuments/webcam/
http://www.vaticanstate.va/EN/Monume...tican_Gardens/
http://www.vaticanstate.va/EN/Monume...tican_Gardens/
I've also discovered several Vatican webcams. Next time you will have to waive to us.
http://www.vaticanstate.va/EN/Monuments/webcam/
Nov 6th, 2009, 02:55 AM
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LCI, your photos from Tivoli are Fabulous! I was telling DH about your report and how it makes me want to go back to Rome! Curious to know which brand of walking shoes you prefer--I really like the looks of the pair in the photo of the three of you, the coins. 
Nov 6th, 2009, 05:01 AM
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kybourbon...thanks for the Vatican links, I will check them out.
Leely...thanks for the compliment on the pictures...we were happy! How can we not smile when in Rome...we love it so much!
AnnMarie...a return trip to Rome is always a good thing...maybe I can help convince your DH! The walking shoes I have are Keens. I think the sytle name is Calistoga, there are just like maryjanes but a bit rugged looking. I love them, they are really comfortable. About a year ago I bought a brown pair and wore them all over France, I saw the purlpe color on Zappos a few months ago and snatched them right up! I like them because they are less athletic shoe looking!
kfusto...I couldn't agree more with your comment about Francesca...I always make a point to contact her when I'm in Rome...she is wonderful!
Leely...thanks for the compliment on the pictures...we were happy! How can we not smile when in Rome...we love it so much!
AnnMarie...a return trip to Rome is always a good thing...maybe I can help convince your DH!
The walking shoes I have are Keens. I think the sytle name is Calistoga, there are just like maryjanes but a bit rugged looking. I love them, they are really comfortable. About a year ago I bought a brown pair and wore them all over France, I saw the purlpe color on Zappos a few months ago and snatched them right up! I like them because they are less athletic shoe looking!kfusto...I couldn't agree more with your comment about Francesca...I always make a point to contact her when I'm in Rome...she is wonderful!
Nov 6th, 2009, 06:07 AM
#67
LCI - Most people are familiar with the vatican.va website which covers St. Peter's, the museums, etc., but not their vaticanstate.va website which has information on the state government and other areas of the Vatican such as the printing office, pharmacy, etc.
http://www.vaticanstate.va/EN/homepage.htm
http://www.vaticanstate.va/EN/homepage.htm
Nov 6th, 2009, 06:16 AM
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KyB...Wow...thanks for the Vatican State link...you are right, I had no idea.
As you said, I was familiar with the Vatican website, but not the Vatican State website. Just from a quick glance it looks interesting, I'll check it out more in-depth this weekend...Fodorites are great....I always learn new things here!
As you said, I was familiar with the Vatican website, but not the Vatican State website. Just from a quick glance it looks interesting, I'll check it out more in-depth this weekend...Fodorites are great....I always learn new things here!
Nov 6th, 2009, 05:54 PM
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Day Six, Tuesday, October 13th
We woke up to a perfect weather day! It was also a perfect day for a trip to Orvieto!
We stopped at Bar Gerri for cappuccino and cornetti and then hopped on the #40 bus to Termini Station. We found the ticket booth and bought 3 round trip tickets on the IC train to Orvieto. The tickets were €26 each.
The train was scheduled to leave at 10:45am. Boarding the train was a bit frantic, not for us so much, but the people with big suitcases were struggling to get their bags on the train. We found our car and compartment without any trouble…memories of my EuroRail pass college days were flooding back into my mind! Our compartment was full, when we sat down there was a young Italian couple and a young Italian woman, smiles all around and we were good to go. Once we were seated there was still a lot of commotion and a couple of women with babies strapped to their chests were walking back and forth. Another woman started yelling “this woman tried to get my money, thief”. I’m not sure what ever became of the situation, but everyone settled down and we got moving.
We arrived in Orvieto just before noon; the train ride was pleasant and quick. As we exited the train station the funicular was just across the street. We bought our tickets for €1 each and got on for the ride up.
