I have only one full day and night to explore my personal interests in central Rome, and having arrived much later than scheduled, it was obvious I only had the time and energy to get to the hotel. I was certainly grateful to Jeff and Donna, who in same delay predicamant as I was in from Vancouver, had the forsight to book a private transfer to their Rome hotel, and allowed me to join them. This saved me the midnight adventure of navigating the metro from the airport and extra travel time. Sadly the luggage for Jeff and Donna never arrived and they learned it was still sitting in Vancouver, so their own month long trip of Italy was already being adjusted, and they took it all in stride...way to go and hope to compare journeys in June over a long coffee in Vancouver with new friends?
It's always hard to sleep when I have a early scheduled appointment and I wake up well before the set wake up alarm...it's kinda weird and of course the 9 hour time change thru me for a loop.
The Cavalieri hotel staff was very friendly and their provided breakfast was perfect before my shuttle arrived to take me to the Vatican to attend my Sistene Chapel and St Peters Basilica group tour.
I am not sure I would book a group tour and guide again but for the first time visit its a safe bet and the extra cost for the so called 'Skip the Line' tickets was well worth it as you can't imagine the que length to get inside these popular historic museums/monuments! Our group of over 30 wizzed by a line that was easily 2 hrs long...I am sure those in the line wished each time others flew by them they had done the same? Its kinda the same feeling you get with the lines at the border crossing when you see those Nexus pass holders driving while your parked!
How can only 3-1/2 hours for the Sistene chapel and Basilica do justice to the incredible history and the architecture that you are seeing for the fist time...it can be rather mind blowing to see and the more you learn and read the more stunned you are?
Our guide shared with me that the Sistine Chapel visits are second by poularity in the world, and next to another amazing museum, located in Paris...of course the first most popular museum is the Louvre!
I was particularly surprised and maybe disappointed when the exhaustive and incredible Sistine art tour finally took us to the famous domed chapel and of course I was expecting a huge area and near life size murals on the walls and celiling courtesy of Michelangelo...isnt that what we have been taught to expect after all?
Well the rectangular room is not so large, and of course the throngs of people are constantly being led inside, while others that have stood in place for 20 mins or so exit and all the while the museum police are repeatedly shouting to be quiet and take no photo's! Meanwhile people are still discretely taking pics and myself the included, cause this memory and moment I wanna keep and without any flash and in lieu of admission, I cant sense any harm caused? The excuisite paintings are smaller than expected as you look up from the flooor, however they are of incredible detail and color and we are prepped in advance of the stories depicted, as otherwise they might look a bit strange and difficult to interpret, to a layman like me?
I was not disappoited while inside and out of St Peters Basilica...the building architecture everywhere you looked and the huge bronze alter was so amazing and the oppulence oozes from every wall and crevice and the wealth represented is quite surreal?
Even outside and in the courtyard the staff had already prepared with thousands of plastic shairs, for the weekly Wednesday event and driving circle tour to the public in attenadance, by the Pope himself..its free and must be quite a speactacle for some? This vast Basilica courtyard being now empty except for chairs and tourists, takes you with your mind to how it must feel to be present outside with the tens of thousands during a papal event?
My long walk back was extra long when my directionally challenged compass had me going the opposite direction for a good while...however I had 3 hours to reach the next tour meeting place and enjoyed the weather and the various neighborhoods and cultures on a weekday in central Rome. The street mimes seem to get more and more creative, as they can sit for hours upon hours never moving
It was not a surprise to see the constant flow of traffic in suburban areas even in mid afternoon. The parking challenges are ridicuculous and there are thousands of compact cars and scooters...this is truly the town to own a Smart Car dealership!
I just had to admire the many creative parking solutions and periodically saw Smart Cars backed to the curb between two parallel parked cars...strange but true!
So with a sunburnt face and only 10 minutes to spare I arrived to the meeting point at the Colosseo station to begin our walking tour of the prominant Colleseum and the Patomine areas with the many views, gardens, and ruins of the very oppoulent emperors palace.
Having always being moved watching Gladiator I had a pre-conceived perspective of the Colosseum and considering it was built for sport and entertainment for over 60K people...this place was waaay ahead of it's time, and for many tragically so. Our guide was an older ethnic Italian and believed the many thousands of helpless people killed live by trained and armed gladiators for sport were state criminals that were sentenced to death for crimes against Rome, and that involved capital punishment, so these people were gonna die anyhow he said...Hmmm?
Most all sporting and large event stadiums today are all designed after the ancient Roman Colosseum so it has certainly stood the test of engineering time...they even had a covered roof, however it took over 200 men with ropes to raise and lower it each time! It was quite the experience walking up the stairs and under the huge archways and pillars still intact from almost 2 thousand years ago!
Lastly my walking afternoon tour ended with the expansive Palatino hill and the many buildings of ancient significance to suport the very wealthy and high ranking including the Roman emperor...the opulence and expansive architecture to showcase his wealth and lust for prestige and power cannot be matched by anything that exisits in our century. I found it all awe inspiring and his own massive sports arena, which was as seen in the classic movie, Ben Hur, just for their sports entertinment and chariot races. Even in ruins these palaces and the many key ancient Roman landmarks of ruins leave an indelible impression and it surely was worh the investment in time and energy!
My long day and night was only a tiny glimpse of just several of likley a hundred various areas in and around Rome that are steeped in overwhelming ancient history and the city continues to excavate and carefully discover and restore these monuments, while silently preserving a lingering message to our modern humanity.
Hungry as can be, my classic home made pasta dinner hit the spot, while enjoying the late warm evening at one of many cafes with sidewalk seating in bustling central Rome. Now it was time to find my nearby hotel and get lost again along the way!
Even in the very narrow back lane cobbled streets I never felt any sense of impaired personal safety or risk in central Rome and my backpak with red and white Canada tags certainly declared my status...but then I was only one of thousands.
Now finally back in my cozy quiet room, it was only a few moments after gearing down from over 12 hours walking the most amazing historical and papal tours and sites...to sleep very easily and well from day 3.
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