Onward to Vatican City

After a late start (hey, it’s a vacation!) we decided to go to walk to Vatican City via the Palatine.  We made it to the Palatine and looked at the ancient Roman ruins from a distance, but somehow got turned around and ended up by the Circo Massimo.  We crossed the river quite far south of the Vatican City, and made our way north along the Tevere River.  We figured that if we just keep going uphill, we would eventually make it to St. Peter’s Basilica, and elected to take side streets, which took us through a small university area (John Cabot University, an American liberal arts university)  It was nice to be away from tourists and making our way up the narrow streets.  We also stopped for some excellent gelato, sold to us by a vendor that did not speak English.  Fantastico!   (We had the real pistachio, a light green, not a bright green one.)

For part of our journey, we walked behind a young couple, obviously just getting to know each other.  He was British, she American.  He was doing his best to impress her with contrasts between U.K. and U.S. culture, and we caught the moment when he brushed her hand in the hopes of holding it, but was, alas, rebuffed.  A subtle transfer of his water bottle from his left to his right made the best of the awkward moment.  Still I hoped that a beautiful September day, lovely surroundings, and his accent would lead to success for him later in the evening.

While lost on our way to the Vatican, we found a great view behind the Children’s Hospital, across the rooftops of Rome. 

Finally, we arrived at the Vatican (terribly complicated, have to go through a parking garage, blah blah.  If you go, we recommend going with a tour).  St. Peter’s Basilica is exquisite.  Every single surface is decorated with bas-relief, mosaic, painting, etc.  The detail is overwhelming and you could look for hours, which we did.  Two and half hours, to be exact.   Still, I preferred Santa Maria degli Angeli, which is more intimate.

Unfortunately, we did not have time to go to the Vatican Museum on this visit, so we headed back down the hill and over the river, crossing the bridge at the Castel Sant’Angelo. There was an opera performance going on which we could hear but not see.  As we crossed the river and looked down, we saw that the Rome Film Festival will be starting in a week or two, and they were hard at work setting up meeting places along the banks of the river. 

As it got dark, we made our way down the Via del Giovanni Vecchio, which had some intriguing stores.  They were closed as we passed them, but we resolved to come back that evening and take a look (we later discovered in our guide book that this was THE place to go for good deals).  We also took the time to see the Piazza Navona and the outside of the Pantheon, which we will also see on our tour in a few days.  They were both lit up at night and were quite striking.

Walking up the Via Corso towards the Trevi Fountain, we passed a small covered side street with an altar to the Madonna built into the wall.  It is thought-provoking to be in a country where religion is so integrated into daily life.  As you can see from the photo, people light offerings to the Madonna on a daily basis.  While we stood in the alleyway, trying to get our camera to focus properly, a man came down the cobblestone path, crossing himself as he passed the altar.  I have never felt more like a dorky tourist then in that moment.

Desperate with hunger at this point, we ducked into a small restaurant just off of the main street.  Inside, we were greeted by a cheerful Asian man, who ushered us into a back room.  As with many things in Italy, one often struggles with the concern that you might be taken advantage of as a tourist.  However, the presence of one other young Italian couple, clearly on a date, made us feel more confident.

While waiting for our food, I looked around the restaurant at a few newspaper articles.  One small clipping was a letter from Gourmet magazine from 1979 saying that one of their readers had visited the restaurant and had written a letter to Gourmet extolling the virtues of “squid ink pasta”.  The magazine was requesting the recipe.   Unfortunately, we had already placed our order and couldn’t try it, but our food, when it came, was delicious.  Eric had the gnocchi gorgonzola (it beat Trader Joes hands down, with a much smokier flavor), and I had the waiter’s favorite dish, a pasta with tomato sauce and ham, among other mysterious but delicious things.