DAY SIXTEEN: Monday, July 16, 2007

DAY SIXTEEN: Monday, July 16, 2007 Leaving Roma • Fiumicino • Dulles • Back in Sac

Heading Home Again

I had changed our car airport pick up time until 8 a.m. to be sure we had enough time to get our seat assignments. We got up a little after six so we could be fully packed and ready so we could have breakfast with Gary and Peggy before they left at 7:30. I paid my bill and it was exactly as promised €260($350) per night. We got the bellman to take our final picture together out side with the Pantheon in the background and then they jumped in their car and were off.

Final Goodbyes at the Pantheon


Bye Gary and Peg…Off to England

We had another half an hour for our car to come at eight so we hung around the room and took pictures.


Del Senato. Room with a view.

We went down to the lobby at about 7:55, got in our Alpha Romeo and were off to Fiumicino. This was the best €50 I have ever spent. The ride was about 40 minutes and the traffic was not bad at all. The United check in was a breeze–there was almost no one in line in front of us and we were able to get a two row in the Economy Plus seat for $198 for the two of us.

Security is always a little dicey, but it really wasn’t that bad. And we had about an hour and forty five minutes to burn. We boarded pretty close to on time and and were in the air at 11:55. Exactly three hours after we left the Del Senato. We arrived in Dulles right at 3. On the flight I watched three movies: 300, the Land of Women, and Blades of Glory. 300 was actually very interesting. The look of it was incredible.
Now we are sitting in Dulles waiting to leave. Our plan has been delayed fron 6:15 to 7:30. We will see what happens. We finally got out of Dulles and made it back to Sacramento just a few hours late. What a trip!

DAY FIFTEEN: Sunday, July 15, 2007

DAY FIFTEEN: Sunday, July 15, 2007 • Caravaggio Quest • Santa Maria del Popolo • Man Pants • Galleria Doria Pamphilj • San Pietro in Vincoli redux •

Morning Run to See Michelangelo and Moses
I decided to get up and take one of my classic runs through Roma at about 7:30 or so. My first desire was to check out the aftermath of the Genesis concert at Circus Massimo so I headed down past the cats, through the Jewish section and along the Tiber until I found it. Part of the stage was still up but there were hundreds of workers clearing every up. The main image I will remember were the thousands of crushed water bottles and their caps all lying everywhere. Then I looped around the Coloseum and tried to get into the Forum but it did not open until 8:30. I actually was stopped at a gate trying to go in. I had to back track and decided to try to find San Pietro in Vincoli which I remembered opened at 7:30. Luckily had had brought a map and finally found the right roads to get there.


Michelangelo’s Moses

Up in the right corner was Michelangelo’s Moses, originally made to be a part of Pope Julius II. It depicts an angry Moses just returning from receiving the Ten Commandments only to get a glimpse of his people worshipping the golden calf. It was finished in 1515 and four meters tall. If Moses stood, he would nearly be the height of David. I ran back up through the corner of the forum on the stars where we had rested on Friday, past the Capitolino Museum on the Campodiglio Hill. I was able to find my second favorite view of the forum. I had run there last time were here. Then down a hill and I found a set of stairs right across fro the first church we had visited on Friday that would have taken me exactly where I wanted to go then. I then headed back to the pantheon and had been gone about an hour and ten minutes. A great run.
We met for breakfast at 9:30 and then headed out for the day. We found out that you could even get more than one cappuccino if you wanted it. But today we didn’t want another because Gary had found a couple of great caffe places in the top ten book. We first tried to take Christine to see the Caravaggios at the church San Luigi dei Francesi, but a mass was going on and we didn’t go in.

Dueling Cappuccino
We went back to the square with the dueling caffe places but the one that was open was called Sant’ Eustachio il Caffe’ Piazza St Eustachio. This was a great place with a New York Times review on the wall and everything.

In search of the best cappuccino in Roma

You had to buy first and then get the cappuccino at the bar and it really was amazingly good.

