Day 4 - Monday

This was an early day for us we had to be to the Scavi Office by 8:45. We decided to take the 116 bus. We left the apartment at about 8 a.m., the thing that we didn't consider was that it was again Monday morning so there would be more traffic. We took the bus to Ponte Vittorio Emanuelle and walked from there. We made it to the Scavi office at 9 a.m. with another group of 4 people from our group. Our tour didn't actually begin until about 9:05 a.m. I definitely recommend this tour. It was amazing. As they explain St. Peters was built over Peter's grave so they built on the side of Vatican Hill. It was a cemetery so they took the tops off of the mausoleums and just filled them with dirt and rubble. When they did the excavations they just cleared away the dirt, and you are literally walking through the streets of an 3rd century (I think) cemetery. That was cool. Our guide was really good, but I can't remember her name. She answered all of our questions. When the tour was done and we came back upstairs we were at Pope John Paul II's crypt so we were able to pay our respects without having to wait in the very long line with everyone at the Vatican that day. Then we went up into St. Peter's. Another Wow. To actually be there and see everything was incredible. Naturally, at the most inopportune time the batteries in my camera died right after we walked into St. Peter's. It never even occurred to me that there might be a store inside, I'm not sure why when even the smallest churches even would sell post cards and such. On the bright side, as soon as the mass ended and the priest and altar boys and everyone were inside the sacristy (is that spelled right?) we were able to go back to the shop and get batteries, Yay! We spent about an hour just wandering then we got in line to go to the cupola.

Mom decided that she would only go to the bottom of the dome, she never would have made it up all of the steps to the top (312 steps I think). The climb wasn't too bad considering we were going between two domes. There was one section where you knew that you were between the domes because there was about 2 1/2 feet between the domes and the walls were angled, so you were leaning to the right as you climbed the stairs. Just before we got to the top (but we didn't know it then) there was a girl from behind us that came running up the stairs in tears, she was claustrophobic and the climb was really bothering her. Luckily for her we only had about another 30 steps to go, then she could be outside at least she would know what to expect on the way down. The view from the top was equivalent to those from most of the hill tops, but at the elevator level you are at the front of St. Peter's close to some of the statues. We went back down to the square and it was time for lunch. We had sandwiches again. My Aunt waited and waited for her turn to be served. She learned that day that Italians don't really wait for their turn in line like most do here, when they are ready and know what they want they seem to push to the front, she was too timid.

After our lunch brake it was time for the Vatican Museum. It had been a while since I read my tour book so we had to ask how to get to the museum entrance. It was a long walk around. My Aunt said that she wanted to see the Egyptian art so when we were at the gallery I turned in. We went through the gallery and she enjoyed it but it was weird because it put us back to the beginning of the museum. It was reinforced that I don't really like Renaissance painting but the Stanze di Raffaello were beautiful. We could have skipped them to get to the Sistine Chapel sooner but they were on my personal don't miss list. We saw some girls in the museum that clearly could not have gotten in to any church in the city so I was surprised to see that they were let into the museum without the plastic coats that I saw on a younger guy in the museum who looked to have worn a tank top. However as we walked into the Sistine Chapel there was a girl in front of me wearing two cami tops layered one over the other and she was not let into the Chapel. I've obviously seen pictures of the paintings before but I was surprised by the brightness of all of the colors. Mom, my Aunt and DS took a cab back to the apartment and DH & I walked back. We stopped this time along the Via della Conciliazione on our walk back to look at the Stations of the Cross in bronze.

When I booked the apartment I knew that it was not wireless but I figured that I could survive and it wouldn't bother me. I was wrong. We were walking and I noticed a Pub with free wireless, needless to say we stopped for a beer, only my second while there. I had to see my email (had to check on a sick relative). After our beer and my quick internet fix we left for the apartment.

Our passeggiata tonight took us to Piazza Navonna. Somehow we walked along the length of Navonna on the outside an entered from the far side. It was probably because when we walked at night just DH & I we would walk/wander down all of the little streets that here we would call alleys. We also bought our first gelato of the day on our walk.

thank you, thank you. Our rome, florence, tucany trip is coming up in May (first time) and your log is wonderful..paragraphs or not!!! did you buy tickets ahead of
time for Sistine Chapel?

>>>>On Sunday the Via di Fori Imperali was a pedestrian zone. Do they do that every week?<<<<

Yes.

