This morning we slept in until 7:30. Tavis and I went to eat breakfast on our own. When they seated us they asked if they could bring us drinks so we ordered our usual… 1 cappuccino and 1 hot chocolate. When our drinks finally arrived we figured there was a breakdown in translation because my hot chocolate was actual hot chocolate! A cup of liquid chocolate. I went and got a glass of milk to add but it was still too sweet for me… and that is a first. When we finished, we woke up the kids and brought them down to the buffet (I told them to skip the hot chocolate). While they were checking out the pastries one of the women in the kitchen came out with cotton candy for each of the children. The kids were in their glory!
Everyone finished breakfast around 9:00 and we went down to the pool until 11:30. The kids found their friend from London at the pool and spent the entire time conversing with her. As it turns out she is staying 4 rooms down. It was a perfect morning and we were cooled off and ready for our walk down to Vatican in the hot sun.
Vatican City
We walked down the hill toward Vatican City. We only got a little bit lost and arrived right at 12:30. It was not as crowded as I expected. One thing that stood out is that the area was definitely organized for tours. Those of us who chose not to do a tour were left lost wandering the walls will very little signage or explanations of what we were looking at. It was very interesting and the buildings and artifacts were impressive but there was just so much.
We first went to a courtyard and wandered outside. Then we went down into a huge cellar area filled with old carriages and cars that were gifts for the various Pope. This was one of my favourite rooms. Then we made our way to a room filled with art from the 1200s. From what I could see, nobody wore clothing back then so they either only did art in the summer or the climate was warm all year long. We walked for 2 hours through various museums. There were hundred of rooms all dedicated to different things. I think we walked through 6 rooms dedicated to urns alone! There were several rooms with coffins, statues, coins, stamps… and of course art. The tapestry was incredible! There were pieces that must have spanned 20ft x 40ft! The detail was insane!
When we finished going through the Vatican Museum we were excited to follow the secret tip we read about to get us into the Sistine Chapel. There is a secret hall that is used by tour groups to go straight through instead of doing the 30 minute walk all the way around to line up again. We did exactly as we read and we sat around admiring the art work. When the next group came through we did our best to blend in and we mingled in with them. I think many many people do this though because we didn’t get stopped despite our terrible efforts of blending. It was just our luck that the tour group that came through was an Asian tour!
The Sistine Chapel was much smaller than I expected. We were herded in like cattle and there were strict rules to follow:
- your clothing must cover your shoulders and knees
- you must not take any photos
- you must not not stop anywhere other than the middle of the room
It was incredible to see the detail in the artwork. Along the sides there were curtains painted. Above the curtains all around the room were various paintings. The ones on the ceiling were so impressive because they had so much colour and detail from muscle definition to body proportions. They looked like they were jumping out at you. There was definitely a difference between the ceiling and the murals below them.
After leaving the Sistine Chapel we filled our water bottles and went to St. Peter’s Basilica. Wow! This was incredible! I understand why it is called the greatest church on earth. The statues are humongous. Even the lettering around the top are huge. We were trying to figure out how large until we saw people on the top floor that looked like ants compared the letters below them! Everywhere we looked there was an impressive statue or painting. I sadly admit that I don’t appreciate the artwork as much as I should but it was very interesting and I was glad to have experienced all that we saw today.
We left through St. Peters Square and they had the chairs set up for their services. I have never seen so many chairs and large screens in such a big area. I can’t imagine what this square looks like when it is full! The photos just don’t capture the size of the square.
We started our way up the hill to the hotel. By this time it was almost 4:00 and we thought it would be better to eat before going to the hotel as the $28 burgers were a little out of our price range. We stopped at a few places but couldn’t agree on anything so we ended up at McDonalds. We then walked the rest of the way to the hotel in the hot sun and went for a well deserved swim in the huge freshwater pools.
The main pool at the hotel is 11.5ft deep in the deepest end. The kids have also learned that the pool has goggles and flippers if you ask for them. We all enjoyed a swim and Tavis and I relaxed for an hour while the kids stayed in the water. At 6:00 we decided to get the kids out so we could check out the kids area so we could leave Ayva and Ari while we took Addison back into town to see the city at night.
When we walked into the kids area the kids were all in heaven. I don’t even think Ari hung around to see if it was ok to play. He was already playing. I signed the kids in and gave permission for them to leave when they wanted. Technically we were supposed to be on the premises so Tavis informed them that he was planning on being by the pool or in his room and that the kids were to return to the room when the club ended at 7:30. We then made a quick dash to the shuttle pick up area and caught the 6:30 shuttle.
We walked down to the Trevi Fountain which was very crowded. We then made our way to the Alter of the Father Land (aka the big white building). Then we walked around the Colosseum to see it in the evening. It was stunning as we walked toward it during sunset and the pink sky behind. By the time we got close enough for photos the sun was down though. We took some photos and continued on to the Circus Maximus which was a large oval that once served as a chariot racing oval. It was pretty much just an open field with a bunch of ruins on one side. On the other side there were people taking down a huge stage that was apparently set up for concerts earlier in the day. It was getting late so we quickly started making our way back to the bus stop. We walked fast enough that we had time to stop for Addison and I to enjoy a gelato and Tavis picked up some wine and snacks. We made it to the shuttle stop 5 minutes before the last shuttle of the day took us back tot he hotel at 9:00.
While we were out, Ayva and Ari had a blast in kids club. They played with the other 3 kids who also spoke English. Ari made up a game where he wore a ridiculous wig and went out to greet poor guests as they walked by. The leaders decided to dress up all the kids and walked them through the hotel. Ari greeted everyone he saw and in the end he was given a bunch of candy and other prizes for being such a good participant. They also started watching Star Wars and they can’t wait to go back tomorrow.
I think tomorrow we will go out with the kids after breakfast so we have time to get back and go for a swim before Kids Club starts at 2:30. Today was another perfect day. We are now sitting on our patio enjoying our snacks and listening to live music coming from the pool deck. What an amazing night! I can’t believe tomorrow is our last day! We’ve been away from home for 3 weeks. I miss Shadow and everyone at home but I am really not ready to go back yet. I guess that means it has been a successful vacation.