Vatican, Campo DeFiori, and the Catacombs of Saint Sebastian

2019 Western Mediterranean and Transatlantic Cruises on MSC

Pre-Cruise - Rome -- October 28, 2019

Please click here for video of our trip on this day.

This morning six of us will be visiting the Vatican with pre-purchased tickets booked online for 9:30. This will be my fourth time there and I was less than excited. The thought of being in the crowds and herding through the rooms just did not sound too appealing. The only reason we were there again was to take our relatives from Taiwan there for their first visit. 

Vatican

We found the correct exit when we got off the metro near the Vatican this morning. The line wasn't bad at all that early in the morning but the whole area was bustling with visitors all walking towards the same direction. We were able to just skip the line and got into the museum with the printed ticket in hand. After security we checked in, got our audio-guide and off we went on our self-guided tour.

Courtyard of the Pigna

Pius and Clamentine's Museum

Finally done and we are outside of St. Peter's Basilica. 

Campo de Fiori 

We then took the bus and met up with the rest of our group at Campo de Fiori Piazza. This colorful produce market was filled with locals and tourists alike. We strolled through the stalls and admired at all the goods but unfortunately not planning to purchase anything to take home. 

With son's guidance, we found one of the three Forno Campo de Fiori in this neighborhood for some delicious pizzas and sandwiches for lunch. This is a busy take-out place of sweet and savory baked goods with very limited seats in their tiny stores. Everybody would make their purchase and then enjoy the food sitting or standing around the piazza. A fun and economical meal indeed.

Catacombs of Saint Sebastian

After lunch, we were ready to head over to our next destination--the Catacombs of Saint Sebastian. Again, we utilized the public bus (#118) to take us there through the Appian Way. We got off the bus right across from the Church of Domine Quo Vadis which we visited first.

We took the #118 bus at the stop Ara Coeli/Piazza Venezia and got off at the stop Appia Antica/Domine Quo Vadis.

This is a simple, small church by the roadside.

This is one of the first churches built along the Appian Way. It was said that when Apostle Peter fled Rome, he met Jesus here. He asked Jesus where He was going and our Lord replied that He was going to Rome to be crucified again. Apostle Peter then knew what he was suppose to do and returned to Rome where he was later put to death. 

A stone copy of the footprints that was left by Jesus inside the church. 

The original copy is inside the Basilica of San Sebastian nearby.

Basilica of Saint Sebastian and the Catacombs

There are several catacombs in this surrounding area but we decided to come to the Saint Sebastian. No photography was allowed inside the catacombs as we were going on this guided tour. They had tours in different languages and we had to wait just a little to join the English speaking tour. It was quite an interesting tour that provided a lot of information about the underground tomb and the martyr Sebastian who is buried here.  There are steps and uneven grounds which probably is not suitable for people with mobility issues. After the tour, we were able to get inside the Basilica for a glimpse of this beautiful church.

The original copy of the footprints of Jesus.

After our visit to the catacomb and the basilica, we were ready to take the bus back to Rome. Right in front of the basilica is a one-way road, so we had to walk back down to the other side of the highway and caught the same bus (#118) at the stop Appia Pignatelli/Appia Antica infront of the Catacombe di Pretestato.

What surprised us was when we got off the bus near the Circo Massimo Metro Station, trying to take the metro back to our apartment, we were told that the metro had stopped running because of some unknown reasons. Needless to say all the other transportation like buses and trams were all jammed with people waiting to get home after a day of work. There was no way that we could get on any buses now so we decided to walk back to the apartment. It was quite a hike, I must say, but when we reached the Colosseum, we were met by the very beautiful sight...

Quite different from what we saw during the day.

As for dinner, we stopped at the Chicken Hut across from the Termini for another round of the chicken rice and fried chicken. We were really tired and our comfortable beds were the most welcoming things after a long day of walking!

" Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind."   -- Isaiah 65:17

Castel Sant'Angelo and Ostia Antica

2019 Western Mediterranean and Transatlantic Cruises on MSC

Pre-Cruise - Rome -- October 27, 2019

Please click here for video of our trip on this day.

Our second day in Rome. We planned on utilizing public transportation to all the sites we would be visiting these two days so our first stop for the day was to purchase the Rome Pass at the Termini this morning. 

It was easy buying our Rome passes but trying to figure out how to use it on the buses and activate it took a while. We knew that it's very important to validate train/bus tickets in Italy and we looked everywhere around the bus terminal for the machines to do the job. This was our first time taking the public bus and it was not an easy task not knowing where everything is. The bus drivers were not helpful since they were busy getting passengers on their buses. Most people we came into contact did not speak English. After trying all different routes we decided to just get on the bus and see what happens. It turned out that once we boarded the bus for that first trip and scanned our passes, validation took place. Our fellow passengers were all very helpful knowing that we were having problems. The only problem for us was that not all ten of us were able to get on the first bus and half of us had to get on the next one. Fortunately, we were able to meet up at the correct stop and all was well. Google map really did a great job helping us figuring out our routes and buses to take on this trip and the WeChat app helped us to keep in touch with each others constantly.

Castel Sant'Angelo

From the bus stop it was just a short walking distance to Castel Sant'Angelo.

River Tiber

One majestic structure. We have never been inside this building because of the time of operation. This would be our very first time visiting this site.

Inside

From the castle looking out.

Vatican nearby

One of the rooms inside the castle.

Il Colibri

We were very much looking forward to be back at Il Colibri again. We have enjoyed our meals here on our previous visits when they had their lunch sets. A short bus ride from Castel Sant'Angelo got us to the neighborhood near the Vatican where the restaurant is.

We were the first ones there that day.

Excellent bread to start with as we waited for our food.

Inside the restaurant.

They didn't have their lunch set anymore but had some special dishes like this meat balls for around 10 Euros.

Really good lasagna, also a lunch special dish.

Ravioli

Seafood pasta, also around 10E.

A meat dish which I forgot what it was.

Everything was delicious and again we had a great lunch. Unfortunately we were not able to come back for another meal because of our busy schedule and not around the neighborhood.

Ostia Antica

Our destination for the afternoon was taking the train to Ostia Antica. We took the bus from near the restaurant to the Porto S. Paolo station where we would catch the train to Ostia Antica. One incident while getting off the bus was that a family of Gypsies tried to steal MOR's cell phone off his pocket. Fortunately, he caught the guy just in time as we were getting off the bus. As he confronted the father of the group, he just shamelessly smiled at him and the kids making faces at us. 

It was an easy 20-minute train ride from Porto S. Paolo to Ostia Antica which is located near FCO and the coast. Then a short walk to the historic site. Sis couldn't walk that much so I basically sat with her near the gate and saw the sights nearby as the others explore the site. I enjoyed our visit here in 2015 and did not mind just sitting with her this time around. More photos of our visit in 2015 here. 

We stayed until close to closing time at 4:30 before walking back to the tiny train station.

Taking the train back to Rome.

Back to Porto S. Paolo station.

Outside the station stood the Pyramid of Rome.

After a few photos we then took the Metro back to the Termini where we looked for dinner options. We ended up with some getting Chinese food from the Ristorante Hong Kong across the train station and some of us went to the little chain restaurant next door for some delicious and cheap food for dinner.

Steak dinner for 8E, OK.

The chicken rice was REALLY good. I think it was around 6E for this tasty dish. Their fried chicken was very good also.

We liked this so much that we came back the next day for another round of chicken rice. I don't remember the name of this place now, but I think it's something with the word "Chicken" in it. Chicken Hut, I think.

After a visit to the Carrefore Market picking up some breakfast items we were back at the apartment for the night.

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. "   --Romans 6:23