Arriverderci Roma!

Pompeii

This morning we arrived at Pompeii early so we could be among the first groups in before the streets are so crowded you can’t see a thing! It was already getting quite hot so we were all pleased with the idea of an early start. Our local guide, with his little flag, took us around and told us about this famous city. It’s thought about two thousand people perished by the toxic fumes in 79 AD. Plaster casts were made from the shapes of some of their bodies left in the volcanic ash (not by lava as many of us thought), where you could see the full horror of their death. The Ampitheatre is one of Italy’s most intact and also it’s oldest (dating from 80 BC and is still used for performances today.

The citizens of Pompei had an advanced system of plumbing and roadwork, with lead pipes and narrow roads for chariot use just about everywhere (they even had stepping stones across the road if it was raining – or 1^st century speed humps).

The homes were only one story because the excavation could not preserve both stories of most homes. We saw a merchant’s villa complete with atrium, wall murals and beautiful mosaic floors.

Pompeii was situated on the coast and so it was quite a rich trading town. They had an arena for gladiator battles and a gymnasium and spa for other games.

It was quite eerie walking around the streets, like you were walking among the ghosts of ancient times.

A 2000 yr old "Take Away" Soup Kitchen!

Rome Again

Then we headed back to Rome feeling tired as we tried to absorb all we had seen over the last two weeks and also that our time together as a tour “family” was coming to an end. We were dropped off in the city to see the Spanish steps which had been rearranged from our first day because of the problems with President Bush’s visit and related protest rallies. We found out that these steps are where all the famous models pose when the new fashions come out each season so we walked down the steps a la famous model! Then our guide told us that only tourists call it the Spanish steps as the place is really called the Spanish Square because of the nearby Spanish Embassy! We decided not to do the next tour and go back to the hotel and put our feet up!

That night we went out to our final dinner to a restaurant called Papa Rex!

We had group and individual photos taken but we were missing two people from our tour family, as they had been pick pocketed in the afternoon and were busy organising new passports and flights home. It made us all feel upset. The owner and his daughter did their very best to make it a good night for us by entertaining us with their operatic singing.

Once again a lovely four course meal with unlimited local wines.

We sang along in the choruses of the songs we knew and put in a few requests for Arriverderci Roma!

Once back at the hotel we said our farewells as everyone was leaving at different times in the morning and some like us were planning a sleep in as we were staying on for an extra day. Our total tour was 3000 km.

Travestere

The next morning it was funny going down to breakfast and not seeing all the familiar faces. Then slowly a few of our group did arrive. Well what were we going to do on our own in Rome for a whole day without our Mumma? We decided to visit an area called Trastevere. This was supposed to be an artisan quarter of Rome so we were thinking maybe we would see some artwork, hear some music and find a lovely restaurant for lunch. We very bravely and cleverly caught the local train and walked and walked until we finally found it. Well the place was covered in graffiti, stank like a dog had visited every corner and it was hot! No artists, no music – nothing like we had imagined.

We found the Piazza of the church of Santa Maria and had a coffee in the café. This church was said to be the first official church of Rome and it was built on the site where a fountain of oil is said to have sprung up on the day of Christ’s birth. We went inside – at least it was cool and very pretty with many marble columns. We had lunch back at the same café and headed back to the hotel to cool off!

We met up with some of our tour group and decided to go out to a local restaurant for tea together. We had fun ordering a variety of dishes to taste and share (we are so experienced now).

The Final Leg Home

The next morning we repacked our suitcases and surprisingly managed to fit everything back in easily. We were driven to the airport by a local driver (140kph in a 100 zone) down the highway! Crazy Italian drivers! Our plane was due to leave at16.15 but was delayed for an hour due to a bad storm over Athens. At Dubai our plane was again delayed for an hour as it was late arriving from a previous destination. We finally landed in Melbourne on the 23rd June at 1.30 am only one hour late. We felt like kissing the ground of our beloved Aussie – there’s no place like home (even if it was freezing)! It was a total of 32 hours travelling time from our hotel in Rome to our wonderful home in Clifton Springs.

We had travelled a total of about 48,000 km and had been away for 71 days!!!

