Much to the surprise of the folks at the guesthouse, we are up very early to get a head start on both the crowds & the blistering wave of heat that has settled in Rome for the duration of our stay. The guesthouse arranged for our breakfast tray to arrive early to our room. It’s a huge spread of food and quite nice. The cappuccino is much appreciated. We have some of the food but bag up the little sandwiches and extra cornetto (pastries) to take with us. 

The walk to the bus stop is short as it’s just up our street a minute or two. We hop on a bus that wlll take us to the Vatican City where we will visit St. Peter’s Square and Basilica. The basilica opens at 7:00 AM. After a ride on a crowded, hot bus we arrive along the side of the square. They have the portico that wraps around the square closed off so we walk around the side all the way to the other side. Along the walk, Sue spots a dude sitting on a step that looks like he might be hungry so I take our extra breakfast items over there. He says Grazie and smiles. The inside of the square is also closed off and partitioned. It looks like they had things set up for a special event but maybe it was only for the regular Wednesday morning Pope visit. We are here on Thursday so all is quiet and there are very few people here in the early morning. 

At the security gates (airport-style), we go through a short line and then walk up towards the entrance to the basilica. There are 5 guys washing off the steps in the square with a giant fire hose. Two guys are holding the hose while 3 guys stand by, directing? Taking turns? 

Inside the basilica, we are awe-struck by the massive, beautiful-ness we discover (it’s stunning each time I visit). There are so few people that no crowds is gathered yet around Michaelangelo's masterpiece, Pieta. It’s an incredible, beautiful piece. A mass is being said in the adjacent chapel so we hear the singing and chanting. During our visit inside St Peter’s we see many religious / clergy going about their daily business of the basilica. We also see many taking photos and clearly enjoying their own visit to St Peter’s. While here, we visit the crypts below where we see the many tombs of popes and some others, such as foreign queens who sought refuge with the Vatican. We also visited the treasury museum and saw so many beautiful things that you are not allowed to take picture of... also here are many reliquaries with the assorted bits and bobs from saints and holy objects. It’s very interesting to see all of these treasures of the church. We also spend a bit of time in the gift shops too. 

After our lovely morning visit, we head down to the Borgo Po area on our way to shopping at the Bialetti store in the nearby neighborhood of Prati. We stop at a bar / cafe to get some iced coffee and pastries, which are delicious. The guys at this bar are friendly and super helpful. It’s nice to sit and rest a little bit here while getting some nourishment. 

Before we get to the Bialetti store, we stop an outdoor cafe for some rest and a drink. Being mid-day, it’s time for a refreshing Aperol Sprtz and a lemon Schwepps for Sue (she is hooked on this beverage now, I think). The rest and drinks were very nice and served with a few snacky-snacks too. Then onto the Bialetti store where I settle on a limited edition Moka to replace the one at home that I’ve been using for about a decade already. Now I can take the old one to my parents’ house to stay there so I can have a proper coffee when I visit!

Back on a bus we are headed to the Campo dei Fiori for some more shopping. Sue is in search of bags for her daughters. Once we cross the river, there is a stoppage in the road. What is going on? When the driver gets off the bus, we realize that whatever happened a few cars up (accident?) is not going to clear soon so we hop off the bus that is not likely to move anytime soon and hoof it to the Campo dei Fiori instead. At the Campo dei Fiori, we see the market and find some of the vendors selling scarfs and bags. We don’t find anything to buy but are ready for more rest and some lunch. It’s a light lunch in this heat with some beautiful, yummy salads. 

After lunch, we head to the bus stop back to our home in Rome. At the guesthouse, we have several hours to take a cat nap and rest in the a/c away from the heat and crowds. 

In the late afternoon, we have a private, walking tour called Popes, Pizza and Prosecco. The meeting point is over in Trastevere so we hop on the tram again and head over there. On the way, we decide that we have enough time to check out this bar that has an interesting advertising scheme about a bad tripadvisor review. The staff are very friendly and help us choose our drinks. I’m a sucker for a good gin & tonic so when they say they have an Italian gin, I’m game. It’s lovely and refreshing. Sue was undecided so the nice gal behind the bar asked her some questions about what she likes and made her a mystery drink that Sue enjoyed quite a bit. After our quick drink stop, we head off to our meeting point, the fountain at the piazza Trilussa near the river. We find Samuele, make introductions and are on our way. We expect a tour with stories about popes, pizza tasting and prosecco tasing. Overall, the tour had some nice highlights such as the view over Rome from the top of the Gianicolo Hill. However, the whole tour was unfortunately a let-down and basically became what we now call, the Death March. We’ll leave it at that... 

After the Death March, we are at a wine bar on the other side of the Vatican City. With the remainder of the prosecco bottle in tow, we start off towards the Castel St Angelo where we will cross the bridge to get to the other side of the river. We are off towards dinner. While walking, not far from the wine bar we just left, there is a giant popping noise. What was that? Well, the cap of the prosecco bottle that the wine bar guy put on just popped off in Sue’s bag. Good thing the bottle is inside it’s own plastic bag. This happened twice before we left the bottle near what looked like somebody’s “street home”. 

Finding the restaurant, we have reservations but arrive early. No matter because they seat us anyway. We enjoy our meal. Sue choose risotto while I got a couple starters of bruschetta with artichoke and an eggplant parmigiana starter. We also share a cone of lovely fried baby squids. Yum!

After dinner, it’s a bus ride home and off to sleep we go....