Really enjoying your report.
Please can you tell us the name of the hotel you stayed at in Rome?

This is a great read! Thanks for sharing. I am looking forward to more!

Our hotel in Rome was Hotel Domus Praetoria. It was about a 6 minute walk from the train station. I know that this area isn't as popular as some others, but it worked for us as we were traveling by train. I felt safe in the neighbourhood and there were quite a few reasonable restaurants in the area. The hotel staff were very helpful, there was an elevator and a pretty good breakfast.

Day 8 Tuesday, Sept 11th

Our day to get religion! Yes, we were off to the Vatican for tours of St. Peter's and the Vatican Museum. We went on the subway to save time and it was very crowded until we had gone about 3 stops. Then you could breathe. It was about a 10 minute walk from the stop to St. Peter's Square. We arrived about 8:30 and headed right into the Basilica because there wasn't much of a line yet. We had airport type security and then the apparel police. One has to have his/her shoulders to the elbow and legs to below the knees covered or admission is denied. We wound our way up the steps and into the Basilica itself. I wasn't completely prepared for the scale of the place. It is just massive.

Immediately inside is the Pieta which is beautiful, however we were kept back about 30 feet. I'm not sure how my picture tuned out with a zoom and no flash. I probably didn't hold my camera steadily enough...we'll see. We basically worked our way around in a counter clockwise direction, following a guide book. I was surprised to encounter Pope John the XXIII in a glass coffin.

Most everything in the Basilica was a feast for the eyes. There were several masses going on, including one with a choir. The main altar, of course, is the centrepiece!!) My personal favourite thing of all was the dove window beyond the main altar. It emits a beautiful golden light. The statues are each one better than the last.There was just so much to see and it was especially amazing to look up at the ceilings and of course, at the dome itself.

We left the main part of the church, and went through another door to arrange to go up into the Dome. It costs E 5 to climb and E 7 for the elevator. No contest there! The elevator gets you to the first level and you actually get off and walk out on to the roof of the Basilica and then climb a flight of stairs to go inside the Dome. You get an awesome view down into the Basilica but it is obstructed by serious mesh fencing. You can, however, get your camera lens through the mesh to facilitate picture taking. If you are much younger, you can climb to the next level and ultimately stand outside near the top. The view of Rome must be amazing from up there...maybe next time!

We came back out onto the roof when we left the Dome. There are very good washrooms up there as well as a snack bar and a souvenir shop. We got two really cold glasses of water for 1 euro. We took the elevator back down and went out into the square.

Temperature-wise, it was like the desert, but we were able to stay in the shade most of the time. Getting all the way back and looking across the square was awesome as well. I have seen TV pictures when the square is full of people and I can't imagine what that would be like.

We had reserved tickets for the Vatican Museum at 11:30. We were a bit early but we decided to walk around to the entrance to get the lay of the land. Our reservation allowed us to skip the line and they let us in early.

Off we went, following our guide book. It was very hot and got progressively hotter and more crowded. One is there to see some of the most amazing art in the world, but you simply couldn't get near it. You are more or less swept along in the river of people, trying to take a few pictures along the way. When we got to the tapestry room, it was air conditioned. The down side was that just about everybody stopped there to cool off.

After another hour or so, we made our way into the Sistine Chapel where no photographs are allowed. It was amazing how many people paid no attention to the rule, nor to the security staff who were trying to enforce it. There were so many people that we couldn't really follow the guidebook or look up. You needed to be able to sit down to see the ceiling but there was no room. We appreciated what we saw, but waited until we got home to listen to the guide and follow along with the pictures in the book.

After the crush in the Sistine Chapel, we were more than ready for a break. We ended up eating in the museum and had the best pizza of our whole trip. The Pope also had the best washrooms!
When we emerged from the Museum, we bought a bottle of water AND it was FROZEN! Today is the first time we have had really cold beverages on the whole trip and it was wonderful. We walked back past St. Peter's Square which was, by now, quite full. Watching the people is interesting. The crowd certainly represented most races, and, I suppose, many religions. We saw Muslims alongside Nuns. We saw Nuns with cell phones! There is no reason that they shouldn’t have cell phones, but they seem a long way from the nuns in black robes of my childhood. I guess, when we see nuns at home now, we just don't recognize them. Most of these black or gray robed, techno savy Nuns seemed to be African or Asian.