Praise the Lord for his faithfulness and protection on our journey of a lifetime!

Buon giorno from Roma

After a 9 1/2 hour train trip from Zurich we finally arrived in Rome. We only had 10 mins to change trains in Bologna and, as luck would have it, our train came in late. We had to find out which platform our connection was leaving from and during that time we heard our train pull away!! :(

After asking at the ticket office we decided to hop on the next train to Rome (without reserving seats and just praying that some would be empty). When the guard came along we found out we were on a train that wasn’t totally covered by our Eurail pass so we had to pay a supplement charge (ouch!). Anyway we arrived at Rome train station called Termini and were swamped by “helpful” people trying to get us a hotel. We had been warned to watch out for pickpockets so we hung onto all our stuff tightly. We just had to find a taxi and get to our Hotel – “The Ritz” ,which is situated in the Parioli district near many foreign embassies. The taxi driver got out his GPS and we were there in about 10 mins.

The traffic is crazy – but not as bad as Kampala (Uganda). There are many, many mopeds that zip in and out between cars and don’t really care if you are crossing the road even if you use the crossing! We were very relieved and exhausted to have finally connected with our tour after being away from home for 8 weeks and travelling through Africa, Germany and Switzerland. We have used 6 different currencies (Australian dollars, American dollars, Dubai somethingeruthers, Ugandan shillings, Euros and Swiss francs)!

The next morning we went down to a huge buffet breakfast. Italians usually don’t eat much for breakfast – just coffee and a croissant or cake, so there were many different varieties of danishes (even some with chocolate) as well as the usual cereal, fruit, bread, cheese and meats. After checking emails (no free wireless here so we had to pay) we decided to walk through a large park and ended up at the top of the Spanish Steps. What a view we had of Rome from here! It was quite hot so we decided to have a gelati which melted pretty quickly. From there we wandered down the steps to the fountain. It was crowded with many people around –even a Japanese couple having their wedding photos taken. From there we walked through the busy shops to the Piazza del Popolo (people’s place) and sat in the shade of the Egyptian obelisk. It was quite large with almost symmetrical churches and statues at either end. We walked up the many steps for another splendiferous view of the city.

Police buildup in the city, waiting for George Bush

We found our way back to the hotel through some little side streets and arrived just in time for our tour induction. We had misread the time and thought we still had a few hours. Anyway we were just in time for a welcome drink and some time to get to meet a few of the other people on the tour. Our tour guide is called Mojca but we can call her “Mumma Mo” as she is our Mumma for the next two weeks! Most of us then went out to a restaurant in the Piazza del Popolo for tea and we tasted all the local specialities including wines!

Next morning we had an early start – 5.45am as we had to have breakfast and be at the Vatican early. President Bush was in town so there were thousands of police around and of course he wanted to meet with the Pope and see the Sistine Chapel! We were very lucky and got in by about 8.30.

We walked through some galleries and then into the Sistine Chapel, which is the Pope’s private chapel. The artwork by Michelangelo on the ceiling of the Creation and the west wall of The Last Judgement, plus the works by other artists depicting the life of Jesus on one side and Moses on the other were very moving. After that our guide wanted to take us through to St. Peter's but we were unable to because they were beginning to block things off. Our tour guide then managed to get us over to The Roman Forum, and the Colosseum.
As we drove past the Vatican we were very glad we got in early as the queue to get in was stretching for kilometres. Even though it is an ancient ruin you can still get a sense of what it might have been like nearly 2000 years ago.

After a rest for lunch we headed back to St. Peter’s and saw the Swiss guards. We queued up in the Piazza San Pietro and saw where the Pope gives his blessings and the window where the smoke comes out when a new Pope is elected. St. Peter’s basilica took over a century to complete as it is decorated with marble statues and mosaic paintings. Michelangelo spent the last twenty years of his life here for no pay.

It is very spectacular and words are hard to describe the magnificence of this huge cathedral and the many beautiful works it contains!

We collapsed back in our hotel room in the afternoon. It was decided to cancel our optional evening tour due to traffic problems and concerns over being caught up with any protestors.

The Tiber River

Street parking in Rome!

Just nip downtown in the Ferrari.

Still looking for those shoes for you Angela!