June 17, 2013 - We decided to leave our B&B in Sorrento at 9 am to catch a 9:15 bus. We ended up on the road at 9:10 and Jan thought she saw the bus already go by. No way - a bus early in Italy! We waited and waited and waited and sure enough that must have been the bus because we waited on the roadside until 10:20 for the 10:10 bus - of course this one was late - and we had to connect to a 10:37 train. Oh well, almost done our train travels. We arrived at the train station at 10:36, bought our tickets and crammed on to the train - easily the worst trains we have been on. No seats for us as we were late so we crammed into the entryway with our back packs - Jan was able to sit on hers but I didn't even have enough room for that. Oh well, it was only 70 minutes to Naples on the stinky sweaty train - that was us and most of the other passengers. Jan has always assumed that the stinky person is the person next to her (not me the other person), but is slowly coming to realize that she may be the culprit. Sweat is her middle name these days. We survived the sweat, stink, pickpockets and beggars and arrived in Naples. We booked first class seats on the high speed train from Naples to Rome - we couldn't get there fast enough - it only took an hour and ten minutes and we sat with a couple from Toronto and a couple from Ottawa. We arrived in Rome safe and sound only to have a rogue taxi driver with a super deal) tried to scam us - luckily Rick Steves (the ultimate Europe guide and expert) had warned us about this and we waited for the legit taxi. This taxi brought us to our "hotel" - Casa Santa Maria Ferie Alle Fornaci - a convent near the Vatican which rents out rooms and provides breakfast all for 75 Euros a night. Great place to stay although very basic and stark with twin beds - but I guess we should have twin beds, we are staying in a convent! Had a quick spaghetti and lasagna at a forgettable restaurant near the convent and then headed off for a short walk.
June 18, 2013 - A bit of a lazy start today. We had breakfast at the convent - nope, no nuns serving us - just regular people. Oh well. At 10 am we were off to the Coliseum, Forum and Palantine Hill. Thanks again to Rick Steves, we walked by the mile long ticket line at the Coliseum to Palantine Hill where we bought combo tickets to see all three sights. It took us about 15 minutes to get tickets as opposed to a couple of hours. The Palantine Hill is where the Emperors lived and there were several palaces built here overlooking the Forum. We get our word "palace" from this place. Then off to the adjacent Forum. The Forum was the heart and soul of Ancient Rome and the place where it all began. It is arguably the most important piece of real estate in all of western civilization as this is where western civilization began. Julius Caesar and Mark Antony actually walked on the same stones that we walked on today. Amazing history here! Then off to the Coliseum where we bypassed the 2 hour wait ticket line and walked right in. It was built in 80 AD (mostly by Jewish slaves) and held 50,000 people. The real name is the Flavian Ampitheatre - they actually took two amphitheaters - most were semi-cirlcles - and put them together to form the Coliseum. It was an arena for gladiators and other spectacles. It took 200 ox-drawn wagons working every day for four years to bring the travertine stone from Tivoli. Under the main floor, there was a labyrinth of tunnels for the gladiators, animals and others who were then raised to the arena floor by an "elevator". A long day sightseeing in 31C heat, but worth every minute and streams of sweat. I think we bought 4 bottles of 4 Euro coke along the way. Hopped a cab back to St. Peter's Square, had a quick bit to eat and back to our convent for a nap. Dinner consisted of a mixed salad, mushroom risotto and tiramisu for Jan and a caprese salad and spaghetti carbonera for me. Back to the convent for a well earned sleep. The Vatican is on tap for tomorrow ...
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| Coliseum |
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| Coliseum |
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| Forum |
June 19, 2013 - Got an early start today - 9:30 am. Wow we are getting terrible. We got into the massive lineup at St. Peter's Basilica and were inside within 15 minutes. Pretty impressive. The statues are huge and there are hundreds. The altar, designed and built by Bernini, is over 7 stories high. The dome is about 2 football fields high. We touched the toe of St. Peter's bronze statue. This is the most impressive church we have visited and according to many, the most impressive in the world. Apparently the Pope is at his country house so we missed him. The Pieta, Michelangelo's famous sculpture of Mary holding a dead Jesus in her arms is here too - also very impressive. There are numerous mosaics here as well - you need to look so close to determine they are actually mosaics and not paintings. Numerous Popes are here as well in the crypt. All in all - very impressive. Funny exchange outside the St. Peters:
Older Lady: Can you take a picture of my husband and I?
Me: Sure
Older Lady: Thanks. Now we can prove we were here.
Me: I think HE knows.
Older Lady: I guess HE does.
We then went to the Vatican Museum - we were very lucky as there was no lineup outside for tickets. OK, not so lucky, there was no lineup outside because every single person in rome must have been in that museum. It was wall to wall people, which made the visit less than desirable. The frescoes by Raphael were amazing but I must say that the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo was a bit underwhelming. It was packed (this didn't help) and quite small - I guess we were expecting our jaws to drop, but they didn't. Oh well. As we were in the museum, big thunderclouds rolled in and it started to rain. We ended up at a small restaurant for a while and had pizza, bruschetta and sparkling water. Back to our room to pack up and do some laundry - pretty great deal - the lady at the laundromat will wash and dry your clothes for the same price that we would normally do our own laundry. Back to the room for a nap. 2 hours later, we went back to pick up our laundry. Dinner at a great little restaurant near our convent, Il San Pietrini, and off to bed. Not sure what we are doing tomorrow yet, but I suspect sleeping in might be part of the equation ...
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| St. Peter's Basilica |
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| St. Peter's Basilica - Bernini Altar |
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| St. Peter's Basilica - Pieta by Michelangelo |
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| Vatican Museum - Raphael Frescoes |
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| Vatican Swiss Guards |
June 20, 2013 - Had a great day of wandering around Rome. We walked to the Campo Fiori district and stumbled upon a market of everything from wine and olive oil to fruit and clothes. We stopped for a beer at one restaurant on the square and then decided we had a mission - it was our last day and we have not had minestrone soup and we only had a calzone once. Mission: Find a restaurant with both! the restaurants on the square all had people out front trying to convince you to come in - this is usually the first sign of a average to worse restaurant as we have found the places with no one out front and people inside usually don't need someone out front as they are busy anyway. Oh well. we walked by a young lady who wanted us to dine at her establishment. I asked if they had calzone. She replied: Of course they specialize in Napoli food and they had a calzone. I then asked if they had minestrone. She said not on the menu but let's ask the chef if he will make some. I thought this was great initiative on her part. We went in and the chef said he would make the minestrone soup. We were set. Oh yeah, there was no calzone on the menu either, but it really is just a pizza folded in half which is what we got. The minestrone arrived as a bowl of vegetables in a chicken like broth (not tomato based as we were used to). Both were average, but the initiative of this young lady was outstanding. Went back to the convent for a nap. Dinner at the same place as last night and it was very good again. Had not had Grappa yet and since this was our last night in Italy - we both had some Grappa - we now know why we did not have any yet. It is still burning. We are off to Athens, Greece by plane tomorrow morning. Ciao Italia!
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