Ancient and Renaissance Frescoes

Catacombs of Priscilla * Vatican Museums with Sistine Chapel

19,569 steps, 8.39 miles

We started our day with a 60 minute commute to the Catacombs of Priscilla in the suburbs of Rome.  We were tired this morning after 10 miles of walking yesterday and loud street noise from the restaurant below our apartment window.  We had a hard time getting out the door by 10:00 and arrived at the Catacombs at 11:10 just in time to catch the last English tour before it closed at 12:00. These Catacombs are not as well known as the Catacombs along the Appian Way, but they are just as fascinating.  Some of the oldest Christian frescoes are found in these catacombs, they are in amazingly good condition.  There are 13 km of tunnels, we saw a very small portion.  It was bit freaky looking at all the open grave sites (the bones have either been stolen or removed to proper graves).  A few niches were still covered with tiles suggesting that bones are in there still.

After the catacombs we headed to the corner bar for a hot chocolate Italian style.  It was raining and just a bit chilly so the hot chocolate hit the spot.  The kids got a kick drinking their hot chocolate right at the bar with all the Italians and their morning coffee.  Charlie bough himself a sucker.  The kids all have 20E in their wallets at any given time to buy the many treats and postcards we run into around town.  It seems to have solved the problem of them asking for everything - if they want it that bad, they use their own money to buy it.  That includes gelato on even days (Mom and Dad's treat on odd days).

After a quick lunch in our apartment we were off to the Vatican Museum by 2:30.  We had a 3:00 appointment and it took the full 30 minutes to walk there.  I was so worried about this museum with the kids.  It is always super crowded, hot, and can be miserable.  They let too many people in and it's like swimming in a sea of fish through a museum.  Although still very crowded, we only felt claustrophobic once and we could actually maneuver on our own rather than being pushed through the museum by others.  The kids were quite amazed with the Sistine Chapel - but that's not difficult, because it is amazing!

We fixed our own pasta dinner and topped off our evening with a gelato and final passeggiata around Piazza Navona.  We're off to Vietri Sul Mare tomorrow, a small town north of Salerno.  I can't remember if we'll have Internet.  We spend 4 nights there.

Pasta Dinner with Bread, Apple and Pomegranate (what we could find)

Last look over the Tiber towards the Vatican

Entrance to our apartment building

Inside hallway of our apartment complex

Long bus ride to the Catacombs Priscilla

Cool Street Art

Hot Chocolate Italian Style