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Published: July 28th 2013
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We left Venice and headed for Rome, stopping on the way for lunch at Assisi (of St Francis fame). The monastery and church buildings at Assisi are quite beautiful and because they sit high on a hill, overlooking everything else, quite imposing. I can't help wondering though what St Francis would think of the place because apparently he was very keen on maintaining a simple life and was quite happy to live on the poverty line .... can't say that the monastery or church bearing his name has the same outlook on life.
We arrived in Rome in the late afternoon and wandered down to the local shopping centre to find somewhere to eat. Whilst Pizza beckoned (this was Rome after all), we decided on a steakhouse instead! Next morning, we were up early to go on the tour of the Vatican museum (well part of it anyway), St Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel. To be honest, I was a little underwhelmed by the Sistine Chapel - partly because by that time, I'd been into so many churches that had beautiful murals painted on the ceiling and partly because of the way that the bishops carry on..... they cry
out "Silencio" every minute or so. It's not really necessary - there is a "buzz" because you've got hundreds of people wandering around talking quietly but it's not irreverent (IMHO anyway) but having the bishops clap their hands and pompously cry out Silencio is just plain annoying. You're not supposed to take photos inside (and there are people wandering around enforcing that) but my camera has a mind of its own and I later discovered that it had been very naughty and captured an image or two.
St Peter's basilica is huge and full of beautiful paintings and statues and gold this and that but noticeably devoid of any of the comforting and reverential spiritual presence that could be felt in many of the other churches that we'd been in. It just felt like a large, noisy, crowded market place, albeit full of priceless treasures. I thought about the time when Jesus overturned the tables of the moneychangers in the temple and felt that I understood that story a little better.
Jumping on the bus again, we went on the included guided tour around Rome, stopping at the Colosseum and Palatine Hill for a wander around. The Colosseum
really is amazing and it was good to have a guide show us around and explain things to us. We stayed on after the tour to wander around Rome, visiting the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps. After dinner, we caught a taxi back to our hotel - this was one of the highlights of the whole tour! Honestly, drivers in Rome are crazy and taxi drivers are the craziest of them all. Our 15 minute taxi ride was exhilarating and well worth the 20 euros it cost us :-)
It would have been good to have one more day in Rome as there is so much more that we didn't get to see but I guess we'll just have to go back sometime. The next day we were up and on the road again, this time headed for Florence. Our lunch stop was Pisa where we visited the famous leaning bell tower - I just never knew that there is a beautiful cathedral and baptistery there as well. All three buildings are made from a local white stone which really stands out from the rest of the buildings in the city and gives them an ethereal beauty. In comparison,
many of the buildings in Florence are also made from a local stone which is quite yellow in appearance and I found it gave the city a slightly dowdy, depressing feel. The one big exception to that statement would have to be the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore which is the city's main cathedral and is an amazingly beautiful building. Oh and the shopping is pretty good too! And there are a lot of very nice statues around Florence - many of them are originals except for Michelangelo's "David" which is a replica but to be honest I'd think you'd have trouble spotting the difference. It's amazing to think that all of these priceless artworks are just sitting around in the town square providing a perch for a pigeon!
We had been told that it was possible to miss the famous Ponte Vecchio bridge because there is this seamless transition from the street lined with shops to the bridge lined with shops to the street lined with shops on the other side. I only realised that we had crossed the bridge when I saw a side street and realised that it ran along the edge of the river.
Michelangelo's "David" in town square
This is only a replica, the original is in the Uffizi Museum in Florence From Florence we headed towards the French Riviera, eventually arriving at Menton. It was only a short stroll down to the beach from our hotel so we went to dip our toes in the freezing cold Mediterranean. The coastline here is beautiful but sadly we are so spoilt in Australia when it comes to beaches that anything less than a white sandy beach just doesn't cut it in my opinion. To me, Menton's beach resembled the gravel pit section of the local landscaping store with a few sizable rocks and boulders thrown in for the four wheel drive enthusiasts. Nevertheless, a couple of brave woman in bikini's were dipping more than their toes in the water. We left them to the cold and headed back to get ready for our trip into Monte Carlo. We had a great view of the city as the bus wound its way down the hillside into town where we had a lovely three course meal before being taken to the casino. Unfortunately, we couldn't go into the casino because Nicola and Jake were underage but it was still a lovely atmosphere sitting in the café outside.
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