Byer Family: Rome (Day 3)

Day 3 in Rome was dedicated to the Vatican City!

After waking up, we ate breakfast in the hotel again before heading over to the "Termina." We took the subway to Vatican City. With our Roma passes, we received free public transportation in Rome for 3 days. The subway was PACKED! We held tight to our bags, as we know that tourists are targeted for theft on the subway.

Once again, upon arriving at the Vatican City, we booked a tour with a tour company. Our tour was to begin at 12pm so that we'd have the morning to attend the Pope's blessing. Additionally, when the Pope visits, St. Peter's Basilica is not open until later in the day.

Once receiving our tour tickets, we walked over to St. Peter's Square. We had heard you need tickets to attend the Pope's blessing, but that was not true. Those with tickets were let in early. We arrived after all the ticket holders had entered, so we were able to walk right in. We arrived around 9:15am, so we had to wait a bit for the Pope to arrive. Had we known, we would have tried to get closer to the gates that were present throughout the Square as the Pope traveled around the Square in his "Pope Mobile." We actually couldn't see the gates with all the people, so we did not know they were there until later in the day once the Square had emptied. We thought the Pope would arrive around 11am, but he actually arrived at 10am. He toured around the Square before giving his blessing over the people. We stayed until the English portion of the blessing. Then, we left to grab a quick lunch before our tour of the Vatican museums.

We ate lunch at a little tent area right outside Vatican City. Prior to lunch, we walked the streets right outside the walls where I was able to find a beautiful rosary for my grandma.

At noon, we met up with our tour group to tour the Vatican museums and the Sistine Chapel. Both were beautiful. You cannot take pictures in the Sistine Chapel, and we were told there has been some conversations about closing it or limiting days during the week in which it is open. An average of 20,000 people pass through the chapel each day.

We toured St. Peter's Basilica on our own. It was spectacular. We also walked through the grottos beneath the chapel where many saints are buried.

Once exiting St. Peter's Basilica, we spent some more time in St. Peter's Square. We took some pictures of the magnificent space and of the Vatican City guards.

Once we were finished with our tours, we walked to Old Bridge for gelato. It was recommended to us, and it was very good!

We once again took the subway back towards our hotel and stopped at the Spanish Steps to admire the history there.

We topped off the night with dinner at Ristorante Pizzeria Colonne. We LOVED this restaurant! It was one of our favorites during the trip and most definitely our favorite in Rome.