Santa Maria del Popolo
We walked straight up Via Ripetta to the Piazza del Popolo to see the Caravaggio’s at Santa Maria del Popolo. When we got there we didn’t go in because a mass was going on there too. Gary wandered in but I went looking for an internet point and actually found one but it was closed. We waited a bit but finally went in while the mass was going on. We wandered up to the front and unbelievably during the Eucharist the organist played all of “Memories” from Cats. It was surreal.

Cerasi Chapel


Caravaggio–The Crucifixion of St. Peter, 1600-1601

Caravaggio, Conversion of St. Paul on the Way to Damascus, 1600

The service did end and we went up to the chapel on the left and found the two Caravaggios–the Crucifixion of St. Peter (4) and the Conversion of St. Paul (5). Both apparently were completed in 1601. There was quite a seen up in front as people were gathering even before the service was over and then waiting for the lights to come on. One guy was perturbed that people had gone in and another was so excited when the lights actually went on and he acted like he was responsible.

Chigi Chapel
We then went down to the Chigi Chapel and tried to determine which statues were the Berninis one certainly was the Habakkuk with the angel grabbing his hair and the other was of Isaiah. There were also works there by Raphael who had apparently started the chapel but left it unfinished 150 years earlier 1519-1523.


Bernini’s Habakkuk 1655-1661




Bernini’s Daniel in the Chigi Chapel 1655-1657

We left just as another mass was starting, so it had to be pretty close to 12. We tried the internet café again but it was still locked up tight. I found a sunglasses guy, but decided to wait until I thought I might get a better deal. But there was also the fear I’d never see anyone with them again and I’d have to go back around the Trevi Fountain to find guys selling them. We walked across the Piazza del Popolo with its big Egyptian obelisk in the center. From there we walked down Via del Corso and bought Robert a pair of shorts. I remembered that we had been on a street called Via Margutta when we took our evening Rome walking tour and saw it on a map so I lead everyone over too it. It turned out not to be much because most of the cool antique shops were all closed because it was Sunday. But we blew Gary and Peggy’s mind when we actually drank out of one of the public water fountains. We then were looking for an internet point in that area but it seemed like it would be too upscale for there to be one. I also found the place Christine and I had stayed in 2003, . At one little stand I bought a lemon granita which tasted perfect in the heat. This was by far the hottest day of the trip. I’ll bet it was in the high 80s even low 90s with a touch of humidity. I thought it would be at least this hot every day, What a great blessing to have had such perfect weather for the entire trip. We were heading back toward Corso and found this shop with live models in the window promoting Coke Zero– two girls in bathing suits and a black guy in a Speedo. They were having a great time making everybody laugh and in the store others were hading out free samples of Coke Zero.

Coke Zero and live mannequins

We then went into this gorgeous newer indoor mall and found a guy playing a piano and a bathroom for Christine. Here we had another cappuccino and it may have been the best. It may have been a bit too hot for caffe drinks but it was still good. We wanted to go up to get aranci (deep fried rice balls) at Spizzco and even though Gary did not want to backtrack (food snob) we still got there and tried them.
We kept walking down Corso and many more shops were open than Lucca had said there would be. We just weren’t in much of a shopping mood, really on the whole trip for that matter.

Galleria Doria Pamphilj
We overshot the entrance to the Galleria Doria Pamphilj which was to be our next stop and finally found it in an inner road off Corso. The fee was €8 each but we got a free audio guide which was a must. My first rule of being in any gallery or museum, get the guide. The amazing thing about this place is that is still a private gallery own by the Pamphilj family. Our favorite and most famous paintings were the two Caravaggios, Rest on the flight to Egypt (6) and Mary Magdalene (7) and the Velasquez of the Pope.

Velasquez, Portrait of Innocent X, 1649-1650


Caravaggio, Rest on the flight to Egypt, 1595


Caravaggio, Penitent Magdalen

Also the Bernini bust of Pope Innocent X that you could touch in the same room as the Velasquez. (I didn’t). Being privately owned there was a charm and sense of age the most public galleries do not have. The collections also are set up in a specific order that the family wanted. Many were commissioned or purchased to fit exactly where they still hang. Amazingly we didn’t get “gallery fatigue” as early as I thought we would. We probably were there until about three when we headed over to see the Moses.

