Exploring Ancient and Modern Rome

After our lovely day touring the Amalfi coast, we boarded a high-speed train for our next stop--Rome. We had reserved seats in a first- class train car, as we watched the Italian hills and valleys roll past at high speed. These trains zip down the tracks at 180 miles per hour, making fast work of the trip across Italy. Each train has first- and second-class cars, and they all get to their destination at the same time. But we found out that the seats in first class are more comfortable, less crowded, and we each got a snack pack and a bottle of water. Nice!

Once we arrived at the very modern Rome train station, we transferred to the Rome metro system. We realized how far below ground we were when we got on one of the longest escalators we have ever experienced. We were exploring modern Rome! As we traveled through these busy stations, Denisa was continually counting to be sure we hadn't left anyone or anything behind. She kept counting 8 people, 8 carry-on bags, and then 8 back-packs.

We stayed in Rome for three nights at an airbnb not far from the Vatican. Our first morning in Rome included a personalized tour of the city, so we planned which metro stations we would use to get to the start of our tour. We were prepared to navigate the Rome metro system. But we found out the next morning that the metro workers were on strike, and we had to start scrambling. This was strike two for the workers in Europe putting an unexpected change into our plans. It was supposed to be a 25-minute metro ride, and suddenly we were studying bus routes. We found a bus stop, jumped on a bus going the right direction, and tried to figure out the connections for the next bus. Welcome to modern Rome! Someone thought it was funny that the only available option was a handicapped seat, so the gray-haired person in our group had a seat. They took Denisa's picture to document it. While the bus was a slower trip, we finally made it to our destination. 

Our tour of ancient Rome was aboard two tuk-tuks.

We were blessed that we had great weather for this open-air ride.

Our vehicles were more narrow than the average car, so our drivers zipped in and out of traffic to give us great views of the best sites of ancient Rome.

We tuk-tuked right past the Roman Coliseum.

The marble was robbed from the outside of the coliseum for a later building project. But the remaining white stone walls were still lovely against the blue skies.

We stopped in at the Circus Maximus, where the remains of the oval race track were backed by the remains of the homes of ancient Rome's rich and famous.

Rome has 2,500 water fountains, providing clean drinking water to locals and visitors. Our guides gave us a lesson on the proper way to drink from these fountains. Instead of drinking from the long downward-facing spout, a finger should be used to plug that hole. That forces the water into a opening on the top of the spout, at a better drinking height.

Other fountains were more ornamental. But it would feel a little weird to drink the water being spit out of the mouth of an angry-looking old man.

We stopped for a walk through the bitter orange groves. We have left the lemon orchards, only to find that the oranges of Rome are not good to eat.

We took a group picture with several of Rome's most famous domes in the background. Rome has a rule that no building in the central area can be taller than St. Peter's Basilica. So the basilica's dome can always be spotted when looking across this section of ancient Rome.

We stopped in to see the Basilica di Santa Sabina, where the Pope leads the Ash Wednesday service each year. It's the oldest church in Rome, built in 422 AD.

Our tuk-tuks zipped by the Victor Emanuel II Monument and the tomb of the unknown soldier. Even though young people that have only typed on a computer key board won't understand, the Roman citizens think this is an ugly building and have nicknamed it "the typewriter."

We zipped by several of the obelisks that help locals find their way through these narrow lanes. These tall spires can be seen above the buildings to aid in navigating.

One stop that every Roman tourist must make is at the Trevi Fountain. For this photo we managed to crop out the hundreds of people that were also trying to crop us out.

It takes a little patience, but we finally wormed our way to the front row to prove that we were actually at the Trevi Fountain. Legend has it that tossing a coin over your left shoulder into the fountain will insure a return trip to Rome. But based on the heat and the crowds, we don't know that we need another trip to Rome. We have so many other places to see for the first time.

Our driver told us that the best option for a bathroom break was to buy a pastry at the local bakery and then it was permissible to use their facilities. It doesn't take much persuasion to get us to eat a pastry, and this was a good cause. While we waited on the rest of our group, we had to take a picture of the sidewalk cafe that had individual lacy umbrellas shading each table.

Our tuk-tuk ride through the crowded streets of Rome was exciting. We saw our rear view mirrors almost touch more than one vehicle this day.

