Buzzing Around The World With Fellette & Doug

Rome in a Day...

You cannot do Rome in a day, a month, or a year, I know, but that is all we had.

Civitavecchia, the port city where we docked, is only 38 miles away from Rome if you are a crow. It took us over two hours to get there. We were in a petri dish with wheels and a motor, otherwise known as a bus/coach. Within two minutes I remembered why we don't take bus tours. The coughing and sneezing is the perfect place to be friendly and share your sickness with 40 other passengers.

After being dropped off at the north-east outskirts of Rome, we gallant four took the metro to the Vatican. All except Fellette have been in Rome at some time or other so the Sistine Chapel was on our list. The entrance line was about 300 meters long, but moving. Soon we were inside, where it is more like a Wal-Mart than a shrine. After we passed the metal detectors and other entrance procedures we bought our tickets. There is no entrance fee for the Sistine Chapel but the entrance is only through the Museum that charges 13 Euros. Convenient source of income for the richest organisation in the world.

Through the museum, [the word is a misnomer, it is a series of very large buildings/rooms with over a million Artifacts], most of which are priceless in their own right. It is indeed staggering to see the treasures that include tapestries that go on forever, statues, paintings, etc., the ceilings are absolutely awesome. Guards are everywhere telling you to keep moving. The crowds are unbelievable however, eventually a little claustrophobia entered my feelings as we sort of slithered down the stairs to the Chapel itself.

Maybe a thousand people inside the room, sitting on the benches on the perimeter, most were standing in the room taking in the art itself. The guards were loudly telling people not to take photographs. It was hard to really absorb the beauty of it as you were continually bumping into people that had their cameras, videos and cell phones pointed to the ceiling. I suppose the instructions were only for law-abiding North Americans like us.

Our Scottish guide on the bus on the way in gave us a little tip. Upon leaving the Chapel the exit is on the left, this takes you back out to where we came in, outside the Vatican walls, a one kilometre walk back to St. Peters Square. However there is a small door off to the far right that escorted tours can leave by, taking them down the stairs and out to St. Peters Basilica. The four of us tagged on the back of an English school boys group, mixed up with a group of elderly Koreans. Jim at about 6'3" was our weak link but we soon found ourselves in the Basilica.

It is indeed a beautiful thing, likely without rival in the world. I am at a loss for words to fully convey the feeling in there. It somehow almost seems profane to take pictures, but we did.

Outside, we took in the various views from St. Peters Square and took a cab to the coliseum. It seems to have shrunk since I last saw it in 1960. We walked through the Forum up to the Victor Emanuelle creation.

In the last few weeks we have had a walk through history in Turkey, Greece, Crete and Naples. Rome has everything and more than those previous ports, however it is no longer heart-stopping to see the remains of a building 2000 years old. Where Rome stands out in my mind are the Arches and statuary still intact, [or restored], from those historic days. They say that Rome is built on Rome. There is evidence of that everywhere. You can see a modern building with exposed earthworks next to it going down 20 feet to Roman foundations.

After a quick bite to eat, which I will not tell you about, we did the Naiomi Tour. That is the route that a fellow passenger [Naiomi], who lived in Rome for some time laid out for us for a quick overview of Rome. The Piazza Venizia, Piazza Navona, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Piazza del Popolo.

In a word, [or two] Rome is.....exciting, busy, noisy, timeless, surprising, ancient, modern, expensive, dirty, tiring, awesome, disappointing, endless, people.

We arrived at the drop off spot a bit early, the girls had an Italian Ice Cream [gelato]? Jim and I enjoyed a wine on a marble bench and enjoyed people watching and having our feet up.

The same ride back, still coughing and sneezing. Into the shower after ordering tea to the room. Later we had room service for dinner. We were exhausted, and delighted.

It is the next morning and we are docked at Corsica. I do not have time to position each picture in the text. I am running on overtime. I am swimming as fast as I can!

posted by Doug and Fellette @ 4:22 AM