From the Vatican to Firenze:

(Sunday March 1st 2009):

The following morning, we again arose relatively early and began to pack up our things. We again ate a beautiful breakfast of scrambled eggs, fruit salad, stuffed dates, orange juice and strong Italian coffee. Since it was Sunday, we decided it was the perfect time to see the Vatican on our way out of Rome. Kevin had his big backpacking backpack, and insisted on loading my little suite-case into it. “It is too difficult and stressful for me for you to be wheeling your little rolly bag along the cobblestone streets.” So in it went, and I carried our “one world café” day bag. We took the metro to the train station, and since we still had a little time left on our tourist bus pass, we hopped on it to go to the Vatican.


We arrived and for a while just walked around the square, taking in this little city it was a little rainy, but the buildings were still magnificent. First on the list was St. Peter’s basilica. Wow, I guess the Roman Catholic Church knows how to do Basilicas. It was so ornate and decorated that it was difficult to know what to look at. We walked around looking at famous paintings, the beautiful walls, ceilings and little chapels. Then we came across the famous statue of Mary holding the dead body of Christ. The way the body and even the clothing seemed to just drape over the figures was so lifelike. After the basilica, we tried to go see the Sistine Chapel, however we found out that it was closed. Truthfully we were quite disappointed and I am still a bit disappointed. But I guess we must revisit this ancient city again.

On our way out, we noticed that a lot of people seemed to be waiting in the square, under umbrellas and carrying signs. Seeing our quizzical expressions, on e of the guards explained to us that the Pope was about to give his weekly address. We decided to stay and see what the excitement was about, when we were we ever going to see the pope in Rome again? He eventually came out, addressed everyone, read a gospel passage, and welcomed everyone in Italian, French, German and English. He was actually quite high up, and it was difficult to make out the details. He actually looked almost like a hand puppet, and I could just imagine the giant arm going through the building to hold him up.

After having our fill of “ his holiness’s presence”, we decided to head to the train station to catch our train to Florence. We boarded a bus, which we didn’t pay for because according to Kevin’s roommates “you don’t pay for buses in Rome”. And we got what we paid for. We were packed into the bus like sardines, and at each stop there were more and more people trying to squeeze themselves in. I felt as if I was in the U-tube video of a Japanese commuter train where the guards littler were helping to pack people in so that the doors could close. Keeping a close hold on my bag, I watched how Kevin seemed to be able to seamlessly balance with a 90-pound backpack. I myself, counted the stops until we could get off of claustrophobia central.

After a quick snack, we boarded the train to Florence. The train was about 3 hours, and much delays, we got off at the stop that said “Firenze”. We had been reading the guidebook on the train and ripped out the map to use to orient ourselves. However when we got off, nothing seemed to make sense, so we just kept walking. We finally stopped and asked someone at a restaurant for directions. He said, “Hush, you are a little bit far.” And then told us to get on a bus headed for the center of town. Apparently there is more than one train station in Florence. It was fortunate that we didn’t try to walk because we were on the bus for about 20 minutes. There were very friendly people on the bus however who told us which stop we should get off. Ash sigh, the charm of smaller cities had begun. We then walked past the train station, and past the Duomo on to our hotel.

The Hotel Orchid was absolutely quaint and lovely. The receptionist was very helpful in checking us in and recommending a gluten free place to eat (there were many options in Florence!) Our room was very spacious, with pink walls, cute table and chairs, and even a window seat. We settled in, breathed a sigh of relief and then headed out to find this restaurant.


We arrived at this lovely, intimate, truly Italian place. He understood exactly what our needs were, and even had many options to choose from. After we ordered, he brought us gluten free bread and crackers, along with our lovely glass of deep red wine. First we had a small plate of penne pasta with a tomato peppery sauce, which was slightly tangy. Our main course was a chicken breaded with rice flour. The meal was delicious and we coined the term “friend with bread” to our waiter, since he had gluten free bread in stock.