Trip to Rome

Me by the Spanish Steps

John by the Trevi Fountain

The Pantheon

St. Peters Square

Me in my paper pants

Inside the Basilisa

The Trevi Fountain

The Colloseum

John inside the Colloseum

The end of the Palentine

 

Hi Everyone

 

After checking in we put on our walking shoes and took off. We took the metro to Palazzo de Popolo. (You have to excuse my spelling mistakes!!) Camera was out and as the best tourist we could be we started our picture taking. There is just so much to take pictures of in Rome and it is hard to stop once you start. We walked from here on down to the Spanish Steps, to the Trevi Fountain and to the Pantheon. Piazza Navone was close so we walked there to and from there we strolled over to the Tiber river. After a short rest here on the bridge we noticed that the Vatican was just around the corner. So of course we decided to walk over there…. Mind you that by now we had already been walking for about 3 hours but who was noticing??!!

It was not 5 pm and I didn’t think we would have a change to get in. I remembered the last time I was there and the line was 2.5 hours out to see the St. Peters Basilica. We walked in to the Piazza and we couldn’t believe it….. The Piazza was almost empty. So we walked over to the Basilica and realized that I was not dressed to go into the church. We quickly bought a pair of paper pants and a shirt with sleeves and we walked right in. No line and lots of room in the church. I have to say that this was amazing. I have never seen such a huge church and the art in there is amazing. I don’t have a lot of knowledge of art but no doubt this must be heaven for people who have this as a passion. Still we stood there and it was hard not to let a tear run down my face. I told my husband that I didn’t quite understand what was doing this to me (I am not a religious person) but something moved me. He understood me and told me he had the same feeling. You just know you are in a very special place and that you are very lucky to be able to experience it.

We stayed in there for 2 hours and when they announced they were closing we left. It was amazing and we enjoyed it very much.

After an expensive dinner we headed to our hotel where we fell asleep as soon as we laid down.

Sunday morning we headed for the Colosseum. Here we spend a long time – again we were lucky there was hardly any line to get in – and we even went to the Palatine across the road. There is just so much history here that you have to sit for a minute to take it all in. And so we did. It was hot in Rome – 33 Celsius – but with water and a quick snack we managed. Going through the Palatine we noticed a huge building at the very end. We kept coming closer and despite the fact that we were tired from a lot of walking we went there. As we turned the corner our jaws dropped. This is a fairly new monument dedicated to the unknown soldier. It was so amazing and big that you cannot imagine. We walked all the steps up to the top and with a view of the city we enjoyed a cold beer and rested our feet for a minute.

We were taking it all in and for only 2 days we had impressions to last us a long time. We went back to the hotel for a short rest and decided to go out for a burger dinner. Yes, when you live in Italy sometimes you just want – that a burger from Burger King!!! We were walking down the street and my husband stopped dead in his tracks….. ”I know you”, he said to a very tall man who came towards us. I didn’t recognize the man at first but after a few words between him and my husband it was clear that we were standing across from Chris Gardner. The man who wrote the book Pursuit of happiness that was the script for the movie with Will Smith. We had a nice conversation with him, his wife and his daughter before we moved on to a burger. This gentleman was so nice and down to earth, that he even handed my husband his phone to call his mother in New Orleans when he learned that we could not get up with her. (The hurricane was approaching and we had not been able to reach anyone there). It was such a pleasure to meet him and I was impressed that he took the time to talk with us.
We went back to the hotel and the next morning we were back in the train station. The ride back was fine and we were picked up by our friends in Villa Literno.

We had a great trip and even if Rome is only 2 hours away from Naples the difference is huge. We truly enjoyed ourselves and I am sure we will be back again before we leave Naples.

I will tell you all that going to Rome is something you should do at least once. It is so easy to get around and there is just so much to see. You don’t have to be interested in the arts or the architecture – just to be there is a special. I hope you get a change to do what we did and enjoy Rome.

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