pancakes & bananas?: When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

okay Vatican City is amazing. I think you can spend several days there. We already spent half a day at St Peter's Basilica and i wonder how much time we would spend there if the Vatican Museum was opened. Might go down another day to catch the Sistine Chapel which we couldn't visit due to the unexpected closure of the museum.

Queuing to enter the Basilica was pretty fast even with the long snaking queue all the way onto St Peter's Square so dont bother buying the express pass for 13 Eu. Ladies should avoid wearing sleeveless and pants too high above the knee if not you'll be denied entry unless you buy a scarf at a rip off price. One could only feel the sense of how small he is when standing infront of the Basilica and even so when he enters. Filled with tons of history and symbolic meaning, i would recommend getting the audio guide. It has 2 audio jacks so i guess it can be shared by 2 which was what we did. (15 Eu, 5 Eu Student). Within the basilica you will be able to access some museum (not the vatican museum) and the Vatican Grottos ( you can find pope bean there hehe). I was quite amazed by the amount of work put into the structures and the artwork everywhere. Even the ceilings were laced with intricate artwork which will make you wonder how long it took to complete it. Rays of lights streaked through the several dome windows illuminate different areas at different time of the days. After the long tour round the Basilica (2hrs+ if you use the audio guide) you can try the climb up the dome which might be challenging to some for 5 Euros, 7 if you want to use the lift to the halfway point. I think the 5 Euros was quite worth it as the route brings you up long spiral steps to the inner side of the dome where glazed with mosaics and a view of the basilica from inside. Next you will go through a claustrophobic stairwell to the outer dome where you get a beautiful 360 deg view of rome and from there you can really appreciate the architecture of the vatican city. Kinda wasted that my camera batt died halfway :(

I really think that we came at the wrong period. Most of the lonely planet recommended food places were all closed for vacation! We wasted lots of time hunting these food places down but they were all closed. Also, Italians restaurants serve an early lunch and only start their dinner after 8 leaving the streets rather empty with most shops closed in the afternoon. Kind of disappointed after our much deserved ice cream break was shattered because the shop was closed. (Old Bridge, 5 Viale dei Bastioni di Michelangelo) and found out that our ideal dinner place, Osteria dell’Angelo (Via Giovanni Bettelo, 24).

Took the bus back to the terimni and headed to TIM to get our pre-paid sim card. 20 Euros for 1 mth of unlimited data and 20 bucks worth of value. Service was slow and horrible like most of the places in italy. Slacked in our hotel to wait out for good dinner but all those places were CLOSED FOR VACATION TILL SEPT. W T F! settled for some salty pasta at Via Giovanni Bettelo, 24 which we initially thought was good cos there was a accordion playing but NOT RECOMMENDED!

Felt super sleepy after dinner but found an awesome gelato place which helped us clear the saltiness left on our toungues. Ended up at Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore and what else was there to do at a closed monument with a tripod and a camera! LIGHT TRAILLLLLLs!

Kinda over the jetlagg but by 1am i was totally wonked out. Hope tmr will be a good foodie day!