In the upper town we walked around the fortress ruins and took lots of pictures…it was such a beautiful day. Just as we were ready to go up to the duomo a bus came by and we got on. It was a quick bus ride up to the duomo. By now it was after 12:30pm and the duomo was closing, so we walked about and poked in lots of little shops and decided to have lunch.
We walked past a few places and then choose one that looked good to me. My only concern was that there was only 1 other person inside, and that is not always a good sign. I was glad we went in anyway. This was an enoteca called Il VinCaffe. They are located at Via Filippeschi, 39. Their website is www.ilvincaffe.it . This enoteca had a nice bar, hard wood floors, wooden tables and ladder back chairs. There was big front window that looks onto the street, which is a small intersection with lots of cars whizzing by.
The proprietor could not have been nicer. The menu was all in Italian, but he answered all our questions. We started with 3 glasses of Classico since we were in Orvieto. I had the tuna carpaccio with olive oil and pistachios, the tuna was smoked and melted in my mouth. Mom had the guanicale with salad and CL had the chicken liver pate. All was excellent, but I think mom had the winner. The little wine biscuits were very tasty too. The total cost for lunch was €40.
After lunch we walked a few steps to Pozzo della Cava and for €3 each we walked through the cave and had a look at the gigantic well, the history was pretty interesting. The family that owns the site was expanding their trattoria when they found this archeological site.
We meandered back through town stopping at a few ceramic shops and then went to the duomo. I was glad we had a chance to see the duomo since my last time in Orvieto was in 2005, and the entire exterior was in scaffolding at that time. The duomo is just beautiful.
We decided to walk down the hill to the funicular and got to the train station about 45 minutes before our train arrived. The train back to Rome was on time and we arrived back in Rome just after 7pm. We took the #40 bus back towards our apartment where we had apperitivo and then went to Pizzeria MonteCarlo for dinner.
Pizzeria MonteCarlo on Vicolo dei Savelli was described to me by Francesca as the “shrine” of pizza and by the looks of the crowds she was right. We had a misti friti starter, lightly fried zucchini flowers, suppli, arancini, croquettas, and stuffed olives. It was a plate of fried goodness…crispy and light, not heavy or dripping in oil, it was great. We ordered 2 pizzas, one was a vegetable pizza the other was sausage, onion, and mushroom. The pizzas had very thin and crispy crusts. With a liter of house white wine (€6) and a bottle of water the total cost was €35.
After dinner CL and I walked over to St.. Eustachio so I could have my requisite espresso…love it there! Then we walked over to La Pigna to make a reservation for the next evening. And we ended the evening taking photos at the Pantheon and in Piazza Navona. It was a nice ending to a terrific day!
Here is a link to Day 6 photos:
http://tinyurl.com/ykv482z
We woke up to a perfect weather day! It was also a perfect day for a trip to Orvieto!
We stopped at Bar Gerri for cappuccino and cornetti and then hopped on the #40 bus to Termini Station. We found the ticket booth and bought 3 round trip tickets on the IC train to Orvieto. The tickets were €26 each.
The train was scheduled to leave at 10:45am. Boarding the train was a bit frantic, not for us so much, but the people with big suitcases were struggling to get their bags on the train. We found our car and compartment without any trouble…memories of my EuroRail pass college days were flooding back into my mind! Our compartment was full, when we sat down there was a young Italian couple and a young Italian woman, smiles all around and we were good to go. Once we were seated there was still a lot of commotion and a couple of women with babies strapped to their chests were walking back and forth. Another woman started yelling “this woman tried to get my money, thief”. I’m not sure what ever became of the situation, but everyone settled down and we got moving.
We arrived in Orvieto just before noon; the train ride was pleasant and quick. As we exited the train station the funicular was just across the street. We bought our tickets for €1 each and got on for the ride up.
In the upper town we walked around the fortress ruins and took lots of pictures…it was such a beautiful day. Just as we were ready to go up to the duomo a bus came by and we got on. It was a quick bus ride up to the duomo. By now it was after 12:30pm and the duomo was closing, so we walked about and poked in lots of little shops and decided to have lunch.