Day 5 - Tuesday

Another more relaxed day. Our first day that we were able to wake without an alarm! We had to get me a new SIM card because the one I bought on Amazon ran out of money and when I tried to reload it over the phone like the instructions said I was told that it was no longer a valid phone number. When I opened the envelope with the card I bought on Amazon the card said that it was valid until October 2010. That is the last time I buy a SIM from Amazon for a trip and not the real vendor. We went to the TIM store for the new SIM card. In the end I was never again able to text from my phone because it wouldn't receive the return texts, I tried to look online later in the week to see the support pages but because I was surfing from Italy every page brought up on the computer was in Italian. It just wasn't worth it. I was able to get my email on the phone so I was ok. We also had to get a new camera for my Aunt because she was bumped when we were at the Vatican and dropped her camera. From the TIM store we headed just outside the gates at Piazza del Popolo to the Euronics store (kinda like a Best Buy store here). She found the same camera as the one she had so she knew how it worked and was able to continue to take pix. We stopped for gelato on our way to Campo. We bought lunch fixins again in Campo. I bought a cantaloupe (for 10 euro!) and a bottle of chianti. We stopped at a deli (they sold meat and cheese and made sandwiches too) for some salami, cheese, and prosciutto.

Today is the day that we are going to Trastaverre. The tour book said to take the Via di Teatro di Marcello, so we did. We also learned that this was a short cut to Santa Maria in Cosmedin (but we did also want to see the Circo Massimo so our long walk was not for nothing). We crossed the river at the Ponte Palatino next to the Broken Bridge. The Ponte Rotto was originally built in stone in the 2nd Century BC. We stopped for a cappucino on Trastaverre. I always drink decaf at home because caffeine does bad things to me, so I was a little worried how I would react to this coffee. At home one sip of a cup of coffee and I can tell if it has caffeine in it, but in Italy I was unaffected. Yay!

We first went to Santa Maria in Trastaverre. The mosaics inside were quite impressive. After the church we went to the top of the Janiculum Hill. On the way up the hill we passed a group of three women, we saw them again at the top of the hill. We started back down the hill at the same time but then they went a different way and we walked back down the way we went up, along the road. When we got back down to the bottom of the hill we passed them again. Kinda funny. We wandered through the streets of Trastaverre for a while longer before going back to the apartment before dinner.

We crossed onto the Isola Tiberina and then into the Ghetto from Trastaverre. We wandered through the Ghetto past the Portico d'Ottavia and I couldn't find us on the map (I'm not sure how that happened but it did). Then suddenly we were at the Via di Torre Argentina at the other side of the Area Sacra (I was still confused) when DS said he knew where we were that this is the Area Sacra. I am usually so good with a map and just generally knowing where I am that it did take a few minutes to convince me, but he was right. This is a fact that he will never ever let me forget (for the rest of our lives), that he knew where we were and I didn't. The first time we came upon the Area Sacra I thought that this was the cat sanctuary but we didn't see a single cat, this time however the cats were all out in the open.

Tomorrow is the day we go to Florence, so again no passeggiata tonight.

This is a lovely report. I love Florence and hope that I'll soon be reading that you enjoyed it too.

Thanks for writing this -- I am enjoying it.

Day 6 - Wednesday in Florence

We walked to the cab stand at the Piazza Venezia to get a cab to the Termini Station. We took the Frecciarossa to Santa Maria Novella. The train ride was good and we arrived in 90 minutes. We took a cab to Il Guelfo Bianco on Via Cavour. Our rooms weren't ready (it was about 10 am) but we were able to check our bags. Dario told us to check back after 1pm and our bags would be in our rooms. We headed out to see the Duomo (Santa Maria del Fiore). We walked up the Via Cavour. We were able to see the Baptistry and then we were there and BAM there was the church up close and personal! It was HUGE. In pictures of the church you know that there are colors on the building but you can't tell what it really looks like until you are right there. We (DH & I) had an Art History class in high school and the teacher always talked about Ghiberti's Baptistry Doors and we finally got to see them. We (DS & I) saw the painting of Dante in the church and he knew who it was by the circles, I was impressed. I don't think that I would have know what that was in high school.

We decided not to climb the dome but to climb the Campanile instead. I didn't want to go upstairs on an angle again. We stopped at the first "rest area" and looked down on Mom & DS eating gelato without us! The views around the city were amazing. We climbed up all 414 stairs & down them and it didn't even hurt. After a bathroom stop we headed for lunch. I remembered I Fratellini, we saw it on some show before we left. I googled it and we headed there. Clearly it was well worth the search. YUM! Not very expensive either I ordered 3 panini, 3 cokes and a glass of chianti for 15 euro. Next was to head to the Uffizi. I was going to buy tickets online before we left but the site wanted another 7-9 euro and I wasn't going to pay that. It was about 1:30 p.m. when we got there, we could have gone in then but we decided to go in at 4. It is just as well that I didn't buy the tix ahead of time because Mom & DS didn't want to go in.

Next was the San Lorenzo leather market. We wandered through most of the market. I bought a belt for #3 son at home who likes to show off his shorts despite my griping. He now wears it, I threatened to stop buying his clothes if he doesn't. I know he could do worse than wear droopy pants but it really bugs me. I also bought a nice little purse for our 12 y.o. daughter at home.