San Pietro in Vincoli
The great thing that I had never seen was that they had completely shut down the main street Via Dei Fori Imperiali from the Victor Emmanuel II Monument down to the Colosseum.

Via Dei Fori Imperiali on a Sunday afternoon

What a great idea-no traffic. Peggy and Gary bough some fruit on the street first a nectarine and then a cup of watermelon. We walked up Via Cavour looking at shops along the way and a car with a father and daughter on the way to a wedding who were obviously lost sopped at one corner as we waited to cross a street. We found the set of stairs that led up to the Piazza where San Pietro in Vincoli was. Much easier to find this time. The Moses is up in the chapel to the right. Two visits in one day is pretty amazing.

Michelangelo's Moses

We also got a closer look at the chains of St. Peter which were actually two sets, one from when Peter was in the Mamertine and the other was a set from Acts 12. As the legend goes when they were put together they miraculously intertwined to become a single set.
As we walked back Gary nearly took a cab as he was pretty well chafed from the heat. Major pain. On the way back we all got separated as I stopped and wheeled-and-dealed with a sunglasses street seller. I think they are barely worth €5 but I got three for €24 with the little bags I almost walked twice but the guy wanted to sell something. We walked back and found the internet place near the Largo Argentina. It was open but were weren’t able to get any seat assignments. We went back to the place, our wonderfully cooled place, and relaxed after a long hot day.
We also had an incredible time watching all the street theatre from our room. There was an incredible amount of action. We hooked back up with Gary and Peggy and Gary and I went down to the street level and took pictures of the ladies looking down from their bedroom windows. The rooms and the views were really amazing not sure I can ever stay anywhere else in Rome. We then went up and all met back on the roof top bar.

View from the rooftop bar

The action was great. They had the umbrellas up but they didn’t actually much good to shade the sun at that time of day. The best part of watching the drama below was seeing what happened with the African salesmen of purses and belts and sunglasses. Every once in a while they would all leave the square, completely gone and then slowly return. Obviously they were being tipped when the police were coming as once when they all started going we soon saw a police car enter from the left and two undercover women carbinieri got out started walking across the piazza. We could see every bit of it, how they retreated, stopped and then finally disappeared as the police got closer. We also enjoyed looking at the Pantheon dome, watching the birds, listening to the bells–just in general enjoying the glory of the view.

Final Meal at Osteria Sostegno

Our dinner reservation was at a more reasonable eight. I was very surprised that Gary agreed to go back to Osteria Sostegno for a second night.

Last meal in Roma

I just wanted to be sure we had a reasonable and good final meal in Rome. Gary thought the strategy matched what we had done at Capricci–have a great last night’s meal that would be a guaranteed winner close to home. We got our exact same table and had another great meal. Christine and I each had an an antipasti and a primi. Christine had the proscuitto and melon when they said the melon was good today. I had the proscuitto and buffalo mozzarella which was a huge ball more tender than what we had yesterday. Gary had carpaccio with garden rockets and Peggy had the Capresi. For our primi I had an incredible fusilli with shaved zucchini that was very light ad delicious. Christine had the pasta with porcini Peggy had the pasta with carbonara and Gary had the Roman classic Veal Saltambocca. For dessert we ha a large and wild strawberry mix with vanilla ice cream. Again some of the sweetest berries I have ever eaten.

Sostegno menu

We wandered over to Della Palma while Gary stayed on the steps at the corner as he was still stinging pretty badly. Christine and I got pesca and limone and it was great. We walked around the piazza a bit and then went up to finish off the limoncello on the roof. We caught some more of the opera guy and saw the birds fly over–the end of a very special final evening in Rome. I stayed up and tried to catch up on my journal and finally went to sleep at about midnight.

