Rome Sept 30 Oct 1, 2, 3, 4 Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday

Sept 30 Friday - Left Firenze SMN at 11:10 for a 1 1/2 hour ride to Rome.

Got to the Roma Termini station. It's the big Rome station. We immediately went to get our Roma Passes at the nearest tobbachi. They didn't have any but sent us to another tobacchi. They were closed. We had reservations at the Borghese Gallery at three and it was now after one. We went out to get a taxi. The taxi guy said E35. No way.
   We went into the Metro and got two one day tickets. The Metro is old and hot. We had to carry our bags up and down some stairways. Finding the entrance to our platform was tricky, we had to ask a Metro cop. When it arrived it was packed! We crammed on. A bumpy ride to the Flamminio stop. We came up and started looking for the "Roma Nord" line. We asked a couple vendors but they didn't know. Suddenly Deb spotted the entrance. It was right next to the Metro entrance. We got on and roasted for about ten minutes before it went to our stop - Euclide (pronounced Eucleedee).
   We looked around for our street. I had a fairly detailed map but we couldn't seem to find it. We started hiking down a one way street hoping it was correct. It wasn't. I stopped into a bank for directions. They didn't speak English or seem to know where they were. Finally after walking around we found a taxi, with no meter. He said E10 so off we went. He dropped us off at our hotel. Turns out it was about two blocks from where we got into his taxi - a rip off. The hotel is the "Great Western - Rivoli".
   We checked in and deposited our stuff. It was nearing three o'clock. The girl at the desk told us to go out and take bus #52 to the Borghese Gardens and we would find the Gallery. With some help from people on the bus we got off at the Gardens. There was a large confusing map which we had a hard time deciphering. Finally I realized the Gallery was right there about 100 yards away.

We checked into the Borgase Gallery. A world class museum with fantastic stuff. Downstairs is mostly sculpture. Finding the stairs was a bit tricky. I'll bet some people don't realize there is a second floor. Upstairs is a collection of famous artists paintings. They were very diligent about not allowing photographs.

When we exited we went back out to catch bus #52 back to our room. It took forever to show up, we waited at least 20 minutes. It was hot standing in the sun. Finally it came. It took us back near our place. We hiked around and finally found the hotel. The sign was obscured by a tree plus it didn't say "Best Western" it said "Rivoli". Note the tree on the other side of the sign.

We rested a bit then asked the girl about getting to the Vatican Museum for our 7pm appointment. Oh my God! We waited about 40 minutes for bus #926. We talked with a young man and an old lady while waiting. We rode the bus to the end of the line at Piazza Cavour. Despite her suggestion that it was close by it turned out to be a killer hike, nearly a mile. We got there and found a huge crowd of people in various lines with barricades and guards all around. It was about 7:20. My paperwork didn't look right but Deb talked a guard into letting us skip the line. The ticket guy never blinked an eye, he just gave us a couple tickets and in we went. The museum is huge and everyplace you look is something you recognize. However, we were quite pooped and hadn't had a bite to eat since breakfast in Florence. We skated up and down hallways. Even the ceilings are amazing. There is quite a bit of modern art here also.
   We found Raphael's "School of Athens". We were able to sit down and take a good look. It's really large. The character down in front is Michelangelo. The story is Raphael sneaked in and took a look at the Sistine Chapel then went back and painted Michelangelo into his masterpiece. The Raphael room and the Sistine Chapel are next to each other. We went into the Sistine. It was not crowded. We were able to sit in three different areas while looking at the magnificent frescos.
   We then hiked back through the cafeteria and out the door. We were pooped. I stood in the taxi area until one came along. It was E10 back to our place thanks to the light traffic.
   At the hotel we asked about a local restaurant. We were sent to Pagaroma about a half mile away. It was 10:30pm and the place was packed! They set up a table for us. It looked like dinner was going to be expensive. They poured us welcoming prosecco's. We ordered seafood risotto to split as an appetizer and what turned out to be a very good wine. I don't care for shrimp but these went down very smoothly. Deb had a "frutti di mare" or "fruit of the sea" spaghetti and I had Danish beef. It was delicious. Afterward they gave us dessert wine plus biscotti made with whole hazelnuts. Fantastic. Dinner was pretty expensive.

Back to the hotel about midnight and to bed. Imagine the Uffizi, Borghese and Vatican Museum all in one day. It's like eating a cheese cake all by yourself.

