When I googled Vatican last night to prepare my itinerary for today, I found this page on the official Musei Vaticani website.

Overwhelming isn’t it?

It occurred to me that if I wanted to truly see everything and properly visit Vatican’s incredible artwork, I’d need a guided tour. That feeling lasted for about an hour or so. Until I realized, I don’t really want to go into the history of everything. I can appreciate good sculptures and beautiful tapestries without a walking, talking Wikipedia page on the subject matter.

So I decided to do my own research and go through enough YouTube videos so I at least know what I can’t afford to miss. See, any visit to the Vatican has a few highlights: the Museums, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica. And I figured I’d be okay by myself.

And I was!!

The Vatican is BEAUTIFUL! And St. Peter’s Basilica breathtaking!

After half a day at the Vatican, next up I went for a food tour in Testaccio, the original foodie neighbourhood of Rome and where cucina romana (roman cuisine) was born. BY MYSELF!! I had half a mind to book an actual walking food tour until I realized this is what a food tour in Rome looks like.

Price: $ 96.65

Here is the thing… I can walk around Testaccio by myself 😛 😛 😛 And google the best places to eat.

So I did that and spent way less than $ 96.65. And I’m fussy food wise so I got to pick and choose exactly what I wanted to try. I had some amazing things: gelato, cannoli, pizzas and loads of other real Rome street food. IT WAS AWESOME!! The pastries from Barberini were particularly delicious.

See??

And finally, later in the evening, I went out to dinner in Trastevere, a daytime draw and nighttime hotspot on the picturesque west bank of the Tiber.

The food was amazing at the restaurant I narrowed down on TripAdvisor.

The free stuff

The “not free” stuff

The dessert