Day 8 Caracalla Baths in Rome

I awoke nearly 11 hours after I fell asleep!  As LC had returned to Canada and  I had not replied to any of her texts she was worried about her little sister all by herself in Rome!  It was just that I was finally catching up on some overdue sleep!

For my final day in Rome, I planned to visit Eataly to get lunch, dinner and breakfast food before heading to the Caracalla Baths. 

I chose to walk to the Caracalla Baths - had I not got lost, the walk would have taken 20 minutes, but it took about 30 minutes for me!   But it was a glorious, sunny day so I didn’t mind the additional exploration. 

The Baths of Caracalla were the second largest Baths in Rome and built in 212-217 A. D.  I was shocked that they weren’t the largest Baths, because they were huge!  They were used for about 300 years before they were no longer used. 

I SO wish I could have rented a set of 3D goggles that showed you what the baths were like in ancient times!  Unfortunately, they had a large number of school groups that had rented them all out!  I can imagine what they were like!  The Romans really valued water and its availability for all - even the poor. 

My walk home was direct and most enjoyable without a coat!  The temperature hit 18 C today. 

I enjoyed a meal of pasta and salad, cooked in the apartment. Had to pack up all my belongings, including nesting my old suitcase inside a new one I bought here in Rome. 

I am feeling very organized for my flight home tomorrow!

It has been a wonderful vacation!!

Day 7 Vatican City

So today I visited Vatican City the smallest country in the world. (And in fact I visited yesterday, April 8th, but I was too exhausted to write last night - so am making up for it by writing the following morning).

I had purchased a guided tour through Viator- and they used the local company “Tours About”.  LC left Rome today (sniff) so as soon as she hopped in her shuttle to the airport, I made my way to Pyramide station to catch the metro to Termini station, where I transferred to another train and made my way to Ottavio/Vatican Square. While at the apartment and with wifi, I had pulled up google maps to to walk from the station to the meeting point for the tour - and taken pictures on my phone, so I knew exactly where to walk. 

The meeting place for English tours had comfortable furniture to sit on and clean bathrooms (with toilet seats!) to use. I arrived about 15 minutes before the guide gathered us together to begin our journey. Our guide was Maria - a good catholic name - and she was excellent. 

Today involved a LOT of walking - visiting the Vatican is not for the aged or infirm. We stood in line for “Skip the line” tickets and our 11 am reservation, from 10:40 until 11:30 am when we finally got outfitted with our audio headsets inside. 

Our group of about 25, toured the Vatican museums first. 

We then visited the Sistine Chapel - where Michelangelo painted the ceiling around age 30. It took him 4 years (1508-1512) of backbreaking work to do that. He never thought of himself as a painter - he felt he was more of a sculptor (and he was an architect too).   He was then invited to paint The Last Judgment at the front of the Sistine Chapel at age 60.

 No photos are allowed in this building, and voices are to be kept low so our guide did no talking in advance, but she had described much of what we would see in detail before entering the chapel.   The reverie of our 15 minutes was interrupted by 1. The masses of people inside and 2. The harsh directives saying, “SILENCE!” - but the chapel was stunning, if not prayerful to visit the Sistine Chapel!

Rick Steve’s has an audio tour I was trying to play on my headphone while inside the Sistine Chapel but I didn’t have the right adaptor for my phone to listen!

We then were led to visit St Peter’s Basilica - the largest basilica in the world!  And if memory serves me correct, it took about 200 years to build!  One of the children asked who was the priest of this church who didn’t quite understand the question - but then realized the answer was - the Pope is the priest of this church!”  Currently, we have Pope Francis, who declined the lavish Apostolic residence in which to live - instead he has chosen a humble 2 room apartment. 

Above is a picture near the entrance of St Peter’s Basilica - the largest in the world, measuring about 187 metres in length. 

This altar is 30 metres high - about 10 stories. 


The letter above the altar below the dome are each 3 metres high. 

Once the tour had ended, I chose to enjoy different aspects of the Basilica in my own for another hour. It was an emotional space to visit. 

After leaving Vatican City later in the afternoon, I grabbed a sandwich to sustain me and headed off to the Castel Sant’Angelo - a building that has been a tomb, a castle, a fortress and now a museum!

I then made my way by bus to a restaurant to meet cousin Hazel. She is so pleased to have family come from abroad to see the city she has called home since 1959. And it is a delight to have her guide us on what to see and join us for dinner most evenings!

Hazel kindly delivered me by taxi safely back to the apartment before returning to her home on the opposite end of the city!!

I was so exhausted from all my walking and touring that I made a quick call to my husband then collapsed into a deep sleep!

