Blogs from Lazio, Italy, Europe - page 10

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Europe » Italy » Lazio » Rome September 20th 2018

This is a special day as we are going behind the scenes at the Vatican Museum and a special visit – one small group – to the Sistine Chapel. But first to get Peggy into good shape! She rested during the morning and John went to San Giovanni in Laterano, the archbasilica for Rome and the home of the Pope, who is the Bishop of Rome. It is absolutely huge (though not as big as St Peter’s by a long shot). It was quite moving as it is a very active church with services going on at two different chapels. There were pope’s shields everywhere and a dedication to John The Baptist with a statue of him under the main altar with the tomb of Clement XII. Constantine built the first church on this spot dedicated ... read more
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Europe » Italy » Lazio » Rome September 19th 2018

Peggy stayed in bed most of the day, getting up to meet John for a drink at the end of the day high atop the Grand Hotel Minerva. So John was on his own during the day, exploring some of the interesting structures he has missed when visiting Rome at other times. He started with a search for the Tarpeian Rock from which criminals and traitors were thrown in the days of the Roman Empire. It is on the south side of the Capitoline Hill but John discovered you can’t get to the top of it as there are fences everywhere. He was not planning on jumping but did want to know what happens to traitors in Italy as it may be helpful to the United States. After the unsuccessful search John proceeded to the Victor ... read more
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Europe » Italy » Lazio » Rome September 18th 2018

Sadly Peggy took sick this morning after a bad night: sore throat, cough, chest congested. A very handsome Italian doctor came to visit and prescribed rest and various medicines, so no visit to St Peter’s today and we cancelled the visit to San Giovanni on Wednesday. So, while Peggy slept John went on walkabout: first to Piazza Cavour and the impressive Supreme Court building, then on to San Angelo and back across the Tiber to the antique area of central Rome. Picked up lunch (panini and sweets along with water and orange Fanta) and had a picnic in the room. After some rest John went out again to visit Campo dei Fiori and watch the transformation from vegetable/fruit market to restaurants. Sat at a bar and watched the hard work the vendors go through EVERY day. ... read more
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Europe » Italy » Lazio » Rome September 17th 2018

John was up early and took a walk to Piazza del Popolo then met Peggy for breakfast stop the hotel. Another beautiful day but hot. Perhaps not the blessings of climate change. We made our way south to the Campo dei Fiori and took in all the stands full of fresh vegetables and fish and meat and flowers. A busy place on Monday morning. We continued on to Palazzo Farnese, which is the immense French Embassy and has been for more than 300 years. They do a few tours a week (to see the handiwork of Bernini and Michelangelo and others) but we are not sighed up… We visited Theatre of Marcellus or at least what remains. It must have been quite a place in its day (surprising how much is left after so many stones ... read more
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Europe » Italy » Lazio » Rome September 16th 2018

As per usual, John was up a little earlier than Peggy and took a long walk around the area (Trevi, Victor Emanuel shrine and Pantheon) before joining up on the hotel’s roof for breakfast. Our plan was to be at the Borghese Museum for the first group to get in, giving us plenty of time to view the many Bernini statues. We called for an Uber and it just couldn’t get to us so we hoofed it to Piazza Venezia only to discover that the Rome Marathon we getting underway and there was not way we were going to get a cab or Uber to the Borghese in time to go in. Sadly we had to cancel and make new arrangements. This was well handled by Peggy as John moped about sad to miss the fabulous ... read more
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Europe » Italy » Lazio » Rome September 15th 2018

OK, economy is not the greatest fun! Neither of us really slept at all … but the flights were easy (we went through Newark) and on time. Of course there was one hitch: we went to the wrong gate in Newark and had to take a bus back to the right gate. The last call announcement was underway as we arrived at our correct gate. After getting our luggage and meeting our driver we made it into Rome and hour hotel at around 10:00 AM. Our driver (Florin) was nice and took us on a little tour as we entered the city. Of course our room was not available until around noon so we went for a walk to Trevi Fountain (jammed with people) and the Piazza de Spagna and the steps. On the way we ... read more
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Europe » Italy » Lazio » Rome September 10th 2018

For the third year in a row I walked a pilgrim trail. My blogs for the Camino de Santiago in 2016 start with . For four weeks I walked across northern Spain in the footsteps of Roman legions, the early apostles James and Paul, and a million or more pilgrims since then. The movie "The Way" had inspired this pilgrimage as I yearned for the same bonding that took place between the four pilgrims. On my pilgrimage I met and talked to many pilgrims; forming a loose knit family along the way. I was not drawn to this pilgrimage to earn the Compostela, or the certificate for those who walk the last 100 km, which isn't even mentioned in the movie. I only found our about the Compostela when I started researching for the pilgrimage. As ... read more
Venice
Venice
Venice - Rialto Bridge

Europe » Italy » Lazio » Rome September 3rd 2018

For the third year in a row I have decided to walk a pilgrimage. In September and October 2016 I walked various stages of the Camino de Santiago starting in Pamplona and ending in Santiago de Compostela {see blogs starting with ). In July 2017 I walked the portion of the St. Olavsleden from near the Swedish border to the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, Norway (see my blog at ). The reasons for walking these pilgrimages without my wife Linda remains the same as previously...someone needs to be home to take care of our pets; our dog Bonnie has diabetes and cataracts. Also Linda can't walk long distances. My reason for walking pilgrimage trails (see a representative map of the trails in Europe) is that the slow pace without electronic devices and other daily interruptions allow ... read more
Bob walking the Via Francigena through Tuscany in 1958
Bob eating gelato on the Grand Canal in Venice in 1988
St. Peters, the end of the Via Francigena, in 1974

Europe » Italy » Lazio » Pastena July 30th 2018

Day 36 - Italian Countryside Our Italian countryside driving day started out like any of our other driving days this trip, with a frantic and slightly frustrating trip to the rental office. Luckily, our flat in Rome was only a few blocks from a major street. After hauling our luggage down 5 flights of marble stairs, we only had to carry them for a few minutes over the rough, cobblestone streets to the nearby bus stop. Cobblestones are not kind to rolling luggage. When our bus finally came, and we made it to the rental car offices at the central Rome train station, we were first in line… at the rental desk… where the power was out. After waiting a while in the hot building, we got signed in, and had to walk another quarter mile ... read more
Driving in Italy
Echoing Entrance
Deep Pool

Europe » Italy » Lazio » Rome July 29th 2018

Day 35 - Colosseum and the Roman Forum Sunday, we woke up very early so that we could be at the Colosseum when it opened at 8:30 AM. The Roma Pass let us skip the lines, but we also wanted to skip the crowds. We caught the city bus at 7AM so that we could eat at a cafe near the Colosseum. It turns out that none of the cafes directly across from the monument are open before 9am, which confused Tony a lot. We went around the corner to find one open cafe called “Coming Out”, with rainbow signs, and lots of colorful clients. Apparently, this location also doubles as a night club and a hostel of sorts. We had some great conversations about music and strange dance music videos, and then headed out to ... read more
So Quiet
The palace on Palatine Hill
Nothing could go wrong




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