DAY FOURTEEN: Saturday, July 14, 2007

DAY FOURTEEN: Saturday, July 14, 2007 Vatican Museum • Sistine Chapel • San Luigi del Francesi
The room is freezing cold when the air conditioning is on but then gets pretty warm and stuffy once it goes off, so having the extra blankets really helped. We met for breakfast at 9:30 except it was down stairs and not up on the terrace, but at least it is included in the price of the room I had determined from looking at the email I had printed in Tuoro. A great bit of advice is to be sure to bring every bit of correspondence you have had with a hotel, airline or car rental place to use as verification if there is ever any question about the reservation or arrangements. It really was a great break fast with great bread and all the usuals. We even got an extra cappuccino. No spumute however.

Vatican Tour
We were going to walk to the Vatican but then Gary suggest we take a cab (€8) to maximize the time. Roma cab rides are amazing. You thought that Gary could drive the Centro Storico through the narrow streets. These guys go place you would dare to tread. We drove up the main entrance toward St Peter’s and the view was stunning. We then darted around a side street to get back to the line. I had read about this line in guidebooks but oh my goodness. There had to be 10,0000 people and 300 yards long. I decided to take one last shot to see if my name was on the group list but when I got to the head of the line where the group guy was you had to produce a fax. I had failed. So I walked and walked and walked back to try to find where they were and they were even farther than I though it was possible they could be. I finally did find them but before I could go walking over to see what was up with the Scavi tour a guy came up and asked if we spoke English and then he presented up with a deal. If we went with him, for €45 each he would not only get us into the museum but we would have a registered Vatican guide. It was hot and even if we did get in we would be in that line for two and a half or three hours. So we said all right and followed the guy down a side street to an office. There we paid our money and it all seemed to be quite legit. They had group spots and just had to fill them. Sometimes they got people from hotels and sometimes they filled them from the people they grabbed from the line. Apparently the guy who found us gets €2 a head. Everyone is making money and we are happy. Then the wait started.

Waiting to see the Vatican Museum

We got there about ten and were told we would be going in momentarily. Then we were told it would just be ten minutes or so. The reality was that first they were waiting for the tour to fill at about 50 and then they were waiting from four people from a hotel. At any rate we didn’t get moving until after 11. We go past the group gate I had been at and then through a metal detector to get into the main lobby area. Our guy from the office had to get the ticket and that took much longer than expected. While we waited we me a bunch of lovely, grateful people. But somewhere around 11:30 we had a guide and we were off into the museum.
I never did hear our guide’s name, but she was terrific. She seemed to know everything about everything. First we stopped in a courtyard for a good look at the dome and then walked into a gallery and then through to another courtyard with this funky gold globe with another perfect world coming out of it.

Vatican Museum tour

We then walked into a roman sculpture gallery and the most amazing thing she showed was the statue with the glass eyes still in it. Then it was up some stairs in the Belvedere to see the first the great view of Rome off to the right. Last time we were able to go out there and stand but there appeared to be some dignitaries out there so it was closed off. Then to the left we went into the courtyard to see the Apollo Belvedere, a Roman copy of a Greek statue found during the Renaissance. When it was discovered it was considered the most perfect work of art in the world.

Apollo Belvedere, a Roman copy of a Greek statue found during the Renaissance


Laocoon, a Greek statue of a pagan high priest of Troy

Next was the Laocoon, a Greek statue of a pagan high priest of Troy. It is considered the most famous Greek statue in all of ancient Rome and considered “superior to all other sculpture or painting” and then lost for over a thousand years. It was discovered in 1506 in Nero’s House the Domus Areas. It wthe next biggie was the Belvedere Torso, an ancient statue of Hercules. Michelangelo also studied it at length and used it as one of his major inspirations.
I’m not sure of the order but we did see Constantine’s sarcophagi, made though not used for his mother and daughter and then we walked down a long hall with beautiful maps on all the walls. It was really fun seeing the one with Lake Trasimeno and the exact place we had stayed. This time we really saw no painting. I was sad we did not get to see Raphael’s School of Athens. Glad we got to see it with Scala Reala last time in 2003.

Sistine Chapel
After the long hall of maps we walked down a set of stairs and then made a left turn to enter the most amazing gallery anywhere in the world–The Sistine Chapel Capella Sistina. First on the right is the full wall of the Last Judgment.

