Here are some shots Bill took out of the taxi window as we were getting to to our accomodation –
As we were so fortunate to have our room ready so early, we decided to have our showers and have small nap before we headed out into the warm sun.
We only had a few things on our task list for the afternoon. We had to walk to Termini, get a Roma pass and then from there, hop on a bus and go to St Peter’s to pick up our Mass tickets. That was all!
When we got to Termini, we got our Roma Passes right away (best money we ever spent!) and grabbed a bite to eat.
The Roma Pass gave us 3 days of unlimited public transport and also you can choose two out of a whole lot of attractions to visit that have your entrance included. We used ours for the visit to the Colosseum and also Galleria Borghese. It saved us an easy 2hr+ wait time at the Colleseum – we just walked straight in! For this, the pass was worth every cent.
For lunch we got two arancini (rice balls) and some pizza to share.
This was the only ‘expensive for what you get’ meal we had, but we didn’t mind as we were starving and had to stick to our plan! We got to look over our Roma Passes and double check our maps and plans.
It was them time to board the very hot bus to St Peter’s. The bonus of hopping on at Termini was that we got a seat and could sit back and just look out the window thinking “Oh my gosh we are HERE!” We got off the bus and walked down the narrow streets to St Peter’s Square. In our confirmation letter from the Prefecture of the Papal Household, we were instructed to go to the Bronze Doors to the right of St Peter’s so that is what we were going to be looking for.
Through some of the rooftops we could see the dome and then we were in the Square but our problem was that we had to find the ‘Bronze Doors’ and we had no idea where to find them! We then came across a security guard who pointed in the direction of a queue of people… so we jumped in the queue and went through security. We were then able to ask another security guard about the doors and he pointed us to an area where two Swiss Guards stood. I started to get nervous – we were going to have to talk to them! We crept around a barricade and up the staircase where one guard came over to us – they were so friendly and welcoming!
Here are the Bronze Doors.. it was amazing!!
We showed them our letter and we were ushered inside the lobby area – I wish we could have taken a photo! Then, in a box full of envelopes there was one marked Blevins. They handed it to us and we were so thankful and excited – they probably thought we were a little loony!
I then suggested to Bill as we were leaving that seeing as we were here, why don’t we go into St Peter’s for a visit?
With that we nearly ran inside with excitement.. it was everything I remembered it to be and to turn around and see Bill’s face when we made it to a darkened corner and looked up at the ceiling… it made the whole trip worthwhile. We were home! Well.. that was how it felt.
Being a Friday afternoon there wasn’t that many people or groups there so we got to spend some time wandering around our basilica. After a while, we made it into a far corner and through a doorway and found a gift shop and small museum dedicated to various artifacts from the church through the ages. We bought all of our rosaries, medals and cards here and also a beautiful crucifix for our bedroom. It was beautiful and so exciting and I think it was standing there, near the cupola, that we fell in love with Rome in an instant.
We spent a long time at St Peters and before we knew it, it was then time for dinner. We headed to Abruzzi so this meant getting back on the bus and away from the Vatican area. We had heard about Abruzzi after listening to Lino Rulli (aka the Catholic Guy) on Sirius XM radio and they would always rave about the carbonara (and green sambuca) at Abruzzi. After going around in circles and down tiny streets, we found Abruzzi right at Piazza dei Santi Apostoli.
Here are some views along the way –
I walked up a small alley and at the bottom of some apartments there was a doorway. I walked up and there were ten people in this tiny chapel all praying the rosary. It was so small but it looked like it had been there a long time. It was just gorgeous!
At Abruzzi we sat in a corner and as typical tourists we were eating way too early. We shared a starter of mozzarella and prosciutto and both ordered the carbonara and sat in this tiny restaurant, in awe of what we had just saw and full of anticipation for the coming days.
Our starter –
The famous Carbonara… it was even better than it looks!
Woops –
We tried to linger in Abruzzi after dinner, but our lack of sleep was getting the better of us. Now the lingering is something we had to work on. As visitors, you tend to eat how you are used to. In America that means sit down, order within 5 minutes, food is on your table after another 10 minutes, you eat, order dessert and as soon as you have had your last spoonful of dessert the bill is on your table and you are being ushered out the door. In Italy it is the complete opposite… sit around for one, two, three hours – the table is yours!
So after finding our way back to our bus we squeezed in and made it back to Domus just before our eyes fully closed on us. With all of our ‘have to do’ tasks completed it meant that tomorrow, the city was ours!