10 Monuments Rome-ing

4 January 2008

So today we "attacked" Rome. It was an intense blast of amazing monuments, historical sights, political commentary, miles and miles of walking, and centuries of history. Here's the rundown of the whole day.

We met up with our guide outside the walls of Vatican City. We walked through the Vatican Museum first. The art work was amazing and it houses over 1/2 of the worlds’ pieces of art. We walked through a room with some of the oldest existing tapestries. The room was air and light controlled because of the fragile nature of these pieces. One of the adults in our group decided that it would be OK to touch one. Obviously, just because someone is an adult, doesn't mean they have grown up.

Our next stop was the Sistine Chapel. The experience of awe was similar to the time in the St. Frances Basilica. Everyone was walking through from the altar towards the back of the church looking up. About 1/2 way down the sanctuary, there was a step that they had put a ramp on. I figured, if this were in the US, there would be big red letters painted across the ceiling of the beautiful Michelangelo ceiling that would say, "Caution: Please watch your step."

Next monument was the St. Peter's Basilica. The church is the largest in the world, but designed to appear 1/3 smaller than it is through optical illusions. The goal is to not overwhelm the occupants and make them feel insignificant. I could have spent a whole day in any of these places.

After lunch, we went to the Coliseum. Our guide for the day, Paula, was wonderful and knowledgeable. She had a great blend of commentary, history, and anecdote to keep the day interesting. One of the things she mentioned was that the Coliseum was not used by Nero to kill the Christians. They know this because 15 years ago they were able to date the Coliseum building to 7 years after Nero. The Christians were fed to the lions in Circus Maximus.

We had huge amounts of walking around the city and driving around in the tour bus. We met up at the Plaza Colonnade after seeing Palentine Hill, the National Monument, Hadrian's Arch, and the Pantheon. After dinner we all went to throw our leftover coins into Trevi Fountain. The thought is that if you throw 1 coin, you will come back to Rome, 2 coins, you will find love in Rome, 3 coins- you will marry in Rome.

On our evening bus tour before heading back to the hotel we saw the Castel Sant’ Angelo that is the "secret stronghold" for the Pope, according to Dan Brown and fact, however the secret tunnel is an over the road walkway.

9 (ceramic) pieces buying

3 January 2008

We took off this morning on our coach from Florence to Rome. As we headed out of town, we stopped at an overlook for the city. We went out to have a group picture and it was snowing. Fortunately, it stopped later, but it was a beautiful sight.

We headed to Assisi first. Near the city, we stopped at a ceramics factory that produces pottery in the style of the region. It was a fun pottery shop, so I stocked up on some souvenirs and gifts. 9 pieces of pottery will be making the journey back with me. Fortunately, they are much smaller than the pieces from Vietnam:-)

We headed into Assisi to see the Basilica of St. Frances. Beautiful, peaceful, spiritual, refreshing. Many of the adults in our group commented on how peaceful it was. It was frustrating that some people in the sanctuaries and crypt couldn't follow the silence rule or avoid taking pictures, but overall it was a great experience.

We got into Rome tonight and will have a packed day tomorrow that may make me want to come back. Tomorrow will be our Roman Holiday. Ciao.

8 train hours resting

2 January 2008

We took the night train out of Paris last night and went to Florence. We were assigned cars by sixes. Some of us were assigned by fours because we didn't have the whole sleeping cabin. I was in cabin with one of the moms, a co-worker, and our tour director. We ended up sharing with an Italian couple from Florence. They were very nice and the man was tall, so he helped up put all our luggage up high so we would have room to sleep later.

The car looked like the train car in the Harry Potter movies from the Hogwart's Express. When it was time for bed the back of the seat came forward and became the middle bunk. The seat dropped to the floor and became the bottom bunk. The top bunk had been there all along. I was surprised by how much room there was between and I was pretty comfortable. We were asleep around 10pm because we were all so tired from the night before. I woke occasionally, but overall had a wonderful night and was pleasantly surprised by the whole experience. We were awakened at 6am to get off the train and I finally felt rested enough to awake refreshed at my normal waking time.

We arrived in Florence a bit after 7am and took a bus into the town for the day. We had breakfast at a local restaurant and then had a walking tour of the city. After lunch, 5 of us headed to the Duomo to climb the 463 stairs to the top. This is the 4th largest cathedral in the world and the 3rd highest dome. (We saw #2-St. Paul's in London-and will see #1 in Rome-St. Peter's.) The other large cathedral is in Milan and I have seen that also.

The climb was hard and narrow, but worth EVERY step. Amazing view and being in the dome, inches from the artwork was wonderful. Later in the afternoon we went to the museum where the David, by Michelangelo is. We had seen a replica in the square, but seeing the original under a dome with unfinished sculptures by Mike in the hallway leading up to it was even more amazing.

In the evening, we went to a Renaissance Dinner Theatre and had a wonderful meal. My favorite part was the asparagus risotto and watching the kids get pulled up to participate in some of the jester's antics.