The Keyhole!
More Birds
Nuns on St. Peters
Colleseum
The Trevi!December 17
We woke up and had breakfast at our hotel before going to the train station. We went about a half hour early, but ended up waiting about 2 hours because the train was delayed for 75 minutes. It was about 1 pm when we got off the trais as it only took about 2 hours to get to Rome. We walked to our hotel, which Scott had stayed when he was here with the Point Loma group. Dad decided to take a nap and Scott and I walked around Rome a little. We walked by the Republic, the Spanish Steps, 4 statues on a corner, and ended up at the Trevi Fountain! I t was amazing and like everything else here, huge! Scott and I stopped at a grocery store on the way back for water, and then we ate at La Famigia resturant which was right across the street from out hotel. Scott got a buffet, dad got spaghetti and I had tortelli with mushrooms and peas in cream sauce. The food was really good, but the staff kept trying to make up get more food – it was really strange! We came back to our hotel and just fell asleep!
December 18, 2009
Today was the one day we actually scheduled something ahead of time! We had tickets to go into the Vatican at 1 pm, so we left right after breakfast on the metro. Again, we were overwhelmed by the size of what we were seeing! The plaza in front of St Pauls Basilica was huge with an amazing amount of statuary! We went inside Saint Peters Basilica and walked around. We saw Michalangelo’s Pieta, Bernini’s baldchinno (black twisty thing) and a golden ray with a dove in the middle. Dad chose to not climb up the 320 steps to the top of the Duomo, but Scott and I did! We took an elevator which let us off at the level of the inside rim of the Duomo. We walked around looking at the amazing mosaics and then headed up the timy triangle shaped steps that would lead us to the exterior top rim of the Duomo. It was scary (especially since I have a fear of heights and enclosed spaces) but it was worth the 320 steps! We had a perfectly clear day and could see all around Rome. The entire climbing adventure took about an hour and we met dad and headed over to the Vatican. Scott was amazed there was no line and we basically just walked in after going through security. The Vatican had more visible treasures than I’ve ever seen. We headed toward the Sistine Chapel, but to get there we passed huge tapestries, paintings by Dali, Marc Chagal, Matisse etc. There was an entire room painted by Raphael, and then the Sistine Chapel. It was amazing, being able to look up at the Michalangelo paintings! We spent about an hour in the Sistine chapel and then walked over to see the Laocoon sculpture and a torso that inspired Michalangelo We ran into our Australian friends again at the Vatican! We left the Vatican and got on the metro to the stop closest to the Trevi fountain. We got really great gelatos on the way and then we all threw coins in (so we all HAVE to come back to Rome!) We came back to the hotel and Scott and I went to a pizza place out Australian friends recommended. We stopped at the grocery and got wine and bread and butter and ate at our hotel.
December 19, 2009
We ate our hotel breakfast and then went by metro to the Colosseum. We walked around inside the ruins, which were amazingly green and again ran into our Australian friends – Don and Laura! This was the 4th time we happened to be at the same place! We walked around the Roman Forum and learned that all three of us know very little about Roman history. We left the forum and walked through the circus Massimo to the small church that had the Mouth of Truth which we knew from Roman Holiday. We must all be very truthful people because the lion did not bit our hands off! After we walked up a hill to the Jardin Orangine (The garden of oranges) to find the keyhole which pointed directly to the Basilica. The keyhole is actually located on huge wooden door leading into a military fascility and there were armed Italian guards right outside. As you look through the keyhole you see an archway of greenery and at the end a perfect view of the basilica. We walked back down the hill and got on the metro back to our hotel. I wasn’t feeling well, so I pretty much fell asleep immediately! We got take out Chinese food from the place right across from our hotel for dinner.
December 20. 2009
After breakfast we went by bus to Plaza Navona and the Pantheon. We couldn’t go into the Patheon because there was a church service being held and the entrance was roped off to non catholics! We walked around the open markets of Navone and Campo dei Fiore, and past the Sacred Ruins. We decided to walk to the island of Isola and then across the river Tiber. We ate a gelato and then We got on a trolley and dad had his wallet stolen – we all think it was by a tiny old woman! This may not seem like a huge deal, but dad was our only way of getting cash! Luckily, we only have one day left! We came back on a random bus and ran into our Australian friends. It’s just uncanny that we’ve truly run into them so much and especially on a random bus!! We got back to the hotel and found out that our cell phones weren’t working. We had to figure out how to call the credit card cancellation service, and after Scott and I tried for about an hour, dad got through. After canceling the cards, we decided to go back to the Pantheon, and actually got to go inside. It was beautiful and of course, huge! We also saw Raphael’s tomb inside. It was starting to get a little dark, so we walked to the Colosseum because I wanted to take pictures at night. We walked into a beautiful church called the Chiesa Dei Gesu. There was a mirror to show the amazing art on the ceiling. It was SO cold! (actually 34!) We stayed for about 30 minutes watching the sun go down and the Colosseum turn orange! Dad and I really wanted Mexican food, but Scott just didn’t have any suggestions, so McDonalds was the next best choice. (Ok, remember, I wasn’t feeling good and dad just had his wallet stolen – we need good old comfort French fries!)
December 21, 2009
Our last day in Roma! We ate a yucky breakfast at our hotel and then went to the termini to determine our schedule for getting to the airport. We decided the best was at 5:52 am ! We then took the metro to the Spanish Steps and had a gelato at the same place Scott has had gelato every time he has been to Roma! We walked to the park near the Borghese museum and fed the pigeons. It started raining but we kept walking! It was a very peaceful park, and it was hard to even notice the sound of cars. Dad decided he’d had enough walking so we went back to the hotel and Scott and I went back to the Spanish Steps and the Via del Corso and window shopped. We followed a kazoo sounding bagpipe with a bunch of pretty women dressed in santa dresses marching down the street, but not for too long. It started raining really hard but it was fun for us to walk around with ombellis! We came back and went to the grocery for dinner and ate in the hotel. Now we are going to try to pack all of Scotts “stuff” into some sort of order!
End Note by Scott:
Euroterm has been the best experience of my life. I have grown so much and have come closer to understanding myself. Traveling has given me so much more confidence and I really feel that I know Europe now. I wanted to thank all you guys that kept up with this blog, it inspired me to keep writing.
Song of the Day