We walked past a few places and then choose one that looked good to me. My only concern was that there was only 1 other person inside, and that is not always a good sign. I was glad we went in anyway. This was an enoteca called Il VinCaffe. They are located at Via Filippeschi, 39. Their website is www.ilvincaffe.it . This enoteca had a nice bar, hard wood floors, wooden tables and ladder back chairs. There was big front window that looks onto the street, which is a small intersection with lots of cars whizzing by.
The proprietor could not have been nicer. The menu was all in Italian, but he answered all our questions. We started with 3 glasses of Classico since we were in Orvieto. I had the tuna carpaccio with olive oil and pistachios, the tuna was smoked and melted in my mouth. Mom had the guanicale with salad and CL had the chicken liver pate. All was excellent, but I think mom had the winner. The little wine biscuits were very tasty too. The total cost for lunch was €40.
After lunch we walked a few steps to Pozzo della Cava and for €3 each we walked through the cave and had a look at the gigantic well, the history was pretty interesting. The family that owns the site was expanding their trattoria when they found this archeological site.
We meandered back through town stopping at a few ceramic shops and then went to the duomo. I was glad we had a chance to see the duomo since my last time in Orvieto was in 2005, and the entire exterior was in scaffolding at that time. The duomo is just beautiful.
We decided to walk down the hill to the funicular and got to the train station about 45 minutes before our train arrived. The train back to Rome was on time and we arrived back in Rome just after 7pm. We took the #40 bus back towards our apartment where we had apperitivo and then went to Pizzeria MonteCarlo for dinner.
Pizzeria MonteCarlo on Vicolo dei Savelli was described to me by Francesca as the “shrine” of pizza and by the looks of the crowds she was right. We had a misti friti starter, lightly fried zucchini flowers, suppli, arancini, croquettas, and stuffed olives. It was a plate of fried goodness…crispy and light, not heavy or dripping in oil, it was great. We ordered 2 pizzas, one was a vegetable pizza the other was sausage, onion, and mushroom. The pizzas had very thin and crispy crusts. With a liter of house white wine (€6) and a bottle of water the total cost was €35.
After dinner CL and I walked over to St.. Eustachio so I could have my requisite espresso…love it there! Then we walked over to La Pigna to make a reservation for the next evening. And we ended the evening taking photos at the Pantheon and in Piazza Navona. It was a nice ending to a terrific day!
Here is a link to Day 6 photos:
http://tinyurl.com/ykv482z
Nov 6th, 2009, 06:51 PM
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Day Seven, Wednesday, October 14th
Happy Birthday to mom today!!! And it was another great weather day…sunny and cool.
We had a slow start today and after a stop at our corner Bar Gerri for cappuccino and cornetti we spent the rest of the morning at the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj museum. The palazzo is located at Piazza del Collegio Romano, 2, but the entrance is around the corner on Via del Corso. The museum’s website is www.doriapamphilj.it. The entry fee is €9 and includes the audio guide.
This museum is a definite Wow! It doesn’t seem to be on the tourist crowd path, because although there were others in the museum, there were very few. We walked right up and bought our tickets, no line at all. The audio guide is very well done and it was nice to have a Pamphilj heir do the narration and speak about when he was a young boy living in the palazzo. The apartments are really spectacular and the art collection is enormous. We spent almost 2 hours wandering around this interesting museum.
When we were finished in the museum we made a quick stop at Sant Eustachio for a coffee break. Mom and I had the cappuccino freddo…OMG…so delicious…nothing like this at my local Starbucks! We also made a stop at a scarf shop near the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva because CL was looking for scarves. I had purchased a scarf at this shop last year and they have absolutely beautiful pieces. We all ended up buying scarves and then headed back to the apartment to drop them off.
When we reached the apartment I consulted my restaurant list and found a place listed that was just down the street. I liked the description I had, especially when it said there was no sign outside. So we set out to find it. I am not exaggerating when I say that this place was less then a 5 minute walk from our apartment.