Oct 1 Saturday - Breakfast here was the best breakfast of the whole trip. They had the best bacon and the coffee was like I'm used to. We asked around and found there were no Roma Passes available anywhere. We bought two three day transportation passes from the tobacchi.

I'm not sure how we got there, apparently we bussed,  but we went to the Colosseum area. RS says to go to the Palatine Hill entrance to buy your tickets to avoid the long lines. Well, the lines there were impossible. Deb actually tried to bribe a Trafalgar tour to let us join. We gave up and planned to come back another day at a later time. We did get some nice pictures.

We Metroed back to Termini where we found a nice place for a sandwich and a beer. The National Museum of Rome was right nearby so we went there. Another impressive collection with a particularly nice presentation.  Many famous pieces here including the discus thrower and the boxer. They had a large collection of Roman statues, busts, sarcophagi plus a vast collection of mosaics from Roman villas. And a vast coin collection.

We then hiked over to Santa Maria Maggiore (this is just the column in front). A rather spectacular church. The ceiling has gold supposedly from Christopher Columbus. There was an interesting chapel set in the floor with bones of Saint Jerome. Saint Ignatius of Loyola celebrated his first mass here 25th December 1538. We enjoyed the place including the spectacular doors.

We metroed back to Roma Nord and hiked about a half mile to our hotel. We finally have it figured out. We had a drink on the patio.

After a rest to do postcards and relax we got reservations for dinner back at Pagaroma for 7:30pm. When we arrived we got a big welcome and were told they couldn't take any orders for at least fifteen minutes. We had some prosecco and waited. Finally we got dinner under way unfashionably early. Serge from Russia once again helped me choose the wine. Another nice dinner. We once again split the seafood risotto as an appetizer. Not as many shrimps this time. I don't remember what we ordered, Deb had scallops, but it was excellent once again. And expensive.

Back to our place and sleep.

Oct 2 Sunday - Today we decided to take RS Dolce Vita Stroll down Via del Corso. The Metro stop at Piazza Flamminio, which we use from Roma Nord, is actually right next to the Piazza del Popolo. We marveled at the Piazzo and started our hike. The weather was beautiful. Seeing this is a north-south street and it was before noon we were strolling in the shade. A kids fun run was taking place right up the street past us.
   We hiked down to Piazza Colonna which has a big column in it. Then veered off toward the Pantheon. We found a military band playing in front of the parliament (Movie). That was really fun. Then on to the amazing Pantheon. It's huge. Raphael is buried here. It was all I expected it to be. It's wider, though not taller then St. Peter's dome. Very beautiful and not too packed. Difficult to believe it is over 2000 years old.

When we'd been here years ago I noted that Piazza Verona would be a good place for lunch. We hiked over and sure enough it was beautiful. We got a table right near Berninni's "Four Rivers' fountain. We had a nice pizza while watching people and listening to street musicians (Movie). Very nice and of course expensive for us tourists.

We continued our hike toward the Victor Emanuel Monument, also known as the wedding cake. Despite the fact that Romans don't care for it I think it's spectacular. On the way we ran across a large Irish pub so we nipped in for a small and expensive Guinness. We climbed up on the monument and took too many pictures. The largest equestrian statue in the world is in front. I filled my water bottle from a fountain as suggested by RS.

We tried to find the Michelangelo Piazza around in back of the Monument but got a bit lost thanks to RS somewhat misleading map - really my fault. We finally found it and saw that the back side faces down into the Forum. It looked like we could have hiked down and walked around for free. We were too pooped.

Before we went back to the hotel we stopped at our Termini bar. Deb had a prosecco and I had a large five scoop gelato. Then home.

We relaxed before dinner. Pagaroma is closed on Sunday so we hiked over and checked out a couple other places. The place we chose was also not ready for customers at 7:30. We had a drink while perusing the menu and talking with the manager/waiter. Everything seemed to come from their farm - pork, beef, chicken, olive oil, vegetables, etc. We had a strange little appetizer with a piece of prosciutto on it. Deb had free range chicken with sauce. I had a caramelized filet Mignon. We had a dessert. This turned out to be our most expensive dinner. It was good. I think they had one or two other customers by the time we were leaving.

Oct 3 Monday - Breakfast. Many museums are closed today which is one of the reasons I got the Borghese and Vatican on the very first day.

