Day 20 - The Vatican, Pasta and Tiramisu
Morning Vatican Tour, Afternoon Past and Tiramasu Lovers Workshop - July 11
July 11, 2023: Day 2 in Rome was a step up from Day 1. Instead of walking, but took a taxi to our meeting point for our What a Life Skip-the-Line Tour of the Vatican and Sistine Chapel. We have mostly been walking everywhere, but after our experience yesterday, I was not going to do a repeat. When we got there, we were provided a cappuccino and a wonderful warm croissant while we waited for everyone to arrive. We had an amazing tour guide. Her name Ellie and she was British, but has been doing tours in Italy for 12 years. She knew all of the secrets and had a great process, which Jimm and I both appreciated. She also had a great sense of humor. I knew the Vatican was huge, but we spent three hours on tour that barely touched the surface of this massive place. So much artwork, so much history (both good an bad).
The Vatican became it’s own state in February 1929, when the Lateran Treaty between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Italy was signed by Prime Minister and Head of Government Benito Mussolini on behalf of King Victor Emmanuel III and by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Gasparri for Pope Pius XI. The treaty, which became effective in June 1929, established the independent state of Vatican City and reaffirmed the special status of Catholic Christianity in Italy. Over 25,000 people visit the Vatican each day. In high season, like it is now, it is even more.
There are many famous artworks located in the Vatican museums from MIchelango, Raphael, DaVinci, Caravaggio and some from unknown artists. It is quite spectacular to view all of these amazing masterpieces in one place. The Sistine Chapel of course is one of the most amazing of all of these and is a once in a lifetime experience. However, the museum unfortunately does not manage the crowds well in and it is difficult to really enjoy it.
After our tour, we headed to our “Pasta and Tiramisu Lovers” cooking class at Gusto. We again had a really great instructor who made the whole experience really fun. First we made the tiramisu, which I had no idea how easy it is to make. I never really liked tiramisu until coming to Italy. It turns out that here…I love it! Only 5 ingredients; eggs, sugar, coffee, marscarpone, and lady fingers. Once we had those chilling in the refrigerator, it was time to make the pasta. We made fettucini. Again, very few ingredients, just very fine flour, an egg and salt. We each made our own dough, then rolled it out, cut it and “viola” fettucini!! We each got to choose from three sauces and then were led to our table where we drank wine while waiting for our pasta to be cooked. I had white sauce with cheese and pepper and Jimm had red sauce with basil. The pasta was delicious (of course!) and then we were served our tiramisus followed by a limoncello. A perfect lunch!
Finally, we headed back to our hotel to grab our bag and head to the train station. We had a 4:35PM train to catch back to Florence. Train travel is SO easy in Italy. It is one of the things I love about traveling here. I wish we had that luxury in the U.S. instead of having to drive everywhere. Especially when going to big cities.
Now we are back at our apartment that feels like home relaxing and preparing for another big day tomorrow. A tour of the Baptistery of San Giovanni, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and the Opera del Duomo Museum, our last museum tour in Florence.
Jimm’s rating for today: **** (just because it was too hot!!)