We carried on and walked along the Tiber River for a while in the shade. It was a nice change of pace. We happened to find a really good gelato shop and had vanilla and mandarin chocolate with chunks of candied orange in it. Best one yet.

We finally found our bus back to Termini and, since we were in the train station, we checked out where our train will leave from tomorrow. We made our way home and listened to our audio guides that we couldn't use in the crowds. Then showers and a glass of wine...what could be finer?

We had our last dinner in Rome where we ate two nights ago, a little trattoria around the corner. Chicken for Jane and steak for Stew. The dinners also came with potatoes and lovely fresh green salads.

We came back home to pack up for our trip tomorrow. We are off to the Cinque Terre and are staying in the little town of Manarola. I think it will be a pleasant change from the big city.......

What a great trip report! You have made me laugh out loud.:) i am reading this aloud to my family. We are going in May 2013 and I recording some of your information. Thanks!

Thanks willowjane. I hope you have as great a trip as we did. Even though I only asked a few direct questions,I got a lot of help from this board just from reading it regularly. The planning of the trip, for me, is almost as much fun as going!

Day 9 Wednesday, Sept. 12th

We were up early, awakened by voices in the hall. That is the first time we have heard noise of any kind in this little hotel. We had our usual breakfast downstairs and watched the news. The morning TV news is quite different here. One sees an actual newspaper with highlights in yellow. The newsreader reads it to you. Sometimes a finger points what is being read, kind of like kindergarden. Every so often a hand turns the page or substitutes another newspaper. There is little visual coverage of events. Since we can understand next to nothing, we have been checking CBC and CNN on line each day.

We were off to Termini to catch our train for La Spezia Centrale. There was a brass band, heavy on the percussion, playing to see us off. They must have really wanted us to leave. We're not sure exactly what was going on, but there were TV cameras as well.

Our train was to be 10 minutes late leaving and they changed the platform at the last minute. The train employee gave us the wrong info and then a youngish woman looked at our tickets and took us to the right spot, right to our seats and stowed our luggage. We realized that she obviously does this for money (E 6). It's a pretty good gig when you think about it. If she can settle one customer every 10 minutes at E 6 each, she makes a decent hourly rate.

Our train ride was uneventful and we traveled along the coast. We could see the ocean a lot of the time. We had bought sandwiches in the station for our lunch. Note to self...don't do that again! We arrived about 20 minutes late, but we had a seat mate going to the same place and he pointed us in the right direction. We bought our tickets for Manarola for the princely sum of E2 each. This was the type of commuter ticket that you must validate at a machine. We were scheduled to make one more train change. We went to the track and then realized we could get a through train with no changes if we waited 10 more minutes. When we got to the new platform, it didn't have a validating machine. We thought we just didn't have time to go down the stairs, under the tracks, up the stairs to the machine and then reverse, so we didn't. Long story short, the conductor noticed that we didn't have a validation stamp and fined us E5 each. The fine is actually E50 each so we got a really great deal!!!! (says she, tongue in cheek).

By the time that transaction was completed we were at our stop, Manarola. This is a beautiful, little town, built up the side of a mountain, right down to the sea. It is cloudy and windy today so the water is really rough. The temperature is about the same as Rome, but the sea breeze (well wind) makes it seem much cooler. Our room is on the 3rd floor (remember that the entrance is on ground floor, not first floor! It's bit of a hike.) In fact, the whole town is either up or down. One longs for some mountain goat genes.

Our room looks down over the sea and we can hear the waves crashing. We are getting a lovely breeze and appreciating the fresh air after four and half days breathing car exhaust in Rome. The room is small with a queen bed, wardrobe, tiny desk and chair and a reasonable bath. There is a TV and air conditioning which I don't think we will have to use, and it is spotlessly clean. Believe it or not, we can get CNN International in English on our TV. This is the first actual English station we have encountered in Italy and it is in the smallest little coastal town! It is also the best WiFi we have had.

