Day 16-17 Rome & the Vatican
Rome
Sunday November 1, 2015
Pantheon
We arrived in Rome before lunch. Oh my what a difference from Altarocca. Gone was the countryside of rolling hills and Fall color. In its place traffic, tall buildings and lots of people. As we picked up our gear from the bus to take to the hotel, we said goodbye to Adrian as this was our last bus ride of the trip. We really appreciated his easy manner and awesome driving.
Ruins in the Roman Forum
With full sun and temperatures in the mid 70s, it was warm! No jacket needed here. We checked into our room at Hotel Sonya with enough time to get settled before heading out for our orientation tour.
“Our hotel had a small cage-like elevator that MIGHT hold two guests and their luggage or three with nothing else. It was clear that those of us on the upper floors would take a while getting upstairs at this rate. I grabbed the suitcases and headed up the stairs. Before I knew it, Boris bolted past, grabbing the suitcases as he went. They were waiting for me when I finally made it to the third floor.” -K
We were on our own for lunch and met up with Andy and Kate for a quick outdoor meal at a pizza place not far from the hotel. At 1:15 we met at the Opera House, across from our hotel for a group walk to the train station to pick up taxis to St. Peters Basilica. One has not lived till they’ve taken a taxi in Rome. Our driver was very good; we’re just not sure either of us would be up to the task of driving in Rome.
Main altar of St. Peter’s Basilica. The light coming through the window makes for an interesting effect.
“We met our guide, Ilaria, and were off. Rome is one of the places where I was most thankful for the audio units. There were so many tourists; it was easy to get separated from the group if you weren’t paying attention. To say St. Peters is grand is an understatement. So many beautiful things. Not being well versed on all things Catholic, I had no idea St. Peter was actually buried under the Basilica or that deceased Popes were actually on view inside.”-K
Boris loved the church bells. To this day I can’t hear church bells and not think of Boris and Nina.-K
We spent about an hour or so inside then headed out into the city. We stopped at Piazza Navona where we admired the lovely fountain, had some gelato and learned about the local history. We continued on. As we rounded a corner, we saw the Pantheon. The building itself is pretty unassuming from the front, though the large granite columns are quite impressive. The roof was a structural marvel for its time. It is so well preserved as it has been in constant use. Two Italian kings are buried in the Pantheon.
In this city, everywhere you look you can find bits and pieces of ancient Rome embedded in more modern buildings. Pieces of columns, trim above doorways, the list goes on and on. The original recyclers, Romans have kept a bit of their past in their present. We stopped by the Trevi fountain. It was pretty but we didn’t get to see it in action as it had been closed for cleaning, as had the Spanish Steps, both in preparation for “Papa Francesco’s” coming Jubilee Year which would begin in December, 2015. It was set to reopen in the coming days. Our walk ended and we headed to the train station. We were on our own for dinner.
Lunch with our new friends.
Today had been a day full of walking. Tomorrow was set to be even busier. Wanting to stay near the hotel for dinner, we joined Andy and Kate and set out to find a place to eat. A couple of places we tried were closed so we settled on Cafe Washington. We all laughed about the name, since we live near Seattle. The meal was good, as was the company. We talked about getting together for the RS reunion in January, 2016. We live about 3 hours from each other and were looking forward to visiting. The four of us walked back to the hotel and called it a night.
Mosaic floor in the Vatican Musuem
The Vatican Museum & the Sistine Chapel
Monday November 2, 2015
We were out by 8am. This was our last day of the tour and we had a very rich and full day planned; there was no time to lose. We took the Metro to the Vatican Museum. It seemed crowded but Lisa assured us that the place was practically empty compared to how busy it normally was. We had to use the Vatican’s audio system rather than our own so it took a little time to get those handed out. At first the audio was horrible but Vatican guide, Maria Laura, was able to get it working in short order.
The museum was huge and well visited and the works of art and treasures were really too much to take in. Having a guide to help us “sample” the treasures was wonderful. It would take days to see it all! We have seen so many beautiful things on this trip.
Outside the museum are panels with images of the Sistine Chapel. Because photographs and talking are prohibited inside the chapel, any discussion about what you are about to see is done outside using these panels. Once inside there are benches along each long side of the tiny chapel. The floor is full of people all gazing upward. There are security guards that call out over speakers “No pictures, no talking”. They are actually noisier than any occasional whispers one might hear. The paintings are breathtaking. We are fortunate it has survived to present.
We finished up in time for lunch. A number of us headed over to a little outdoor restaurant. “Cappo groupo!”
Colosseum
Roman Colosseum. You can almost hear the crowds cheering through the centuries.
After lunch we met and took another taxi ride to the Colosseum.
“The Colosseum was one of the things I’d looked forward to most on this trip. I am drawn to old buildings in general but this place seemed to hold the heart of Rome for me.” -K
Ilaria gave a great tour, complete with a book showing an artist’s rendition of how it probably looked when it was intact. We learned that most fights that took place there were not to the death. The gladiators were a commodity to their owners and a lot of time and money went into training them to be good at what they did. It didn’t make sense to sacrifice them so easily. She also pointed out that while the place held over 50,000 spectators, there were no bathrooms. Hmmm.
Roman Forum
After the Colosseum, we walked over to the Roman Forum. Shells of buildings dotted the landscape. Pieces of columns were strewn about as if thrown there by an angry God. We were getting pretty exhausted by then and several pieces were the perfect height for a tired tourist to sit and take it all in.
Goodbye to new friends
We met at almost 7 at Target Ristorante for our final dinner. Our dinner began with a toast to Lisa and Alexis. Without them this trip wouldn’t have been anywhere near what it was. Next we ate, and what a dinner it was. An antipasto of fennel and greens, pizza for the first dish, sliced beef and shredded cheese over greens, then panna cotta for dessert. We drank Prosecco, wine, and a lemoncello for an apertivo. Lisa gave us each a chocolate bar from Venchi, an Italian Chocolate Company. After dinner, contact info was traded and there were goodbyes and hugs followed by our last group walk back to the hotel.
Our final dinner of the tour. I’m going to miss this group.
“As exhausted as I was, I knew I was going to miss this group that had almost become like family in the past 2 1/2 weeks.” -K
Lisa had provided us with a schedule and roster for rides to the airport for those of us leaving.
Tuesday November 3, 2015
We had enough time to eat breakfast at the hotel before catching our van to the airport. We shared the van with Carol and Barry who are also from Washington state. The rest of the day was a blur. We made it home about 28 hours later after a van, two planes, a town car, a ferry and a cab. What an awesome trip it had been.