The color of blue that Michelangelo created alone is breathtaking. I never really thought about it that much but back then each artist had to create his own color palette mixing them with what ever ingredients he could concoct. Really an entire other part of the creative process. Our guide pointed out Michelangelo’s own self portrait in the skin of St. Bartholemew that had been excoriated. The last judgment remarkable was painted 23 years after the ceiling had been finished in 1535. When the last Judgment was unveiled to the public in 1544, it caused a sensation. The pope is said to have dropped to his knees and cried, “Lord, charge me not with my sins when Thou shalt come of the Day of Judgment.”

As you walk down toward the center of the chapel you first notice all the throng of people and then you here ever few minutes some one loudly saying “Silencio.” But as soon as you look up none of the rest of it seems to matter. Pope Julius II asked Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of this chapel but he at first said no, but only agreed if he could do it his way. Julius at first just wanted the 12 apostles along the sides of the ceiling but Michelangelo had a much grander vision. He wanted to paint the entire history of the world until Jesus. He spent the next four years (1508-1512) on a scaffold six stories up covering the ceiling with these majestic Biblical scenes. The ceiling is around 5,400 square feet. Of course the creation of Adam is always amazing, But I was struck this time by the temptation and expulsion scene and the beauty and rich and unique colors of the Dephica heralding the coming of Christ. We could never stay in there long enough, but in a group our size with as many people who were there we were quite luck we got to stay as long as we did. We walked through the screen into the area and the end and then finally out the door to the spot where people were queueing up to walk to the top of the cupola on St. Peter’s dome. The Sistine chapel is probably the most beautiful single room and work of art anywhere in the world, bar none. One of those things that everyone should have the privilege to see once in his or her life. And to think I have been blessed to have seen it twice. Double the blessing that we almost did not have the opportunity today, especially when it was the one thing that Peggy really wanted to do while we were in Rome.
We then marched right into St. Peter’s Basilica and made our first stop at Michelangelo’s Pieta which he created when he was just 24 years old, and many would say he never equaled it. It is his only signed work. It would be so great if you could actually get close to at as you could before 1972 when that crazy dude started hitting it with a hammer on Christmas day.
We went by the bronze statue of St Peter that was part of the old church. As many pilgrims have for thousands of years we all walked up and touched his toes which are nearly completely worn. We topped and saw the Bernini canopy which seems to be and attempt by Bernini to try and out do Michelangelo.

Michelangelo's dome in St. Peter's

We looked at several other things them walked out the front, to the right and down the stairs to gt a look at the Pope’s residence and where the Sistine Chapel was and where the smoke comes out when they are selecting a new Pope. We finally walked through Bernini’s colonnade and across the street to give back our headsets. What an incredible way to do a tour with a very large group. You can stand everywhere and anywhere and still it it all perfectly. Our guide was spectacular to say the least. Right at that moment it was almost 1:45 and I decided to abandon making any attempt to resurrect my Scavi tour reservation. What seemed like a possible nightmare yesterday had worked out beautifully. Thank you Lord.
Gary had mentioned he wanted to see Trastrevere and I have wanted to as well, so we walked through a gigantic tunnel and headed East along the Tiber. Along the way we stopped at an internet café to see if we could get seat assignments for our flight home, but they weren’t allowing it. We kept walking and with the help of our map we found it and it really was quite quiet and charming. In the cheap eats section of the Top Ten Rome book we found one place for pizza but it was closed and wound up at Pizzeria Da Vittorio, 14A Via Cosinato. It was number 8 on their list. My was great especially since Christine and I split on and it was only €5. finally a cheap lunch. Well with coperti and drinks maybe it wasn’t really that cheap.

Crossing the Tiber

We wandered back over the Tiber toward our place and split up when Peggy decided to continue on her mission to buy Capri pants for the boys.

Santa Maria sopra Minerva
We stopped at Santa Maria sopra Minerva and went in to visit the amazing Michelangelo’s Risen Christ there.