It was about 1:30pm and as I looked up at the building for the street address, the delectable aroma wafting out the door confirmed we had found Trattoria Tonino Bassetti. This trattoria is located at Via del Governo Vecchio, 18-19 and there really is no sign outside. As we approached the door I could see that there was hardly an empty table. As a matter of fact we got the second to last available table.
This was a no-nonsense place was absolutely incredible food. And the best part (in my opinion) was every table was speaking Italian. This was clearly the place full of Italian business people. The service was friendly and with my very limited Italian we managed very well…the waiter was too cute as I stumbled through my Italian, he continued to speak to me in Italian…bless his heart! The wooden tables were covered with paper table cloths and only 2 inches separated each table. It was noisy, cheery, and full of happily satisfied customers.
For lunch I had the pasta (rigatoni) alla melanzane (eggplant), mom had the pasta with peas and mushroom and CL had the pasta all amatriciano. All dishes were beyond top notch…everything was perfectly cooked and seasoned. With a half liter of house red wine the total cost was €30. The pasta dishes were generous and a steal at €7 each.
Coming up...and evening at the Vatican Museum!
Happy Birthday to mom today!!! And it was another great weather day…sunny and cool.
We had a slow start today and after a stop at our corner Bar Gerri for cappuccino and cornetti we spent the rest of the morning at the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj museum. The palazzo is located at Piazza del Collegio Romano, 2, but the entrance is around the corner on Via del Corso. The museum’s website is www.doriapamphilj.it. The entry fee is €9 and includes the audio guide.
This museum is a definite Wow! It doesn’t seem to be on the tourist crowd path, because although there were others in the museum, there were very few. We walked right up and bought our tickets, no line at all. The audio guide is very well done and it was nice to have a Pamphilj heir do the narration and speak about when he was a young boy living in the palazzo. The apartments are really spectacular and the art collection is enormous. We spent almost 2 hours wandering around this interesting museum.
When we were finished in the museum we made a quick stop at Sant Eustachio for a coffee break. Mom and I had the cappuccino freddo…OMG…so delicious…nothing like this at my local Starbucks! We also made a stop at a scarf shop near the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva because CL was looking for scarves. I had purchased a scarf at this shop last year and they have absolutely beautiful pieces. We all ended up buying scarves and then headed back to the apartment to drop them off.
When we reached the apartment I consulted my restaurant list and found a place listed that was just down the street. I liked the description I had, especially when it said there was no sign outside. So we set out to find it. I am not exaggerating when I say that this place was less then a 5 minute walk from our apartment.
It was about 1:30pm and as I looked up at the building for the street address, the delectable aroma wafting out the door confirmed we had found Trattoria Tonino Bassetti. This trattoria is located at Via del Governo Vecchio, 18-19 and there really is no sign outside. As we approached the door I could see that there was hardly an empty table. As a matter of fact we got the second to last available table.
This was a no-nonsense place was absolutely incredible food. And the best part (in my opinion) was every table was speaking Italian. This was clearly the place full of Italian business people. The service was friendly and with my very limited Italian we managed very well…the waiter was too cute as I stumbled through my Italian, he continued to speak to me in Italian…bless his heart! The wooden tables were covered with paper table cloths and only 2 inches separated each table. It was noisy, cheery, and full of happily satisfied customers.
For lunch I had the pasta (rigatoni) alla melanzane (eggplant), mom had the pasta with peas and mushroom and CL had the pasta all amatriciano. All dishes were beyond top notch…everything was perfectly cooked and seasoned. With a half liter of house red wine the total cost was €30. The pasta dishes were generous and a steal at €7 each.
Coming up...and evening at the Vatican Museum!
Nov 7th, 2009, 05:08 PM
#76
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Leely...I loved the section in the audio guide when he spoke about the time when he and his sister got caught rollerskating in the ballroom!
I'm working on getting more posted...thanks for hanging in with me.
I'm working on getting more posted...thanks for hanging in with me.
Nov 7th, 2009, 06:33 PM
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Here is the rest of Day Seven:
After lunch and a quick stop back at the apartment we went over to the Vatican. For mom, a trip to Rome wouldn’t be complete without a visit to St. Peter’s so, since we had booked the Context Rome Vatican Museum Afterhours tour for this evening, it made sense to us to go to the basilica in the afternoon.
