September 30, 2006 The Sixteen Chapel
Somehow, Shelden and I missed the wake up for the Sistine Chapel. We were able to catch up with the others as we walked over to get in line. I don’t want to complain, but it was a long line, a long wait and our favorite angry young man almost got in a fight with a Frenchman for butting in front of us in line.
This line is also a great place to see gypsies and beggars. One old nonna came up to us, all bent over, moaning “O, Dio mio.” She was dressed entirely in black and her hand was outstretched. On her back, was a back pack and I noticed a water bottle in it. As she looked up at us, the entire right side of her head showed her raw scalp. I guess she pulled all the hair out of that side of her head… or she was wearing a wig – I think the latter. Oh, Dio mio, it was ugly.
There was also the beggar with the deformed limbs and the gypsy with the baby in her arms. Oh, and the kid playing the accordion, who, I swear, was there three years ago!
Well, we finally got in after 2 hours, went through the Vatican Museum with it’s gorgeous rooms and ceilings. And then – the Sistine Chapel or Sixteen Chapel as Shelden called it.
Rome
We did some shopping in the area around the Vatican. Sue and Jerry looked for a Travel Agent so they could buy train tickets to Sorrento. Then we ventured over near Castel Sant Angelo. We started heading back to the apartment and Shelden and I realized we had no idea how we were getting to the airport in the morning.
We could take the 64 bus but we weren’t sure where it picked up. We could take the Metro, but we weren’t sure of the stop near the Vatican. We tried to reserve a cab, but they wouldn’t take the reservation because we didn’t have a phone number (because we were in an apartment, not staying at a hotel!).
We decided to take the Metro after our evening stroll over by Piazza Navona, Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. Then we could determine how far it would be to walk from the apartment.
Well, the evening was magical! We had dinner in Campo di Fiore after we determined that the folks who were demonstrating over issues in Palestine were breaking up. We walked over to Piazza Navona and were entertained by an Italian pop singer and the throngs of people.
Rome at night
When we got to the Pantheon, there was a group of teenagers singing a capella under the entry arch area. It was beautiful. Sue and I were reduced to tears when they sang “Walk Down That Lonesome Road.”
We trekked over to the Trevi Fountain and then the Spanish Steps. By this time it was11:30 so we headed for the Metro… which had shut down at 11:00!!!
Ok, we’ll take a bus… Easier said than done at 11:30 pm. We ended up walking all the way back to the apartment. I think we walked about 4 miles that night.