Michelangelo, The Risen Christ, 1521

The church was built in 1280 over the site over an ancient Roman temple of wisdom. The statue was created nude, but now has a lovely bronze fig leaf.
We were back in our deliciously cool room by about four and got a grand nap. As soon as they got back Peggy called and I went down to look at the pants she had bought. Gary wanted to try and see the Caravaggio painting that a woman we stood in line with at the Vatican was telling him about. It was in the church San Luigi dei Francesi church very close to where we are at the Pantheon. First I took them back to see the Risen Christ and then we went on a Caravaggio hunt.

San Luigi del Francesi
The church was the San Luigi del Francesi the national church of France in Italy. It is very close to the Piazza Navona and just one steet over from the Parthenon.

Caravaggio, The Calling of Saint Matthew 1599-1600

Caravaggio, The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew 1599-1600

Caravaggio, The Inspiration of Saint Matthew 1602

We found it quickly and went inside to see the Matthew Chapel and the three Caravaggios there, the Angel and St. Matthew (1) (center), The Calling of St. Matthew (3) (left) and the Martydom of St. Matthew (3) (right). The calling of St. Matthew got the number 7 spot on Top 10 Rome’s list of top ten Artistic masterpieces. It was his first large scale work done when he was 29. What an unexpected treat. Gary must have fed the light box five times. All three of us were totally fascinated, reading the beautiful explanations that ran down the side aisle then going back to look at the painting. This is one place and experience I had no idea would happen and be so amazing. Perhaps even more amazing I think Gary is actually getting hooked on seeing more Caravaggios. And Gary did not use to like going into museums and galleries hardly at all. We shall see what happens. We then went back to the del Senato and went upstairs to the sixth floor bar for a drink and a view. What a treat to be able to see the cityscape and the view of the roof of the Parthenon so well. Today probably was the hottest day we had had on the trip so far and in the direct sun it was warm but then one of the breezws would come up and it would be fine. It was amazing to see all the birds gather up there. The barkeeper eventually fed them on the other side to keep them occupied.

Return to the Osteria del Sostegno

I had made the dinner reservation for 7:30 at Osteria del Sostegno on Via Colonelle no more than 75 yards from the del Senato. This was the place that Christine and I had eaten twice at in 2003 and loved. The place was empty and we sat at the first four table on the left. The ladies were under the tent and we were able to look up and see the sky.
Emanuelle the maitre’d, said the melone wasn’t so good so we split a caprese for the primi piatti. He also brought us each a tomato bruschetta. For the segundi I had the pasta and zucchini flowers (which they called pumpkin flowers) and Christine had the most amazing asparagus lasagne in an amazing white sauce. We were able to sprinkle it with goat cheese or parmesian. Gary had something with two eggs and tartuffo and Peggy had the melanzane parmesiana. Tonight we used the 1-2 strategy: one primi to split and two secundi, one for each. We did not plan to have dessert but we had seen one of the women bring out a box of fresh fruita and when we asked about it he showed us the most beautiful strawberries and blueberries and the most amazing tiny wild strawberries. So we had to have the mix with vanilla ice cream. It may have been my favorite dessert of the trip. It was that good. We also had the excellent house wine and the whole bill came to €50 per couple. Pretty amazing considering we had spent €80 the night before without dessert. We went for a walk after dinner over to Piazza Navona and stopped at a bookstore before we got there Christine and Peggy had a great time looking at cookbooks and Gary found the Caravaggio books. We then got over to Piazza Navona and it was the happening place. The new take on the statue people was a guy who looked like he was a businessman in a rush with his briefcase swept back and his tie flying. It was amazing how he could hold the pose. He didn’t really do anything when you gave him money except raise his eyebrows. Not sure he was making much money. The Berninni fountain was under renovation so you couldn’t see much of it. We also say a guy doing juggling who had drawn a huge crowd. Peggy was enjoying looking around so we hung around awhile and caught some street musicians playing “Stairway to Heaven.” We even saw King Tut get out of character and reach down in his suit and scratch himself. We wandered back to out piazza and stopped to hear a guy singing opera then went down the street to have gelato at the Cremeria, the place that Lucca from the Del Senato had recommended. It definitely not as good as Della Palma. One last evening activity we went up and looked out over the city from out the bar area on the sixth floor. What a treat. We had heard that there was a free Genesis concert going on over at the Circo Massimo and that there might be up to 500,000 people there. Another day and time Peggy and I would have been there checking it out, but we were just too tired so we called it a day. And what a day it was!

