Mediterranean Day Eight

Day 8 – The Rome Death March

All roads lead to Rome. And in Italy they truly do. We saw the entire city of Rome in one day today. And man my feet can attest to the enforced march we did today. First of all we met at Animator’s Palate at 7:15 AM – that is early by any standards and after the day we had yesterday and the late dinner it was torture. We went off the ship and got onto a bus for the 1.5 hour ride from Civitavecchia to the Eternal City. We got off the bus and had to go up like a bazillion steps. We made it to the top but by the time we arrived the tour had moved on and so we spent, it seemed, almost the entire day trying to catch them.

We went into the Vatican Museum where the art is absolutely breathtaking. Michelangelo, Bernini, Botticelli, Rafael and all the great masters of Italy. We went through various galleries where the guide pointed out that the art was not 3D as it appeared but was trompe loeile (sp? Means fooling the eye) and it was totally amazing.

Then we went into the Sistine Chapel which they have restored since the first time I saw it and I couldn’t believe how warm and vibrant the colors were. When I was there last time the colors was dark and muted. I can’t believe that Michelangelo lay on his back for 4 years to paint the chapel. They said that he painted it in four years. Then he took 5 years to paint the judgment on the back wall. They also said that it took 30 restoration artists 5 years to repair the damage from candles and smoke, etc. But it is truly amazing. I was in awe.

The Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel were so crowded that you had to go outside to change your mind. Ha ha but the entire day was just a mass of humanity. And there were some people that were really rude – one lady almost knocked me over trying to get in front of me. Then after that we went out in the Vatican Square and it felt so historic and special – I have seen that square a million times on TV. So we saw the Swiss Guard who guard the pope although according to the shutters on the windows the pope was not there.

Vatican City is its own country and it has its own post office, train, radio station – they have a radio tower for that which extends hundreds of feet into the air so Radio Vaticano can be heard all over the world. There were a lot of nuns and priests around and I have no idea why that surprised me. Then we went into Saint Peter’s Basilica mostly to look at the chapel and the Pieta which was as magnificent as I remembered. Since that idiot tried to ruin it in the 1970s they have encased it in plexiglass and now you can’t touch it.

Then we went to St. Peter’s Square and got some amazing photos. We went to lunch at a hotel on the Via Veneto which is the very popular street in Rome. Then the death march began. We walked from the hotel first to the Spanish Steps. Not the Spanish Steps which we saw in Paris but the Roman Spanish Steps. We got some water from the fountain there which they swore was potable. If Tom and I die tonight – remember that. LOL

So we walked by some amazing Rome fashion shops which amazingly was gorgeous. I would have loved to shop in some of them. But the death march didn’t allow us to pause. We got to shop a little at the Vatican and we mailed a postcard to The Larsens but other than that didn’t buy anything. So then it was off to the Trevi Fountain. We walked by some amazing fashion on our way. I liked the Italian fashions much more than the French fashions last year. Of course maybe it’s just a season thing but for you fashion conscious folks the colors for summer are black and white and some of those dresses were so uber cute. Too bad my new sandals have purple, white, pink, gold, orange, purple and green flowers on them. I missed the memo about seasonal colors.

After the Trevi Fountain we went to the Colosseum and we went up in the elevator to the top because the steps were very steep and irregular and they would have taken me forever to climb. But by the time we got to the Trevi Fountain I began to shove my way down to the fountain and then Tom and I threw some coins in while they took our picture. I am going to return to Rome again – according to the legend – but Tom is going to fall in love with an Italian man or woman and marry them. Third time you throw a coin in means divorce so thankfully neither of us did that. Although I guess I’m going to have to figure out how to be Italian.

We found out that there are several things wrong with modern renditions of the Roman era – first, men and women did not sit together in the Colosseum. Second, they did not do the thumbs up, thumbs down determination if a gladiator was going to live or die they did a closed fist or an open hand and third, while they did have ship battles in the Colosseum they did not have them for a very long period of time. He did say that during the heyday of the Roman empire they killed 3 million people and 1.5 million exotic animals which considering how many people were in the Roman Empire at the time was a LOT of people.

We also had gelato at the Trevi Fountain I forgot that part. And I tried on my new sandals only 3-4 times today. Tomorrow we have a sea day so we don’t have to do anything until 5 PM. We have a brunch at 10:30 AM because we don’t have enough to eat and I have a pedicure at 12:15 PM. Man do my feet need that. Well it was an exhausting day and my feet really hurt so I’m going to bed.

Tomorrow is a sea day and then on to Florence. Right now we’re just kind of coasting around the area wasting time for the sea day. I’m really excited about the sea day. I can get up when I want. Ahhhh. :) After that we came back to the ship and went to Palo for dinner which was way yummy and a very nice couple – Phil and Debbie – came with us. They are from Boulder. Today’s towel of the day was a jellyfish. It took Tom and I a long time to figure it out. We thought at first it was a skate and then a tree and then an arrow – you’ll see when you see the pictures -- but we finally figured it out. Sorry this is so long but it was a really looooong day.