Prego is a pretty common word in Italy, it means "welcome" so they usually start a sentence with Prego if they're in customer service, especially if they're seating you at a restaurant or something, but it's also for "you're welcome". Anyways, we hear it a lot, but i just can't help but think of "preggo" being slang for pregnant... it's how I remember the word, but also funny.
Today we went to the Vatican. We aren't in the greatest health/alertness, and I can't help but feel we wasted our pass a little. We walked there, which took us a good hour and twenty, and we have already seen a lot of churches and art museums. This is the largest church in the world, and we've already been in the Basillica, but we went to the museum and Sistine chapel today. Spent a few hours walking around, but our feet were really sore. Its not even the most walking we've done in a city, but I think its a combination of heat and poor diet (and maybe addition of so many days of walking everywhere) that its really starting to get to us. The Sistine Chapel wasn't as impressive as I expected, but Baye reminded me why. We've been to tonnes of churches with paintings, and you really get to take it in and feel the silence as you look around... Today the Vatican was SO DISGUSTINGLY PACKED, there was no way it was going to be silent, and the guards force you into the crowd instead of standing at the door waiting for people to move through. So the room didn't seem as large as it really was, and you couldn't really get a good look without people stepping on you or bumping into you. Plus no photos. But thinking about it now, every square millimetre of the place was covered with paintings, and the ceiling was really high. It was a cool place, just don't know if it was worth the pass we bought.
We walked through the museum a bit, but when we were tired of seeing the art/statues/paintings we tried to find where the Vatican Gardens are, and ended up walking around the ENTIRE Vatican City. By the time we made it back to the front of Vatican City (where the Basillica and the square with all the pillars are), someone told us that the entrance is right where the museum is, so we had to go back again... but by this time it was 4pm and I had read that they stop letting people in at 4pm because it's closed at 6pm. So we decided to try again tomorrow, even though they might not let us (our Vatican pass was supposed to be single entry only, but maybe they'll say the Vatican gardens is separate, I'm not sure..)
After that we walked to the Saint Angelo Castle, which we got free with our pass. The inside wasn't anything spectacular to look at, but it was really old and all brick (and nice and cool in the underground parts). They hid popes here/made apartments to protect them at one time, and it was also once a prison. You can see some of it, but mostly they're just weird little rooms. The top of it has a nice view of the city, too!
We decided we wanted a break, and went back to the Villa Bourghese to lay in the shade and read... and ended up sleeping, of course... after a long nap, we head out to the Spanish Steps again because I wanted to get some photos during daylight, and then to a restaurant for dinner.
At restaurants here, they don't really have host/hostesses, but they have people trying to recruit you to their restaurant. Some are HILARIOUSLY pushy! Yesterday, while walking through trying to find a restaurant, the guy walked right along with you, pushing a menu in your face and telling you what foods they serve (as if pasta, pizza, and spaghetti is really unique around here...). These guys, and many Italian guys on the street, are very flirty. Sometimes its annoying that they just eye you and cat call or kiss through their teeth (Baye and I look at each other and laugh, cause 100% of the time we're covered in sweat, wearing sneakers and/or duct tape around our feet, and in decently dirty clothes that are in NO way fashionable... but hey, I guess we're blonde.) But sometimes they think they're being so smooth. Unfortunately none of the Italian men have been attractive... not that that would've mattered ;) (LOVE YOU!) The same guy who was super pushy about getting us in the restaurant yesterday, we ended up sitting at the restaurant right across, so he kept making eye contact with me. He joked around and came up to us with his menu and fanned us, and in really broken English I think he said something about really good service to provide us air conditioning... all we could do was laugh cause it really was hilarious. After about 2 minutes of him fanning us, he leaned in and put his cheek infront of my face, obviously asking for a kiss (EWWWWWWWWWW). I made a kiss sound and then he turned and kissed my cheek (not in a smoochy way, but the way europeans greet each other). Oh GOD how embarrassing. Later he came back with a business card saying "see you at 10:30 tonight". and Baye and I both read it confused.... he tried to explain that that's when he gets off, and so we had to get another waiter to come in and help translate from us to him that we would definitely not be sticking around. He was a funny old man. Italians. Sheesh.
After dinner today (where I got my first serving of vegetables in a while), we went back to the Fountain of Trevi, which is really nice all lit up at night. There were a lot of people there, it's apparently a pretty decent hang out spot. We took a few photos, which were difficult in the night, and then also brought our coins down to make a wish. First time we just threw them normally, but then we saw that everyone else was throwing them backwards over their shoulders and wondered if our wish was going to come true if we did it wrong, so we wished again, this time throwing them backwards :)
Now I'm back at the hostel, disappointed that I can't upload photos to their computer to share them. Tomorrow is going to be a REALLY full day. Lots to see at the Colliseum + Roman Ruins + Palantine Hill, then the Capitaline museum, and a few other things I need to revisit because my battery in my camera died the first day.
Time for sleeps!
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