DAY THIRTEEN: Friday, July 13, 2007

DAY THIRTEEN: Friday, July 13, 2007 • Leaving Tuoro • Orvieto • Train to Roma • Afternoon Rome Walk • Dinner at Abasciata di Abruzzo
I slept like a rock. This was the best bed ever. I woke up about 6:15 and read awhile and then went out and wrote on the patio. At eight I went out for a 20 minute run down our shortcut to the main road then around under the tunnel and up into town. I love walking through Tuoro in the morning with all the hustle and bustle of a small town coming to life. I was back by 8:30 and had more time to write and as I looked up I saw a lovely yellow bird singing up on an antenna less than 15 feet away. I even got Christine out in time to see it before it flew away.

180 degree view from our patio–far left

center

right

far lright

Packing on the bed

Out to the patio

Out the door

Great little shower


Breakfast inside
We had breakfast in the inside room because the family that sat next to us at dinner was at our table. This really threw off our server Katrina. We all winced when one of the kids went up and plucked the harp!

Christine waving from our room



The dining area



The pool








Lunch and dinner outside

Our walk up to our room

Flight one

Hall with the loose tiles

Flight two

Floor three

Last flight

Coming in the door



Tuscan timber ceiling

How can it ever fit?
After breakfast we all packed, paid the conto, and were on the road by 11 even though the luggage had grown a bit and Gary had to reprint his rental car infor by sending it up to Stephano’s computer. The Irish couple from Cork had failed their mission to get a schedule so we would just have to figure it out on the fly.
We stayed on the main road and then got on the A1 to Orvieto. I think the entire drive took just about an hour. We got off the road which was a toll road (3.50), filled the tank, found the train station, asked a carbineiri where the Hertz place was (across the street) and headed up the hill to have a look at Orvieto

Orvieto
Gary and Peggy had been there before. They had seen the cathedral but had never been in it. Apparently it was closed. At any rate we probably had about a half an hour tops to see what we could see, so Gary headed into the Centro Storico.



Discovering the Orvieto cathedral


We cruised through some of the narrowest streets ever but then we burst out in to the main piazza and there was the basilica with its gorgeous façade that Peggy had been raving about. It was open and it was a mind boggler. The columns and throughout were made of this beautiful green marble interspersed with white. It was as unique of an interior as I have ever seen. It was also amazing as there were so few people and virtually no chairs there. We walked up toward the altar and went into a chapel on the left but I don’t know if we knew exactly what we were seeing. Peggy just loved it and she went out to the car to watch the stuff so Gary could come it and look around. This would definitely be a place to come back to. We probably were only there about 20 minutes or so before we headed back down to turn in the car.
We dropped the girls off at the train station and drove over to drop off the car at the Hertz place but no one was there. Gary went into the beauty parlor next door but they wouldn’t let him call the number that was on the door. So I walked back over to see if we could figure out how to use Christine’s cell phone to call. By the time we got the country code and called when the woman she was back in the office talking to Gary. I walked back over there and Gary was all done at the exact price he was expecting.
Christine had bought the tickets at €7.10 each and we lugged all our stuff down and back up to track two. Gary got us all some gelato and Christine figured out how to use the automated toilet across the tracks for €.20.


Gelato at the Orvieto train station
We were scheduled on the 1:26 to Roma and it came right on time and we got on and it took off in no less than three minutes. We left our luggage out in the open area by the door at the front of the car and found seats. Gary went out exploring and found a cup of hideous coffee and a sandwich. When the train food dude came by I got Christine a coke. I took a nap and the trip went by pretty fast. Gary or I would jump up any time we pulled into a station to be sure our bags didn’t fly out the door.