We headed back to the hotel to get into our rooms so that Mom & DS could get have somewhere to sit. I paid for a triple and we had what looked like a queen sized bed and queen sized pull out. Our room looked out into a courtyard, it was pretty.

My very favorite room in the Uffizi was the one with all of the Botticelli's. Since that same Art History class the Birth of Venus has been one of my favorites and I got to see it in person! Unfortunately it was in the first half of the museum so I was ready to cruise through most of the rest of the museum.

We went back to the hotel to get Mom & DS to go out to dinner. We stayed in after dinner tonight. The hotel is wireless!!! I asked at the desk for the sign-in and I uploaded my pix and got to see them tagged on the map. Yes, I am a tech geek and gave up wandering Florence after dark, but I was going crazy. When I'm home I can go without surfing but when it was forced on me I couldn't take it!

Day 7 - Thursday

Our second day in Florence. Breakfast at the hotel was amazing! Bruschetta, coronetti, proscuitto, yogurt, cappuccino, more bruschetta. Yum! We split up this morning Mom and my Aunt to shop and DH, DS, and I first in search of shoes for me and then to just see what we could see. We first went by Dante's house and then just generally walking through the streets. We found ourselves at the Galileo Museum and the sundial. It took me a while to figure out that it was a sundial. Then we walked along the river on our way to meet back up with Mom and my Aunt. We passed chains filled with bike locks, kinda crazy, I'm not sure why they are there but there were a few chains filled like that. We then found ourselves in the Mercato Nuovo at the Porcellino. Next was the shoe store where I bought my beautiful shoes, grayish, brownish, so I can wear them with everything! Yay.

We met for lunch in the Piazza di Signoria. After lunch we walked to the Ponte Vecchio. We window shopped but didn't actually buy anything. There was a lot of beautiful jewelry but, alas, so very far out of our price range. DS saw the wood below all of the windows and asked what it was for at about the time we saw our first closing shop. He saw how the shops closed and it all made sense to him. We walked to the Pitti Palace because my Aunt wanted to see it but we didn't go in. We split up again.

DH, DS, and I headed toward the Pizzale Michelangelo. On the way we stopped for our daily gelato fix. As it turned out, we walked into a gelateria with only king size cones, 17 euros later for 3 cones I was a little stunned that I paid that much. Not that the gelato wasn't still yummy but 17 euros?!? The walk up to the Pizzale was a nice one, the weather again was spectacular. There was a Dutch (I think, it sounded German but wasn't) school group sitting on the stairs being lectured about everything that they were about to go see, unfortunately I couldn't benefit from the lecture and learn something myself. We just sat up there enjoying the view and the weather for about an hour. It was time to head back to the hotel to pick up our luggage to go to the train station. We loaded Mom, my Aunt and DS into the taxi with all of the luggage and we walked to the train station.

We enjoyed the train ride again. We arrived back in Rome at dinner time, so we put our luggage back in the apartment and headed out to dinner. After dinner we walked Mom back to the apartment then went for our passegiatta with DS and my Aunt to Piazza Navona. We decided to go to Trevi after that so that they could see more lit up at night. We passed the Pantheon on the way and DS was happy to tell Grandma when we got back to the apartment that we went by the Pantheon again, that Mom always ends up at the Pantheon. Naturally when we got back to the apartment Wipeout was on again!

Day 8 - Friday

We walked to the Castle Sant'Angelo this morning. The interesting part of this is that it was used as a fortress for the Pope so it is full of defensive "stuff", like battlements, arrow slits, and openings at the base of the walls to either shoot arrows down or pour liquids down (did they do this there, I don't know). I know that the Crusades were wars fought for the Church but it is just kinda strange to think about it today. It was also interesting to consider the Passeto di Borgo as the "secret passage" for the Popes to escape to the Castel.

We stopped at Campo for food for lunch back at the apartment again. I loved being able to have lunch "at home" when we wanted, I think we will travel this way again.

After lunch we headed to Santa Maria della Vittoria to see The Ecstasy of St. Therese. I had never seen any Bernini sculptures (other than in pictures) before this trip but I am now a fan. The way that he was able to show movement/draping of fabric is amazing. I also like the rococo-like ceiling with all of the sculpted angels.

We then walked down the Via Barberini to Santa Maria Concezione, DH wanted to see the Capuchin crypt. It was definitely different. It was neat in that there were certain bones in each room.

We then walked down the Via Sistina to the Spanish Steps. After sitting for a while on the Steps we went in search of the Palazzo Zuccari. It is just off from the top of the Steps and easy to find, unfortunately it was in the middle of repairs. We could see the faces at the window and the door but there was scaffolding around and green mesh covering them.

