Day 11 - 19 Sept 09:
This morning we got to go to the Vatican.
Yesterday Chachi had told us to not join a tour that we didn’t pay for because it was tacky…but today he tells us to do so because that way we don’t have to stand inline between the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica…this is our plan for the day.
We get to the entrance to the Vatican and have to stand in line because it isn’t open yet. Chachi leaves us and meets us later.
Once inside the Vatican you can only go into the Sistine Chapel building from the security checkpoint. The building winds its way through a museum of sorts of Christian art. There is everything from tapestries to paintings to contemporary art as well. We finally got to the Sistine Chapel. I was surprised that it wasn’t round, I had expected it to be round, it was square instead. At first while inside I was not sure that it was the Sistine Chapel but after looking around and seeing all the people and guards walking around making sure that people weren’t taking pictures. Of course Bec and I got some sneaky pictures…who do you take us for?
After leaving the Sistine Chapel we tack onto a tour and walk through the tombs of the Popes. The only security guards were around Pope John Paul II’s tomb. After walking out of the Sistine Chapel we realize that the tour we tacked onto isn’t speaking English…haha…so we find a tour that is speaking English and attempt to follow them into St. Peters Basilica. We made a mistake, it looked like the building of St. Peter’s Basilica was the building we just came out of so we left the tour we were following and just decided to get in on our own.
After we got into St. Peter’s Square we took a look at the line to get into St. Peter’s Basilica and it was horribly long….so what do Bec and I do? Cut about 3,000 people in line! YAY for acting like pushy American Tourists!!! So at this checkpoint to get into St. Peter’s Basilica they are just checking bags. There is a wooden fence that starts the line and then the line wraps around St. Peter’s Square. Bec and I walk over to the wooden fence, just where it ends and when the line moves, we just cut in line….and it works!! We only waited in line for about 10 minutes.
Once inside St. Peter’s Basilica, the church that they have pulled apart Rome for, it is beautiful. There is so much to look at, from the floor to the ceiling and everything on the walls.
Chachi meets us after St. Peter’s Basilica to take us to lunch and a pizza place that is quick so that we can get on the road to Sorrento. The pizza place is small and so we don’t all fit inside. I get inside and get lunch for me and Bec. I get just what looks like bruschetta and cheese pizza. Its only when I get outside that I realize that the ‘bruschetta’ had anchovies on it….Bec and I spilt the cheese pizza and Bec, with her traveler’s hat on, Bec decided to try an anchovy. She spits it out immediately and then gags…needless to say that we threw out the rest of the pizza.
We walk to the train station to meet Idim at the end of the line to get on the bus to drive to Sorrento. We go into the train station and Chachi sends us down to the platform to get on the train. When the train comes, my group assumes that Chachi is with the other group and vice versa. It is about 30 seconds in, that we realize that Chachi isn’t on the train…what to do, what to do….he didn’t tell us exactly where we were going, “Oh Well.” There were too many chiefs and not enough Indians when this problem arose. We get off at the second stop and decide to wait to see if Chachi is on the next train. He is! We get on and meet Idim at the end of the line.
We drive to Pompeii and get our first experience of the mafia. They pay the coach’s parking fees in return for us eating at their restaurant. We have about 20 minutes and then have to meet our tour guide for our walking tour of Pompeii.
1/3 of Pompeii is still under ash and will never be recovered. We saw everything from bakeries to a snack store to the city brothel!! Inside the brothel there were frescos on the wall for the customers to pick as to what they wanted.
On the drive from Pompeii to Sorrento we saw a Lemonade Stand!! It was a giant plastic lemon complete with lemon squeezer!! Too bad we didn’t stop to see how their lemonade compares…
Once in Sorrento it was nice to be in ‘Real Italy.’ There were no other tour buses and we were not hassled at all. We had a bit of free time before dinner and walked around a market street. Some of the stuff was beautiful!!
Dinner was very nice and very Italian!! After dinner we had some more free time until we went to the campsite. Bec, Andrew and I walked to the end of the street and went into an Italian Supermarket and bought some grappa. Chachi told us about his favorite gelato place in all of Italy. There were probably 100 flavors of gelato. It took me about 15 minutes to decide what flavors to get. I decided on chocolate orange, chocolate mousse and a Kinder flavor (Kinder is a brand of candy). It was very very good, if anyone ever goes there it is on the main street in Sorrento and about 3 blocks up on the right-hand side with a waterfall on the inside…you cant miss it.
Once we got to the campsite, we had to walk down a giant hill After getting to our closet of a room, Bec and I walk back up the giant hill to get Wifi!! First Wifi of the trip!! On the way back to our cabins we get lost….we walked around the campsite in the dark for about 30 minutes before meeting up with Amanda and T who are also lost. We get to a point where we see our cabin name on a sign but can’t find it. We start calling ‘Chachi!!!’ and who walks down the hill with his suitcase, CHACHI!!! We are laughing and cracking up so much that he first asks who is sober, Bec and I raise our hands, and he points us in the right direction. Our cabin had a beautiful view of the water. We were bums that night and went to sleep cos we had to leave early the next day.
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