Waking up in Rome was a grand experience as has been ever other morning in Italy. Pushing the window open, we allowed the city sounds to pour into our room filling it like water filling a glass. We had three major objectives for this day, The Colosseum, the Forum and St. Peter's Square. (You know, the Pope's front yard) We held a cab and set off to meet the Russell and Krystal at the Hilton, our base for the day. As we pulled along the Vatican City walls we noticed the line for the museum already stretching around the city wall. We redirected our cab to the end of the line and joined the other thousand or so people waiting to see the vast collection of art that lay with in the Roman Catholic Church museum.
The line moved quickly and we quickly figured out that we were trapped in a one directional flow that would eventually take us to the Sistine Chapel. I again can not do justice to all the things we took in wall inside Vatican City. The beauty of it all and the history made Kimbra and I simply shake our heads. We wondered through the exhibits wondering again how we could possibly convey the beauty of actually seeing the work by Michelangelo. We sit and listened to a Rick Steves podcast on the history of the room and watched as guards yelled at the visitors to be silent and to put their cameras away. NO PICTURES! SILENT! SHUSSSSH! I think Russell may have snapped a couple of photo's, but don't tell the guards!
We made our way to St. Peter's Basilica. Not being Catholic did not stop Kimbra and I feeling overwhelmed by the reverence of this majestic church. Signs of the impending Easter service were everywhere. Tourist stood in line to visit the confessionals, in their own language, and passed by Pope's laid to rest. I have read several books over the years that refer to this place and yet until I saw with my own eyes I did not appreciate the beauty and grandeur of this Holy site. If the pro's could not fully describe its splendor, I don't think this armature blog will come close either.
Not wanting to leave, but feeling the evil hand of time pressing upon us we made our way out to a tour bus that delivered us back to the Colosseum. This time we were able to fight our way inside. I say fight because, you guessed it, their was a line. We could have jumped the line by paying 60€ per couple but we didn't feel like 20 minutes would make that much of a difference.
Once we were inside the gates we used another Rick Steves podcast to fill in the story of this ancient sporting arena. We worked our way from the bottom up and imagined what it must have been like to push through the crowds to see the brutal sporting events taking place inside.
We shuffled from vantage point to vantage point like a well choreographed dance line connected by a single white ear bud tethering us all to the Ipod. I would highly recommend the Rick Steves Audio podcast while traveling. While we could have seen the sites with out the back story the experience would not have come to life in such a vivid manner. After completing our tour we headed to the Forum.
Once again we found ourselves being pushed by the hour of the day rather than our own willingness to move on. Once outside the gate we grabbed a cab the back side of the Forum only to find out that it was an exit and the entry point was down the hill right were we had just left. So we paid a cabby 4€ to take us to the entrance (so we thought) that was a 15 minute walk from the real entry gate. Normally that might have been funny, but we had 12 minutes before they closed the gates. So like track stars we began the sprint towards the park's entry point, arriving just before the gates were rolled shut. Nothing like running down a hill dodging other tourist and locals wondering what the rush is all about. Once inside, we only had an hour to take in this historic site. We strolled along paths that had once been walked by the most important people in Roman history. Now, I don't know about most people, but to me that was cool! We even got to see where Ceasar was murdered.("Et tu, Brute?")
We were sitting on some ancient steps listening to Kimbra reading about the history from her handy dandy Rick Steves book when the whistle blew signalling our need to exist. We gathered our stuff, having taken some great shots and wondering once again how do we explain the coolness of this trip to our friends and family. We still could not answer that question.
We walked down from the Forum an decided we should give the Roman Subway a ride since we had utilized every other means of public transportation on this trip. I can't say I was very impressed by the train although it did get us where we were going we felt like sardines in a can heading into an unknown world. Its hard getting on a train bound for somewhere, but not knowing where that somewhere is or how long it is going to take to get there. But, hey we were in Rome, and like Russell keeps saying, "When in Rome ..."
It turned out to be a great adventure, but not one I think I will want to repeat. We did manage to get to the Hilton shuttle and back to the hotel to pick up our luggage and back to the bus station with about 5 minutes to spare before the bus returned back to Sienna. What a rush, train, subway, bus, tour bus, cabs, we did it all in Rome. I would highly recommend this adventure, and I would even agree to be your personal tour guide.
That is the story of Rome. Bye for now. Make it a great day.
Dave
Friday, March 21, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Waking Up in Italy - A Flash Back to Venice
As I was resting last night, I realized I had not posted information about our time in Venice. So I will take you there with this post.
Kimbra and I arrived in Venice a little after midnight on Friday. We made our way to San Marco Square via the Vaporetto(Venice's version of public transportation). As we walked on to the plaza, Kimbra and I were awe struck. Tired and weary we were both still carrying grins like small children walking through the gates of Disney World for the first time. At this hour the square was all but deserted. Various couples strolled around hand in hand, but it was still and peaceful. We made a quick search for our hotel hoping they would be able to tell us of a late night cafe, but the gentleman checking us in for the night gave us a very little hope of finding dinner at this hour. He did however give us a little hope about our luggage as the airlines had called and requested we return their call in the morning.
We dropped our carry-on bag in the room and decided to head out into the darkened city in search of food. As we navigated around the city side walks we happened upon a restaurant just as they were closing. We talked the lady mopping into serving just one more meal, which turned out to be three more as two more couples followed us into the restaurant.
And so we ate our first Italian meal at an almost closed restaurant, served by a Chinese waiter. This is cool. We then made our way back to the hotel excited about the coming day in Venice, but we had no idea what the city had in store for us.
Our room was located on the first floor just above water level and was positioned at the intersection of two canals so that we had a window on two walls that looked out onto the streets of water.
