Rome quick before you miss it

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Rome in 10 minutes. That is how we felt. Roberto our tour guide even said “if you want to see the Sistine Chapel” don’t stop to look at anything or you will never get through it all” It is impossible to see Rome in one day. We started with our group Mai/Frank, Kim/Michael, Steven/Andrea and Kyle and I. We went to the coliseum and since we had all pre-purchased tickets we were able to speed past the lines and go right in. It is really impressive and when you think about all the terrible things that went on inside it is rather sad. Roberto said that admission was free to enter the coliseum back in the day to take peoples mind off of how corrupt the government was. Taking pictures from inside a moving van doesn’t work so you just have to in grain it into your memory. Not probably the best way to see this huge city be you do what you have to do. We were in good company and had a great time anyway. We were able to get out of the van at the Pantheon, Spanish steps, and a fountain up above the city that was the model for the Trevi fountains. The Trevi fountains were not operating and had scaffolding on them so we didn’t take the time to go there. The Vatican or what we saw of it was beautiful. We shuffled with the rest of the masses and did a great job of staying together as a group. I found myself looking for our group more than I did the artwork. I tried to video tape the Sistine chapel but I had a very stern guard put his fingers all over my lens and made me delete several pictures from my camera while he watched. It was pretty amazing to look at how intricate the work is. I would have never had that much patience let alone doing that all on my back. St. Peter’s Basilica was amazing. To actually be in there and see all the statues, works of art and the gold there are no words. It is immense!! We ate a fantasico ( my Italian begins) lunch I had Carbonara and it was just as I remembered it. The waiter treated us to a couple appetizes with artichokes and at the end of the meal some Lemon Chello. Roberto steered us right. Another day trip ends and another day I say….. did we really just see Rome? Can we please just hit the pause button so I can take it all in? We were so tired when we got back to the ship we didn’t even leave the room. We ordered room service and fell asleep watching a movie. I feel old.

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Comments

[Kim Parham]

Love your blogs
Ruth, you capture our memories so elequently. I do agree, we spent as much time looking at the Cistine Chapel and Vatican as we did looking for each other. Still amazed at all we saw and did that day including enjoying a wonderful lunch!