Day 1 : The Vatican City

26th June 2006 (Monday)

I got up early, about 5am. It was already quite bright out. Then we packed our luggage (didn't really unpack anyway), and trudged two doors away to Hotel Assisi. Beautiful beautiful hotel. Really. Compared to the dump we were in. And, the best thing, we paid the same rate as we did for the dump! The very nice person-in-charge at Hotel Assisi agreed to charge us 120euros per night for a quad-room, with attached bathroom AND buffet continental breakfast! He allowed us to check in early (at 7am in the morning!), so we dumped our luggage in the really spacious room, after we were satisfied that the windows could be opened at night and the ceiling fan provided us more than enough cool air :) [I put up an online review of the hotel]

We trudged across the street to this cafe where we were to have our breakfast (included in our rate for Friendship Place). Had a cappucino and a piece of cake. I thought it wouldn't fill me, but maybe, due to jet lag or the magic in that piece of cake, it kept me filled until noon. The cafe was nice. Too bad we didn't step into it again after we left Friendship Place.

We walked to the Laundromat on our way to Termini. A guy at the laundromat said that the person-in-charge wasn't there yet, so we told him we'd return the keys later, but left a message saying that we weren't staying.

The 4 of us then went to Termini bus terminal, found a bus to Vatican City and got on it. And because we arrived at Vatican City at about 8.45am, there was no queue into St Peter's. Just a security line to check bags and metal detectors and someone ensuring you're wearing appropriate attire. St Peter's Basilica is beautiful, really. And we saw the Swiss Guards in those jester-like outfits. (Italian men are so handsome).

We finished at St Peter's at about 11.30am. We then asked around how to get to the famed Sistine Chapel. Oh boy. I didn't know we had to line up again! And the line! The longest ever line I've ever seen in my 26 years on earth. We were in it for 2 1/2 hours! In the hot hot Italian sun that burned worse than anything I've ever felt in KL. Really, not kidding here. The queue just wound all around the walls. JC and I popped off to some bar to pack sandwiches to eat while queueing, and those were the best sandwiches we ever had. Really. Not because of the queue, but it really is unfortunate that we can't remember the name of the place. I just know it's opposite the line winding towards Sistine Chapel. Apparently this line occurs daily, every single day of the year. Goodness.

We were really exhausted after queueing for so long. It was a real relief to finally enter the Sistine Chapel, with its air-conditioned lobby. But because we had queued so long, of course we had great expectations. Which, of course, is not good. The ceilings were wondrous, really, truly amazing works of art. But, the Sistine Chapel is over-rated. We had to queue for ages, and pay about 12 euros to enter, per person. I'd advise those not-so-appreciative-of-art to skip this. Because the 2.5 hours spent queueing is just not worth it. Maybe 30 minutes, maybe an hour, but 2.5 hours is not fair barter for what's in it. However, here's a glimpse of what's great inside.

We finished rather quickly with Sistine Chapel, got out at about 4.30pm, I think. Back into the hot sun. We then went to the Trevi Fountain and threw coins over our left shoulder with our right hand. Apparently, you'll come back to Rome after doing that. We'll see about that. Then we went to look for the "best gelato in Rome" - San Crispino. Found it! And boy, is it yummy!! Expensive, but yummy.

This was also the same evening that Italy entered the semi-finals for World Cup, so there was ecstasy on the road, with honking motors and waving flags from ecstatic Italians.

We then went back, and had dinner in this Ristorante Regina, near our hotel. Tried the pasta. Again, not too impressed with Italian pasta.

We then found a water source, an eternal water source. The water was ice cold and ran constantly. There are spigots like these all over Rome, and we used it to fill our water bottles throughout our stay in Rome. Yay, free water, no more paying a bomb for clean drinking water. We then walked back to our hotel, happily settling our full tummies in to a comfortable room with a clean bathroom :)