Blogs from Lazio, Italy, Europe - page 12

I had a deja vu the morning we left for Rome. As in I've been to Rome before, just not with this husband. Jack had been to Rome prior to this day as well. This was an in-between day for the cruise line, passengers leaving Encore in Rome and passengers coming onto Encore in Rome. Jack and I decided that we'd spend the day off the boat and away from the snarling logistics of the onboard folks. We'd make no "plan" for sightseeing in the eternal city other than the we would try to discover the paintings of Caravaggio and to eat gelato. We were dropped off at St. Peter's Square and from there went by taxi to the French Cathedral St Louis to see the Caravaggio of the Selection of St Matthew. Then, we walked ... read more

Today is our last day before we join our Trafalgar Tour at 5:30 this evening. After a very restful sleep we headed off to another fantastic buffet breakfast. Today we slept in a little so we did not eat until 8:30! Another meal of salami, ham and melon for me and yogurt for Cathy. Of course I had my espresso and a cafe americano for added zip and off we went. We headed out again to our prepaid on/off bus and headed for adventure in the Roman Capital City. Our first stop was not as planned. We heard that there was a house underground that was once owned by Emperor Nero. It is said to be lined with gold and open to the public, sometimes. It is somewhere near the Colosseum. So we took the bus ... read more

The Etruscans While almost all the passengers got up at the crack of dawn and headed to Rome for a 10 hour day, I opted for the path less traveled. Our bus took us through the port city and out into the countryside. Fields of lavender and gorse were interspersed with fields plowed and planted. The soil look rich and fertile. So beautiful. Our first stop was the Etruscan Necropolis where a small portion has been excavated, just enough to understand the burial procedure of these ancient Italians. Our guide today was obviously knowledgeable but had a thick accent and with my hearing I only got a sparse phrase hear and there, usually, “6th century before Christa”. This was way before Roman times. Although the signage was in Italian, the site itself was self explanatory. Each ... read more

Rome, a city of 4.3 million and capital of Italy, is said to be one of the oldest inhabited cities in all of Europe. With a history dating back to at least the 7th century, Rome, also known as the Eternal City, was once the center of the largest Empire the world had ever known and influenced the development of human civilization in numerous ways. And because of this most every corner of the old city can be considered historical and in fact we would find out that one needn't walk far in any direction to come across a relic or ruin from an age long ago. I was traveling with my brother Shawn, yet again on an Air Canada standby flight, and we had planned a quick visit to Europe having been able to take ... read more

The last day in Italy would be as jammed packed as any other day on this trip. The only difference, we slept in until 8 and went down to breakfast at 10. So, we started our day about an hour behind what we had planned, but it was fine since it was our last day and we intended on exploring parts of Rome yet seen. It was already hot and humid, so one more day of being wet all day. The first stop was to be the Palazzo Barberini, just 2 blocks from our hotel, we changed that because the only time sensitive place on our agenda today was the Basilica San Celemente, the last church of the trip. It was near the colosseum, but on the opposite side of where we were the first part ... read more