So, my wife and I recently returned from a two week vacation in Italy. Throughout the trip, she kept reminding me that I needed to find some kind of souvenir for myself...as I'm not a big souvenir person this was proving difficult. Towards the end of the vacation, we went to Vatican City. As a sovereign nation and a member of the European Union they produce euro coins of their own, although my understanding is they are limited to mint and proof sets because they really have no need to produce circulating coins. Following our tour through the Vatican, we went to a gift shop next to St. Peter's and inside was a 2011 Vatican Euro Proof Set. The price was 140 euros (about $185) and I just couldn't justify spending the money. So, we left. Afterwards, my wife was telling me that it would have been the perfect souvenir for me...it was a coin set (and actual coin set, not some stupid souvenir token) and I was raised Roman Catholic. I also did some research and discovered that $185 was a competitive price (which surprised me since it was at a gift shop). It really was the ideal souvenir for me...something that I could actually "use" as part of my coin collection. So, we went back the next day (our last day of our vacation which we didn't have much planned)...and when we got there we realized you couldn't get to that specific gift shop without going back through long security line. Because we had time, and the line appeared to be moving well we decided to try it...if it was taking too long we would just leave. The line moved quickly and we got in...and I got my proof set. I wish they had had the 2013 sets since that was the year of our trip...but all they had was 2011. So, I picked one up and am really happy I did:
The coin set is neat and the story interesting. Especially since I am leaving tomorrow for ten days in Rome and then an 11 day cruise to the Eastern Med. My wife has been dealing with trigeminal neuroglia for the past couple of years, but, since this business trip came up, I convinced her to come along and go on the cruise. She is a real trooper and is trying to keep a brave face. Any suggestions of things we HAVE TO see or restaurants that won't try to steal us blind? I collect only Ancients, but now you have me tempted to get one of these Vatican Proof Sets.
I really enjoyed and ancient sights...especially the Coliseum and the Pantheon. The Vatican was really cool too...probably the most amazing part to me was the Raphael Rooms (even more so than the Sistine Chapel). If you do go and look for one of these sets, the gift shop I found them in is on the left side of St. Peter's square (if you are facing the church) and it's on the other side of the security. Basically, if you are exiting the church you go out along that wall and the gift shop is there. As for resturants...to be honest, we didn't really go to many in Rome. We had spent more money on food in Florence and were trying to eat on the cheap by the time we got to Rome. But, I can tell you this. Of our whole trip (which was Venice-Florence-Pisa-Rome-Naples/Pompeii) the coolest thing we did by far was take a day trip to see Pompeii.
We've been to Rome about 30 years ago. We did basically the same trip you did minus Venice (which we did a couple of years ago on another business trip to Croatia). And you are right about Pompeii. Fascinating! Not sure if we will get to Pompeii this time around, but I plan on going to Ostia Attica which I've read is almost as fascinating as Pompeii. We'll see. Thanks for the advice. I know it's not cheap to eat in Italy, especially Florence, Venice and Rome, so we will be picnicking a lot as well. I'm looking forward to seeing some of the Ancient coins on display at the National Museum.
Super-cool coin set, CamaroDMD ... very smooth!! Bing => have a great time "tomorrow" ... treat her like a Princess!!
Lovely set and a great story Richie. Bing, kiss the wife for all of us here. Hope she feels better........
Very nice proof set! I have a few Vatican coins too (lira and euro) but BU only. By the way, the Vatican is not a member state of the European Union. The country can issue euro coins because it has a monetary agreement with the EU. These days about half of the total mintage has to be issued at face, but of course the Vatican only does that with one or two denominations only ... Christian
