catholic- no thanks, im mormon

another early morning in rome. we aimed to leave at 6 45 to get to the vatican on time, however it ended up being closer to 7 05 by the time we were actually on our way. I dont know if i have ever 'walked' that fast for the amount of time. the vatican was on the complete opposite side of the city and our reservation was for 8. I was terrified if we were late they wouldnt let us in, and that we would get lost again. After close to running, and being as stressed as could be for the entire walk, we got there a little after 8. but the vatican is huge and we werent quite sure where to go. we asked a man and he helped point us towards the vatican museum. we made it and were let in with no fuss. I was nervous because the reservation was never sent to my email, so i had just printed off the receipt- but it went off without a hitch.

welcome to the vatican.

once inside it took a few moments to let my blood pressure get back down to a normal place, and to just calm down and breathe. i didnt want to go in feeling all frazzled. the museums were amazing though! and the vatican beautiful. the ceilings were impecible and there was just statue after statue, painting after painting. we were sooo excited to see the sistine chapel, and on ever sign it would say this way to the sistine chapel so we quickly look at everything so we could get there. we finally made it after much anticipation, and to be honest it was a little bit of a let down. dont get me wrong michaelangelo- amazing! and the paintings were beautiful- however, the presentation wasnt the best. it was in a dark crowded room, and there were guards constantly 'shh'ing the crowd. after coming from the other rooms where the ceilings we lit and looked absolutely amazing- the sistine wasnt as breath taking as i thought it would be. dont get me wrong though- still amazing! still beautiful!

hercules. he was very shiny and big. ps this is not what it looks like, but it kind of comical

we like acting out statues. a lot. 

there were so many statues- these two were pretty great.

the sistine chapel- beautiful. this might have been a covert picture taking operation. no pictures were allowed. whoops. 

after going through the first part of the museum we sat outside and enjoyed clif bars to take a break before going back in for round two. word of wisdom. brownie fudge clif bar, kind of weird. the grounds were beautiful though, and there were lemon trees which made me think of peter, paul, and mary- and my childhood.

we are the cutest. yay clif bars

lemon trees!

the beautiful look out of the vatican from the museums.

we then went back in and the first thing we saw was a replica of michaelangelo's pieta, which is one of my favorite statues and i got so very excited. the real one was in st peters, this was a cast they had made in 1970ish which actually is more correct than the actual statue because a few years later a man chipped of the nose and some other parts of the real one. luckily, they had the cast and were able to fix the real one.


we then continued onward and saw a display of faberge eggs, which were stunning and soo ornate. but when we got out of the next section we couldnt find lauren. after many 'search' missions, she finally came out apologizing profusely. she had gotten distracted by some of the paintings and couldnt find us. by this time we were tired of walking, and had kind of gotten all museumed out having been there for around four hours- so we decided to take a lunch break before heading over to st peters. on the way out we stopped at the gift shop and cali and i had a nice chat about supply and demand. it was amazing to see that some posters cost more than others just because they were of the sistine chapel. (jonathan this one's for you) its crazy how you can see economics everywhere.

my favorite.

we left the museum and right down the street we saw a pizzeria that looked good and authentic so we made our way down to see what the prices looked like. one thing i love about europe is that all the restaurants will post their menu outside. that way you can check the prices and make sure there is something that you would want. it looked good, and we were sold.


before venturing inside to ask if they were open cali and i took some pictures. it was great, this old italian man came out of the restaurant and jumped in one of the pictures with me- it made my day.

my favorite old italian. he is the bestest. and this place was the greatest place for lunch.

the pizza was amazing- and huge! and the service was great! they gave us free bread (lauren had been very distraught over the fact that no places gave free bread) and free water. i got a four cheese pizza which was the most delicious thing ever. but i was full after eating a quarter of it. Cali wouldnt have it and made me eat the whole thing. I didnt want to- and i already felt like i was going to throw up- but she was not sympathetic at all.

yay free water!

and free bread!

our yummy, and huge pizzas

lauren trying pizza even with the cheese. might not have been the smartest to give her a slice of my four cheese pizza.

our food babies after finishing the pizza.

after being filled to the brim there was nothing to do but get gelato. trying to get away from my hazelnut love i got nutella. forgetting that nutella is a hazelnut chocolate spread. we found some steps outside the vatican and just sat and enjoyed our gelato.