There was a line to go through security and enter the basilica, but it was not that bad, it moved quickly and from the time we got on line until we walked through the doors it was maybe 15 minutes. Inside was very crowded. Our previous 2 trips during the holiday season wasn’t even this crowded. Since CL had not been here in 20+ years, we hit a few of the highlights and then were “herded” out because 4:30 mass was starting and security was moving everyone away from the altar area.
After finding our way out we walked over to the Vatican Museum entrance and waited for the start of the tour. We met our Context guide in front of a trattoria across from the museum entrance. There were a total of 11 people on the Context tour, but there were 2 guides, so we split into 2 groups, our group had 5 people. Our guide was Cecelia, who is an art historian. As we waited for the museum doors to open Cecelia gave us a brief overview of what we would be seeing and some history.
At the stroke of 6pm the giant entry door opened and we were allowed to go in. What a difference from when we have been in the museum during regular opening hours. We went through security, got our own 2 security guards assigned to accompany our group and we were off. It was thrilling to be the only ones in the museum. Because of the sheer size of the museum and the fact that we only had 2 hours we obviously couldn’t see everything, but we did see the highlight. The tapestry room and the map room were my favorites. We made our way through the various galleries and then the ultimate experience…the Sistine Chapel. We were the only ones in the chapel for a full 30 minutes and Cecelia explained each and every panel in the chapel.
This was definitely worth the price tag. About a week before we left for Rome I saw a post from ContextItaly on Facebook about a discount they were offering for the Vatican Afterhours tour that was available on October 14th. I contacted them and found out the cost was €150 per person, steep, I know, but all three of us were up for it and I booked the tour. Honestly, we all felt it was money very well spent.
When we exited the museum I had planned to catch the #492 bus and go back towards Largo Argentina, from there we could walk to La Pigna where we had a dinner reservation. Well, my map skills must have temporarily left me because after walking up a hill, realizing I was not in the right spot, we walked back down the hill, found the street we needed to walk down, which was a flight of 82 (yes, we counted) stairs, and after waiting about 10 minutes the bus we needed came rolling down the street. Fortunately the bus was empty, so we could sit down after my “forced march” up and down hills!
By now it was close to 9pm and we would be a little late for our dinner reservation, but as we entered the restaurant we were greeted like long lost relatives. This was another restaurant that had been on my “list” for the last 2 years, but since my previous trips to Rome had been during the Christmas and New Years holidays, this restaurant was always closed when we wanted to try it.
After we were seated and started looking at the menu we noticed (again) that all the patrons here were speaking only Italian. I just love that…makes me feel like all my pre-trip research really pays off. The waiter came over and began telling us the evening specials, I had to ask if he could tell us in English and he seamlessly switched to English.
We started with a bottle of Gavi di Gavi white wine; mom had a glass of this wine the other night at Gusto and liked it, so it was reasonable for us to order a bottle for the table. I had fillet with greenpepper sauce and it was delicious. Mom had the veal alla limone and CL had the evening special of veal stuffed with artichokes. Everyone proclaimed their satisfaction with this meal. We also had a side order of seasonal vegetables and punterelle. Both were good, but we’ve had better punterelle. We shared a piece of cream and zabaglione cook, mom and I had espresso and we capped it all off with limoncello. The total cost was €107.
It was a great end to a good day. We had a short walk back to the apartment and slept like logs.
Here is the link to Day 7 Photos:
http://tinyurl.com/yjl3nc5
After lunch and a quick stop back at the apartment we went over to the Vatican. For mom, a trip to Rome wouldn’t be complete without a visit to St. Peter’s so, since we had booked the Context Rome Vatican Museum Afterhours tour for this evening, it made sense to us to go to the basilica in the afternoon.