Train to Roma
To the best of my recollection we pulled into Roma Termini at 2:50. We went out a side door and after a little discussion got one cab to take all of us and our luggage down to the Albergo del Senato. It all went very smoothly and we were checking in at just a little after three.
Our rooms were both on the third (fourth) floor and both had absolutely stunning views of the Parthenon right out our window. Thank you Lord for working that one out. I was hoping a fax would have come from the Vatican about the group tour I tried to sign up for, but it hadn’t come. At least I still had the Scavi tour for tomorrow, but Peggy’s number one desire was to see the Sistine Chapel.

Afternoon Rome Walk
We got settled in and then decided to start walking around to see some of the city.


Late lunch near the Pantheon
We first checked out the Pantheon which was crawling with people, then we walked down to the place where all the cats are then through the Jewish section, past the theatre of Marcellus, into a church nearby that I don’t remember the name of and finally we found a opening to the gate and entered the fabulous forum.


I wanted to end from up above by the Capitoline museum, but I didn’t hit it quite right. Where we entered was close to parallel to the Mamertine prison, but just on the opposite side of the forum. We filtered over and up under the arch that is right there then up a bunch up stair and into the Mamertine Prison.

Mammertine Prison

Very moving but I don’t remember it smelling so funky. After leaving there we hung out on some stairs around the corner and then went over to the spot Christine and I like to go and hang out at and watch the crowds pass by.


Gary and Peggy liked it too. Christine was fascinated watching a kind with a professional looking video camera filming this one little boy over and over again. It was kind of weird.

We sort of retraced our steps to go back to the arch that depicts the plundering of the temple in 70 A.D., the one that has the video camera on it. We walked all the way back to the Coliseum, then bought these delightfully frozen waters for €2 each, and headed back toward home along the main. It was cool to see the building that had the huge maps of the Roman empire depicted on it.





We walked up to via del Corso and walked along it for a while see if any stores were selling man capris, “man pants.” We didn’t see much and eventually cut over to get to the Pantheon. It wasn’t too bad but we came in lower than I really wanted to.

Abasciata di Abruzzo
Gary had gotten all excited about having dinner at a place quite a way away that his dad remembered going to over twenty years ago called Abasciata di Abruzzo at Via Pietro Tacchini, 26 (Parioli). It was about a €15 cab ride and we had reservations at 8. We sat outside and got a meal that had several antipasto selections and then a selection of primi piatti that you get quite a bit of. The must fun part was the basket of seven or eight different types of sausages that you cut yourself.

Meaty!

But it was all pretty forgettable and very expensive at €80 per couple.
We had the cabby drop us off at the Spanish Steps and then we walked over to the Trevi Fountain by my winding way which I was not too sure that anyone really appreciated. We did find the fountain and I threw a coin in as Jeannine Somers had told me too. We wandered back toward the hotel past a whole bunch of Africans mostly selling purses and a hundred other things. Then heard a band concert going on on a nearby piazza and wandered over to find it. When we had seen the set up earlier I thought it might have been some kind of a high school band from the states performing to give them a reason to take a trip to Rome. But I think it was an Italian group that was amazingly good and the acoustics in the square were amazing.

Della Palma
We then wandered up to the gelato place that was Rick Steve’s favorite Della Palma. It looked like they had 30 kinds of chocolate. Christine had a Peach and Limone and I had Fragola and I don’t remember.


The crowd in the Pantheon square was really buzzing. We saw a group sing acapella under the portico and wandered around a bit and finally went up to our room, 307, looked out for a while and then started getting ready for bed.
I decided to look through my papers about the Scavi tour and then I made the discovery that I was supposed to pay for the tour over a month ago so I would surely be cancelled. So basically the situation was that I had nothing. No Vatican tour, no Sistine Chapel tour, no Scavi tour, no nothing. Can’t trust me to do anything. So needless to say I did not sleep well wondering what we were going to do. I at least thought we could stand in line and get into the Vatican museum that way. But I knew that God would somehow miraculously take care of us. I still though did not like how I was feeling about it all.