What a FULL day after a very short night! It’s all good though and neither of us would want to change a single moment of this unforgettable day. It was so full that it’s likely to be a bit of a ‘book’ by the time I’m finished telling the stories as well!
Had to meet our “tour group” at 8:30 in the Stardust Theatre and I put tour group into quotations as today wasn’t really a tour….it was more like a transfer from the ship into the city of Rome as our port (Chitavecchia) is 1 ½ hours away by bus on a low traffic day. We had booked Rome On Your Own so….have been planning what to see and do during our short time in the city. The drive from Chitavecchia (which means Old City) was so informative and really lovely too. This small port city of 65,000 people boasts the ancient original entrance to Rome and the roads to get to Rome are lined with Eucalyptus and Olive trees.
We arrived just outside of St Peter’s Square and the gates to the tiny country of Vatican City at 10:30 this morning and had to be back at that location to meet our bus back to the ship at 4:00 in the afternoon so even though Rome wasn’t built in a day….we were going to have to see it all in just 5 ½ hours. It was a seemingly impossible task but we were up for the challenge and ready to give it our best shot.
We decided to start with the Sistine Chapel so made a quick dash to the left keeping to the outside of the wall to Vatican City but all the while keeping the wall on our left. It didn’t take long till we hit the line up of people waiting to get into the Museum and the Chapel. (You have to go through the museum to get to the chapel and the museum is one of the largest in the world!) We made a fairly simple decision to take one of the “pullers” up on their offer of a ticket to bypass the line up and within minutes were in a travel agents office paying 34 Euros (instead of the admission price of 12 Euros) to jump the queue. What would have taken us at least 2 hours ended up taking a mere 30 minutes!!
We made our way through the museum as quickly as we could but given that there were so many amazing sights to see and so many people crammed into the space….that was not a simple task. By the time that we made it to the Sistine Chapel….we were hot, tired, and ready to finish this leg of our Roman adventure. Our shuttle guide from the ship had suggested that if we made it into and through the Chapel that we might want to take the ‘short cut’ out and since we were about done we decided to take her advice. She had suggested that if we were to exit to the right of the final room in the Chapel we would find a door marked for guided tours only and that if we waited near that door for just a few minutes…there would be a tour that we could tag onto the end of to get out via that preferred route. There were a couple of tours right away that used that door but they were too small for us to join…only 2-4 people in them so we would have been too obvious an addition. Instead we decided to attach ourselves to the third group that used the exit. They were a much larger group and we felt pretty confident that we’d be able to blend right in. The only possible challenge on the blending in front is that they were all wearing grey but we decided to give it a go anyway. The good news is that we made it out but the rest of the story is that they were all in grey and carrying crosses as they were a group of nuns so although we fit in with the fact that they were all women….I’m not so sure that we’d qualify on any other count. In addition to being a little ‘different’ from the rest of our group….we also found ourselves in the crypts of the Cathedral so we’ll never know for sure if that is the way that all tour groups leave or if we had a special tour given the status of our group. Regardless….it was an interesting experience and the only way that I can think to describe the museum and the chapel is to say that it is like walking deeper and deeper into something that becomes more and more detailed and impressive with each step you take. There were statues, and carpets, and mosaics, and paintings. The walls were all done and the ceilings were too gorgeous to be believed and even the floors underfoot were tiled in mosaic patters or richly polished marble that was so beautifully worn you couldn’t help but let your imagination wander to another time and place where historical characters came to life. Even though we sped through the museum and the cathedral….it took us a full two hours to get back to our starting place on the street so now we knew we’d really have to find some luck and some stamina if we still hoped to complete the rest of our agenda in just 3 ½ hours!
We set out on foot for the old castle that was built over a period of three different eras and that had been everything from a church to a jail to it’s most recent iteration…..a castle. From there we crossed the Tibre river on a pedestrian only bridge and then hit the streets of Rome. Before we knew it we were definitely off track and our plan was rapidly becoming a distant memory as we rolled with the concept of “what will be will be”.
