Hotel Chopin Fiumicino

... sf in the Vatican. The value of the Sistine Chapel? Money has no meaning. The last pope started a modern art gallery in 1973, in order to display a collection that was largely donated by artists over the past 2 centuries just to claim that they had paintings in the Vatican – Van Gogh, DeChirico, Feininger, Kandinsky, Bottero, Severini – 30 rooms of art, an afterthought in Vatican terms, but a world renowned billion ...

... the bar I found the "we're 19 and in a foreign country, so lets get drunk" mentality. I don't know which I find more obnoxious.

In the lobby I end up chatting with two cute girls from San Francisco. Turns out they're fellow WWOOFers, who've been working all over Italy. We sit and compare our experiences. Its refreshing to meet travelers who are on the same wavelength. We chat for a bit, exchange contact info, then it's time for bed. Tomorrow is a big day.

... been in Italy a lot longer than we had ever planned and sometimes wanted to be, but we are still here hanging on, we know we will probably not return I guess its hard to say goodbye.

I know we never want to return to Naples, I hate to put a place down but it really was hell on earth, driving back out of the costal resort we decided to head north along the coast to get closer to Rome. We drove through Napoli itself this time to take in the ruins ...

... as we got back to our hotel. The first full day in Rome we bought a 2-day double decker bus pass to take us around town. It rained but this time we were prepared with ponchos and an umbrella, so we sat at the top of the bus bundled up in plastic under the rain and did a full loop around Rome. We decided to dedicate the rest of the day to eating and shopping since the weather was predicted to clear up the next day. The next day ...

... waiting for the highlight of our cruise. There it was in black and white (what else!!) in the Cruise Newsletter - the event of the week, the chance to learn the cultural secrets known only to our international crew. Yes - How to Make Towel Animals. You may laugh but when you returned to your room to be faced with cool bunnies, flannel frogs and large lobsters you are gripped with the desire to learn the secrets. We now have the leaflet - never mind the ...

... sits below a church. The cave was dug out of the rock (originally as a cistern), and is quite dark and cold. I'm glad we made it though - Tony really wanted to see this! After our full day of sightseeing, you can probably guess where we went for dinner? Yep, back to the Pantheon square. I had a lovely salad made of rocket(arugula) and parmesan - yum! Tony went a bit nuts. He ordered mini fried pizzas, pasta, bread, etc. A great way to end our Italian journey!

We bought a bus pass for the day and headed out to explore the many amazing sites in Rome. We first went to an old church that was featured in my second favorite movie with Audrey Hepburn. Roman Holiday was filmed entirely in Rome. There is a famous scene where she sticks her hand in the Mouth of Truth at an old Catholic church. We toured that church ...

Another beautiful day in the eternal city. We took a long and somewhat random walk from our apartment to the Villa Borghese Museum. On the way we passed thru/by Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, and the Trevi Fountain. The plan was to end up at the Spanish Steps, and then follow the signs to the Museum, but somehow never got to Piazza Spagna. Will have to see that another day. I was pretty sure that we were heading in the right direction ...

... I ate more foccacia and re-started my habit of drinking real strong espresso. Michal fancied the cappuccino. Nothing like coffee in Italy, eh? We met up with Michal's childhood friend, Mindy, and two of her friends, Katie and Audra(sp?). I tried to get better and rest, but grew restless and did yoga in the room. It was the first time I've practiced in a while and it felt great. Later on, the five of us met up for our Italian dinner. Michal and I have been going over budget on ...

The one thing I had to see in Rome and I wasn't disappointed. Things I didn't know about the Coloseum. I discovered that the Ludi Circenses were the favorite shows of the Romans (games that were invented in the last days of the Republic to develop a war-like spirit which had made them the conquerors of the world.) Thus, the professional gladiators came into being, and they were trained to ...