It's Vatican city day! For us, we only needed to walk because we stayed really close by. Otherwise, it could be reached with metro. You should stop at Ottaviano station then walk out. Our itinerary at the Vatican was:
Vatican Museum (our tickets were at 9.30am) - Sistine Chapel - Scavi tour (2pm) - St. Peter's basilica
You can NOT use your Roma Pass in the Vatican City (because it's not part of Rome). Here is one golden tip for visiting the Vatican Museum: book your tickets online and print it out. Seriously. It will save you at least 2 hours of queue in front of it under the sunshine. It's really easy, just go ahead and click here. Yes it will cost a little bit more, but that's totally nothing compared to the few hours you will have to queue for. And also, for those that would love to join the Scavi tour (the tour underground St. Peter's Basilica to see the old Roman mausoleums and St. Peter's tomb), be sure to reserve for the tickets few weeks earlier. They don't have an online website service but you can send them an email to scavi@fsp.va stating:
1. The exact number of visitors
2. The full names
3. Language
4. The date
5. Contact information
We're quite lucky cos we only emailed them a week before our arrival and the response was very prompt: the next day.
The Vatican Museum was totally amazing... and no, we didn't join the tour. The reason we didn't join the tour at the Vatican Museum was because it's expensive and might not be worth it. Because through the forums and other websites we went through, our time to savour every part of the museum will be very limited. Well, it's up to you but since my partner is very into photography, I bet he wouldn't like to be limited. So, instead, we rented an audio guide at only 7 euro per person. It's in English and we could pause and play anytime we wanted. ;) But please have your ID card ready because they required you to deposit that while you're renting it. And no, credit card or ATM card wouldn't work. Don't even try.
I think we spent about 3 hours or so there and then had lunch at the canteen/cafeteria. They had many types of lunch set (Italian and American, mostly) and inexpensive. It only cost us both 18 euro. :) After lunch, we quickly rushed to the St. Peter to find the Excavation office. But first of all, for you who are bringing lots of carry-ons or backpacks, be sure to deposit them at the Basilica (I'm not sure where it is, sorry!) before getting to the office. And the office is really really really hard to find. I think we asked around 5 times to get there! I can't be sure how to guide you either, but I'll try. First of all, the place is NOT within the St. Peter's compound, to be more precise it's on the east wing of St. Peter's square itself. You will most probably arrive at the west wing (like we did!) but trust me, just keep walking through the square. When you're already at the east wing and if you don't see the Swiss Guard, ask around for "Excavation office or Ufficio Scavi". Show the Swiss Guard your reservation printout and you're good to go to the office. It's really only a very small office with an indescribably rude guy sitting at the desk. The reason why we said he's effin' rude was because we were not aware of the bag deposit thing, but good thing because we didn't carry that much of thing, so we're permitted to go in.
The Scavi tour is a must visit not only for Catholics but for everyone because it's all about the Roman mausoleum history which was very spectacular to see. The tour was about half to an hour long with a friendly tour guide called Laura.
Out from the Scavi tour, we visited the St. Peter's Basilica. I almost broke down in awe when I was in there... it's really really beautiful. We didn't spend that long inside though.
The next destination was the Pantheon, the temple to all gods. It has a beautiful altar and with a rounded hole at the roof. We heard that it got prettier during rainy day because you could see rain pouring down through that hole at the roof. Too bad when we went there it's simply scorching hot.
After snapping some pictures, we went on to go to Gianicolo (Janiculum Hill in English) to capture Rome during sunset and of course, to savour every romantic second together :) It may be a long walk, but be not discouraged because you will come across the Il Gelato di San Crispino along the way (who's said to have the best gelato in Rome!) and then also the Piazza Navona! Piazza Navona let me have the real experience to be in Italy with painters selling their artworks all around, accordion music being played, restaurants/cafes lining up the little road and of course the beautiful fountain in the center where people sit around it. :) It's a nice place to sit down for a while before carrying on the walk.
Walking up the Gianicolo may be dreadful for some (it was for me! And FYI, I'm probably the least active person on earth. I hate exercising :P) but trust me, it's WORTH IT! To forget about all the exhaustion, try to look what's around you.. the flowers... the trees... the people with their dogs enjoying their evening time... they are all so beautiful it's gonna make you forget all your exhaustion and sweat.
And once you reach up there, keep that camera away and just watch the beautiful sunset with your loved on. The sun setting with the yellow-ish ray painting all over Rome... it's truly beautiful and romantic. (And hint hint, for guys who have been preparing for 'the moment', Gianicolo might be one of the best places to do it! There aren't too many people around, and if there are, they are most likely NOT tourists and they will not care because everyone will be too immersed in the romance mood...)
We spent really long time there before heading back to Trastevere for our dinner! We ate at Antica Osteria Rugantino and ordered the set menu again. It cost us both 29 Euro, but really reasonable because we both had white wine along with our food.
And then we took the same bus going home...
Vatican museum:
Open Mon-Sat 9am - 4pm. Museum closes at 6pm
Ticket costs 15 Euro per person (additional of 3 Euro if booked online, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)
Scavi tour:
Open Mon-Fri 9am - 6pm. Saturday 9am - 5pm.
Tickets costs 12 Euro per person (book online through email)
Il Gelato di San Crispino
Open Mon-Sat 9am - 7pm
Metro: Barberini Fontana di Trevi
Via della Panetteria, 42
066 793924
Antica Osteria Rugantino
Via della Lungaretta 54
065818517 (might need a reservation if on weekends)
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