For our first full day in Rome, we woke to see the amazing view of Rome below our hotel. Stunning.
We fueled up on a wonderful breakfast at the hotel buffet, and then caught a cab to the Vatican Museum.
We were in a hurry getting out of the cab, and I got ripped off by the driver, but that's the danger of traveling in a foreign country, and I learned my lesson - never hurry when dealing with cab drivers.
The entrance to the museum had changed a lot from the time I'd come over a decade earlier. You now enter through this new modern entrance just to the left of the original entrance. It is quite impressive now.
I was reminded at just how amazing this palace/museum/gallery is. The collections of Greek, Roman, and Renaissance Art go on and on.
The museum is massive and oh so impressive.
Few art collections can begin to match this amazing collection of art accumulated by the Catholic Church. I was told that the full museum contains about 4 miles of art.
Even Tony was impressed and liked this museum.
I particularly liked seeing some of the intermediary Bernini Studio pieces, which showed the method by which the large sculptures that came out of his studio were produced.
I find it interesting that the Vatican Museum also houses a large collection of Egyptian art, which includes mummies and religious artifacts.
I'd like to believe that this shows a certain degree of respect on the part of the Catholic Church for other cultures and their respective religions, or at least perhaps an appreciation for their art.
One room that impressed me a lot on my first visit was just as impressive on this one - the Map Room. The amount of detailing in the maps and decor of the room is so beautiful.
We weren't allowed to take pictures in the Sistene Chapel, but we were able to snap some in the recently restored Rafael Rooms, which were magnificent.
Tony was awestruck by most of it.
On my last visit, I skipped the Museum's Modern Art collection. This time, I paused for a bit to take it in.
Chagall, Picasso, and Dali are all represented in the collection as well as many others.
It was fascinating to note how the religious subject matter was interpreted by various artist throughout history, and how it will be continued to be reinterpreted in different artistic styles and mediums.
We'd spent about 2-3 hours in the museum, and it was clear that Tony was starting to get antsy. We exited the museum through what I remembered as the old entrance.
The picturesque spiral staircase afforded us some fun photos.
Having survived the Vatican Museum, it was time for some gelato. Our hotel's concierge had recommended a famous gelato place called "The Old Bridge".
Right on the path from the Vatican Museum to the entrance to St. Peter's Basilica, it is a perfect place to pause and relax on a nice afternoon. It also proved to be the best gelato we had while we were in Rome.
We wandered up to St Peter's Basilica. It really is an impressive church. It's massive courtyard out front, the setting for the large outdoor mass performed by the Pope.
The front facade looming up and overhead, at once both entreating and imposing. Showing both majesty and intimidation.
The vatican is often held up as a concrete symbol of God's physical beauty and strength. An image of both endurance and corruption. It isn't hard to see why such opinions are played out here.
The interior is amazing. The high vaulted ceilings draw the eye heavenward to such beauty and majesty.
It truly is one of the most amazingly beautiful church in the world.
We were there in the late afternoon, and the interior was bathed in the most beautiful golden lightbeams. It created a very heavenly effect.
Bernini's altar and Michaelangelo's dome not to mention his scupture of the Pieta (which was mobbed) really are the stars in this building architecturally.
It is impossible not to be overwhelmed by this church, and drawn into its majesty. The building itself is a work of art.
And I think everyone, Catholic or not, become part of the Catholic Church during the visit. I even touched the famous foot on the statue of St. Peter. As they say, "when in Rome. . ."
That evening, we went to the Pantheon, the oldest continuously occupied building in Rome. And it is truly a magnificent piece of Roman architecture.
A lot of people don't realize that this building is about 1500 years older than the Vatican. It actually is a Roman building and it is still standing in amazing condition given its age.
It contains the remains of two Italian Kings Vittorio Emanuelle II and Umberto I. It is also the burial site of famous renaissance artist, Rafael.
The building is an architectural treat, and an amazing testament to the engineering prowess of the Romans.
Truly spectacular.
We had dinner that evening at "Armando's al Pantheon", Mark's favorite restaurant on the planet, which is definitely saying something as Mark is a good chef in his own right.
It is a cute little family style restaurant just a couple blocks from the Pantheon.
Tony ordered his favorite pasta dish, "Spaghetti Carbonara". I ordered it as well, as it is truly a classic Roman pasta dish. It was delicious tasting of egg, cheese, and pancetta.
Mark ordered another pasta dish that became the signature dish for the weekend, "Cacio e Pepe" (Cheese and Pepper). It is a very simple dish made with spaghetti, cheese and pepper. Surprisingly delicious.
We ordered some beautiful appetizers and a wonderful bottle of wine. Mark treated us to a really, really nice bottle of Barbaresco.
For dessert, we had a specialty of the restaurant called a, "Roman Torte". It was much like a ricotta cheesecake with layered fruit and struesel.
After our wonderful meal, we wandered the atmospheric streets around the Pantheon. Much of the layout goes all the way back to Roman times.
Rome is a great city to explore, and it is terrific to see it at night all lit up.
One never knows what one might find on some ancient back alley in this exotic city.
Perhaps a toyshop filled with Pinochio puppets
or a delicatessen with the largest salami you've ever seen.
We made our way over to a coffee shop that I'd been refered to by friends as having the best coffee in Rome.
It was a cute little shop where they roast all of their own coffee. They work with growers in South America to help them grow and sell their coffee, and the profits from the shop go to help the restoration effort of the nearby St Eustachio Cathedral for which the shop is named.
They were, however, very secretive about their method in making the perfect cup of espresso. And it was good too.
We ended our day at the hotel for our nightly glass of grappa. The hotel bar manager, knowing that Mark was a Hilton executive, took very good care of us. He brought around a cart with many types of Grappa including one that was the Gold Medal winner for that year.
It was Mark's birthday weekend, and they presented him with a cake to eat with the grappa. We each had a glass, which turned into two. You know after a couple glasses, grappa actually starts to taste good. . .
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