This morning, we had not one, but TWO alarms set, to avoid
a replay of yesterday. They both rudely awakened us promptly at 6, and both
were summarily ignored. We rose about 7:30 and went down to breakfast. We sat
with our Seattle friends, who were headed to Florence today.
As we chatted at breakfast, I said "You know, I could do
another day here". Lana quickly agreed. We checked at the desk to
see if they had availability, and they did. So our original plan of staying
only two days in Rome had now extended to four. Such is the advantage of
traveling light and without a lot of pre-ordained reservations...when you find a
place that you like, you can stay there as long as you like.
| The folks from Seattle told us of a bad experience they had
on the bus yesterday. They had boarded the Number 81 bus to the
Vatican
and ended up out in the sticks, and had to grab a taxi to make their way back
for their tour. We decided not to repeat their experience, and made sure to ask
the bus driver if this was the correct bus when we boarded. At first the bus
driver did not understand Lana, and she was about to jump back off the bus, when
I poked my head around her and yelled “Vatican?” “Si, si” was the answer, and
we found ourselves there about 10:30, giving us plenty of time to make pictures
before our tour. We were astounded by the huge lines, waiting to get into
the Vatican Museum. Christopher showed up at 11, along with another couple from
New York that would be joining us.
Christopher is a Kiwi living in Rome, a theologian who
teaches Art History at
Marymount. He was a wealth of knowledge, and obviously lived his subjects.
His grasp of the Vatican was amazing. He even took the time to quote his
sources, and correct errors that are commonly repeated in guidebooks and general
history (IE Michelangelo did not paint the Sistine Chapel on his back, he did it
standing). He spent more than 15 minutes discussing the details of
Michelangelo’s Peita. Now, we are not art buffs. But Christopher’s
discussion of this one statue was fascinating. He has to be a great teacher. |
Christopher, pointing to something interesting. |
Saint Peter's
Basilica is one of the most fascinating places I have ever visited, and
having Chris there with us made it all the better. We became convinced
that you should not try to visit this place without a good guide.
Video of St Peter's Basilica, 2.5
minutes, 9.75 Mb
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We spent over an hour in the Basilica, then walked outside
and around the building to the Museum. We were stunned to find no line, and
then arrived at the entrance…to find that it had closed 15 minutes earlier.
This very day, the Museum had changed its hours, and we were out of luck.
Christopher was very apologetic and refunded over half of our fee, while
chatting with the tour company owner and making arrangements for us to take the
tour on another day. We were suddenly glad to have extended.
We asked the tour company owner, Raul, if he had any tours
scheduled for later today for the Forum and Coliseum area. This short time we
had spent with Christopher had convinced us that a knowledgeable guide was
invaluable for unraveling the mysteries of Rome. He promised to call us
back…and never did.
|
After chatting a while with Christopher, we found ourselves
on our own with no plans…so we walked to the Tiber and headed south along the
shore, sightseeing and chatting. It was a beautiful walk, with tall trees in
early fall colors lining the river.
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We ended up in the colorful neighborhood of
Trastevere, where were
wandered a bit looking for a church, and had an early dinner (around 4) at a
local restaurant…much better than last night, but still not up to par with the
food at the hotel.
|
Lana had been looking for some body lotion and a curling
iron. The local farmacie had lotion, very expensive at about 30E for the
bottle, and no curling irons. She bought the lotion (that girl REALLY wanted
lotion) and some insoles for her shoes, as her back and legs were hurting from
all the walking.
It was dusk when we set back out, again walking the Tiber,
and buying a cheap cup of coffee in a bar so we could use the bathroom. At
a crosswalk at the Coliseum, we were entertained by the Italian scooter pilots,
that seemed to think every stoplight was a chance for a drag race.
Video, 35 seconds, 2.5 Mb.
Being a motorcycle maniac, I loved watching the two-wheeled traffic of Rome.
Probably more than 40% of the vehicles on the streets were two-wheelers, mostly
scooters under 250cc. There were also a fair number of dual-sports,
motards, sportbikes. I was surprised to see so many Japanese sportbikes.
The Italians (Aprilla, Ducati, Moto-Guzzi) were well represented, but there were
lots of rice rockets, and the local cops were riding BMW's! How's that for
national pride? One type of bike was noticeably absent...cruisers.
Harleys and Harley clones were nowhere to be found. I actually saw more
Buells than all cruiser-types combined...what a change from the States!
We
ended up back at the hotel around 6:30, carrying in some gelato from down the
street. We spent the rest of the evening in the hotel bar, studying up on
Venice and Cinque Terre, looking at pictures, and drinking.
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