We booked a small group tour of the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel. With several hours until the tour departs, we walk from our hotel, stop for lunch, and meander our way. We still arrive early and find a comfortable seating area to wait.
Our group is about a dozen in size. The guide a very delightful and knowledgeable lady, We head towards the entrance and then it happens. A person walks in front of me and I have to step to the side to avoid him. In doing so my left foot lands on a discarded plastic top from a water bottle.
If you can imagine, this was slicker than an ice cube on a sheet of teflon. My feet went out from under me, and in a flash I was face down on the coblestone walkway. Several tourist helped me back to my feet, another whipped a bandaid out of her purse and applied it to the inch long gash in my elbow.
It was too soon for any pain to set in, and off we went. The paintings, sculpture, mosaics and even the buildings themselves were magnificent. Priceless artwork everywhere.
As we continued on the tour, the shock was beginning to wear off and the tour guide recognized it. Probably she recognized it more than I did. She sent us on different routes that avoided some long stairs and afforded me a brief rest while the rest of the group caught up with us. Whatever clued her in, she was very aware and considerate.
The most interesting detour was using the narrow back stairway into the Sistine Chapel. Not really wide enough for two people. Only a single door at the top, and an outlet into the back of the chapel probably 50 steps down from where we started.
The Chapel was packed solid with people. Pictures were not allowed. Again some special treatment. Maybe it was the blood running down my arm and dripping from my fingertips but the Vatican guards told other guests to get up and give me a place to sit while I used more tissue to wipe up the blood.
We enjoyed the chapel for 15 or 20 minutes before our guide and group caught up with us.
Being in a special group, we were allowed to leave the chapel by a back exit. The guided part of our tour was over. We head to the exit.
By now the supply of tissues had run out. Several restaurants graciously gave us a handful of napkins when the situation was described to them.
Taxi back to our hotel, clean up my arm, and apply new bandages. Nothing feels broken and the cut looks pretty clean and probably well washed out with the bleeding. Blood thinners always make the slightest nick bleed profusely.
Within a block of the hotel there were a number of local restaurants. The pasta was excellent, especially the sauce. The serving size was too large for me. Even better was the gelato which there is always room for.
The restaurant wasn't overly busy. A college student that I think studied there every night, and a handful of couples sipping beverages at tables along the street. We have a nice conversation with our server and enjoy being a tourist in Rome.
Saturday morning we are scheduled for "Best of Rome by Golf Cart Private Tour". We have the hotel call us a taxi to take us to the meeting place. $10 Euro including a generous tip.
Since we did not have an address, just the name of a plaza, finding the right spot was difficult. The three different locals we asked sent us down the street to where the tour buses stopped. The printed map sent to me by the tour operator showed a slightly different location. They were all wrong, but an empty parked golf cart was a clue.
Eventually we meet up with our guide and we enjoy a fantastic tour of Rome. From the Orange Garden overlooking the city to the Colosseum and dozens of sights in between it was an excellent tour. Our guide was a native of Rome, worked in the US for several years to improve his English, and studied Roman history at the college level in addition to over a year of study to become a licensed tour guide.
The golf cart was street legal, but he could also navigate alleyways that were too narrow for regular cars, and pathways that were restricted mostly to pedestrians. He was able to park in very small spaces that regular vehicles would have to pass by. We revisited some of the sights I visited 8 years ago, and many additional ones. It was a strange feeling to again stand in exactly the same spot as I did in 2016 overlooking Circus Maximus.
Three hours later the driver let us off just outside one of the entrances to Vatican City, probably a mile or so from our hotel. We tried to get a taxi, but they seem to have conspired to want 45 or 50 Euros. We chose to walk. Slowly.
After a brief rest, we venture out for dinner. Do we go where we know the food and service is good or do we try something different? We chose the later. The food was OK, but the service horrible. We forgo dessert and return to the restaurant of the previous night for our gelato fix.
Our driver is scheduled to pick us up at 7:00 AM tomorrow morning. Just to make sure there is no confusion, I had confirmed with him to pick us up on the main street, not the back alley.
As we are packing for our flight home we discover another unique feature of our "guarded" hotel. They have placed a cell phone in the room with a note saying to use it during our stay. A nice touch I have never encountered before.
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