Rome Day 2

Vatican City is not an easy venue to get in and requires some planning to make it as painless as possible. Remembering my experience trying to get into the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, I made reservations online to get into the Vatican Museums. One of the benefits is that you can a separate entrance for reservations compared to the line I saw in the morning going around the block. It was easily a few hours of waiting from what I can tell. In my case, it was a 20 minute wait with security screening. Due to the nature of the route given within the Vatican, it is easy to lose part of your group if you don’t pay attention and stick with another.  The Church and its city state grounds were very impressive. The craftsmanship and care given to the interior relays the wealth of the Roman Church. I was not able to see everything at the Vatican area, it is easily a two day expedition between St. Peter’s Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, and underground catacombs.
Hallway inside Vatican

Ceiling of hallway inside Vatican

Tapestries on hallway side inside Vatican

One of the many pictures painted on the walls of the Vatican hallways
St. Peter's Basilica
The walk around the city state tired out the group and wandered into the neighborhood in search of lunch. Wandered into Pizzeria Amalfi for some pizza. It was average tasting. I find the toppings interesting in Italy. There are pizzas with French fries on it. No such thing as meatball pizza either. I also had forgotten how much restaurants in Italy will charge for anything - water, bread, etc.

After lunch, went shopping in the area. We popped into a Vodafone store to ensure that everyone had access to each other without charging an arm and a leg on the US phones. I also needed a USB cable for the GPS I just bought in NYC. Mental note, ensure that GPS includes a data cable not just the vehicle charging cable. The companies must be assuming I've got all the cables and don't need any more.

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