The Catch Up

Ok so we have had a bit of a break since we did the last update, it turns out that we can’t access the internet from our accommodation in Rome, but that it because we are in a beautiful room hidden away from anyone else.

So we have a bit of action to update on, since we last wrote we have had another day looking around Paris. We started the day off by going to the train station and using what they call “left luggage” This turned out to be sensational. For $10 you can use secure lockers to store your stuff up to 72 hours.

So we took use of this and headed to the train station to book our ticket on the overnight train to Rome. From the station it was a quick, and I mean quick metro train trip back to St Lazare where we hoped back onto the tour bus that took us straight to Arc de Triomphe’. We both knew how big it was but being underneath it really drove this home. For example the flag that was hanging under the Arc was about 100 times bigger than the American one in teddies bedroom.

From there we headed back to the Eiffel Tower, where we grabbed some more fries and an ice cream and just hang out in the park for a while. This was a great time to relax and people watch. We have become accustomed to the gypsies around all of the main tourist spots, so they really do not bother us anymore.

We made our way to the train station to pick up our bags and head to Rome. We were a little worried about the train trip as we were sharing the train cabin with 4 other people. This trip was 14 hours to Rome so this could turn our very bad if you were placed with the wrong people. We eventually found our seats and it turned out we were with 2 Italians and 2 Scots and a French guy that was trying to stow away? (this is a bit of a story but in the end the Italian took his bag and placed it in the hall a few doors down.)

The Train ride turned out to be very cool. The Scots had some great stories about their current trip (their honeymoon) and also Scotland, of course. The Italians seemed to love that we were talking and trying to get to know them. Phil even got to the point of them writing a menu out for what to order when in Rome. We ended up exchanging address with the Italians and they want us to send them a few pictures.

We arrived in Rome and found our first Rome Scheme. The break the public phone and then rig it so it does not spit the change out. The can be only making about a euro from each phone call, but when there is over 100 phones at the station and thousands of passengers, that makes for a good little businesses. After we worked our way around that drama, we connected up with our contact in Rome. He showed us to our room in a building in the middle of Rome. And WOW.......it is billisimo.

We really weren’t sure where to start with Rome – so many things to see in such a small amount of time. Our first challenge was to try and find some food and as we thought it wasn’t too hard – a little harder than usual as a few places are closed because the Italians are on holidays at the moment, but that’s a good thing for us as it is a bit quieter on the streets.

On a side note – we’ve had a bit of a change in weather (which is helping to dry out the colds we both have) – Italy is in a heat wave at the moment.

Then we were back to the issue of what to do – so we went with what had worked for us in London & Paris – we found a tourist bus and hopped on. These buses have been a great way to get an idea of where everything is and give us the ability to see most things to decide where we want to go back to.

That night we found a restaurant pretty much next door to our hotel and here we were educated about “Italian Time” – they really aren’t in a hurry to do much. The service was really good all the way through but when it came time to get the bill, well – that took longer than the ordering & eating put together. But we weren’t in a rush so it was good because we got to people watch some more.

Yesterday we decided to use the bus to get us to the farthest point – the Vatican. Our plan was to have a good look around there and then make our way back to the hotel stopping at a couple of places on the way. Well.... that didn’t happen. The Vatican was so amazing that we ended up spending the whole day there. We did a guided tour with an American Guide. His information was really good and it was the type of tour we were after. We did not want the long detailed version of every piece and every room. This short tour ended up being 3 hours as it was :)

His American style was sometimes hard to take, but that’s typical I guess. He did make reference to Michelangelo and Phil looking similar several times. (Long Hair, Beard, Crazy.....)We got to see all the very good things to see at The Vatican and since we were on the tour, we got express access.

There was so much to see. There was statues, painted walls, the floors....everywhere you looked there was something amazing. We got to see and hear about Saint Peter, We heard heaps of stories about Michelangelo and Raphael. The guide explained to us the meaning of several of the works of art and also why things were where they were. An interesting story is the markings on the floor, they are like bragging rights. They show how big the Vatican is compared to all the other churches in the word. Needless to say, it is by far the biggest. As the guide pointed out the Statue of Liberty could stand up inside the Basilica and not touch the top. This was all in just in the Basilica, we had not even stepped foot in the Sistine Chapel yet.

Stage 2 was the Chapel and the museum. The guide did a good job explaining how it was created and what things meant. Interesting to know that Michelangelo didn’t want anything to do with the Chapel, but was pretty much made to do it by the Pope at the time. It took him 60 days to paint the first section on the ceiling – he didn’t like the first attempt so the next day he redid it, and again the next day, and again and again until after 60 days he finally got it right. He then realised it would take far too long to put that much detail into the whole ceiling so he made a rule that he would only put 2-6 people in each section and by the end he had worked out so many to save time that the last section was completed in 4 hours.

A funny thing pointed out to us was a bit of Michelangelo’s humor – he was upset with the Pope for making him ”waste” 4 years of his life so he strategically positioned one of the paintings so that Jesus’ backside would be pointing down at him while he was preaching. He also hated the art director (because he thought Michelangelo’s work was no good) so he used his face on one of the depictions of the devil. Lesson from this – don’t make enemies with a painter – people centuries from now might be laughing at you for it.

Also interesting to see the statues that have been beheaded by German soldiers during the war – their way of taking home a souvenir. The Sistine Chapel was truly breathtaking – unfortunately the Japanese who own the rights to the Chapel have put rules in place so you can’t take photos – so those who haven’t seen it will have to add it to their list of things to see – well worth a look.

At this point we finished the tour but the guide recommended that we go through the Tombs for a quick look (the tombs also provide the easiest exit out of the Vatican).The tombs contain all the Popes from the last 800 or so years – the most popular of which was Pope John Paul II – who had a crowd of people around him, most of whom were praying. Very touching to see how loved he was (and still is).

So we were out of the Vatican and it was stinking hot and we didn’t know if we had time to do much else so we decided to head back to the hotel, have a shower & get some grub – in the interest of getting an early-ish night and starting out early this morning. We found a little pub to have a feed on one of the main corners and we ended up people watching for hours. Guess we’d better sign off now – time to sweat a bit more while we walk around in this Roman heat.

Our problem now is how to we fit all the remaining sights into one day??? Tomorrow morning we head to Florence. Hopefully we will be able to get online again then.

Thanks to everyone for your emails and messages – they are really great to read after a long day. And thanks to Mum C for checking up on us :) Sorry that we had you worried.

Anita & Craig – no doubt Puff will be out soon so best of luck to you both – can’t wait to get the phone call.

Love to all

Phil & Nic

PS

Sorry for the massive update, but it has been a while. Also sorry there are no pictures inside this blog, it could not work out how to do it correctly at the internet cafe. I have uploaded some Rome ones to the Picasa site though, so check them out.