The next thing I wanted to see was Via Marguta 51. When we were planning this trip I told DH that I wanted to go by to see the apartment from "Roman Holiday" and he rolled his eyes at me. As we were walking there it was obvious that I am not the only one who ever thought of taking the walk by the apartment since there are signs directing you there. He still thought that I was crazy. Unfortunately this building was also covered in scaffolding. Oh well, I was there. This was the last thing on my list from that movie, the only place we didn't go was the Palazzo Colona, next time we'll go there.

We walked to Piazza del Popolo next to do some more people watching. It was close to dinner time but DS wanted gelato, so he got his gelato. We walked back to the apartment down the Via del Corso, it was a pedestrian zone from the Piazza del Popolo to about the Via del Tritone.

Day 9 - Saturday

Alas, our last day in Rome.

Today was just DH, DS, and myself. Mom & my Aunt decided to spend today shopping. We finally went to the Vittorio Emanuelle Monument this morning. We didn't take the stairs or elevator to the top, we just went up to the Tomb of the Unknown. There were plaques on either side of the tomb that say "Italians abroad to the homeland" (at least that is how it translates on Google translate) what does that mean?

We went back to the Colosseum to get a picture for a friend of DH. He wanted to see a picture to see the size of the blocks used to build the Colosseum.

From the Colosseum we finally were going to St. Peter in Chains. I wanted to see Michelangelo's Moses a week ago but Mom was tired of walking and churches. The Moses was well worth the walk. I found the Popes reclining on their sides on their monuments a little weird. I expected the tombs/monuments to have the person shown laying on their back, could just be me, I guess it was just different than what I expected. The chains were not what I expected, not sure why but I guess they looked less strong/thick kinda delicate looking. I know how are chains delicate.

After the church we headed to the Palazzo del Quirinale through the Giardino del Quirinale. There was a little boy on his bike (not bigger than a 12" bike) riding around through the center of the Giradino, he was having a great time. We stopped to admire the wisteria blooming in the garden, it was beautiful, I never knew it smelled so sweet. While we were at the Palazzo we watched the Changing of the Guard. I wanted to go to San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane next but we decided to go into San Andrea al Quirinale first, since we were passing it. I'm glad we decided to just go in. This church was done by Bernini, I really like Bernini. This church has more rococo decorations. I just loved the angels above the altar and those surrounding the base of the dome. There were also two angels over the door that are just beautiful, the draping of their robes is so amazing. We headed back toward Trevi from the Via del Tritone, we stopped this time down that street to get a good look at the Triton Fountain.

From Trevi we again found the Pantheon, it was like it was my north on a compass because I could even find it in the dark without a map. We were headed to Piazza Navona for our last afternoon gelato in the city, again we were not disappointed. I wanted to go back to the Ghetto to just walk around a bit. In the end we didn't spend a lot of time there but we did get to see the Synagogue. This time we walked through the area of the Portico d'Ottavia. I liked the story of the sign that said if your fish was bigger than the sign you had to give the head portion beyond the length of the sign to the city. We walked around past the Teatro di Marcello where the columns are. In the grassy area between the Portico, the Teatro and the columns were poppies growing everywhere. I have tried so many times to grow poppies in my garden and they never grow for me, but here in this field they were growing like weeds (naturally). The poppies added nice spots of red in the green grass, it was pretty.

We walked back toward the apartment along the Via di Teatro. We walked up the steps to the Capitoline museums, we didn't go into the museums but did get more good views of the Campidoglio. We arrived at the apartment at the same time as Mom and my Aunt. We stayed at the apartment for a while to get everything packed.

Now it was time to find t-shirts for the boys that were at home. We found the "Rome" shirts that we needed and went past the Pantheon, again. This time we walked all the way around it. We also found a jewelry store, I bought a pretty pair of earrings for Mom for her birthday tomorrow.

For our last dinner in Rome we went back to one of the restaurants that we had eaten at earlier in the week. Mom wanted the spaghetti with olive oil and garlic that she liked so much. Her birthday was on Sunday so we let her decide where we should eat. After dinner we went back to the apartment then out for our final passegiata. Tonight we walked to the Spanish Steps. We saw a stretch limousine in the piazza in front of the Steps. I can't imagine what it was like trying to drive a stretch limo through the streets of Rome. We stopped for our last gelato at Giolitti. It was worth the very long line.

what a lovely trip report -- thanks so much for writing in so much detail!

As it turned out, we walked into a gelateria with only king size cones, 17 euros later for 3 cones I was a little stunned that I paid that much. Not that the gelato wasn't still yummy but 17 euros?!?>>

the local paper in the south of Tuscany where i have been staying for the last week [yes I know, lucky me] ran an article about a shop in florence charging €20 per gelato!

visitors to Florence, beware.