Vatican City

To be perfectly honest, today was not fabulous.  We woke up to pouring rain, like home in November.  We knew we'd have rain on this trip, but we didn't realize Rome's entire annual precipitation would occur this week.

Anyway, today was the last chance to see Vatican City, so J and M set out early to do the museum (including the Sistine Chapel), the plan being that the boys and I would meet up with them in a few hours in St. Peter's Square, and we would all go through the basillica (church) together.  About 45 minutes before the appointed time, we headed down there, on tram #19 that our neighbors/new friends/maintenance people told us about.  It was handy and easy and took us right to the Vatican. But I inadvertently rode without a ticket, so that was a little stressful!  Thankfully i didnt get busted!  When we got to the square, I knew we were in trouble.  First of all, it was raining SO hard.  We had on heavy coats/hoods/hats, but no umbrella. I really couldn't hold one because C was in the stroller, and with my other hand I was grasping G's hand.  Which brings me to the second problem.  There were SO many people.  Just a sea of brightly colored umbrellas against the gray downpour.  The line for the Vatican Museum was so long that it wound for several blocks- to St. Peter's Square.  (Which doesn't mean much to most of you but,  trust me, it's stinkin long.)  We went ahead and made our way to where we were supposed to meet J and M but it was obvious that there was no way that they were done with the museum, and even if they were, the chances of us finding each other were slim.  That place was packed!  I heard someone say that the line for thd basillica was 4 hours long!!!  And of course by this time, G was totally soaked from his toes to his knees.  Totally.  Think of how wet your pants would be if you waded into knee deep water, and that's about how it was.  If you know our G, you know that being wet, or having wet clothes is one of the 'things' that sets him totally over the edge.  But I was very proud of him- he really kept his cool and stayed calm even though I'm positive he was miserable.  C was in a little better shape since he was in the stroller with the shade down, and I'd put 2 pairs of pants on him.  Once I realized the original plan was out the window, we headed right back to tram #19.  (This time I bought a ticket.)  I was hoping that J would survey the scene and realize why I wasnt there.  I have to say that it was painful to be right next to the basillica- the biggest church in the world- and not be able to go inside.  It really is an unimaginablely amazing place.  Anyhow, the boys and I headed home, warmed up, dried off, and played games.

I was getting a little worried when 3 hours past the meeting time had come and gone and still no J and M.  Finally, nearly 4 hours later, they showed up.  When I heard how their morning went, I realized ours wasn't so bad.

They had arrived at the line for the museum at around opening time.  They hopped in line but couldn't see the front of it, because it twisted around a corner.  Joel couldn't step out of line to see where the beginning was because he didn't want them to lose their spot (hoards of people arriving), and couldn't leave M alone in line.  And so they waited.  And waited and waited...for 3 hours.  J said that M was a trooper and didn't complain, but they were pretty miserable.  As it turns out, they were still in line at our meeting time, and for an hour after.  Once they finally got in, they had to somewhat hurry because it was almost closing time and they wanted to be sure to have time for the Sistine Chapel (which was the whole point).  They enjoyed what they did see though, and loved the Sistine Chapel.  When they were all done, there were 2 options to exit- 1 directly into the basillica (therefore skipping the hoards and line outside) and the other straight out into the square.  (The entrance to the museum is several blocks away.)  J, having no idea about the lines to enter the basillica from the square, thought he could exit the museum, make sure we weren't out there, and still tour the church without having to wait in any more lines.  No such luck!  I am so bummed that none of us got to see the basillica!

It continued to pour and be freezing the rest of the day.  We still haven't figured out the heaters here- they come on faithfully each morning and evening, but there are a few hours in the afternoon that we are COLD.

We are here until Monday morning and then we head to Tuscany.  We are super excited about our place there.  We aren't sure what we are doing for Easter tomorrow.  If it's not raining, we may head down to St Peters again just to experience that, but we'll see.

Ciao.

J and the mummy at Vatican Museum.

Sent from my iPhone