As this morning rolled around, the tiredness set in. Being busy for a majority of the day is starting to set in, but so far, I’ve been able to pull through. (Maybe i just need to settle on drinking more Italian coffee?)
Our day started off with a visit with the Vatican’s Secretariat for Communication. We met with three of the employees: Roberto Romolo, who works in international relations; Alessando Gisotti, involved with social media; and Charlotte Smeds, who runs Instagram and handles Scandinavian services. At the end, we had a surprise guest, Greg Burke, speak with us. Once a journalist in St. Louis, he is now in the press office for the Vatican.
This conversation consisted of the roles that were previously mentioned, as well as how the current and previous popes have accepted social media. Something I found interesting was that not only Pope Francis deals with an internet environment, but San Giovanni Paolo II and Benedict XVI did too.
Once our visit was over, we had some time for lunch. Matteo suggested Satiricus Ristorante Pizza as an option. I would definitely consider this a more touristy restaurant- the wait staff wore a toga-looking garment over their clothes and three gladiators adorn the hallway when you walk in. I had a delicious caprese salad. It felt so good to eat something relatively healthy. (If anyone has any suggestions on how to eat healthy sometimes while here, please let me know.)
A tour of the Vatican was our final destination for the day. In short, it was stunning. I did not picture the Vatican to look like it did, and I was pleasantly surprised. We first took a quick look outside and were lucky the rain hadn’t started yet.
Moving inside, we viewed so many beautiful sculptures, paintings, and other forms of art. The Vatican had a beautiful collection, and again, I didn’t expect that much to be held there. My favorite works of art included the ornate ceilings. The designs were so intricate and thought out, and I couldn’t imagine how long it would take to make something of the sort. Pictures don’t do it justice.
Personally, the end of the day was extremely exhausting, and a little bit frustrating. The rain did not let up, so we were stuck in it while waiting for the bus to come pick us up from the Vatican. In the three days I’ve been in Rome, I’ve learned that Italian transportation is really not the most reliable and is typically packed.
To add to this, once on the bus, after several other stops, we learned we were heading away from the hostel. We quickly got off the bus and had to wait for another one, resulting in more time in the rain and more tired and sore feet.
Eventually, we were back on track, but we did not return to our hotel until 8 PM. As it was pouring down rain, a group of us settled on the closest pizza shop. I had yet another margherita pizza, but nothing can beat Ai Marmi.