Thursday, January 3, 2019

Roaming in Rome!

Forgot to mention that I tried the speciality of Naples – fried pizza. It was very tasty!

On the train to the Termini in Naples a guy walked passed and I noticed he had a gun tucked into his waistband. Perhaps he was to do with the police I  thought.  I then saw him bring the gun up push in the clip and  then I started to pray! I saw the hat in his hand and it had ‘Vigilante’ on it. I was very glad when we pulled into the station and we got out unscathed!
Managed to find way to apartment but were  ripped off by the taxi driver. We have a great view of the Vatican  and it looks good lit up at night. The apartment is large and on 5th floor  - luckily there’s a lift!
As we have an early start in the Vatican we set out to find the easiest route to the meeting point – got lost a couple of times so it was a good thing we checked it out.
Today, 2/1, we headed to the Australian Embassy. My name was on the list  so I was allowed in! There were a couple of other people waiting and they had all been robbed of everything! Forms were filled in and then I was sent to get my photo taken – had to go to Miss Click (we did laugh). $193 later and I can pick it up tomorrow – it lasts for 7 months!! So that’s a job to be done when I get back.
Went to the Colosseum. So many people! I went inside many years ago and Valda did not want to join the queue so we go the Hop on/off bus and enjoyed the sights before reaching the Trevi Fountain. I think Valda thought it would just be a little non descript fountain and it was good to see the amazement on her face when she first saw it!


3/1 Today was an early start as we had to get to the Vatican by 7:15 for our early morning tour before all the tourists arrived ! It was bitterly cold as we stood for 30 minutes before entering but once in it was definitely worth the early start! There was hardly anyone around and to have time in the  Sistine Chapel to view all the art without feeling like a crushed sardine was great. We then went to St Peter’s Basilica. The artwork and tapestries were amazing and you got a crick in you neck from looking up! We saw the changing of the Swiss guard in all their finery. We took the lift to view the scene from the top of the Basilica – wow it was high up!!



By the time the tour ended we were ready for a cuppa and were able to sit down for a while. Next we headed back to the Australian Embassy to collect my emergency passport. That was already when I arrived and the staff were very pleasant although we both hoped we wouldn’t see each other again!!

A taxi ride and then the Metro once again saw us back at the Spanish Steps where we hastily entered a restaurant to get out of the cold! A good bowl of gnocchi and glass of red  soon warmed us up! We slowly ate our meal so that we could stay in the warm as long as possible but eventually we had to leave! You do notice in restaurants that they don’t believe in you having personal space! Eventually the call of a warm apartment was too strong and we headed back.
Tomorrow we are off to Florence to catch up with my sister and b-i-l.



No comments:

Post a Comment