Wed Sept 13, 2006 Rome & the Vatican City

Why is it so bright for 530 in the morning? I ask myself. I check my watch. It's past 700, and we have to be at La Scala by 745 for our Rome excursion. Shit! The opening scene from "Four Weddings and a Funeral" runs through my head as the two of us showered and dressed. No breakfast today. Ask any of my friends or family. I get very cranky without food. Shit! Shit! Okay, Hugh Grant said "Bugger!" but you get the drift.

Today, we will travel by bus for 90 minutes to where all roads lead...Rome. My memories of Italy have faded like the old family photos, but can you blame me? I was only in the first and second grade. Above is the only pyramid known in Europe. Typical Romans. They saw something they liked and copied it.

Our tour guide is Elena. She reminds me of a tall Diane Sawyer. A 5'11" blonde if not taller, she would not be hard to spot her in the crowd. We make a rest stop at a gas station. The women's line is loong...

Whispers
Now this is new. Elena hands out Whispers which are receivers with 79 channels so that we can hear her in a crowd. It uses an air earplug like the old fashion airplane headphones. We are channel 50. Elena relates a story about a guy who pushed his earpiece in so deep, it became stuck in his ear, and he ended up in the Vatican Hospital. She was able to convince the hospital to look at him ahead of the line since he was a cruise passenger. It took awhile to remove the earplug since the two young Italian doctors wanted to practice their English. She also passes out small cards which has the address and phone number of the restaurant that we will eat at in case we are separated from the tour. It also has her cell phone number. She tells us that each person should carry their own copy of the card. One man lost his wife since he held both cards.

Elena tells us how all the boys want to become futbol players and that Italian men don't leave home till they are 30-40 years old. I later hear from one of my friends that he saw a television news show saying the same thing. After an hour and a half drive, we are in finally in Rome.The bus barely stops, and our local guide Alessandra steps aboard. Much shorter than Mary, she is difficult to spot with even the scarf with Royal Caribbean colors tied to the end of a pointer. I noticed that her nametag is for Princess Cruise lines.

The Tivedi Fountain is not as large as I remembered and is sooo crowded as you can see. Per tradition, Mary throws a coin with her right hand over her left shoulder which means that she will return one day. Mary buys some chocolate gelato, a lemon eclair and a bag of gummi bears. I'm starved so the food is appreciated. Gelato is sold everywhere. As I remembered, the best photo spot of the fountain is at the top of church stairs.

Further down is the balcony made famous by Mussolini.

At the end of the street is The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

I wish I could record everything our tour guides tell us. They provide us so much interesting information. The pillar in the left photo has a staircase inside. If I'm not mistaken, someone is buried beneath it.

We continue walking down the street. Much further down the street is Roman Colosseum. To the right is this statue of Julius Caesar which is probably not an accurate depiction of him.

Behind the statue are the ruins of the Forum. We walk a bit further down and enter the ruins.

We stop before where Caesar was buried. Alessandra shows us a cool book. It has photos of the current day photos, but flip the transparent page before it and you can see a depiction of what the original buildings may have looked like. The only thing cooler would be virtual reality goggles which overlay the historical images over the current day images.

This arch shows how the Romans returned with a famous Jewish artifact.

Outside the Arch of Constantine and the Colosseum are men dressed as gladiators. They get upset if you take photos of them without paying them.

Being part of a tour group is like having a FastPass at DisneyWorld. We move past a very long line of individual guests. The Colosseum was completed in only 8 years. I'm amazed since thin red bricks compose the understructure. The marble and metal was later stolen. I wonder why they used thin bricks. According to Alessandra's book, the Colosseum even had a canopy which can be drawn over it with many slaves.

We are given some time to tour the Colosseum on our own. Mary and I make our way to the second floor. A lift is provided, but the line is -- as expected -- long, so we take the stairs. Mary is holding up well even with all the walking we've been doing. This tour was marked as strenuous on the brochure. The view from here is worth it. Our free time is almost up so we hurry back to our meeting point. As we exit, Alessandra points out the stand where we can buy her same book as well as the complimentary DVD. It's surprising that only one vendor sells this book and it's as we leave the Colosseum but not at the Forum where it would be more useful. Lunch is at Poretti a restaurant that is underground. It is cooler here. We are served pasta with tomato sauce. It is followed by a salad then the entree -- two thin slices of chicken and potatoes. Dessert is a cake and a half warm cup of coffee that isn't too strong. Our dinnermates are Bill and his wife who is a travel agent. Both are from Indianapolis. She is a travel agent here for work and has been to Italy before. During our day at sea, they will be having a conference. It must be nice to be able to write off a cruise as work related.

At Saint Peter's Square, we wait in line to pass through security, but since we are part of a tour, we are in one of the FastPass lanes. A tall blonde guy is attempting to cut line, but the tour guides would have no part of it. "We are not stupid," our tour guide tells him and has him leave the line. Our tour applauds and cheers her on. The pope is not here today and is in his home country of Germany.

This view is looking back on the square from the entrance of the Basilica. As a kid, I always thought it was creepy standing here with all the saints looking down on you as if judging you.

The Swiss Guards. Hmmm, wouldn't a machine gun be more useful than a halberd?

This door is opened every 25 years. Whoever walks through it has their sins wiped clean. The reason for every 25 years is that it saves one generation. The next time it opens is 2025. Hmmm, I can make it back in 9 years. Jan-Feb is a good time to visit since it is so cold. The crowds are much smaller since no one wants to be waiting in line in the cold; otherwise, September and October has the best weather. No collection of photos can capture the beauty of the interior of St. Peter's Basilica. I'll provide a few for now and may add some later.

This statue was once attacked by a crazed Hungarian with a hammer. It was later restored, and the Hungarian is now in prison.

The final resting point of Saint Peter. At each corner is a holy relic. there is a holy relic at every corner.

I thought this was a cool shot. See how the light lands perfectly on the altar.

Flash photography is allowed inside since what appears to be paintings are actually mosaics. You have to be pretty close to notice it.

Rubbing the right foot of St. Peter's Statue is supposed to give good health. We're not sure if it's his right foot or the foot that is on our right so we rub both.

Time to be heading home. We are given time for souvenir shopping at the Vatican souvenir shop. The number one souvenir is the peace cross designed by John Paul the Second. You can get a medallion of a patron saint for nearly every name. And of course, there are many designs of crosses.