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Italy - Seconda Parte
“Blessed are the curious for they shall have adventures.”— Lovelle Drachman
Day 12 —July 14th, Rome
“All Roads Lead to Rome.” With an early start, we load the coach and make our way to Rome. After an early check-in at Hotel Museum, we have just enough time to grab a quick lunch and meet for our visit to the Musei Vaticani (Vatican Museum) and the Cappella Sistina (Sistine Chapel).
“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”
—Lewis Carroll
This museum is enormous! There are 24 galleries displaying 20,000 pieces of work from the roughly 70,000 that the Vatican owns. Exploring the many galleries we see great works of art including the Belvedere Torso and Raphael’s The School of Athens. The highlight of our visit is Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. When visiting the chapel it is requested that no photos be taken and that you do not sit on the ground. One tip is to bring a hand mirror with you.
“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.”
- Miriam Beard
“A great way to learn about your country is to leave it.”
—Henry Rollins
By holding it flat and facing up you do not
have to crane your neck to admire
Michelangelo’s masterpiece.
After some free time to explore the museum, we meet outside the hotel for a group dinner. Once another delicious meal is finished, we take a nice passeggiata through Rome. Visiting fountains, squares, and famous sites. We make a stop to throw a coin into the Trevi Fountain (to ensure we will visit
Rome again). Approximately 1 million
dollars a year is tossed into the fountain and this money is donated to charity. We also visited the Scalinata di Trinità dei Monti (Spanish Steps) and finished at
Piazza della Rotonda with Santa Maria Rotonda (The Pantheon). We will visit the interior of Santa Maria tomorrow.
Day 13—July 15th, Rome
Today has a full day of sightseeing planned. With the beautiful morning light our group makes an early start. We make our first visit, the Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano (St. Peters Basilica).
“Our happiest moments as tourists always seem to come when we stumble upon one thing while in pursuit of something else.”
—Lawrence Block
St Peters Basilica is glorious. With a nave that’s 295 feet long and 145 feet high it can make you feel like a pebble in an ocean. Even with how enormous the basilica is, there are areas of quiet intimate moments.
“I travel because it makes me realize how much I haven’t seen, how much I’m not going to see, and how much I still need to see.”
—Carew Papritz
With Andy’s guidance we use public transportation to make our way over to the Colosseo (Roman Colosseum) and meet our local guide. We make our way into the interior
of the Colosseum. I notice how much has changed from the last time I was here. Our tour allowed us to access the platform on the arena floor. We are able to see
the Colosseum from the view of a gladiator
or a poor victim of the “sports” played out
here. In the museum we are able
to see artifacts that have been
discovered—including dice.
Amazing….Dice!
With a stop to refill our water bottles at a nasonis (public drinking fountain) we make our way over to the Foro Romano (Roman Forum) were we see remnants of ancient Roman life. Our final stop is Santa Maria Rotonda (The Pantheon) and its magnificent dome.
After time to explore on our own to quietly say a little payer, or take time to meditate, we meet in the courtyard for our next adventure.
Using the information and tips given to us earlier that day a group of us make our way back to our hotel via public transportation. After a long hot day it
was nice to get some food and have a hotel
picnic in my well air conditioned
room.
Day 14—July 16th, Orvieto to Cinque Terre
We wind our way through Umbria, Tuscany, and Liguria to our next adventure—Cinque Terre. Along the way we stop at the Umbrian hill town of Orvieto to stretch our legs and have some lunch.
“I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.”
—Mary Anne Radmacher
A funicular brings us up the hill and drops us off at Piazza Cahen in the city center. We are greeted by
“At the end of the day, your feet should be dirty, your hair messy and your eyes sparkling.”
—Shant
the impressive 14th century Duomo di Orvieto; Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta and its amazing facade with twisting, inlaid columns. With another great
lunch of “this is not Kraft Macaroni & Cheese” pasta, some exploring,
and a little shopping, we are on the road again.
We make it to Levanto where we are going to be hopping the train to Monterosso al Mare. As we wait for the train I look
around hearing the laughter and excitement and notice we look more like a group of friends traveling together than a tour.
After we get situated at Hotel Punta Mesco and drop off laundry we are off to our group dinner. Our restaurant for tonight is Ristorante Belvedere.
We are having Anfora Belvedere (seafood stew) which is lobster, mussels, whole octopus, clams,
With gelato in hand, a group of us head back to change for a late-night dip in the Italian Riviera
under the starry sky.
scallops, squid, and shrimp cooked in tall clay pots. The pots are poured out at tableside and served family style.
Day 15—July 17th, Cinque Terre
Today is our vacation from our vacation and Vernazza will be that for me. I wake up early and catch the train, arriving before the shops open and crowds arrive.
“There’s something about arriving in new cities, wandering empty streets with no destination. I will never lose the love for the arriving, but I’m born to leave.”
—Charlotte Erikkson
Photo courtesy of tourmate Leslee.
As I sit on the harbor wall I reflect on all the amazing, cities, sites, artwork, food, and adventures we have had in the last two weeks. I say a little thank you for the kind, fun, and encouraging tour mates I am blessed with. With the quiet of the morning, I recharge my body and soul for adventures to come.
After some time, I see the town slowly come to life. I watch as men, women, and children jump from the sea wall into the sea, the umbrellas unfurl
“Travel like Gandhi, with simple clothes, open eyes, and an uncluttered mind.”
—Rick Steves
on Piazza Guglielmo Marconi and the shop doors slowly open. I walk up to the top of the town to meet tour-mate Leslee and we explore the shops on Via Roma, Vernazza’s main street. With co-workers gifts purchased I hop the train back to Monterosso.
Once back in Monterosso I meet with some of the group for dinner, laughter and storytelling at a local restaurant. It was a good vacation from my vacation,
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Day 12 All roads lead to Rome. We have made it to Rome. We first went to the Vatican museum and the Sistine chapel. It was amazing but unfortunately we couldn’t take pictures inside it. But we took some others. After the Sistine Chapel we did a walkabout. We came across this big fountain and there were lots of people around it. They seem to be chucking money into it for some reason. They weren’t even looking where they were throwing it. I don’t understand humans sometimes!
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Day 13 Today was a very busy day. We started out early and went to see Saint Peter‘s Basilica. I don’t know how to describe how HUGE this place is. It was magnificent. We then went on to ancient Rome and saw the Colosseum. They used to have gladiator fights here. They even used to hunt animals here. The histories have never mentioned that they hunted fuzzy stuffed monkeys so I think I’m safe. We then went on to the Roman Forum and ended at the Pantheon. I was one tuckered out fuzzy stuffed monkey.
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Day 14 We left Rome today heading for the Cinque Terre. Along the way we stopped at a hill town called Orvieto. Mom got this really pretty ceramic ornament. It was really nice to walk around this quaint little town. We made it to the Cinque Terre in time to drop off laundry and head off for some dinner and gelato. Mom still doesn’t get that fuzzy stuff monkeys also want gelato!
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Day 15 Today was a free day in the Cinque Terre. Mom took a train to Vernazza—it was real quick. She’s always wanted to see Vernazza and she was very happy. We wandered around and explored all kinds of alleys. We watched people jump off into the water. I wanted to try it but mom said we forgot my bathing suit.
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