Our hotel owner advised us to leave at 7am to go to the Vatican to avoid the lines but we really couldn’t get ourselves out of bed so didn’t leave until 8am. We caught the number 64 bus near the Repubblica. Just a tip, get off where everyone else gets off or else you’ll go too far.

We visited the following places:

1. Basilica S. Pietro
You have to go through a long security line. We rented the audio guide for 5 Euros a person. You could actually rent just one if you have an extra set of earphones since there are two jacks and they already provide you with one set. Also as a warning, you need to have an ID (like driver’s license) or put down 100 Euro deposit for the audio guide. We first went up to the Cupola and it seriously seems like it never ends but it’s worth the climb. There is an elevator for 7 Euros that takes you partway but it’s almost not worth the money. To climb the steps, it’s 5 Euros. The steps are many and very narrow so the audio guide helps to entertain you as you climb. After our climb, we visited the church inside before leaving around 11am.

2. Sistine Chapel
It’s not that close but within walking distance and the line was around the block but it moves pretty fast. It costs 14 Euros per person (but only 8 Euros for students and under 26 years old, darn it, we forgot our CAL student IDs). We went straight to find Michaelangelo’s masterpiece and it was a long journey. Once we got there, no photographs were allowed and it was a bit hard to see on the ceiling but now we can say we were there.

3. Castel Sant’ Angelo
It was 8.5 Euros to enter so we just beheld it from outside.

4. Ponte Sant’ Angelo
We crossed it to see the castle.

5. Piazza Navona
Like a small art market and surrounded by restaurants. We had a bit of gelato and rest.

6. Campo de Fiori
A farmer’s market but most stalls were already closed. I bought some green figs to snack on while we stopped by a cafe for beer and Coke.

7. Fontane di Trevi
We took some photos at the fountain before walking all the way back to our hotel.

We had a little nap again before heading to dinner down the street. We ran into a group of high school students on a trip with Education First. Man, what an opportunity.

We had a nice dinner of carbonara, pasta bean soup, potato cake over fish, tomato soup, tiramisu, and panna cotta. Of course we had a bottle of wine. I was disappointed we had to pay for the bread basket, it was 2.8 Euros. The owner saw me taking all the photos so he placed the restaurants business card in front of my photo. If you want to try the restaurant, see the photo of tomatoes.

We got back by 10:30pm and went to bed early as we’ll be leaving for Florence tomorrow morning.

If you can’t see the slideshow above, click HERE.