Two days of walking was starting be felt for real in both feet’s and lower back. But there was still places to be seen, and we wanted to capitalize on this unique possibility. So shoes on, and off we went for a another day out on the town.As we during the first two day’s had seen almost all the “must see” places, this third day was planned to be started of with the “last” place, Castel Sant’Angelo. Maybe well suited that this was the last place to visit, as it was also the place where in the film Angels and Deamons, it had one of climax moments in the book and film.
But during the morning hours we remembered that it was also Easter Sunday, the day when the big mass is held on St. Peter’s Square. And that is the moment when the Pope comes out on the balcony. So before heading over to Castel Sant’Angelo which is located just beside the Vatican City, we headed over to the square, to get a sighting of the Pope. As we arrived to the end of Via della Conciliazione, that lead’s up to Vatican City, there were TV vans. We asked one gentleman at the van at what time the Pope would appear, and he thought it would be at 10:00am. The time was just a couple of minutes before that, so we walked closer to the square, to maybe see the man of the hour.
As we waited the time turned 10:05am, nothing was seemed. Then 10:10am and nothing. At 10:20am when nobody had been out on the balcony I checked my phone if there would be any live stream on the net from Vatican City, and then we got a big surprise. The mass was going on already on the square with the Pope present. Well we went as close as we could without going thru the security checks, and we could see him at the altar. Took some pictures (pretty poor quality as taken with a phone camera), and then turned around to go to Castel Sant’Angelo.
Pictures in this post can be enlarged by clicking on them, and captions can be seen with hovering over the picture or opening them.
We had luck, and there were no queues in to the castle, and we got in swiftly. The castle was larger and contained a lot more then I had thought. The downloadable app was pretty good and delivered a lot of interesting information with both pictures, text and audio tracks.
After the tour we headed into town for a lunch, and ended up at a restaurant we would not recommend to anyone. Had ourselves a couple of pizzas which were fine, but the service, price and specially the reception to the restaurant was terrible.
As there was no more specific destinations for this day, we used the time to go for some shopping and general walking around and admiring the city. Found a Ferrari store which was nice, but very pricey, did not buy anything there.
Day 3 on my Fitbit gave the following result of activity.
22.4. Heading back home
On Monday the return day arrived. We jumped into a taxi at 9:08am, and just before the receptionist at our hotel gave us the signal we were out late, as our plane were to take off 11:20am. As there was very little traffic we made it in good time and no panic was seen from our part. Check-in, security control and some small shopping at the airport, as well as a last “taste of Italy” and breakfast, and then to the gate.
Wrap-up of the trip
It has been a great and relaxing trip (although some 58 986 steps and 43,3km during 3 days). We have had tremendous luck with the weather. Everything has gone smoothly and we have memories for life. We have seen so much beauty and jaw dropping sights. Rome and Vatican City is definitely a place to visit if given the chance, and we encouraging everybody to go there. Specially if you like history and beautiful object’s and sights.
Last, but definitively not least, we would like to specially thank our both parent’s, who made this trip possible for just the two of us, by taking care of our kids.
Grazie mille Tjalle, Kitte, Stina e Rune, ti vogliamo tanto bene!!!
Rome day 1 | Rome day 2 – posts.
Budbuda 