On this day (Wednesday) we had nothing planned in the daytime so as we were getting ready Dan looked up what to do. He found The Trevi Fountain Underground tour and booked it. We had no idea what it was but since we had nothing going on we figured out why not? It was ok and underwhelming. If you do this tour definitely get the audio guide. This isn’t directly underneath the Trevi fountain and a couple of blocks away. They had really neat artifacts and the whole thing took about 25-30 minutes. I wouldn’t recommend this though unless you are really bored and looking for something to do.
We got a quick lunch and it was my least favorite meal of the trip.
We went back to the hotel to get ready for our Vatican Museum Happy Hour Tour. We had done a private Vatican Tour for hours last time we went so this time we just wanted to see the Sistine Chapel and enjoy the Happy Hour. Booking this tour I was fully aware it was in Italian only. I understand some Italian and Dan only wanted to see the Sistine Chapel and eat. He isn’t really big into art but he is the best and always joins me in all my museum adventures. Anyways, we get there and after explaining that we didn’t need English guides or want to separate from the group and knew we wouldn’t understand most of the tour we joined 5 other people in the tour (also adding crazy how small our group was and empty the Vatican was.) The tour ended up being really cool and 3 of the 5 people were from Spain so I got to speak with them in Spanish about our vacation (I love making friends on tours!)
Right before we got inside the Sistine Chapel they must have added a Modern Art section because we entered a huge room with all Matisse, then I saw some Dali and Monet and I was like wait! I am sad we didn’t get to be inside this section for long because there was art I had never seen before not even in art books and I was confused why it was there and also why it wasn’t out before when we came last time. I was also happy they had decided to display these amazing treasures and I kept flying from one art piece to the next squeezing Dan’s arm and exclaiming “look at this!” It all was too brief but the next display was the Sistine Chapel and we spent about 15 min there. We couldn’t sit because of Covid they blocked that section off but it was still amazing to feast my eyes on it. I was sad because still no pictures are allowed but it is truly magnificent in person.
After we saw the Sistine Chapel we were escorted to the Pinecone Courtyard. It was really pretty and while people were leaving we had the whole place to ourselves. Just us, the 2 workers, and security. It was another surreal moment to be alone at the Vatican and it took me awhile to really take it in. I LOVED this Happy Hour! I don’t drink much so 1 glass of wine was perfect for me and Dan also enjoyed his glass of wine and all the delicious food. I was pleasantly surprised how much food we got and how tasty it all was. The 7 of us were separated because of Covid but it was very considerate and we sat at 3 different tables, chatting and enjoying the night. Once we finished we were escorted up to an elevator that looked really fancy inside and made me wonder if the priests and pope got to ride that elevator and then me and Dan took an Uber back to our hotel area.
We ate dinner in the Monti area since it was by our hotel and this was another night of scootering around but not so late because we had a day trip planned for the next day. We had to wake up at 5:30am to get ready so we came back to the hotel around 11pm.
If we ever come back I would book this same Happy Hour Tour but this time choose to meet them at the courtyard at the designated time and spend my whole time in the Modern Art section and Sistine Chapel. I was surprised when Dan sort of understood what the guide was saying and would turn to me to confirm it. I was also excited when Dan would ask me to take pictures of him and the million sculptures we saw. I often forget that while Dan doesn’t love paintings, he loves sculptures and will always appreciate them.
Adventures of Janet 