Roman Holiday

Europe » Vatican City
July 25th 2007

Published: August 5th 2007

Ciao ciao!!

We (Leanne and I) have arrived in Roma and I shall pick up the story beginning last night (from what I hear anything older than that is too stale for some readers ;-)

We decided (ok...um...I persuaded) to stay in Volterra (Tuscany) pool-side or wandering the village until the late afternoon, rather than having to check out at 7:30 in the morning and not only miss breakfast, but miss out on prime resting time too! I had spent 6 hours by the pool the day before (reading, napping, taking pictures, people watching, reading, napping), so I was not in the mood for a great deal of hurrying about or rushing here or going there. But....as always... when I leave a place thinking another will not be any better, it generally offers something spectacular and worthwhile. Roma, as you might guess, was certainly worth a hurry!

By great coincidence our train from Volterra stopped at the stop we wanted (and we did not have to go to the main station and take a bus -- thank goodness!) and we arrived over an hour earlier than planned at about 9:30. Perfect time to check in, drop our stuff and find some GELATO (it had, of course been 5 hours since I had injected some). We asked for directions and found our convent (yes CONVENT!) very easily. We came around the corner from the train station and YOWZA -- the dome of St. Peter,s glowing in the sky, unmissable. So, yes our sweet convent is within 5 minutes walk of St. Peter,s! The room is so great - air conditioning for afternoon breaks, our own toilette, fresh towels, a great breakfast room (N & J, the jugs of cafe and steamed milk remind me of Sant Agnello,s breakfast room -- almost as good!)

We dumped our bags and wandered up the street to find some food. We sat outside looking straight at the dome and ate sandwiches and drank iced tea. It was so refreshing and such a relief to be there with no problems! We took pictures and watched people and had to have dessert. Leanne, tempted me with her fragola (strawberry) gelato, but I found something I had to have even more (shocking, but true) -- a huge cream puff with a mix of chocolate and vanilla whipped cream....oh....my....goodnesssssssss....but it was good!

I slept so well I didn,t even wake in the night - though Leanne claims I removed my piratey eye patch long enough to give her the eye and wonder where I was as she fought insomnia - hopefully I wasn,t keeping her up with my snoring! Side note: I,ve had 3 roommates (4 if you count Aria, Kim and Shane,s sweet kit-kat) and they all claim that I do NOT snore! I think I have been cured! Sleeping in Italy is good for the body and the soul, no?

Breakfast was a spread of fresh juice, cappucino (as much as we could drink) - which Leanne finally tried and actually enjoyed! I think she might be coming over to the dark side ;-) the espresso side - buns, cheese, meat, croissants and brioche, fresh fruit (we had kiwi and it was soooo delish!) and then we hit the pavement. A huge schedule for our main day in Roma: The Vatican Museum and St. Peter,s.

The Vatican Museum stretches and winds for 4 miles of galleries and displays. I just had no idea of the opulence and detail. It is so overwhelming! Some of the galleries circle a huge courtyard of statues, fountains, grass and trees, with an enormous bronze-coloured globe-shaped piece of art in the middle that spins when people push on it. The sun moved as we were there, shadowing different parts of the courtyard as we moved between the galleries. Groups of people gather around displays in the courtyard as their guides use pointers to explain areas of the museum (Italian, German, Cantonese, Japanese, English, French, Dutch).

I have now deleted the end of my blog entry TWICE! I must go because Leanne is waiting and we are going to the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps :0) Must get in what we can! I will write more and fill in the blanks soon!

What I will say is that the Vatican was filled with groups of nuns in different coloured habits - beige, light blue, dark blue, white - and they were the first Italians I,ve seen with sensible (ugly) shoes.

Ciao for now, I will come back soon :-)

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