Manarola is the second of the five towns (five lands...Cinque Terre). There are stunning views at every turn. It was raining before we got here today, but tomorrow is supposed to be sunny. We will get a pass and move between towns by train or boat if it is calm enough.

We explored bit before dinner and just happened to find....a wine store! After a drink in our room we headed out for dinner. Our dinner was wonderful, tied for first place with Venice. Stew ordered grilled squid which came on a lovely bed of the freshest greens. Jane had homemade pasta with basil pesto (a local specialty). We shared, so we each got some of everything. It was also one of the most inexpensive meals were have had.

We walked around a bit more after dinner. The wind had picked up and the waves were really crashing in. We actually needed jackets if we were going to stay out. We came home at dark and settled in. We are looking forward to a day of exploring tomorrow.

Day 10 Thursday, September 13th

We got off to a leisurely start and went out for an "English Breakfast". We had scrambled eggs, bacon, toast and coffee. We actually paid about half of what our hotel would have charged for a continental breakfast.

The day was sunny, but cool, and, if you can believe it, we had to start out in our fleeces! We bought our Cinque Terre passes which gave us access to the hiking trails and the unlimited use of the trains to go between the towns if you aren't hiking. We actually did an easy 20 minute hike back to the first town, Riomaggiore. What a delight! This town is a little bigger than ours and sells more produce and goods of all kinds. It seems to be the place where the locals come to shop. Once again, it is steeply set on the side of the mountain and winds down to a pretty harbor. The streets are lined with local boats, about 8 feet long which seem idle at the moment, but which contribute the general bright colors of the town. The houses in all the towns are painted with yellow, peach, rose and orange, with a few darker maroons tossed in. Most buildings are 4 to 5 stories tall and have balconies over-flowing with flowers. Laundry is hanging from lines just outside the windows. It is, as the sign says, "la Dolce Vita".

We took the train back to Manarola, a five minute trip, along with several hundred cruise ship tour participants from one of the Norwegian ships. Each group has a leader at the front holding a sign up and a "minder" bringing up the rear to herd the stragglers. I have no idea how they can keep everyone together when the train only stops for about a minute.

We stopped off at our hotel, dumped our fleeces, and got sunscreen, hats, and sunglasses. Then we were off to the 5th town, Monterosso. This town has a completely different feel. It is the only town with much of a beach and everything is oriented to sun bathing and swimming. The beach is covered with lounge chairs and bright orange umbrellas to rent. There are life guards to keep you safe. It looks like a holiday place and less like an "ordinary" working person's town. We stopped for water and enjoyed watching the world go by for a while.

It was pushing 1:00 pm when we caught the train for Vernazza. This was the town that experienced the worst damage in the flood and mudslide of last October. There was a severe downpour of rain, with which the towns just couldn't cope. Vernazza ended up with about twelve feet of mud right throughout the town and filling the charming little harbor. Three people perished and almost every single business was affected. It is absolutely amazing how much they have recovered. There is still painting and construction going on, but they are basically back in business.

The town is bustling with souvenir shops, art galleries, restaurants and my personal favorite, gelaterias! We decided to have lunch at the Burgus Bar right at the harbor, and shared a foccacia with ham and cheese, washed down with some cold birra. There was a clarinetist playing "What a Wonderful World" and other familiar songs. What could be finer? We eventually tore ourselves away and toured a little church before making our way back to catch the train for the last town, Corniglia.

When we emerged from the train tunnel into the station, we noticed people piling on to a small, green bus. There was at least one more full load waiting and pushing, so we thought we'd walk. We could see some stairs but had no idea that, once you start climbing, they turn into a switchback of flights...probably 40-50 actual flights. Eeekkk! BUT, WE DID IT!! My legs are still feeling like rubber and I imagine I will pay a terrible price for that adventure by tomorrow.
The hard part was that this little town had the least payback for the effort required. What was unique,however, was being at this elevation and seeing the terraced vineyards. It was a completely different experience than being in the sea based towns. We stopped for more water and voila, the bus arrived, empty. Yahoo. We were able to ride back to the station, thereby saving what was left of our knees.