There was a line to go through security and enter the basilica, but it was not that bad, it moved quickly and from the time we got on line until we walked through the doors it was maybe 15 minutes. Inside was very crowded. Our previous 2 trips during the holiday season wasn’t even this crowded. Since CL had not been here in 20+ years, we hit a few of the highlights and then were “herded” out because 4:30 mass was starting and security was moving everyone away from the altar area.
After finding our way out we walked over to the Vatican Museum entrance and waited for the start of the tour. We met our Context guide in front of a trattoria across from the museum entrance. There were a total of 11 people on the Context tour, but there were 2 guides, so we split into 2 groups, our group had 5 people. Our guide was Cecelia, who is an art historian. As we waited for the museum doors to open Cecelia gave us a brief overview of what we would be seeing and some history.
At the stroke of 6pm the giant entry door opened and we were allowed to go in. What a difference from when we have been in the museum during regular opening hours. We went through security, got our own 2 security guards assigned to accompany our group and we were off. It was thrilling to be the only ones in the museum. Because of the sheer size of the museum and the fact that we only had 2 hours we obviously couldn’t see everything, but we did see the highlight. The tapestry room and the map room were my favorites. We made our way through the various galleries and then the ultimate experience…the Sistine Chapel. We were the only ones in the chapel for a full 30 minutes and Cecelia explained each and every panel in the chapel.
This was definitely worth the price tag. About a week before we left for Rome I saw a post from ContextItaly on Facebook about a discount they were offering for the Vatican Afterhours tour that was available on October 14th. I contacted them and found out the cost was €150 per person, steep, I know, but all three of us were up for it and I booked the tour. Honestly, we all felt it was money very well spent.
When we exited the museum I had planned to catch the #492 bus and go back towards Largo Argentina, from there we could walk to La Pigna where we had a dinner reservation. Well, my map skills must have temporarily left me because after walking up a hill, realizing I was not in the right spot, we walked back down the hill, found the street we needed to walk down, which was a flight of 82 (yes, we counted) stairs, and after waiting about 10 minutes the bus we needed came rolling down the street. Fortunately the bus was empty, so we could sit down after my “forced march” up and down hills!
By now it was close to 9pm and we would be a little late for our dinner reservation, but as we entered the restaurant we were greeted like long lost relatives. This was another restaurant that had been on my “list” for the last 2 years, but since my previous trips to Rome had been during the Christmas and New Years holidays, this restaurant was always closed when we wanted to try it.
After we were seated and started looking at the menu we noticed (again) that all the patrons here were speaking only Italian. I just love that…makes me feel like all my pre-trip research really pays off. The waiter came over and began telling us the evening specials, I had to ask if he could tell us in English and he seamlessly switched to English.
We started with a bottle of Gavi di Gavi white wine; mom had a glass of this wine the other night at Gusto and liked it, so it was reasonable for us to order a bottle for the table. I had fillet with greenpepper sauce and it was delicious. Mom had the veal alla limone and CL had the evening special of veal stuffed with artichokes. Everyone proclaimed their satisfaction with this meal. We also had a side order of seasonal vegetables and punterelle. Both were good, but we’ve had better punterelle. We shared a piece of cream and zabaglione cook, mom and I had espresso and we capped it all off with limoncello. The total cost was €107.
It was a great end to a good day. We had a short walk back to the apartment and slept like logs.
Here is the link to Day 7 Photos:
http://tinyurl.com/yjl3nc5
Nov 7th, 2009, 07:25 PM
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Day Eight, Thursday, October 15th
Today was another great weather day, which seemed to be the norm for this trip! We had a leisurely morning and walked over to Sant Eustachio for our morning coffee. The plan for the day was a visit to the Borghese Gallery.
Earlier in the week, at the recommendation of Francesca Caruso, I had phoned and made a reservation for 1pm. There is a special exhibit of Carravaggio and Bacon paintings at the museum and tickets were booking quickly.
Based on my research it seemed we could catch the #116 mini-van/bus from the Centro Storica, just around the corner from Sant Eustchio, and take it to the Borghese Garden area. We finished our coffees and walked over to the bus stop, and waited, and waited, and waited. I think we waited 45 minutes…we ultimately figured out that if the bus that passes the designated bus stop, does not stop, it’s because all seats (there were only 3 or 4 seats) were full and the driver wouldn’t or couldn’t accept any more passengers.
