Lots of steps walked today – over 20,000! We did our best to walk all over Rome today. We started the day taking a Uber to the Sistine Chapel. We had hoped to beat the lines and crowd but that strategic move didn’t work. The line to get in was over two city blocks long when we got there before 10:00 this morning.
We walked around St. Peter’s square in front of the Vatican for a bit trying to decide what to do. I felt I couldn’t pass up a chance to see the Sistine Chapel so we joined the long line.
While we were waiting in line a lady came up to talk us into a Skip the Line Ticket. I had a bathroom emergency about that time and ask if she knew where a bathroom was. She walked me to a restaurant which was across a busy street. As my thank you to her I bought two Skip the Line tickets. She went back and got Nicole for me. After a second emergency bathroom stop we joined the group to head into the Chapel at 10:45.
It took over an hour to get in and get started even using the Skip the Line advantage. There were thousands of people there. I had no idea it would take so long of a walk inside to finally reach the Sistine Chapel. We went through chapel after chapel after art gallery and on and on. It took a good hour or more to get through it all. Nicole took lots of pictures again. I tried hard not to have a panic attack from being so close to so many people for so long.
Not sure it was worth going to after we finally got there. Sightseeing and history are not my thing I am discovering. It felt really good to finally get outside again after being trapped with all those people and feeling a bit like a rat in a maze. There are people from all over the world here. Wonder if there is a slow time of the year?
After we left the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican area we walked to another site. I lost track of all the places we went to today. We walked and walked and walked some more. Stopped at a little cafe outside the Vatican for lunch – I had a chicken salad which was OK but not great. We did make it to the Pantheon which is where we had tried to go our first day here.
At some point this afternoon we got on the double-decker bus and rode it to the last stop. When we got off I was hungry so we decided we would walk until we found some place to eat. The restaurants weren’t open yet and all that was available was ice cream and pizza. We kept walking and I finally found a cheese and tomato sandwich. I took the bread off and ate the rest. It gave me enough energy to get the rest of the way to the hotel.
We will need to go out and get dinner later. I think the restaurants open around 7:00. I’m so tired I could almost skip dinner tonight.
Not sure I am in love with Rome. It would not be at the top of my list to come back to at this point. Lots of stuff to look at but after a while I got overwhelmed and didn’t appreciate it. It is expensive to go into all the different sites. We only paid to go into the Sistine Chapel today. We did go inside a little church that was open and free but didn’t stay long.
Got lucky with the weather as the original forecast had called for rain most of the day. We got sprinkled on after our bus ride but it never did rain on us. Forecast calls for rain tonight and all day tomorrow. We are taking a train tomorrow to Florence so the rain shouldn’t interfere with that. I’m glad we have a travel day tomorrow so I can rest.
Wish I knew what causes me to not feel good each morning for several hours. Afternoons I do much better. Not yet in Camino fitness mode but working my way there. It amazes me that I was able to walk 12 miles a day when I did the Camino. Over 8 miles wore me out today.
Grateful for the rain holding off for us today, grateful I was able to walk over 8 miles today, and grateful I can put my feet up for a bit and rest!