i could eat this all day.

the steps outside the vatican where we enjoyed our gelato.

after food, we went back to wait in line to go into st peter's. the line wrapped around the entire square, but considering we had yet to wait in any lines (besides the bathroom) we figured we could wait. I was all set for over an hour wait, but the line moved way fast and we were in within a half hour.

st. peter's square.

the line that wrapped around the square. at one point someone cut in front of us without us realizing and the lady behind us let us know- only she didnt speak english. it was a fun game of charades.

the vatican was great. you had to have your shoulders covered and long pants or skirts. the pictures were my favorite because the belt looked like you were allowed to show midriff. it was great.

walking into st. peters.

the first thing you see when you walk in is the peita, and i couldnt believe it. it was amazing. it was behind glass, because of the incident of vandalism- but it was still breath taking. the whole basillica was amazing. cali overheard a tour guide saying that whatever you thought it was, it was. if it looked like gold, it was gold. if it looked like bronze, it was bronze. it was one of the most ornate and extravagant buildings i have ever seen. im sure my eyes were on sensory overload trying to take it all in, but it was interesting- i couldnt help but think of my catholic friends and realize that this building would have so much more meaning for them. for me it was just a beautiful building, but for them it is so much more.

the peita and st peters. so so beautiful.

crashing after a full day at the vatican.

pretty fountain. but funny story of the day. notice cali on the right. this is her showing her ripped pants. yes that is right, her pants ripped. being the good friend i am, i laughed. a lot.

after the vatican we made our way over to trastevere. which is a cute little part of rome. it was absolutely perfect. we found an adorable alley way- where we of course took tons of pictures, and then went and ate more gelato on the steps of a fountain, and then made our way to the island that is on the river.  on the way we stopped at to get a crepe. it was the best crepe i had ever eaten. oh brother. i could have lived off that crepe forever. so so good. at the island we just sat and looked at the river- avoiding the man tanning in a speedo on the sidewalk. we then headed over to the piazza navona. on the walk over we stopped at some street vendures. i found a cardigan i loved for only 8 pounds, meaning i could get it lower, but i used restraint because i have enough cardigans to clothe a small army. cali found a cute swim suit cover for 12 and got it down to 10- we walked down a little ways and the next vender had the same dress originally priced for 10. it was a sad sad day.

the adorable alley way. we embarrassed holly by the number of pictures we took. but we made other tourists stop and take pictures of it because they saw us. we felt cool.

i didnt get hazelnut! miracle! i got strawberry and yogurt- so yummy

we had fun with the gelato. we are nerds. and cali didnt want any- it didnt work  very well for her.

soaking in the italian atmosphere at the fountain.

while sitting we saw all these bikers, and i could help but think of my dad. my vote for our next family reunion. bike trip in italy.

on the way we saw this truck. we had seen them throughout the week, and i loved them. italy has tiny cars. i love it. there were so many smartcars and then this little guy. so great.

i salivate just looking at this. mmmmm.

so so excited.

the buildings on the island.

pondering at the river.

we finally made it to the piazza navona- and i loved it. it was such a fun atmosphere- there were art venders all over selling amazing paintings. ive never wanted a house of my own to decorate more in my life. when we were walking in we stopped to look at a street performer (he was stuck, not moving, in a windy day- using wires and such- it was cool) and cali saw a potential pickpocket. i guess he was standing close looking at my purse- lucky for me it was zipped and tucked tightly under my arm. but i was so jealous i didnt see the guy. 

while walking through cali and i both saw these groups of paintings we loved- but both thought we couldnt get them because we had no way of getting them home, but we sat there and stewed on the paintings and figured out that we could fit them in our backpack if we got the smaller size. so we got them. it was a set of thee black and white etchings of different places in rome. it was wonderful though, because you could pick any three. i got the colosseum, trevi, and then vatican city to help remember the trip years from now. i am so excited to have it hang in my apartment. now all i need is a frame.

after the piazza we headed home but took a detour past the trevi so we could see it at night. it was beautiful. we stopped to get magnets for hollys family and then homeward bound. we had past this stand every night walking home and it made me think of jonathan. economics really is everywhere!