Our Trip to Europe

Day 28 – Florence to Rome

Headed to Rome today – another sunny day and we are expecting warm temperatures in Rome. We made a stop in a small Italian hill town named Orvieto. We were supposed to ride a funicular to the top of the hill but it wasn’t working so they bused us up.

Once at the top, we walked up through the main street of town to a huge church. They have a chapel inside with painted ceilings depicting the end times as described in the Bible. We paid to be able to go inside and see them and they were spectacular. As usual, we weren’t allowed to take pictures. We did purchase some postcards though.

After we finished in the church, we did a little shopping and picked up some lunch and a bottle of wine to have on the bus as we continued our journey to Rome. Orvieto is a wine-making city and they have a lot of local wines to choose from. There are vineyards and olive groves everywhere you look. Not many tourists here and no crowds.

We arrived in Rome which is a huge city, walked to our hotel and then up stairs to the fourth floor. Thank goodness there was a freight elevator for our luggage. We are across from the Defense Ministry so there are armed guards and gates. Our room is large and has air conditioning. All of our rooms in Italy have had bidet (not sure about that spelling!!) haven’t tried that out as can’t figure out how to work it!!

We only have about 15 minutes to get settled in our room before we have to meet back down the four + flights of stairs for our ancient Rome walk. We take the subway to the Colosseum and meet up with our guide, Franchesca. The Colosseum is HUGE, very impressive and awful all at the same time. These people would come for a full day of games. In the morning they would watch warriors slaying all kinds of wild animals, during the middle of the day they would watch people being executed and then in the afternoon they would watch gladiators battle to the death. Now that is what I call a day of FUN!! Everything was paid for by the emperor and he provided everyone with free food and wine. All propaganda!!

After the Colosseum, we walked across the way and through the ruins of Rome. Paul was approached by some gypsies who were probably out to try and pick his pocket. Our guide picked up on that real quick and ran them off. Pickpockets are a real problem in most cities in Italy. We saw several arches, the Temple of the Vestal Virgins, the Roman Forum, the place where Julius Caesar was cremated after he was murdered and then on to the Pantheon. The Pantheon has a huge dome with a hole in the top that acts as a sundial. It is now used as a church and the hole is open so that when it rains or snows it comes into the building. It is the best preserved building in Rome and was not raided and destroyed because it was turned into a church so it was left alone.

We walked from the Pantheon to our restaurant and had a group meal. The restaurant was built over the site where Julius Caesar was murdered. The menu is set by the owner each day based on what she feels like cooking and that is what you are served. You don’t have any choices. We had antipasta, fried potato chips, salad, wine and some type of cakey pie type of thing. It was all delicious.

After dinner, we headed over to Trevi Fountain. This place was absolutely covered up with tourists. Jostling room only!! We each threw our coin in the fountain, took some pictures, got some gelato and headed back to the hotel after an extremely full day of walking.