Roma
Trip Start
Nov 01, 2006
1
150
169
Trip End
Oct 15, 2008
Rome,
Lazio,
Italy
Sunday, September 7, 2008
We woke up that morning to a huge thunder storm. One of the lightning bolts must have hit very near to us because the whole van shook and the thunder clap was so loud we both nearly jumped out of bed! The power cut off as well, and luckily we had a flick switch, so no damage was done. We left to head for Urbino another small medieval university town. We didn't quiet make it, and stayed on the coats for a night. The beaches here are no where near as impressive as the ones on the other side of the Adriatic. But the water was still a good temp and it was so muggy that a swim was heaven.
Urbino turned out to be a great little place, and a good work out for the thighs, the hills you had to walk up and down were huge! We had a couple of slices of great pizza, and wandered about
Roman Forum
. The area was surrounded in vine yards and olive groves and had a very Tuscan feel about it. We headed back to the coast and spent the night near the beach again before driving to Rome.Well who could not fall in love with Rome. It is an amazing city full of both new and old, everything is bustling and lively, the buildings are amazing and the food fantastic! We started with the coliseum, and I was blown away at the sheer size of it, such an amazing building. We walked around this and the near by Roman forum before heading to plazzo Nuovo where the four river fountain is situated. This how ever was undergoing reconstruction so we couldn't see it. The pantheon was our next stop and I was again blown away. It is basically a temple fully intact just standing in the middle of Rome, really amazing, and free to get in! We continued onto the Trevi fountain which was so much bigger then I expected and stood facing away from the fountain to throw our coins in, one so we would return to Rome and the second for luck. We finished our day with the Spanish steps, the one thing Dave missed last time he was here.
The Camp site we are staying at is really good, it has a pool and a couple of bars, and a few nights a week they put on out door movies. We saw Batman begins, which was good, and then they showed John Rambo, what a crap movie!
St Peters
! Has to be the worst thing I have ever watched! We got to catch up with an old friend from home too while we were here, Jo Bevis. It was great to see her after about 4 years or so. We wandered around the town for bit, had a nice long lunch and a few bottles of wine, so a good relaxing day.Wanting a day of doing nothing we instead slept in and then went to explore the Vatican City. For a non religious person, this place was both fascinating and amazing. The museum was full of so many great works of art and antiques, you walked around with your mouth slightly open for the entire time. It is well set up and the visit culminates in the Sistine chapel with Michaelangelo's amazing work of art. My favorite parts were the Egyptian section with a few mummies, and the map room, which had one of the most intricate ceilings I have ever seen.
Then of course it was on to St Peters Basilica, where the Pope gives his services. The Plaza out side the basilica itself is amazing, huge and surrounded in great pillars. The Pope (I can never remember who the new guy is) gave a service that morning, so we decide to go late to miss the crowds. The actual basilica has to be the most amazing church I have ever seen, the space is huge, and the feeling you get standing inside.......... Really the best of the best. We walked around it for a long time, before we realized we were running late and had to go.
We were quite excited actually, Salvatore and Elvira, an older Italian couple we had met several times while in Turkey had invited us around to their house for tea. We drove over bearing a bottle of wine and were welcomed into their home whole heartedly. Elvira had made us lasagna for dinner (YUM!!) and with some wine and a nice starter of rock melon wrapped in prosciutto, it was a great meal. They had two American girls staying there as well, on a study type holiday. It was a nice night, and was good to be able to have a nice home cooked meal.
It was sad to leave Rome, defiantly one of my favorite cities.
Miles so Far: 14219