We finally have the Metro figured out and it's on strike today so we have to bus everyplace. Damn.

Back on the #926 to Piazza Cavour then a hike over to the river. We walked past the Castle Saint Angelo. This is the place where popes would go for protection when the Vatican was attacked. There is a passageway from the Vatican to Castle St. Angelo. RS says there isn't much to see inside. It looked pretty daunting with arrow slots and cannon openings. We looked at the Bridge of St. Angelo as well. Then on to the Vatican. The approach is interesting.
   We tried to find the exact spot where we had taken a picture of Peggy many years ago.
   We finally got to the large square in front of the basilica. Lots of people. We joined the entry line. It moved along quite quickly. Soon we were in the church itself. Of course there are no words to describe all you see in there. Michelangelos pieta is still too far away and hidden behind bullet proof glass. Berninni's magnificent main alter over Saint Peter's grave is spectacular. The paintings on the walls are really mosaics done masterfully with really small tiles. The ceiling and domes are amazing. A mass was going on in one alcove. We nipped into the Blessed Sacrament Chapel and said a prayer for my sister and brother who are practicing Catholics - we're not.

After looking at everything we could we got into the line to go up to the top of the dome. We opted to take the elevator up to the plaza level then to hike to the top. The views inside the dome were spectacular. The climb to the top was crowded and rushed. We finally made it. The lantern was crowded. We took a few pictures, looked down into the Vatican grounds and then climbed down. An amazing experience.

We hiked back to Piazza Cavour. The plan was to catch bus #926 and go back to our place. It was hot and we couldn't find the bus. We decided to take bus #70 to Termini with the idea that we would take bus #92 out to see the Catacombs of Priscilla. We were roasting and tired so we flagged down a taxi to Termini (E10). We went to our place and had a beer and a pizza plus more gelato. In reading RS we found the Catacombs are closed on Monday. Darn. So we decided to go to the Cappuccin Crypt and see the artfully arranged bones.
   Getting to the Crypt was a major disaster. Rome is a mess. Streets are not parallel, they change names and veer off strange ways. We hiked quite a bit to get onto Via Veneto. We turned the wrong way and hiked up to the Ancient City Wall before turning around. It was a killer hike back to the Crypt. The lady manning the place offended Debbie so she was pissed. I took the tour. No pictures or even cameras allowed. Go figure. Pretty interesting though.
   As we were trying to figure out how to get home we noticed that bus #52 stops here and is going in the right direction! Ten minutes later we were on the sweltering bus on our way home. I goofed and we didn't get off at our stop and had to hike back. Oh man.

Finally back to our place. We had a wine on the patio. We rested up and went back to Pagoroma for dinner. Another nice experience. They know us so well there that Sergio had been thinking what wine we might like if we came back. It was a bit pricier then the other ones but even better. We ate inside this time, partly for a different view and partly to avoid the smokers. I had some broiled steak and potato dish that was really good. Deb had the seafood risotto again. We had some berries and sauce plus sort of melting cake thing. They also gave us dessert wine and biscottis. I said goodbye to everybody before we left.

Oct 4 Tuesday - We had our wake up call at 2:30am. The taxi was due around 3:30am. We were ready on time. The taxi ride to the airport was Mr. Toad's wild ride let me tell you. Speeding up to 85 mph on the freeways. At red lights he took the "logical option" - if nobody is coming then you can go through! We got there much earlier then expected. We stood in a long line waiting for things to open up. We finally got our boarding passes and headed to the gate. It took quite some time before the gate was open and boarding began. They took my suitcase because the plane was going to be packed and no room for another bag. This means we have to wait for luggage at the other end.

The plane held something like 800 people. It is a double decker with two exits per level. The plane was new. It was operated by Lufthansa. It is more pressurized then other planes which keeps you from dehydrating and feeling somewhat better. Drinks were free and free flowing. I sat next to some Italian honey who was going to a wedding in the US. She spoke good English but we didn't talk much, we mostly watched stuff on our touch screens.
   A pretty uneventful flight. When we were waiting for our bags a dog came along and sniffed Deb's bags and found an apple and a banana.

Our friends John and Frances picked us up and took us all the way home. We really appreciated this.

Comments -

- There were several things we didn't get done in Rome. We may have to go back sometime.
- Rome is a large complex city. Without the Metro on Monday we were limited as to what we could do.