I wasn't able to get online yesterday so i will make a couple posts tonight. To make this post a bit quicker i will post picts at the end- only selecting a few while on the trip as i took about 750 yesterday alone. Yesterday started with Rebecca providing us each with a
radio and ear piece that we will use the entire trip to hear her or our guides
for the day. Too bad we didn’t have a
way to talk back however for today had a few events of misplaced people. It was supposed to rain all day but we got
lucky and only for a quick bus ride did it rain.
We then met our tour guide for the day Fabritio who we
didn’t know at the time he should have been a marathon runner. He took us to St Peter's Basilica where we
walked around the elliptical shaped “square” where we found the symbols for
wind from Angels and Demon’s movie.
There are two spots on the square if you stand on them and look around
all the columns line up and you only see one row instead of 4 in the
surrounding buildings. We then went into
the basilica where we saw amazing statues, mosaics, and a bronze trellis that
told a story of the artist’s daughter who had an affair with pope and was
impregnated while he was commissioned to do the piece. Many Popes are buried here in the catacombs
and we were even able to see 3 or 4 mummified on display in glass tombs in the
main room.
After exiting the Basilica we found we were a few members
short in the group… and eventually had to leave without Derek and
Christine. Anyone who got separated had
to take taxis back to the hotel.
Our next stop was a walk that took us around the outside of the Colosseum and
the Arch di Constantine. Which were
spectacular to see…if we have time when we come back we may try to go in the Colosseum
Unfortunately we noticed as we were heading to the bus that
we were missing my grandma and aunt.
Robert and I ran back to the colosseum but no luck in finding them and we
knew the bus had to keep moving. We
literally ran back to the bus as it started to rain hoping Judy and Grandma
knew how to get back to the hotel.
We wrongfully guessed they may
have stopped at a bathroom but we actually lost them early on when we sent down
a flight of stairs and turned to go around the Colosseum. Luckily they did find their way back to the
hotel and had a relaxing afternoon to be rested up for the evening events.
The tour bus continued back to St Peter’s where we took in a
quick bite.. Shirley and I tried the Lasagna, Robert the ravioli and Mom and
grandpa had some pizza. While there mom
was able to get some blessed rosary beads for a dear friend.
As an optional tour we then went into Vatican City to the
Vatican Museums where some of the most amazing art is on display practically at your
fingertips. Hallways of statues,
tapestries and rooms of various styles of art are displayed where thousands of
people seemed to view every day. Each
room led us closer and closer to the famous Sistine Chapel where no photos are
allowed.
The day had included constant walking and so as our feet
grew weary a few of us tried to take a moment here and there to sit down but
with Frabritio’s pace we could never do so for more than a moment before we
were off again. At one point my radio
was cutting out so I thought I was way behind the group and booked it through a
few rooms to catch up to our guide only to discover I was actually in the lead
of our group and others were rooms behind.
One could spend weeks looking at all the art here and see new things
every time. We only had a few hours but
ability of Romans to preserve artwork over the eras is very impressive… even
though “recycling” roman monuments was once a tradition when building materials
were needed for newer cathedrals.
With aching feet we made it back to the hotel with a few
minutes to refresh before heading to dinner.
We officially adopted two new members to our group- Linda
and her daughter Linda Ann from Canada- they live on opposite coasts but met up
for this trip. Our table was filled with
laughter and wine as we were served the various courses. We started with a flatbread appetizer where
you get bread and various vegetables and salami & pruchuto . The second course was two types of pasta,
followed by a chicken and potato course.
Wrapping up dinner was a delicious ice-cream and fruit mixture where the
ice cream tasted like cake batter... YUM!
At the restaurant we had some local entertainment of an
accordion player and a Soprano Opera style singer who wrapped Judy up in the
moment and she went up and pretended to join them singing… which thankfully for
our ears she didn’t do. We were able to
sample the house white, house red and some champagne during dinner so to say
the group got a little “happy” would be a good description. On our way out of the restaurant we posed for
a group photo of all the different groups on the tour… and of course Rebecca
was trying to take with all the cameras thrust at her and strongly encouraging
using social media to share. Luckily
most of the Americans have my blog address and will just copy pictures of the
group from here.
On the bus ride back to the hotel we asked Rebecca to drop
us off near the Spanish Steps as Mom and Judy wanted to see the fountain we saw
the night before. A few others heard we
were going and next thing you know 2/3’s of the bus got off with us and Robert
and I took over as the guides… having been the only ones to have been there before. As we strolled the streets (with a few
detours to McDonalds for bathroom breaks) to reach the Spanish Steps for a
short pictures shooting stop. Then weaved
a half mile to the Trevi Fountain where coins were tossed into the fountain and
gelato was devoured with glee. With such
a large group we had to send off groups back to the hotel in various taxis with
Robert providing the drivers with directions when needed. Robert, Shirley and I took the last taxi to
make sure everyone made it into a taxi.
St Peter's Basilica
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