Day 15

June 8
As today is Sunday we elected to make it Vatican day, as many of the other stops on our stay in Rome may or may not have been closed for this holy day of rest. Breakfast arrived in our room promptly at 8:30. I had my cappuccino, yogurt, and croissant in bed; it was lovely. We dressed and headed out of the door on directions from our hostess. We had chosen to walk the half mile rather than trying to take a bus or taxi. When we arrived in Vatican city, it was strangely not overcrowded and we could even walk from one place to another without getting stepped on. After walking to the entirely wrong side of the Vatican, the sky began to send down a sprinkle of rain. It was then that we realized that we had absolutely no rain gear with us. By the time we had walked to the other side of the Vatican and found the line in which to wait for entry, the sprinkle transformed into a moderate shower. Despite the fast motion of the line we were still soaked to the bone by the time we had reached cover. Most of the line was covered and we ran through the parts that were not. Once inside the Vatican, we elbowed our way to the back of the church where the Sunday mass was being held. We had to stand in the back with a crush of other people all bobbing and swaying for a view of the alter. After a little more than an hour, the many priests and holy people proceeded out and we were smooched between waves of tourists trying to squeeze through the tiny gate that separated the mass area from the rest of the church. Still rather more than a little damp, we waited the five or ten minutes outside for the pope to come hang out of a teeny window high up above us and say the angelus. By this time the cats, dogs, elephants, and buckets that had been wreaking havoc upon our heads had been reduced to a mild mist and we made our way back to the hotel for a rest. I was so whooped I didn’t even want to venture out again. We checked our maps and tourist books and decided that the Parthenon was close enough for us to venture out in search of.
After we had made our way around the Parthenon and had a cappuccino to revitalize our weary soulds we made a pass through the surrounding areas. Nanny found a jewelry store to fall in love with and about a block later so did I. It was called LALA Italia and all the furniture and interior was white and the jewelry was organized by color. I immediately found a few things I just had to have and picked them up and carried them as I worked around the small shop in search of more. Come to find out, I had been carrying the displays (whoops) and the clerk tried her best to explain this matter to me. When it finally clicked I felt my face flush and handed my treasures back to her. I do believe I will have to go back and spend a small fortune on new jewelry. We came back to the hotel, dropped off our things, watched a little television and then walked two doors down to a restaurant. I ordered pasta alfredo and when the waiter brought it to me it look a bit more like mac and cheese. However a bite or two revealed it to be nicely seasoned and a pretty good meal. I am looking forward to more nights in our quaint hotel and tomorrow we plan to visit the roman catacombs and the coliseum.



Nanny has found herself a new best friend. I think he's a keeper =]