We came back to "our" town, Manarola. We had certainly earned a gelato which we enjoyed down at the harbor. We went for dinner around 7:00. We shared some pasta and a fresh tuna steak, and enjoyed some conversation with fellow tourists from California who were seated next to us. The evening was beautiful, so much calmer than last evening. There was a little chill in the evening air.

Our Cinque Terre visit has been amazing. The other visitors range from cruise ship day trippers to committed hikers, mostly German women with sturdy legs and serious hiking boots, and pretty much everything in between. It is definitely a younger crowd than we saw in Rome. We will be sorry to leave, but Nice is calling tomorrow.

This is such fun! I'm right there with you. Carry on.... CJ

Loved hearing about the cinque Terre. My sister,her husband and I spent a week in Vernazza and loved it. I am so glad to hear that Vernazza is up and running after the flood last year. We have such happy memories of Vernazza and the other towns as well.

Day 11. Friday, Sept. 14 th

W got up and checked out of our nice little hotel. We got some lunch supplies at the restaurant on the way out and took the train from Manarola to La Spezia Centrale, about a twenty minute trip. We were early for our train so we had breakfast at McDonald's. Now before you say anything, it was the ONLY option.

We took a one hour trip to Genoa. The train was running a bit late. The next leg was to the Italian border and we were later still. It turned out that there had been some sort of train/person collision so things backed up. The result was that we missed our last train. There was another a half hour later so we thought we would be fine. The problem was that this next train was then dealing with twice the number of people and was just packed. We happened to be sitting with a young woman who spoke both Italian and English and who was going to the same stop, Nice Ville. It's always nice when someone validates your thoughts on where you are! All in all we were about an hour late getting into Nice, but walked to our hotel with no further problems.

This is more like a chain hotel and we have TV channels in about 5 languages. The room is quite spacious and more modern feeling. We are within two blocks of the Promenade des Anglais along the shore of the Mediterranean. This is also the area of "Old Nice" where we went for dinner. Our meal was fine but nothing special. We stopped at a wine store on the way home so we are set for tomorrow.

It seems a little strange to be in France. I can definitely understand a little more of the language....and I mean "little"!! I at least can ask questions. Italy was slightly harder work, since neither of us has any idea about Italian. We did notice that many words were related to their French counterparts so you could get an educated guess about the signs. Everywhere we went it seemed that someone could speak English.

I don't like sweeping generalizations, but we noticed that Italian children seem to be indulged more than their North American counterparts. There was a lot of whining and outright tantrums that went uncorrected and actually tolerated by the parents. The other thing we were sensitive to was the increased amount of smoking, especially among young women. It was very common to see women walking down the street smoking. Perhaps I am aware of it because it is something that I don't see any more at home. The cigarettes are filtered but are longer and slimmer than ours. The tobacco is different as well. It smells, well how shall I say this? It smells like something previously enjoyed by a camel!!!

We are back in our room now and ready to have an early night.

Jane,

I've enjoyed your trip report immensely, as you have visited some of the places we've been, and your experiences and comments have helped us relive our own experiences.

However, I would take exception to your observation about Italian children being overindulged more than North American children. That might be true for Canada, but as an uncle, grandfather, and observer of friends' grandchildren, I can tell you that it certainly is not true for kids in the U.S.

Super report. Can't wait to read about Nice.

Hub and I were going to set up a lemonade stand on some of the Cinque Terre walks!

Please keep it coming!

Hi Tom18...maybe my comment is just me wishing for the good old days!

Day 12. Saturday, Sept. 15th

We slept in a little today which was a treat. We had breakfast at our hotel and found that they also give you a packed lunch to take with you. They had a choice of sandwich, on reasonable bread, a bottle of water and a package of pre-sliced apple.

We went to the info desk and found the bus for Monaco and off we went. The trip took about a half hour and was really scenic. We got off at the info place in Monaco. We got a map and an idea of where we wanted to go. We had a short walk through the park to the Monte Carlo Casino. It is an amazing building and we got some pictures, but did not pay the 10E each to go in, where you can't take pictures anyway. Instead, we paid 11 E for one American coffee and one cafe au lait!! Stew had been wondering earlier how they made their money, now he knows. Oh well, it was worth it for the ambiance.