As we waited a young woman was also standing nearby who seemed to be a local resident and was also waiting for the bus. After about 45 minutes we were just about to go get a taxi when and empty #116 mini-van stopped…thank goodness. We asked the driver if he was going to the Borghese Garden and with help from the young local we got an affirmative answer. It took about 30 minutes to wind through the streets of the Centro Storico, over the Via Veneto and up to the garden. The nice local woman got off, but told us to stay on and get off after 2 more stops. Sure enough we were dropped off at the end of the road in the garden that leads right up to the museum.
It was about 12:30 by now and we went in to pick up our tickets. I’m glad we called to reserve because the ticket agents were turning people away saying the museum was completely booked for the day. We also bought audio guides for €5 each. I highly recommend the audio guide it really is helpful with describing the works of art and we would have been lost without it.
At precisely 1pm we went in. I have to admit that I loved the Carravaggio paintings; however I’m still not sure what to think of the Bacon paintings. Once we let the entering crowds subside a bit, we went to see my favorite piece in this museum…Apollo & Daphne, it’s just incredible…so life-like. We spent about an hour and a half in the museum, in this case the 2 hour time allotment was plenty of time for us.
We left the museum and walked to the bus stop. After a wait, not as long as the morning wait, but long enough we decided to walk through the Borghese Gardens to the Pincio and down into Piazza del Popolo. Yes, a bit of a long walk, but the views from the Pincio were great and the reward was a stop at a café in Piazza del Popolo.
Once we were rested we walked across the street to the Church of Santa Maria di Montesanto. We would have stopped into its twin church, the Church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli, but it was covered in scaffolding and we were ready to head back to the apartment.
Our luck with buses wasn’t very good today and our luck didn’t change. We waited (for what seemed like 30 minutes) for the #119 to take us down to the end of the Via del Corso, it never came and we decided to walk back to the apartment. The weather was nice, so the walk wasn’t a difficult one. After all the walking today, we will eat well tonight!
We decided to go to Tonino for dinner since we had such a great lunch there the other day. We got to the restaurant fairly early, around 7pm and there was only 1 other table, but other tables quickly filled up.
We had a half liter of the house red wine, and since it was Thursday, the gnocchi was the special of the day. Because I hadn’t really had much to eat all day I ordered the gnocchi as a first course and I was not disappointed! It was wonderful, melt in your mouth good, served in a tomato and basil sauce. Mom and CL had the rabbit which looked and smelled great…their verdict…it tasted as good as it looked. They each had a side dish, mom the fagiole and CL the broccoli. I tasted the beans and they were very good. CL said the broccoli was good. I had a second course, the roasted veal with potatoes and it was really, really tender, it was delicious. The total cost was €45.
Instead of dessert at the trattoria, we walked over to Gelateria del Teatro at Via di San Simone, 70 (just off Via dei Coronari). I had the coffee gelato and chocolate with red wine gelato, it was excellent, very intense flavors, and I would go back there in a minute.
After our gelato stop we walked back to the apartment and along the way we found Osteria del Pegno. This osteria was recommended to me by Fodorite gracie04 (Johanna) and she spoke so highly of it we took a look at the menu. We liked what we saw, so I went in and made a reservation for the next evening, our last night in Rome.
Here is the link to Day 8 photos:
http://tinyurl.com/yb9k6jz
Coming up: Our last day in Rome!
Today was another great weather day, which seemed to be the norm for this trip! We had a leisurely morning and walked over to Sant Eustachio for our morning coffee. The plan for the day was a visit to the Borghese Gallery.
Earlier in the week, at the recommendation of Francesca Caruso, I had phoned and made a reservation for 1pm. There is a special exhibit of Carravaggio and Bacon paintings at the museum and tickets were booking quickly.
