SATURDAY MARCH 4, 2017
Disappointingly, Italian breakfast is nothing like American breakfast. I am so used to having a full meal of eggs, bacon, waffles, etc. I do not know if it was because we were at a bed and breakfast or not, but our breakfast consisted of small on-the-go foods like toast, mini muffins, coffee, fruit, etc. After breakfast, we headed straight to Vatican City for our guided tour of the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's Bascilica. The day before SAI staff had instructed us to wear clothing that covered our body in entirety and once in Vatican City we completely understood why. The security around the city and the museum was extremely intimidating. There were military soldiers walking around with huge machine guns in hand up against gigantic walls that encased Vatican City. Fun Fact: We learned that Vatican City is it's own country independent of Rome, Italy. If I had known this prior to the trip, I would have totally brought my passport with me to be stamped. Our tour guide's name was Romina and she honestly did not leave a great impression on the group. The tour itself was incredibly long because the museum is so vast, so Romina's long boring excerpts about the history of the building did not help with being easily distracted by all the artwork everywhere all throughout the museum. Also, I just was annoyed by Romina almost hitting me in the head with her flagstick twice. In spite of this, the artwork did keep my interest intrigued because the details of every painting, sculptures and arrangements was so intricate. It was explained to us that a lot of buildings, such as churches and prayer rooms, in Italy have artwork on the ceiling because of the allusion of looking upward towards the Lord. Italian architecture is very elegant. And, I noticed that a lot of the artwork had political connections to historical events. Admittedly, the Sistine Chapel was a bit if a let down. The artwork was astounding but once we were in the chapel there were loud guards yelling at people to remain silent and not take pictures while in the chapel. Also, the chapel was extremely overcrowded; so I could not comfortably enjoy the experience.
After the tour, we had lunch at a restaurant that was recommended to us by a local, named Caffe Miani. It was a couple blocks from Vatican City and the food was absolutely amazing! I had a seafood pasta with clams, shrimps, scallops and a special sauce. The servers at the restaurant had such gregarious personalities and were so welcoming to out big group. Afterwards, we did some more souvenir shopping in the city and then later went to diner.
We had dinner at a restaurant that was on the way back to the bed and breakfast (I honestly do not remember the name of it, sorry). We all had the honor of tasting the amazingly sweet red wine named Brachetto D'Acqui. Once we got to look at the menu, I noticed this was one of the few restaurants that offered both mixed drinks and wine, so I decided to try one of the mixed drinks. I had a Cuba Libre, which is basically an Italian version of rum and coke. The drink was delicious and went well with my spaghetti and meatball. The meal came with one big meatball on top on of a pile of noodles. Apparently, contrary to what the rest of the world thinks, Italians do not normally match together spaghetti and meatballs.
