European Vacation: Day 6

I woke up this morning feeling absolutely horrible. My throat hurt, I was stuffy, sneezing and my head was foggy. You could say I was really looking forward to spending all day at the Vatican in 86 degree Fahrenheit weather wearing the dress code of no knees or shoulders showing skin. Krysti and I stopped at a "pharmacia" (pharmacy) to pick up some OTC cough drops. The man did not speak much English, but I was able to point at my throat and wince until he knew what I needed. The instructions of course were in Italian, which I do not speak, so I took a couple within an hour. We later figured out the instructions with what little Italian we'd picked up and found that the suggested dose was 1 every 2-3 hours.

Meanwhile, Krysti and I arrived at Vatican City with just enough time to spare to walk around the square and admire the cathedral's exterior. We previously purchased admission to the Vatican museums online, so we skipped the 4 hour wait at no extra cost. We didn't end up purchasing a guided tour which left me needlessly crabby (sorry Krysti!) because I have little to no background in art history and had no idea what I was looking at. On further reflection, I don't think I could have handled any more time in the Vatican museum than we were in there for, so the lack of knowledge is something I can really live with.

We started in the museums, and my excess of medication started to kick in. I felt high, not in a good way, but "fuzzy headed" and possibly had an out-of-body experience. Regrettably, partially because I didn't know what I was looking at and mostly due to the illness and my mental state, I pretty much walked the museum unable to absorb much. In retrospect, again, I'm not sure I could have handled much more anyway. Krysti seemed to enjoy it, which ensures that it was not a complete loss and I'm hopeful that I didn't ruin it for her with my constant complaining and crabbiness.

The parts that stood out the most to me were the sarcophaguses of Emporer Constantine's wife and daughter, the room full of marble busts, the set of rooms Raphael himself painted, and of course the Sistine Chapel.

The entrance to St. Peter's Basilica

Krysti and me in front of St. Peter's Basilica

One of the sculptures in the Vatican Museums

The sarcophagus of Emperor Constantine's daughter or wife

The map room at the Vatican Museums

One of the walls in Raphael's painted rooms

The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (photo courtesy of Krysti)

My "high" fortunately died just before our guided tour of St. Peter's Basilica. The guided tour was a great purchase, mostly because our guide was as knowledgeable as he was entertaining. The tour focused mostly on the history of the Vatican and kept (for the most part) away from the religion to mine and Krysti's relief.

The Vatican guard outside the Vatican

The entrance to St. Peter's Basilica

Inside the Basilica, the letters along the top stand about 2m high

The Pieta in the Basilica, carved by Michelangelo

The actual body of Pope John Paul I, displayed in the Basilica

The dome in the Basilica and the Baldaccino, protecting the supposed grave of St. Peter

Looking toward the entrance from inside the Basilica

Pope John Paul II's memorial, 1 of 2 stones in the floor.

We stopped at a small "trattoria" (small restaurant) for lunch/dinner and we both had tortellini and a vegetable. I had red wine, which was delicious, and started to feel feverish so I had some gelato. I'm pretty sure I'll never appreciate American ice cream again.

I was fortunately able to take a long nap into the evening and woke up refreshed with a headache, but absent of a fever, stomach pains and general achiness.

Krysti and I then took a walk down by the Tiber and among some shops where I purchased a new suitcase (yay!) and Krysti bought some jewelry. We went down by the river and had some cocktails and pizza and just people watched for a few hours. The weather and the people are so nice, and there was music playing (both American pop and Italian). One of the servers became enamored with Krysti and asked her if she was into Italian men, which is entertaining because her boyfriend is Italian. We walked back to the hostel, which was a slight experience because I somehow managed to lose my map. Fortunately we had another and an iPhone to direct our way.

A bridge over the Tiber River lit up at night

The two of us with our drinks on the banks of the Tiber river. To my right is my new suitcase.

Tomorrow, we are going to Sperlonga, a resort/beach nearby. The only part about this that makes me nervous is that all of the trains appear to be "full" on our hostel's computer. Here is hoping that it is just a glitch in the website, because the girl working the front desk seemed to be very confused by it and assured us that it was very uncommon. Here's hoping! If not, there is a less nice beach we can get to via metro.