Make Time: Vatican with a Polish Guy

Got up - stored my bag at the hotel - and walked down a few blocks to the Vatican. Yeah…ok…first I stopped at the same kebab place and got another one. The same guy was working and he gave me a few free slices of pizza as well. Good people. As I walk into St Peter's Square, there are a bunch of hustlers coming up trying to sell tours to everything. No. No thanks. If you're out on the street hustling tours then they can't be that good. Enough said. I walk around the square for a bit and am amazed at the size and the detail of everything around. The buildings are pristine. The cobblestones are pristine. The...line over there is HUGE? What? Yeah - why are people waiting in such a long line. Must be either St Peter's Basilica or the Sistine Chapel, so I walk over and get in the end of the line. I've devoted today to the Vatican, so I'll wait in lines and be a sheep (Catholic pun intended). As I'm walking up I see a skinny older guy almost run to the end of line and get there just ahead of me. The line moves really fast and as we get up closer I see a sign that this is for St Peter's, so I double check with the fast-guy in front of me and he confirms. We get to talking and I find out that his name is Marek, and he lives in Toronto, but he's originally from Poland. Interesting. My father is from Poland, and my babcia (gramma in polish) was devoutly Catholic - went to mass every day. We talk about Poland and about his travels and my travels. He's 52 but doesn't look a day older than 40. He's been in Canada since he was 18, but he still has a very strong accent. Funny guy. Kind of a spazz, but good hearted and very excited about checking out the Vatican. We hang out in the basilica and then make our way to the Sistine Chapel as well. Both buildings are incredible. Wow. The detail and man-hours that went into making such buildings is mind blowing. Inspirational. There's a museum as you walk through the maze of rooms to get to the Sistine Chapel, and I'm happy to see a Dali painting in one of them. Love that guy. Such a freak. The vastness and grandeur of St Peter's is a great contrast to the tiny and intimate feeling in the Sistine Chapel. Also, the authorities are much more serious in the chapel. I'm not exactly sure why, but they were strict about no pictures and staying quiet. Maybe it's because of the value and authenticity of the paintings on the ceiling? Not sure, but we stayed for a while just looking around at everything. So many murals. So much detail. We really got into the tapestries on the walls, as well. I think in my future home I'm going to have tapestries in the bedroom. Yeah - I went there :) After we walk out of the chapel we head to this gelato place called Old Bridge Gelato. There's a bit of line but we jump in because I've heard this is the best gelato in town. And YES, it actually was fantastic. Coconut, Banana, and Mango…yes, please. Oh, some whip cream on top? Sure. We walk back to St Peter's and then go our different ways. The plan is to meet up at the Spanish Steps later that night and then find a spot to eat dinner. I head back to my hotel and then grab my big bag and take a few trains to get to my AirBnB. Here is the link if you wanna check it out. I didn't pay for the trains cause the Italians never check your tickets, so that was nice. I drop my things and nap and then head back to the Spanish Steps to meet Marek. We grab a bottle of white wine and drink it on the steps - pics below - and then find a chill spot to eat some pasta. Spain is playing Holland in the world cup and we watch as Holland destroys them. Meet some folks from Indiana sitting at the table next to us - couldn't have been nicer. Laughs. Great spaghetti. More laughs. Our waiter says he bet 100 euro on Holland to win so he's fired up. After dinner we head our different ways and I'm home in bed before midnight.

Today was one of those effortlessly perfect days. I felt like a local at my kebab shop, and then I met a very nice guy in line for St Peter's - all without any effort. Nice to have a buddy to pal around with, and so we're going to hit up Borghese Park and then maybe Circus Maximus, which used to be a chariot racing track. Good times. I've pretty much done everything I want in Rome, so today is just a little extra gravy on my mashed potatoes. I've decided I'm going to leave Rome tomorrow morning and head to the small town of Sienna, which is on the way to Florence. I've heard a few people tell me about it, so I'm really excited to check it out. I found a great place on AirBnB - check it out here.

Also, I thought about my babcia today. Again, babcia means "gramma" in Polish, and that's what I used to call her. She died a few years ago, but she would have been very happy that I visited the Vatican today. And I thought it was ironic and a nice tough that I was with a Polish person for this part of my journey. Made me think that babcia made that happen. She would have been very happy that I was there with a fellow Pole. I felt her presence all day - was very nice and relaxing.