Our hotel is basically a floor of a building that someone converted into individual hotel room units. They are somewhat modern and swanky, but lack some of the common comforts of a standard hotel. For instance our breakfast is at an offsite cafe a block and a half away. In Italy it is pretty common to have breakfast included in your hotel package, and it was also included in ours. So the hotel gives us little voucher cards to go eat at this French cafe when we want breakfast.
We were getting hungry so we decided to stroll over to Le Carre Francais which is the name of our hotel's pre-arranged breakfast spot. Right when we walked in and held up the voucher they said to follow them. We were seated at a table and then they explained how the program works. We could choose a plain croissant, chocolate croissant, coffee, juice and they also bring a basket of jam and bread. They also can make anything we want but we'd have to pay extra for that stuff.
After eating Italy's bread for over a week it was quite a refreshing change of pace to have proper made French bread. Italian bread for the most part has been very dense and hard on the outside with just a little soft center. The crust on it can be sharp and hurt the roof of your mouth too if you aren't careful.
The croissants they made at this cafe were perfectly crispy and fluffy. They made great americanos and their bread basket was full of soft and slightly crisp crusted bread rolls.
After breakfast we went back to our hotel room to get ready for our big trip to the Vatican museum.
The Vatican is only about a 20 minute walk from our place so we decided we would walk along the River Tiber and see a couple sights on the way. We headed out into the hot mid afternoon sun that was leaning down on Rome. When we walked over to the riverside walk we were able to stroll under some trees and get some shade. The river is lined with seating down by the waterside and also merchants selling trinkets along the upper sidewalk area.
We walked by the Italian supreme court building and then the Castel Sant'Angelo which was built sometime around 123 AD. The walk over to the vatican felt longer than it was due to the heat and dodging all the traffic and people on the way. We stopped at one point to get a coffee and snack. I tried to get an iced coffee but it turned out that I just got americanos with a couple pieces of ice in them. It cooled them down and we were able to enjoy them anyway.
When we got to the front of the Vatican museum we went into the left side as instructed and went up to the group guided tours window. We quickly got our printed tickets and waited for our tour group to show up. Prior to coming on this tour we researched rules and regulations for visiting. One thing we read is that you have to come with your shoulders and knees covered to be more modest. What this meant is that I wore pants and Deanna wore a long dress. We looked around and immediately realized nobody was following those rules. I saw guys in shorts, girls in short skirts, girls with low cut tops, tank tops, whatever anyone wanted to wear was fine. Nobody at the Vatican is enforcing rules in the museum area apparently. So wear shorts, wear skirts, show your shoulders and rock a low cut top ladies. :)
Our tour guide had a gang of about 20 people on the tour with us and we all wore these corny little earpiece radios so we could hear her talk to us along the way. She had some great information about the frescos and paintings and statues. The museums are crowded and annoying and the people are equally as annoying. The thing that concerned us is that she said repeatedly how it was not very busy and we were lucky on this day. If you've been to the Palace of Versailles, it kind of reminded me of that level of crowds but the Palace was much worse.
We wound through the museum and through the Pope's old apartment and eventually landed in the Sistine Chapel. We went in and were told to be quiet and take no photos. Of course you look around and immediately many people keep trying to take photos. The guards would get on the microphones and say "NO PHOTOOOOOOOO" and some people would stop. I got annoyed at everyone else getting pictures so I took a super stealth photo that nobody saw which is below. :) Seeing the artwork of the Sistine Chapel in person was pretty amazing. Thinking about Michelangelo spending 9 years combined painting the ceiling and the mural of the "Last Judgement" on the side wall is crazy. There are also other very detailed and equally as impressive frescos around the sides of the chapel. See some before and after photos of the restorations.
After we finished the tour and chapel viewing we had to get out of there. We had enough of the crowds, the heat and the annoyances.
We found a restaurant that was open by using TripAdvisor and started heading that way. Luckily it was also in the direction of our hotel room. We ordered cheese stuffed squash blossoms, tuna salad, cheese gnocchi, truffle pasta and salmon. It was all pretty good. The restaurant was Alla Rampa dei Gracchi.
After dinner we stopped at a mini market and bought our own Aperol spritz supplies and went back to our hotel. We were going to make our own Aperol cocktails but needed ice also. There is literally no ice for sale in all of Italy. Apparently the trick is to go to a hotel or bar and ask them. So after that bit of research I went back to the Cantonese restaurant and asked them if they had ice for sale. They said they would give me some and also refused the money I offered them. It was enough ice to make a few rounds of Aperols. :)
We then relaxed in our in-room hot tub and watched movies for awhile and then crashed out. The Vatican is exhausting.
That is the end of Day 13.
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