Day 6 Getting lost In Rome

Today is Sunday so LC and I had a plan to go to church today - a Protestant church with a 10:30 service. By about 11:40 am we had to admit defeat and accept that we wouldn’t find said church!  But I am getting ahead of myself. 

Today - we were determined to try to get around Rome by metro. I bought a 72 hour metro pass for 18€ - and most taxis we take anywhere cost more than 10€ - so we thought we could save some money. 

The Pyramide station is near our apartment and required that we take a metro to Termini station. I didn’t appreciate how little I knew anything about travel by train in that everything is in Italian, no posted maps were to be found, we didn’t know this train station which is right next to Ostiense station for the regional trains AND I forgot my phone so I couldn’t even use my offline map service for the city of Rome.  Add in the fact that the Rome marathon was happening and two stations were closed - the Spanish Steps (our destination) being one of them - and we really couldnt get to the church on time. But laugh we did - and never was a temper tantrum thrown - ( well except when LC couldn’t find an acceptable restroom) and we just rolled with the punches. 

I should say the situation of trying to navigate our way around Rome improved immensely once we broke down and bought a map. LC never wanted to look like a tourist so she forbid us from pulling out a map and looking at in public. “Ah - trust me - they know we are tourists!”

The point of the day was to sightsee and we saw the sights!  We did get to the Spanish Steps - in glorious sunshine and blue sky. We actually saw the marathon race several times, cheered on participants and humorously had to find a break between runners to cross the race path - so we actually ran IN the Rome marathon!  We found a clothing store with clothing made in Italy that was so unique and comfortable and affordable (and made of silk and cotton) - we think it was called Stop Here. 

We revisited the Trevi Fountain, even busier on a Sunday, and the Vittoriano Emmanuel Monument. 

This time we climbed the walkway to the Capioliani Museum which had a stunning view atop the Forum. 

We made our way back to the Pantheon and were sitting on a pew enjoying the space when they announced the building was closing at 5:45 pm - so we were glad that we had entered it one more time. 

We made our way to the Trattoria de Famiatti - a restaurant near the Piazza Navona to meet our cousin Hazel once again. We had very thin crust pizza and delightful conversation. Much to our surprise her son, Mario joined us at the end of dinner. He had quite a difficult time finding the restaurant- which made LC and I feel quite a bit better about the number of times we were lost today - if a local Roman could get lost too!

Day 5 Venice to Rome

I am a bit annoyed that today’s submission got lost in cyberspace. So today you get a visual of pictures as we left Venice, returned to Rome and explored Eataly - a four story food market near the apartment where we are staying!

Day 4 Venice

Visiting Europe is not for the weary!  Somehow I managed only to sleep about 3.5 hours last night so the 5 am alarm was very early!  LC and I took a taxi to Termini station from our apartment to catch our 6:50 am train. We arrived at the train station in plenty of time. Once aboard our train, we started to enjoy a bit of the landscape, but that hurriedly was covered up by fog. 

Our 3.5 hour trip to Venice allowed me to catch up on a few missed hours of sleep. When we first arrived in Venice - it was still raining - but the rain quickly dissipated. 

We stood in line to catch a vaporetto- a water taxi - but LC was worried that we would take too long to get over to St Mark’s Square - where we had a noon tour booked to see St Mark’s Basilica. LC thought 10 minutes in line to buy a ticket then 20 minutes for the Vaporetto ride was more time than it would take to walk. It turns out that walking took 45 minutes to navigate the streets of Venice up and over canals to get to St Mark’s Squarr at 12 noon on the dot!!

We were the last two people in our group prepared with an audio device to hear our English guide tell us all the details of the Basilica. No pictures are allowed inside - so here is a view from outside. The Gospel author, Mark, has his bones interred in here. 

We had downsized to one small carry-on piece of luggage on wheels together and we were ready to drop that off at our hotel!  We found Hotel Rosa Salva after a few missed turns and were delighted with our room!

But we had no time to waste, we had to grab a bite to eat and get to an appointed stop to go for our half hour gondola ride. Our gondolier, Augustina took us passed The home where Mozart lived in 1771. 

Mozart’s house in 1771. 

A view on the Grand Canal. 

We couldn’t resist the sunshine and the quintet’s playing in St Mark’s Square - but the 15€ cup of tea put us off being a paying customer!!  But we sure enjoyed the music!!

Italy has beautiful leather goods so shopping was fun. 

After our best meal in Italy (supper at Trattoria Alla Scala where I had goranzola Gnocchi) we were happy to retire to our room. We registered 16,000 steps and 11.8 km of walking. 

Life is good!

Day 3 Colosseum

We were delighted to sleep through till the morning and wake at 7 am!  We must be adjusted to the 8 hours of time change!