We walked until we met an American woman who lives in Rome and who was able to direct us to one of her favourite squares…..the Piazza del Farnese. There we discovered a traditional Roman style market where fruit, vegetables, and flowers filled the square with colour and locals bought their produce for the evening meal. This market runs every day of the week except Sundays. From the piazza we made our way up one of the little cobblestone streets, that are barely wide enough for one car, and came across a tiny little bakery/deli where we decided to stop for a snack. We settled on a broccoli and cheese paninni and two hot chocolates. The sandwich was delicious but the chocolate was out of this world! It was so thick you could stand your spoon up in it….it was super dark and rich and neither bitter nor sweet…..all in all…..it was like nothing either of us had ever tasted. We were seated in a tiny little back room that boasted only one equally tiny table where the owner had been sitting with a friend for a glass of wine just minutes before. We weren’t sure if this table was for public use or not but for some reason….the staff had decided to give us some kind of special treatment and we decided to accept. Our chairs were crammed into a tiny space between the doorway to the shop and a back wall. I took the wall and Lynda took the doorway. It was only a couple of minutes later that the wall behind me opened and out came one of the bakers! There was an entire bakery back there and it was no mom and pop operation….it was a big commercial type bakery that had many many people working back there and who’d have thought that it was all just behind the wall I was crushed up against! In the time that it took us to finish our chocolate….that wall/door had been opened and closed for people to pass at least ½ dozen times and each time was as much of a novelty as the first time that it happened. In addition to the “secret door” Lynda was virtually abducted from her seat during our lunch! The woman who owns the shop (and who doesn’t speak a word of English!!) decided she’d like to try to sell Lynda some of the product that they make and ship from that bakery behind the wall. It was lots of fun and the laughter only escalated when the woman asked for a 2nd Canadian lapel pin as she wanted to stick them in her ears!
A few minutes later when we were back on the street and I was taking pictures….I took a photo of a guy roasting chestnuts. He didn’t speak any English but it didn’t take long for me to understand that he wasn’t very happy that I’d taken his picture without asking his permission first. I apologized, showed him the picture and asked him if I could keep it or if he wanted me to delete it. He asked if I was American and when I said “no….Canada”…he just smiled and said that it was okay then and shook my hand. Go figure…..I’d been treated very well as a Canadian all over the world and had heard about this kind of experience (something to do with war times in Italy I’ve been told) but had never felt the effects of it first hand until today. The only thing I can say about it is that I learned a lesson….or perhaps was reminded of one that I had let slip…..always ask permission to take someone’s photo and to give thanks to all the Canadian’s (military and travellers alike) who represent our country so well and leave people like the man I offended today, open to forgiveness of my insensitivity.
I need to interject here as it’s now the next day and I’m typing this from an 8th floor dining room where I can see both Italy and Sicily on either side of the Jade. This is a very narrow pass so it feels like we can almost touch both pieces of land. There are boats that look like toys in comparison to the size of our ship buzzing around us in the water and the sun is shining……yep……life is good! Sicily is crammed with buildings in contrast to the toe of Italy’s boot….although…..not much further along the Italian coast is also filled with buildings. As I look out at Sicily though…..I can’t see even a bit of green…just city scape from my vantage point. In fairness, I am on the Italian side of the ship so my view on this side extends much further up the hills.
Now back to the Roman blog….. From where I left off we caught a quick cab to the Pantheon which is fondly dubbed either ‘the wedding cake’ or ‘the typewriter’ because of the look of it. The Pantheon is one of the very few original Roman buildings that is still in tact. It was built by Hadrian and dedicated to the Roman gods. It really is a very beautiful and a very grand building and is just around the corner from both the ruins that are the forum and the coliseum.