We then walked down the hill to the yacht basin where they were setting up for the Monaco Yacht Show which starts on the 19th. We were able to see a lot of the monstrous vessels up close. Stew has serious yacht envy! We spent an hour or so watching the yachts come in, and had our lunch in the shade. We struck by how clear and blue the water is. We could see bottom easily in about twenty feet of water in the harbor...lots of little fish too. Usually marinas are a bit murky.

Eventually we started the big climb up to the Palace. It wasn't too bad a walk and in the shade all the way. The gardens are beautiful and there were wonderful views back over the harbour. Prince Albert had some pretty good public washrooms, but not as good as the Pope's. We wondered around the little town and watched the guards patrolling in front of the palace. We could have been there for the changing of the guard, but we were enjoying the yachts too much! We stopped to have our apple slices in the shade. Finally we worked our way back down the hill to catch our bus home.

When we got home we walked down along the Promenade Des Anglais for a bit. It was quite warm and there were lots of swimmers. They are setting up for the Nice Triathalon which is being held tomorrow, so we were climbing over equipment etc. I imagine it will be a zoo there tomorrow. We stopped for gelato to share and walked home by all the expensive stores. My fav is Cartier!

After showers and cocktails we headed out to dinner in Vieux Nice. Tonight we shared a four cheese bruschetta (more like a pizza!) and a Salade Nicoise. Very yummy, but way too much dinner. We went for a walk along the Promenade at sunset and it was just beautiful, with the wonderful sea air.

On the way home we went by several performing groups, everything from acrobats to a quartet. Well two violins and two accordions playing Pachelbel Cannon does not an orchestra make, but it adds to the ambiance.

We have two BBC English channels in our room but we seem to be watching some sort of Dancing With The Stars. News casts are sparse so I'll check the CBC on line.

Day 13. Sunday, Sept 16 th

We woke up a little earlier today and had our breakfast at the hotel. It was another brilliantly sunny day. We went out to find the bus for Antibes/Cannes at its usual stop. The problem was that they had changed the stop because of traffic detours for the Nice Triathalon. We eventually figured it out and were off to Cannes. Although it is a little farther away than Monaco, it takes much longer to get there as there are more stops for the bus.

We finally got to Cannes around 11:00. We found ourselves in the old port and guess what.....another yacht show! This one was actively going on so you couldn't see anything unless you paid the entry. Instead, we walked around the area, had a coffee and eventually had our (box) lunch. The beach was a bee hive of activity with brightly colored sun umbrellas everywhere. We could see many boats anchored in the harbor. We spent some time in the park watching the families enjoying their Sunday afternoon.

We caught the bus and came back as far as the airport. Our original plan was to stop in Antibes, but we were a little short of time. At the airport we picked up our rental car, a Fiat. It's very tiny, which is a good thing with the narrow roads. We headed back into Nice which was a bit of a challenge because of all the route changes and detours. Nice is full of one way streets, so if you miss something, you must go around multiple blocks. The motor bikes pass you on both the right and the left and never wait their turn in traffic. It is quite nerve racking to say the least. No one but me signaled any turns. It's sort of like driving in Los Angeles where signaling is a sign of weakness! After a few turns around several blocks, we found our 24 hour underground parking garage. Now if we can just find it again tomorrow.......

We got back to the hotel in time for showers and wine, and then went out for our last dinner in Nice. It was lovely, a squid salad and Nicoise beef stew which we shared. Stew is downstairs checking out tonight so we can get going in good time tomorrow, hopefully before rush hour.

We will be in a small village tomorrow night and I don't really expect much in the way of Internet access. We may not talk to you again for a day or two.

TDudette, I'll be your first customer at your lemonade stand!

You were brave to drive in a city. Just think of it as a warm up for Sicily where it's even more frenzied, in my opinion.

Would you mind sharing where you stayed in Nice? Did you like it, was it well located, etc?

We stayed in Hotel Crillon which was within walking distance from the train station and about 50 feet from the tram line. It took us about 10 minutes to walk to the ocean. The breakfast had good selection and the box lunch, while nothing special, was a nice unexpected add on. It was on a fairly busy street, but we were not bothered by any noise.