CRF: Vatican City (Part 2)

We spent hours inside the Vatican Museums, as most visitors to the Vatican do. It's simply enormous. I mean, look at this stairwell. Photos were allowed everywhere in the museum except for the Sistine Chapel.
This was our favorite room - the Map Room. Along each side of the hall hung 16th century topographical maps of Italy and the church's land possessions. It's the world's largest pictorial geographical study and was all commissioned by one pope and created by one artist. The ceiling was one, long, vibrant fresco that gave the impression of three dimensional gilding. At the end of the hall, a folding table displayed 3D puzzles and postcards for sale.
Vatican City is indeed its own country, with both a police force and a (de facto) military. Here is one of each, side by side, at the papal audience we attended. The policemen handle security, public order, traffic control, border control and criminal investigation. The Swiss Guards' job is to protect the pope. Swiss Guards have a tradition of acting as bodyguards and palace guards in foreign European courts. The Holy See is its last remaining position and they are a tourist favorite. We wondered what these two guys thought of each other.
After our Vatican Gardens tour, we decided to take a stroll around Vatican City's walls. A true surveying of our country. We stumbled upon this train track, which used to connect Vatican City and Italy. The railway system, the smallest national rail in the world, is now defunt and the elaborately decorated station is a duty free shop. Apparently, two months after we left, the iron gate was rolled back and Pope Benefict XVI road the papal train (a 1930s steam engine) out through the tunnel and toward the Italian countryside. It was a one-time-only thing for charity.
Just another picture for the dome of Saint Peter's Basilica, out toward Saint Peter's Square, which we now can't help but recognize as a circle. Climbing the dome was one of our most favorite things to do in Vatican City.
Between the official tours and the private tours, the Vatican often resembled a pong cluttered with mama ducks and their kids in a row. In order to keep everyone following the correct person, the guide would hold up a stick with a flag or flower or, in this case, a photo of Pope John Paul II. Sometimes, the leader would use an umbrella or broken antennae. Those must have been the discounted tours.

Just some good old interior decorating a la Vatican City. Too much?
One of our best experiences in Vatican City couldn't be shared on the blog, because photos weren't allowed. We took the Excavations Tour down below the Vatican and visited the Roman necropolis on which the basilica was built. It was pretty incredible. This mummy was in the Vatican Museums, not in the catacombs. Hence, the photographic evidence.
Another room in the Museums, featuring dog sculptures. I think a sheep was thrown in for good measure.
Some restoration work was going on inside Saint Peter's Basilica, as well as out in the square. It was fascinating to watch this unique combination of art restoration and construction. Men road hydrolic lifts, wearing hard hats and wielding paint brushes.
We undoubtedly spent more time in Vatican City than most people do. Every day, we would walk out of our door and over to the square. All around us would be visitors seeing it all with fresh eyes. This wonder and awe felt most palpable during gatherings like this -
the weekly papal audience. The weather was beautiful and the excitement turned into jubilation.

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CRF: Vatican City (Part 1)

"CRF" is not a crime show you've never heard of, it stands for "Cutting Room Floor." Below are some of our favorite pics that never made the blog. We figured we'd reminisce a little while we're home for a visit. (Back in Europe December 28th).
Vatican City was our first true microstate. (Sorry, Luxembourg, but you were big-ish.) Unlike everywhere else, we couldn't actually stay in the country. So, our experience in Vatican City had two distinctive sides - our "official time," which was spent within the perimeter of the microstate and our "Rome time." Our photos also fall into those two categories and since we could never really showcase our time spent outside the City walls, hundreds of shots from our Rome time wound up on the cutting room floor.
Our rental apartment was just a few blocks away from the southeast border of Vatican City. Remaining in our little corner of Rome, hugging the border of Vatican City as much as we could allowed us to really notice the little things, the details of a city that would otherwise seem epic.Barring the Vatican, all of the real tourist attractions in Rome are east of the Tiber River - which leaves the area around Saint Peter's Square mostly left alone. We got to experience a real slice of Roman life, going to "our cafe" every morning, "our gelato place" every afternoon and "our wine shop" every evening.On a particularly beautiful day, we took a walk up to Aurelio Park. Atop Gianicolo, the second tallest hill in Rome, the park gave us sweeping views over the city. People walked their dogs and bought their children balloons and popsicles. A group of older tourists walked around identifying trees.

Downtown Trastevere, our neighborhood, was a pretty hip and happening place. John Cabot University kept the after-dark streets filled with fashionable college students. The businesses catered to the young and tasteful, lovely little restaurants, gallery-like clothing boutiques and bars galore. The cobbled streets and 16th century buildings were the epitome of boho chic.

Our grocery shopping was done in Prati, a residential neighborhood just north of the Vatican. There was an international food shop, a gourmet Italian goods store that was spectacular and the wonderful Trionfale Market. It's one of the largest food markets in Italy and inspired a number of dinners that turned out so well, we decided to post about them. (Roman artichokes, linguine and clams, shrimp and asparagus risotto and asquash blossom dessert and our most ambitious, most delicious, braised octopus).

A travel article from the New York Times, published in 1987, says that the vendors at the Porta Portese Sunday flea market are "a show in themselves." It's absolutely true that the market itself is your usual street fair fare, but the sellers make it memorable. They call out to you congenially and fraternize animatedly. They're regulars, locals, most of whom have been manning their station for years.They called your attention with signs, smiles, compliments, and - in this case - an enormous red arrow. People walked through with entire bags filled with purchases. Tourists clutched their purses and rifled through tchotchkes. It was crowded and stretched so long without an outlet that we wound up, basically, hopping a fence to get home.
Our final night, we ventured over the river for dinner. Looking back over it, we could see the dome of Saint Peter's Basilica and new that if we headed straight for it, we would find our way home.

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