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Published: April 27th 2006
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Hey guys,
Well we made it safe and sound to Rome, right on the eve of Easter Sunday. We checked into a pretty cosy little hostel called the Colours Hostel, which had a nice little patio and well-equipped kitchen - The owners were also nice enough to give us each a largish easter egg... very yummy!
While we couldn't get tickets to the Easter Sunday Mass, we still managed to see the service in the standing area, and also happened to follow the parade into the Vatican, just as it passed the hostel. We were also blessed by the pope, in as many languages as you can think of. The whole scene was incredibly overwhelming; It was an uplifting atmosphere with a superb choir that had the crowd in awe.
That afternoon we decided to explore Rome; it's a massive city, full of relics with remains and sacred buildings as far as the eye can see. Although it is heavily modernized, the city seemed to have a very 'green' aspect it, with many parks incorperated into the remains.
The next day we saw the Collesseum, an old Roman Arena and decided to take a guided tour. The
Easter Parade coming into the Vatican
Lead by a band with different corps of soldiers, they marched through to the centre. The guy on the right is from the Carabineri (Police) guide was incredibly good at highlighting the items of importance, as well as the funny areas- Like the way in which women were treated, in not being allowed to use the toilets, but having to squat in a bag and throw it over the side. Well thats not very humourus, but he made it so. Only the MEN! could go to the bathrooms (There was a lot of underlying sexism)
Well back that night at the hostel, we met some people from The Isle of Man, Fen and Rob (Brother and Sister), and together with our roommate Erin from America we decided to have a couple of wines and head out to a Kareoke Bar. It was a great night, enjoyed by all.
Another thing we did was to take in the Vatican musuem and the Sistine Chapel. Many ancient egyptian relics filled the musuem, including old sarcophugus's.. you know what I mean. The Sistine Chapel was another experience to remember - The artwork and paintings covered the entire area of the chapel, while rude and distasteful tourists filled the floor. There were people taking pictures with their flash, even though the signs, loudspeakers and wardens explained this
St. Peters Church
The biggest Church in the World! as being forbidden.
Again that night we alighted wth Fen and Rob as well as our new room mate Garret, deciding to take in a local meal. On the way back home some of the Carabineri (local police) who were driving past (obviously bored) and decided to stop and help us with directions (even though we didnt need it). It ended with Garret (who was from Canada) asking them if they had the equilivent of their mounties. Well when they didnt understand the word, we all proceeded to make horse noises and signs - A great night was again had by all, including some good spirited policemen!
There were so many things to see in Rome that the Five Days we spent there was just enough. But we did manage to fit in the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon and a church that had a dome painted on the ceiling. And the food was great - Ben had a pasta that was unbeatable, while Stacey found some incredible Pizzas.
On we marched from Rome to Naples - Which we probably could have skipped. Rome was such an impressive place, that the sight of dirty, crowded and crime ridden
Our View of the Pope
If you zoom in, he's the white blob in the middle. Naples was quite a shock. The traffic seemed busier than Rome, and the streets seemed filled the rubbish.
It was not a complete waste, with a day trip to the beautiful Island of Capri. While there were still a lot of tourists, the lushness and serenity of the island was still intact. We embarked on a steep walk to the main town, which sat overlooking the ocean. There were plenty of lookouts from outside the town that were less crowded, with rich gardens and wildlife. We purcahased some Lemenchello here from a small store, which proved quite tasty.
From Naples we caught a bus and two trains to the small quiet town called Lecce, in the far South-East Corner of Italy. With similar buildings to Rome (From the Baroque period) it was again nice to stroll through, with far less tourists it was quite relaxing.
On this trip we alighted in the town of Foggia for a short while, needing to walk a bit to get to the train station. On rounding a corner, we stumbled upon a Black Rights protest and needed to pass through! There were hundreds of people, shouting out protest chants and waving
flags. For a white couple with large backpacks on it was a bit intimidating at first, but after a while it revealed itself to be a peaceful protest. We had a few kind smiles and hellos, and after dropping our bags Ben decided to rejoin the procession and take it all in. We were still not sure of why exactly they were protesting, but whatever it was a lot of people were not happy about it.
Anyway our next destination is Croatia, hope everyone is well, bye for now!!
Cheers
Ben and Stacey
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Ruth & Noel
non-member comment
Wow
This entry is fantastic. Thanks for keeping this site so up to date. Have a great cruise. A bit of rain over night here. Very autumnal at the moment.