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Published: October 12th 2007
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Rome may not have been built in one day, but if your up for the challenge and a little bit crazy, you can see it in one day! Enter two crazy people...two crazy and sleepy people. This is the first time we have HAD to be up at any given time and worse yet, we had to be up BEFORE it was light out! Huh? So we dragged our butts to the bus stop, caught our bus to the station and caught our 7:50 am train to Roma. We took a direct train so we were there in about 90 minutes and we saw some truly beautiful countryside on the trip. Vineyards and forests and villas - it was - dare I say - worth getting up early to see. 😊
We arrived in Rome and immediately attempted to locate one of those open top bus tours. After all, we only have until 6 pm to see everything - and being on foot is just crazy talk! We find the strip of concrete designated for the bus tours - there are 3 different ones, each with a ticket jockey trying to get your money and sell you tickets. We peruse
our choices an decide to go with the green one. They seem to have the most frequent buses (every 15 minutes) and the route is the same for all of them. We part with 32 Euro and we're off...er...once the bus works it's way through the traffic around the Roma Termini station. And a note on this traffic. Jen is from Los Angeles county, we now live in San Diego, we've been to New York - but the traffic in Rome is COMPLETELY INSANE! There really are no rules (this seems to be a universal Italian truth) and you don't really get anywhere. We sat in one round-about for about 25 minutes just to make a left turn! It was nuts!
Anyway, we finally made it to St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel stop (which just happens to be ALL the way across town from the train station). But the lines can be crazy at the Chapel and we knew we had to get there early. If you don't believe me about the lines - just check out one of the pics Gus took of one small section of the line. Thankfully, the line MOVES quickly so we
only had to wait about 45 minutes, even though the line was about a quarter mile long. But this is the funny part, once you actually get in and buy your tickets you don't actually get to go right into the Chapel, you have to wind through this endless maze of museums within the Vatican. So it took another 45 minutes to wind our way through all the art and oglers to make it to the Chapel. I mean, we only have one day people, we can't dawdle and gawk at every piece of breathtaking, centuries-old art, now can we?
We follow the signs to the Cappella Sistina and are finally rewarded on our quest! You can tell when you are there because the rest of the museums are very light and airy, but the Chapel itself is very dark and musty. We make our final right through the door and are greeted by Michealangelo's most famous work. It is awesome! Most of the frescoes were restored a few years ago and endured a lot of criticism, but they looked good to us. The fresco behind the altar is massive showcasing mortal souls ascending to heaven and descending to
hell. It is very moving. The ceiling is vibrant (thanks to the renovation) and the characters look like they could jump right out of the paintings. We have not pics of the Chapel as you are forbidden to use your camera. But we do have some great photos of other parts of the Vatican museums.
After we left the Chapel we headed out into the streets of Rome. Oh, before I forget we had the BEST panino waiting in line. As most of you know, Jen can't really stand still (or in line) for more than 15 minutes without going a little stir crazy. So she busted outta line and fetched lunch. The cute little panini place called 200 Degrees had these great sammys on ciabatta bread. We had one that had proscuitto crudo, proscuitto cotto, fresh mozarella, artichoke spread and roasted red peppers! It was jammin'! It didn't take us long to savor every last bite...and to wash it down with, what else, an aranciata soda (orange soda). Mmmmm....
So after we hit the streets again we saw this rather stunning Roman woman with a GIGANTIC gelato cone with whipped cream on top! Then we saw another
THE Line!
Or one very, very small section of it! woman - Jen must have looked like she was going to steal the cone because the woman backed away, ever so slowly, as we asked her where she got the delectable treat. Yay! It was just around the corner - oh, man - people were leaving with these monstrous gelato cones - very un-Italian as most portions here are teeny-weeny. Jen ordered a "two-fer" - nocciola and cioccolato! Yum! And of course it was "con panna" - with whipped cream. Mmmmmmm....Heaven in a cone! Gus got a caffe gelato and we enjoyed both of them while wandering back to our bus stop.
Speaking of the bus stop...it was swarmed with those fun, illegal street vendors from Africa. People were buying purses, watches, belts and sunglasses until....the Carabinieri (local cops) show up...then they all scatter like leaves in the breeze. They can pack up their wares in about .0008764 seconds flat and be off in a dead sprint in no time.
Our next stop was the Spanish Steps and the "Fanciest McDonalds in the Free World." The steps were completely swarmed with people, as they well should be as they offer pretty great views. We moseyed down the street
Now THAT'S a hallway!
Inside the Vatican Museum maze. You are completely overstimulated - the walls, the ceilings, the floors, the windows are all COVERED in gorgeous, ornate art! to the Mickey D's and this is where Gus declares "Marble, statues, frescoes, and cathedral ceilings...it's a McMuseum!"
Of course, when in Rome AND McD's, you must eat, so we enjoyed our cheeseburgers and fries under the frescoed walls and gazing at the marble columns.
And on that note...thus concludes Rome Part I...
Ciao Ciao!
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Amber Will
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Love the journal entries!
Keep 'em coming! I am truly enjoying your fantastic accounts of your adventures and all the lovely photos. Thanks for sharing this experience with all of us!