Following breakfast in the hotel - we talked with hotel staff about booking various tours. After learning that the Colosseum would have a marathon running around it on Sunday - when we planned to tour it - we changed gears and inquired about a tour for today. Two hours later - Alessandro, an archeologist, met us at our hotel to begin a private tour. 

Having a private guide allowed us to bypass all the lineups at the Colosseum to see this magnificent arena. 

And because it was raining in Rome today, our guide advised us that there were not any crowds!  I still thought there were a lot of tourists - so wouldn’t want to visit it on a crowded day!

We then opted to look at Paladine Hill from below and carried on to tour the Forum. 

Our guide showing us architecturally accurate drawings of structures that were there centuries ago!

LC and I sporting our five euro rain ponchos inside the grounds of the Forum. 

After our tour, we grabbed a bite to eat then returned to the hotel. Today we transferred to a two bedroom apartment in the Ostienca area - considerably more affordable, but not quite as central as our Hotel on Via Nationale. 

Cousin Hazel and her son Mario joined us at our hotel and helped us relocate to our new location. We would have struggled with finding the address and undoing the locks were it not for Mario!  

The others enjoyed a glass of wine before heading out to a nearby cafe for an early supper at 6:30 pm!  That allowed us to return home by 8 pm to get organized in the new apartment. We would be reorganizing our bags to take one shared carryon to Venice tomorrow. 

Our taxi to the train station will arrive at 6 am so we can get to the train station for our 6:50 am departure!!

Day 2 Rome Walking Tour

Day 2 has come to a close and I am fighting to keep my eyes awake at 10 pm!!

After waking up super early and being in line for breakfast at 7 am, we quelled our hunger then went back for a sleep until 9:30 am. That allowed me to have a total of 6.5 hours of sleep in the night. Tack on 14 km of walking and 13,500 steps and it was a full day of exploring the city centre of Rome. 

We had pre-arranged a half day walking tour with Roma Tours. Lorie came and met us at our hotel and took us by private car to Vatican City. The car left us to begin our private walking tour and we were happily surprised to learn the Pope was having an audience. That meant security was preventing us from entering St Peter’s Square!  But I got a picture of Pope Francis!!

Must finish in the morning as I fall asleep while typing this!  

Carrying on filling in the details the following morning now!!  So the day was filled with a full walking tour where we visited Vatican City. I must go back and visit to see the Vatican Museums (and I will try to do that Monday or Tuesday after LC flies home a few days before me). 

We visited the Pantheon - the largest dome in the world for about 2,000 years!  What a magnificent building!  It was built in 25 BC. 

We walked to the Trevi Fountain and ended at the Vicoria Emmanuel II Monument - spectacular!!

This picture is LC and I and our guide Lorieand the Vicorie Emmanuel monument in the background. 

By the end of the walking tour we had plenty of hunger and thirst, so we grabbed a plate of pasta at a nearby cafe. 

Our cousin Hazel lives in Rome - so she took a taxi to our hotel to join us. We had tea, then called a cab to drive us to more sites, including the view from Garibaldi’s Monument. 

We then went for dinner at a Sicilian restaurant that evening. Italians eat late - our reservation was for 7:30 pm and we were the first ones in the restaurant. We returned to the hotel from dinner about 10 pm and fell promptly asleep!!

Day 1, Rome Italy

My sister LC and I have begun an adventure in Europe!  LC has travelled to Rome several times so she is the head navigator!  The last time I set foot in Europe was about 3 decades ago and that was to travel by train from England to Norway. 

So today LC and I travelled through the night to arrive in Rome. Jet lag is hitting at its peak so will share a few photos of the Trevi Fountain and chat more tomorrow!  Yay - we are in the Eternal City!

Addendum to the day - so we went to bed at 10:30 pm local time; I slept until 3 am and LC until 4 am. We both tossed and turned for till about 5 am when we gave up and started to chat. 

So we are staying in Hotel Artemide on Via (Street) National which is lovely and central. So very glad I followed advice from Rick Steves Italy book and downloaded “City Maps 2 Go” app on my phone. It allows a person to download a city map for free, in this case, Rome and use it offline without data!  So when we tried to find the Trevi Fountain - we could see where we were on the map and which tiny little alley we needed to follow, all without needing wifi or paying for data on my phone!

While our hotel is central and lovely- it is tiny!  We both walked passed it not even noticing it when returning home after dark - so we used the app again and saw we had to backtrack two blocks!

The Trevi Fountain was much bigger than I imagined and surrounded by tourists similar to us. Many shops in the area sell beautiful Italian leather purses and shoes!