SKIP THE LINE!
Dear Caroline,
One thing Mamie had on her list was the Sistine Chapel. Having experienced the insanity of the Vatican with your parents I wasn’t exactly keen to relive it so instead I brought Mamie to St. Peter’s square and basilica.
Mamie’s B&B is perfectly situated where right in front is a bus that can take you pretty much anywhere, and today it took us to St Peter’s. She said that Disney took her to the Basilica but it’s quite an incredible structure that seems to be a footnote in her remembrance of the cruise.
When we arrived at St Peter’s square the line to enter the Basilica was as long as the perimeter, there was no way we were going to wait in that line. We walked the square a bit, I showed Mamie the optical illusions of the square (by the way it’s not even a square it’s an oval), and I thought since we are here we might as well try and see the Basilica. When I came with your parents and their guide we entered from a side entrance with no lines, I figured we could do it again. I took us to the area where I was just a week previous and realized that the entrance we had used was the exit from the Sistine chapel. Since we had already gone through security in the Vatican museum we by passed the security line for the Basilica, and this security check point was what made the line so long. Then I noticed a guard standing in a tent near an entrance with no line, and I asked if we could pass as Mamie is a senior and standing in the sun for 4 hours was not going to work for her, and he graciously let us pass. We skipped the line and went right on to the Basilica.
When you see the Basilica you really only see the front of it, but when you walk in it feels like it could go on forever, and I’m only just realizing this now. There were parts I thought I had seen but didn’t, and from Mamie’s awe I don’t think we saw this either. We walked every nook and cranny of the place. We even found a corridor that led to a hidden gift shop and the museum of treasures. I feel now like I’ve seen it all, and Mamie has cross another thing off her list.
When we got back to the city Center we had some time for lunch and the Pantheon. I had class for the afternoon so I left Mamie in my school lobby, where I thought she’d stay. She didn’t. I came out on my break looking for her and I couldn’t find her. After class she magically returned with tales of her walk around the school’s neighbourhood. I’m really impressed, last time I just went for a walk in Rome I got lost.
Since Mamie wasn’t fond of pasta I thought we’d try Aperitivo, which is just Italian for appetizers. Right around the corner from my school is Mr 100 Tiramisu, where I brought your parents for dessert. Mamie got the Caprese and I got the Tagliere (charcuterie), and we both finished with a tiramisu. For Mamie a dark chocolate orange tiramisu and for me Caramel Pecan. Not as good as the snickers one but still pretty good.