Mark and Denisa were in Rome over twenty years ago. On that trip we spent a long and tiring day walking to all the must-see places in this big city. 

It almost felt like we were cheating by being whisked around so quickly on our private tour this time. Our vehicles were nimble, and our guide pointed out famous sights . . . 

and streets.

People brave enough to drive a car in this traffic must also be brave enough to park creatively. All the cars on that street were half-way on the sidewalk.

We paused in front of the Castel Sant'Angelo. This round building was once a fort in ancient Rome, but is now a museum in modern Rome.

Then our drivers headed toward Vatican City. We knew we were getting close when we got our first close look of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica.

We had a tasty lunch at the Vatican Cafe across the street. After days of pasta, that Italian burger with pesto and barrato cheese and tomato tasted really good. Dining with this group is complicated by the fact that Cole has a severe fish allergy. So at every restaurant, Alexia has the information printed in the appropriate language asking if they can insure there is no cross-contamination with fish items on the menu. The manager at the Vatican Cafe had the same food allergy, and he assured Cole, "I will not kill you today!" That is certainly reassuring, and we could tell they meant it when they cleaned his tableware with alcohol!

After lunch we walked across the street to the entrance of Vatican City. The lines to get in are usually several hours long during the summer. So we were glad that we could skip this long line because our tickets had been purchased through a private guide.

No loud talking is allowed in the Vatican, so we each had ear pieces and amplifiers to hear the whispers of our guide.

We followed her through the Vatican Museum. She pointed out just a few of the 110,000 statues that are owned by the Vatican. This is "Laocoon and his sons," believed to be carved in 40 BC.

Many of these priceless pieces of work are thousands of years old.

We sauntered through room after room of amazing art until we were on statue overload.

We weren't alone on this tour, as we were almost shoulder-to-shoulder with other tour groups in some rooms.

While this looks like a statue, it's actually a flat painting with incredible shading to make it look 3-D.

We looked up and saw a whole ceiling full of painted masterpieces that continued down the long corridor of the museum. While this is a beautiful ceiling, it's not the Sistine Chapel that everyone comes to see.

This was another famous painting, "The School of Athens," and we paused to hear a description of the real people that were painted into this canvas. Painted by Raphael, he put his artist friends in the crowd. Our guide pointed out Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael himself in this painting that covers an entire wall.

While Raphael was painting school pictures, Michelangelo was lying on his back working on his masterpiece on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. After more than an hour of making our way through the museum, it was finally our turn to step inside this hallowed ground. No talking is allowed, and no pictures. So Denisa was certainly surprised to find this sneaky blurry picture on Mark's phone the next day.

By the time we emerged into the sunlight, our minds couldn't even comprehend what all we had seen today. While we would have normally been wow-ed by the beauty of the outside of St. Peter's Basilica, we were just looking for a place to sit down and rest our legs.

Most of the steps were corded off, and the plaza was covered with lines of chairs. But we found an open step just outside the cathedral and gave our tired legs a much-needed rest. 

We weren't there long before a man with a suit and a badge told us we couldn't sit down. So we were back on our feet and stepped inside the Basilica.

Its gold domes and immense size were amazing--even to eight people that had been amazed by the best of Ancient Roman art and architecture all day.

We think that the Vatican and the Basilica are crowded every day of the summer. But we managed to be here on an especially busy day. Tomorrow is St. Peter's Day, and no tours will be allowed. So they had to jam two days of tourists into one day. Chairs were set up inside and outside for the special services that will be held tomorrow for the festival.

The statue of St. Peter is all dressed up in special finery for St. Peter's Day.

The Vatican is a special place to buy a cross for our souvenir collection. But our legs weren't interested in standing in the very long lines at the gift shop. So we took the necessary picture in front of the plaza (covered by chairs) instead.

On our way out, we got to see the Swiss guards, guarding the gates to Vatican City.

We headed back to our apartment to rest our weary minds and bodies. Then we all were ready to experience a little of modern Rome. It was a 15-minute walk to Aura Shopping Mall. The two-story indoor mall had a metal slipper slide that wound its way down from the second floor.

You can be sure that our group had to try out that modern slipper slide.

We shopped in the modern stores filled with the latest Italian fashions. In the very modern grocery store in the basement of the mall, we bought food to make dinner. We had a very full day, exploring both ancient and modern Rome!