Rounding the corner from the Pantheon and seeing the Coliseum in front of us was a special moment…the kind of moment that is reserved for seeing something so recognizable for the very first time. A couple of bits of trivia for you about the Coliseum are: It is also known as the Flavium and it housed the amphitheatre where the gladiators would fight for the entertainment of the Romans. There were no killings of the Christians here nor were there chariot races within the amphitheatre for the simple reason that the floor of that space would not have held the weight of the chariot races. It was built in 72 AD and took only 8 years to build. The floor of the amphitheatre was covered in sand to absorb the blood of the gladiators and the Italian word for sand is ‘arena’ hence the term Arena was born the world over.
As time was running short and the weather had turned from chilly to cold and wet we decided to grab another cab to see if we might be able to see a couple more of the sights on our list en route back to our assigned meeting place near the Vatican.
It seems we are no less lucky in Italy and in no time at all we were seated in the comfort of Sylvano’s private cab. What a lovely man! He drove a limo for the movie industry for 21 years and 3 years ago decided to leave that life and purchase his own car/cab and are we ever glad he did! His English was good and he was happy to show us the city he was born in. We learned that the way to say, we’re lucky in Italian is, “Fortunata”….should be able to remember that one!! This is one of those English words that you just have to add the Italian accent to and you’re speaking Italian.
Sylvano explained that all the kids in Italy are still on vacation until after January 6th due to the holiday for Befana. Befana is a legendary woman who he described as old and poorly dressed, carrying a broom, and flying through the air to bring gifts to all the boys and girls on January 6th. Sounds much like Kings Day that is celebrated in Mexico! Another reminder that the world is a small place.
Sylvano took us to all of the places we had hoped to see in the time we had left and even managed to fit a few additional locations in as well.
We visited the Trevi Fountain and tossed in our coins. The critical piece to that feat is that you must turn your back to the water and toss the coins with your right hand over your left shoulder for it all to work. You toss 1 coin to return to Rome and 2 coins for love…..I’ll leave it to your imagination as to how many coins Lynda and I tossed.
Next up was the Spanish Steps where there was a vendor trying to give us both roses just for luck and maybe for a small donation too.
From there we were off to the Piazza Noven where the Brazilian Embassy was experiencing a group of protesters so the Polizia were out in full force and of course….we were able to get a photo of one of them with Flor. This piazza is also home to a church that has a statue in front of it that represents the 4 rivers. There is local folklore that says that one of the characters on the statue is holding up his hands in horror and that this is due to a dispute he was having with one of the other fellows who designed the church. It is believed that his horror is intended to offend the designer of the church….but unless that statue comes to life…..who knows the real story??? Noven is also the only place in all of Italy where you can get a very special treat called “tortufa” and so of course….since we were there….we did just that! It is a frozen dark chocolate truffle covered in whipped cream and you can rest assured that if either of us ever gets back to Noven….we’ll be buying another!!! The tortufa is much too large for just one person so we shared the one that we purchased with Sylvano and he enjoyed it as much as we did. It truly was a decadent and memorable tasty treat. Also in the Piazza Noven there was a small fair underway due to the holidays for Befana so in addition to all of the polizia and the protestors, there were children and their families, carrousels, balloons, and vendors of all types. Restaurants spilled out into the piazza and there was a passionate and festive flavor to the place.
In addition to all of this we also saw the ancient ruins of the infrastructure that housed the boats that the Romans used for boat battles as entertainment (much like the gladiators), several of the main shopping areas, numerous other little piazzas, and one of the seven hills of Rome that provide views of the city.
All in all….it was a day to remember and we were once again fortunata and as a result able to do it all. So….as I watch the Italian and the Sicilian coastlines fade into the distance….I’ll say goodbye for another day.
Till next time,
L & L
p.s.
We’d been warned that visitors to Rome should only plan on seeing 2-3 sights during a day trip there so unless you’re ‘fortunata’ like we are….don’t count on being able to accomplish all that we did in the short time we had. Although….if you are planning to be in Rome…..here is Sylvano Broglia’s cell number so you too can experience it all. Telephone: +39 06 72671339 Mobile: +39 347 8544963 E-Mail: silvanobroglia@yahoo.it
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