The morning began with the sounds of the city coming to life. Shop keepers rolling up their gates and early morning delivery drivers chattering back and forth in Italian, their words echoing off the walls and water ways as they worked, and the water lapping against the buildings filled our room like an Italian Opera. This was waking up in Venice Italy. I would highly recommend it!
Venice, A City Built on Water
After getting ready, Kimbra and I took a few minutes to soak in the view our room provided. We waved as gondoliers cruised their boats and passengers by our window. It was fun being the subject in so many pictures of total strangers. After taking in the view we had breakfast in the lobby of Hotel Riva. It consisting of red orange juice, fresh bread, jam and freshly steamed hot chocolate. A great way to start the morning.
Upon leaving the hotel, Kimbra and I instantly fell in love with our surroundings. Tourist were already filling the square and the day was in full swing. It as a cultural mix unlike anything I have ever experienced. People from around the globe passing through the city sidewalks and passage ways. We visited St. Mark's Basilica which was built in the 11th century. The interior was filled with gold mosaics and colored marble. We paid 2 Euros to see the bones of St. Mark which have been housed on that site since 830 A.D.
After touring the church we roamed the city taking in all the beauty and wonder that is Venetian. We found afresh produce market and an even fresher fish market. They were cleaning on one side and selling on the other. We stopped briefly at an Internet cafe to check on our luggage and to blog previous day's adventures, paying 5 euros for 30 minutes on the web.
Our breakfast of bread could not hold our hunger off any longer so we looked for our next meal. What we found was a little restaurant called the Bora Bora Pizzari. We peaked through the glass door and saw only one open table and decided to take it. That proved to be a wise decision. The meal began with Lasagna, then fried calamari, and ice cream for desert. The room was no bigger than our dinning and breakfast rooms at home and the walls were decorated with pictures of people sun bathing on the beach, some with bathing suits and some with out! Kimbra and and I left Bora Bora stuffed and needing a break. An invitation by a Gondolier for a quiet tour of the central city made perfect sense. And so that is how we finished our time in Venice. Floating along narrow back channels getting an intimate view of the city. The city oozed romance and Kimbra and I soaked it in like a dry sponge.
Bye for now! We are off to Florence today. I hope to publish our time in Rome soon. Make it a great day!
Dave
Kimbra and I arrived in Venice a little after midnight on Friday. We made our way to San Marco Square via the Vaporetto(Venice's version of public transportation). As we walked on to the plaza, Kimbra and I were awe struck. Tired and weary we were both still carrying grins like small children walking through the gates of Disney World for the first time. At this hour the square was all but deserted. Various couples strolled around hand in hand, but it was still and peaceful. We made a quick search for our hotel hoping they would be able to tell us of a late night cafe, but the gentleman checking us in for the night gave us a very little hope of finding dinner at this hour. He did however give us a little hope about our luggage as the airlines had called and requested we return their call in the morning.
We dropped our carry-on bag in the room and decided to head out into the darkened city in search of food. As we navigated around the city side walks we happened upon a restaurant just as they were closing. We talked the lady mopping into serving just one more meal, which turned out to be three more as two more couples followed us into the restaurant.
And so we ate our first Italian meal at an almost closed restaurant, served by a Chinese waiter. This is cool. We then made our way back to the hotel excited about the coming day in Venice, but we had no idea what the city had in store for us.
Our room was located on the first floor just above water level and was positioned at the intersection of two canals so that we had a window on two walls that looked out onto the streets of water.
The morning began with the sounds of the city coming to life. Shop keepers rolling up their gates and early morning delivery drivers chattering back and forth in Italian, their words echoing off the walls and water ways as they worked, and the water lapping against the buildings filled our room like an Italian Opera. This was waking up in Venice Italy. I would highly recommend it!
Venice, A City Built on Water
After getting ready, Kimbra and I took a few minutes to soak in the view our room provided. We waved as gondoliers cruised their boats and passengers by our window. It was fun being the subject in so many pictures of total strangers. After taking in the view we had breakfast in the lobby of Hotel Riva. It consisting of red orange juice, fresh bread, jam and freshly steamed hot chocolate. A great way to start the morning.
Upon leaving the hotel, Kimbra and I instantly fell in love with our surroundings. Tourist were already filling the square and the day was in full swing. It as a cultural mix unlike anything I have ever experienced. People from around the globe passing through the city sidewalks and passage ways. We visited St. Mark's Basilica which was built in the 11th century. The interior was filled with gold mosaics and colored marble. We paid 2 Euros to see the bones of St. Mark which have been housed on that site since 830 A.D.
After touring the church we roamed the city taking in all the beauty and wonder that is Venetian. We found afresh produce market and an even fresher fish market. They were cleaning on one side and selling on the other. We stopped briefly at an Internet cafe to check on our luggage and to blog previous day's adventures, paying 5 euros for 30 minutes on the web.
Our breakfast of bread could not hold our hunger off any longer so we looked for our next meal. What we found was a little restaurant called the Bora Bora Pizzari. We peaked through the glass door and saw only one open table and decided to take it. That proved to be a wise decision. The meal began with Lasagna, then fried calamari, and ice cream for desert. The room was no bigger than our dinning and breakfast rooms at home and the walls were decorated with pictures of people sun bathing on the beach, some with bathing suits and some with out! Kimbra and and I left Bora Bora stuffed and needing a break. An invitation by a Gondolier for a quiet tour of the central city made perfect sense. And so that is how we finished our time in Venice. Floating along narrow back channels getting an intimate view of the city. The city oozed romance and Kimbra and I soaked it in like a dry sponge.
Bye for now! We are off to Florence today. I hope to publish our time in Rome soon. Make it a great day!
Dave
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