Day 8 - The Day After Christmas

Vatican

Sara & Pam with new Friends

     This day started extremely early. At 1:30 a.m. I was up making sure my NFL Game Pass was working so I could watch the Chiefs host the Broncos. I played on Facebook until 2:30 a.m. and then it was kickoff time. Sitting in bed, lights off and ear pieces in I watched the Chiefs destroy the Broncos. Several times through out the game Pam rolled over to ask me the score. Finally a little after 6 a.m. the game was over and back to sleep I went. Few hours later (8:30) we were all up and getting ready for our last full day in Rome. 
     Ok, we left a little before 10 a.m., it's now 7.6 miles later and 3:45 pm. For those who know about my knees the shots are NOT WORKING! We left the apartment and headed for the Vatican on foot. We discussed spending 80.00 Euro's but decided to save the money and walk. Before I go any further with the days events I need to correct a mistake I've been making since arriving in Germany. For those of you who been to Europe you may have caught it. For others, they don't write Euro's with decimal points. They use a comma. So we saved 40,00 Euro today by walking. 
     While I'm correcting things let's call Rome what the Italians call it, Roma. Many of the signs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, etc. have Roma on them. So, walking the streets of Roma is very interesting. There are no real street signs. Roads do not go north or south, east or west. They go all directions. The major streets are 4 lane with space for cars to park on the side. But there doesn't seem to be that many major streets. Most streets we walked are very narrow. In some cases one car and you have to walk up against the wall to avoid it. Other streets have room for one car to park on a side and a second car to squeeze by. 

Pope Upper Top Right
For video click here

     Aaron using his GPS on his phone navigated us to the Vatican. Now, there were a few times I felt we went in circles and definitely there were times we did not take the most direct route. But we arrived at the Vatican before noon. The place was hopping with people everywhere. We even had to stand in a long line to get close to the Vatican. Then we heard the Pope was giving mass at noon. We just got in and stood behind the last barriers. At first we thought he would appear in the main window but soon cheers could be heard and to our right at the top of the building was the Pope. On two large screens you could see a close up. We stayed for the whole mass and you may notice I'm learning how to use the Pano on my computer.

Beefy Burger

     From there we headed out stopping at Hard Rock Cafe of the Vatican only to learn it's a Rock Shop and no Cafe. Aaron said the number one place on his list of places to eat was close by. So off we went and soon found the Meat Market. Small joint and they placed us in a side room. For the first time we were looking at meat for lunch. Everyone ordered a different type hamburger. Pam got the American and to her surprise it was two large patties. The only problem was Sara ordered her burger well done and it came raw. Sent it back but we were able to eat all of our meal and Pam had cut her's in half and gave it to Sara. So, Pam canceled the Sara's order with the waiter. He later came out with another burger in a bag and told us it was free to take home. This was after Pam made it clear we wanted to cancel Sara's order. When the check came they still had charged us for the burger. First had discussion with waiter, then the manager came over but he could not speak English. Another person showed up to translate. They kept saying that the 2nd burger was free but we had to pay for the first. Not happy, the manager picked up the free burger and took it back and reduced our check by 13,00 Euro's.

Gelato Store of 150 Favors

Daily Gelato Intake

One of many hills
Notice the street lined in stone

     Now it was time for Gelato. However, we needed to find a special Gelato one that had 150 favors. You can almost find a Gelato store in every block but we wanted the 150 store. Took a bit but found the store. Aaron, Sara and Pam got Gelato but they learned they had to pay first before they could order. Soon we were on our way home. 

     They say Roma is built on 7 hills. It felt like we found all 7 today. Up hills and usually take a turn and up even more. Then there is the down hill climb. There are cross walks and we've learned to just step out into the road to force traffic to stop. Otherwise, they just keep on coming.

Evening Menu

Sara & Aaron

     Everyone is now on the big bed resting. Most likely we will head out one more time to get dinner and then pack on Day 9. Our plane leaves at 230 and we need to be there at least two hours early. Can't afford to miss this plane because the next back to Germany is in another 7 days. 

CLICK Here for day's photos. You should be able to tell that I was walking more then taking photos today.

Late Addition

Video clip

Fettuccine Bolognese

After watching the last episodes of Designated Survivor we crossed the street for our last Italian meal. The place was full of atmosphere. Pam decided she wasn't hungry but when we walked in they had fried cut potatoes on the grill. So that's what she ordered only to get french fries. Aaron ordered Ravioli De Marco, Sara a mushroom pizza and I ordered fettuccine bolognese. The place was rocking and had a special deal on chicken and pork steak. I took a video on the way out to show you how they had already grilled the food before arrival. 

Raviolo De Marco

Restaurant

     Pam did a little shopping before returning to the room and started the packeting. We leave at 11:30 a.m. but check out is at 10:00. Been trying to get hold of the folks to see if we can have a late check out but so far no luck.