Day 9 - Christmas Eve - Rome

Panino di polpette a la nonna

After breakfast, we headed to Testaccio Market.  Our other trips to markets were always fun, so we rolled the dice, hoping it was open on Christmas Eve.  It was!  I expected a food market, but there was so much more- shoes, purses, flowers, housecoats, bath mats.  It was an unusual selection to say the least.  The meat and veggies were fresh and it was fun to stroll through the market. We shared a small meatball sandwich (panino di polpette a la nonna) and a suppli (cacio e pepe again, I love that!).  Of course, we had to try another gelato, for comparison purposes only. I have yet to meet a gelato I didn't like, but this one was not as good as the gelato last night.  (I might go back to yesterday's gelateria if it is open on Christmas.)

The eggplant section at Eataly

Yum, butter

From there, we walked to Eataly, a four story store dedicated to all things food.  The first floor had pastries, candies, cookbooks, paninis, desserts, which are somehow different than pastries, cooking tools, a bakery, beautiful produce, gelato, beauty products,  and stoneware.  The second floor had beers, meats, cheeses, including an entire section for mozzarella, numerous restaurants, including a pizzeria and a home for fresh pasta.  Tony and I ate a tagliolini with butter that was truly swimming in butter and it was delicious.  Seriously, delicious.  The second floor had walls of pasta and flour and breadsticks.  Huge sections for olive oil, olives and other condiments.  There was a section dedicated to truffles.  The third floor was wine, a rotisserie, fish and a fish restaurant, gifts and jewelry, an oyster bar, a coffee bar, and a regular bar. The fourth floor was event space.  The whole experience was overwhelming and fun.  Apparently, Mario Batali is the name behind the store, but, to his credit, his face was not plastered on every open space.  I would have loved to have a kitchen so I could have bought too much at the store.  We left Eataly with a great deal of restraint and returned home to rest up before we hike to the Vatican.  Mass was at 9:30.     

St. Peter's Square & the Basilica

Inside the Basilica, looking towards the back of the church

Getting into St. Peter's Square and St. Peter's Basilica was a feat.  As you know, we had our golden tickets, so we could get in.  We chose to go about three hours early. There were a number of people there already, hundreds, actually.  We stood in the "line" that was forming behind a gate and waited, not sure if we were in the right place.  A nun asked if I had any extra tickets.  I must have looked like a scalper.  Then they opened the gate and the hordes of people shoved through.  I was physically closer to these people than I have ever been on any type of public transportation. There was lots of shoving.  In particular, there was shoving by droves of nuns. It looked like we were going to have to sit outside and watch the pope on TV, but somehow we made it in.  We were not in the clear, though. There was another checkpoint.  There, a tiny man in a tuxedo with medals like an admiral was responsible for choosing who got through.  We got to the front of that horde, and the tiny admiral stopped everyone from entering.  He was leaning against the pulsating crowd and nearly lost his balance.  I reached out and helped him stand up and he looked at me and said "Mama mia!"

We were allowed in next and Tony found seats that were 25-30 rows from the Altar.  The Basilica is breathtaking.  I can't really put it into words.  It is gigantic, and beautiful, and golden. It is definitely awe inspiring.  Right before mass, they announced something like, "In order to maintain the sanctity of the Mass, please refrain from applause when the Pope enters."  This Pope is a rock star.  Though we were close to the procession, there were so many people standing on chairs and jockeying for position that we couldn't get a good picture.  The mass was said mostly in Latin, with one reading in Italian and one in English.  The prayers of the faithful were in many different languages, including Arabic, Aramaic, Chinese, and Spanish.  The homily was in Italian, so we had to watch CNN to find out what he said.  The sound of the choir with the great acoustics was a treat.  Adeste Fidelis and Silent Night were the songs we recognized, but it was lovely no matter what they sang.  The whole experience was incredible and heartwarming.  (And, the poor family who was in front of us in line the day before, who had been turned away by the Swiss Guard without tickets, was two rows behind us.)

After mass, a group young priests stood in a circle and began singing carols from their country.  There was a camaraderie in the air.  All of the shoving was over.  The air was crisp and the walk home was, thankfully, flanked with food trucks, as we skipped dinner.  We returned to our wonderful Rome hotel and packed for our Christmas Day check out.  We are going to get one more afternoon in Rome then we are off to Milan.