Based on my research it seemed we could catch the #116 mini-van/bus from the Centro Storica, just around the corner from Sant Eustchio, and take it to the Borghese Garden area. We finished our coffees and walked over to the bus stop, and waited, and waited, and waited. I think we waited 45 minutes…we ultimately figured out that if the bus that passes the designated bus stop, does not stop, it’s because all seats (there were only 3 or 4 seats) were full and the driver wouldn’t or couldn’t accept any more passengers.
As we waited a young woman was also standing nearby who seemed to be a local resident and was also waiting for the bus. After about 45 minutes we were just about to go get a taxi when and empty #116 mini-van stopped…thank goodness. We asked the driver if he was going to the Borghese Garden and with help from the young local we got an affirmative answer. It took about 30 minutes to wind through the streets of the Centro Storico, over the Via Veneto and up to the garden. The nice local woman got off, but told us to stay on and get off after 2 more stops. Sure enough we were dropped off at the end of the road in the garden that leads right up to the museum.
It was about 12:30 by now and we went in to pick up our tickets. I’m glad we called to reserve because the ticket agents were turning people away saying the museum was completely booked for the day. We also bought audio guides for €5 each. I highly recommend the audio guide it really is helpful with describing the works of art and we would have been lost without it.
At precisely 1pm we went in. I have to admit that I loved the Carravaggio paintings; however I’m still not sure what to think of the Bacon paintings. Once we let the entering crowds subside a bit, we went to see my favorite piece in this museum…Apollo & Daphne, it’s just incredible…so life-like. We spent about an hour and a half in the museum, in this case the 2 hour time allotment was plenty of time for us.
We left the museum and walked to the bus stop. After a wait, not as long as the morning wait, but long enough we decided to walk through the Borghese Gardens to the Pincio and down into Piazza del Popolo. Yes, a bit of a long walk, but the views from the Pincio were great and the reward was a stop at a café in Piazza del Popolo.
Once we were rested we walked across the street to the Church of Santa Maria di Montesanto. We would have stopped into its twin church, the Church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli, but it was covered in scaffolding and we were ready to head back to the apartment.
Our luck with buses wasn’t very good today and our luck didn’t change. We waited (for what seemed like 30 minutes) for the #119 to take us down to the end of the Via del Corso, it never came and we decided to walk back to the apartment. The weather was nice, so the walk wasn’t a difficult one. After all the walking today, we will eat well tonight!
We decided to go to Tonino for dinner since we had such a great lunch there the other day. We got to the restaurant fairly early, around 7pm and there was only 1 other table, but other tables quickly filled up.
We had a half liter of the house red wine, and since it was Thursday, the gnocchi was the special of the day. Because I hadn’t really had much to eat all day I ordered the gnocchi as a first course and I was not disappointed! It was wonderful, melt in your mouth good, served in a tomato and basil sauce. Mom and CL had the rabbit which looked and smelled great…their verdict…it tasted as good as it looked. They each had a side dish, mom the fagiole and CL the broccoli. I tasted the beans and they were very good. CL said the broccoli was good. I had a second course, the roasted veal with potatoes and it was really, really tender, it was delicious. The total cost was €45.
Instead of dessert at the trattoria, we walked over to Gelateria del Teatro at Via di San Simone, 70 (just off Via dei Coronari). I had the coffee gelato and chocolate with red wine gelato, it was excellent, very intense flavors, and I would go back there in a minute.
After our gelato stop we walked back to the apartment and along the way we found Osteria del Pegno. This osteria was recommended to me by Fodorite gracie04 (Johanna) and she spoke so highly of it we took a look at the menu. We liked what we saw, so I went in and made a reservation for the next evening, our last night in Rome.
Here is the link to Day 8 photos:
http://tinyurl.com/yb9k6jz
Coming up: Our last day in Rome!
Nov 7th, 2009, 07:27 PM
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LCI, I loved reading your trip report and viewing your beautiful photos.The after hours tour of The Vatican sounds great,do they offer that all of the time? I was wondering if you know the address of the scarf shop, I have a request from my DS for a beautiful Italian scarf. I feel as if "my" vacation has come to an end! Thanks for sharing.
