My Vacation Part II - Rome

My brother, sister-in-law (SIL) and I woke up early the morning of September 16 in our closet of a hotel room to catch the bus to the Beauvais Airport.  We were at the airport by 7:20.   We couldn't check in for our flight until 7:30 but were first in line when the counter opened.   I approached the counter, excited about visiting Rome again.  I set my checked luggage on the belt and found out it was too heavy.  The airline had a total maximum weight of 15 kg for the tickets I had purchased.  I took a few things out and put in my carry on – still too heavy.  I took out a few more things and made the cut.  My brother and SIL went through the same exercise and were finally at the correct weight.  

We went through security and found the terminal for our flight but didn't know which gate.   I played a game of trying to guess which one it would be – I lost.   We got in line for the gate we thought it would be and as it turned out it was the next one over.  The airline we flew has "cattle call" seating – no assigned seats.   We finally boarded the flight.

We flew into the smaller of the two Rome airports and our hotel wasn't exactly convenient to get to.  Luckily, it had shuttle service to and from Rome center.   We hopped in a taxi and got to our hotel.   They had us booked for a single room instead of triple room.  The hotel quickly accommodated us and provided us with a larger room and breakfast for free.    We made reservations for the 2:00 shuttle and dropped our luggage in the room and back downstairs to start our Roman adventure.  It was a Sunday afternoon so traffic was light and we made it the Piazza Cavour around 2:30. 

We walked to the Spanish Steps and had a late lunch / early dinner at my favorite restaurant (Ristorante 34).   After dinner we walked to the Trevi Fountain.  I threw my coin in to guarantee my return trip to Rome.  It really works.  I threw one in my first visit and came back. 

We then walked to this intersection my brother knew of which, had fountains on all four corners.  

On the way to the fountains, we found the Pasta Museum.   We didn't have time to go in.  We decided to try again on Monday or Tuesday.   We never did make it back. 

After leaving the fountains we walked through some more piazzas and stumbled across the Italian presidential palace.  The palace grounds have a view of St. Peter's Basilica.  We made our way back to catch the 7:00 shuttle back to the hotel.  We had a drink at the hotel as we planned for the next day.

Each morning while in Rome, we had breakfast at 7:00 and caught the 8:00 shuttle into the city.   The plan on Monday was to make a dry run to the train station as we had a 9:46 train on Thursday morning and we wanted to make sure we had enough time to get there.  We arrived at the piazza around 9:05 and headed to the nearest metro stop to get to the train station.  We made it with 15 minutes to spare.  We decided to make another dry run on Tuesday and walk a little slower knowing on Thursday morning we would be slowed down by our luggage.    

We stopped at several churches on our journey – including Santa Maria Maggiore and San Pietro in Vincoli (St. Peter in Chains).   San Pietro in Vincoli is the home of Michelangelo's Moses.    

After leaving the churches we went to the Colosseum and the Forum.  It still amazes me the Colosseum is still standing after all these years.  The Romans were definitely ahead of their time.       

By the time we left the Colosseum and Forum I was starving.  We walked to a small pizzeria and sat for a while.  The pizza was yummy.    

And then it was time to walk again.  We headed to the Pantheon and the Piazza Navona, one of my favorites in Rome.  The main Bernini fountain (Fountain of the Four Rivers) was covered up for renovations and cleaning.   

We set off for the Piazza del Popolo.  We stopped in several churches on the way, including one dedicated to St. Nicolas.  I found it very interesting (and I admit, funny) that St. Nicolas was also the Patron Saint of young girls in trouble.    

While at the Piazza del Popolo we visited the twin churches of Santa Maria dei Miracoli and Santa Maria in Montesanto. 

On the opposite side of the piazza is Santa Maria del Popolo. The piazza is my other favorite.   Santa Maria del Popolo was closed, so we planned on returning the next day.   This church contains the Chigi Chapel.    Then it was time to head back to catch the 9:00 shuttle.

It was raining when we woke up Tuesday morning but it did not dampen our spirits.  We made our dry run to the train station, walking slower and arriving with 10 minutes to spare.   Before leaving the train station, I needed to use the restroom.  It costs 70 cents to get into the restrooms at Termini Station.   I wasn't paying attention, deposited my money and soon realized I was in the men's room.  I was not about to pay another 70 cents, so I did what I needed to do and left.

The first order of business was to find the Santa Susanna church.  This church is an American parish in Rome where I ordered our tickets for the Papal Audience being held on Wednesday.   We found the church along with Santa Maria della Vittoria a block away.  Santa Maria della Vittoria is home of Bernini's "The Ecstasy of St. Teresa".  On our way to these churches, we also found one which the entrance was designed by Michelangelo.   It began raining a little harder.  We made it to the Hard Rock Café around 11:15 just in time as it started to really pour.  The restaurant was closed but the gift shop was opened.   We were getting hungry and weren't sure how the weather was going to hold up so we decided to have a nice leisurely lunch across the street. 

We finished lunch and the sun was shining.  Off we went to the Villa Borghese.   The Villa Borghese is home to the Borgia Art Gallery.  Little did we know that advance ticket purchases were recommended for the gallery.  They were already sold out.  We walked through the park and made our way back to the Piazza del Popolo. 

Santa Maria del Popolo was closed until 4:00 when we arrived.   We visited a da Vinci exhibit around the corner which contained his many inventions.    I made my way through the exhibit and sat down where seats were set up for a movie on da Vinci.  My brother and SIL soon joined me.  We hadn't planned on staying but the next thing you know we all started to doze off and the video began.  I slept through most of it.

We finally made it into the Santa Maria del Popolo.  Unfortunately we didn't have much time.  We had to go back to the Santa Susanna church to pick up our tickets for the Papal Audience   My brother walked back to the Hard Rock Café where we agreed to meet later.  My SIL and I boarded a very full subway where we were packed in like sardines.   We picked up our tickets and attended a short mass.  We met my brother for dinner.  Time was running out and we had to get back for our shuttle.  My SIL and I wanted to take the metro but my brother wanted to walk.  He won. 

We took a different route into the city and arrived five minute earlier than the two previous mornings.  No dry run this morning, we were off to see the Pope. The Papal Audience began at 10:00 and lasted until around 11:30. 

We were going to go into St. Peters following the audience and so did everyone else.  We decided to visit the Vatican Museum first.  Once inside we had a quick lunch and off to see more wonderful works of art and the Sistine Chapel.   One of my favorite rooms in the Vatican Museum is the Map Room.  This map is of the Calabria region where my great-grandparents are from.

We spent more time in the museum than I had thought we would.  We got separated.  I made my way out and met up with my brother.  We waited for my SIL and waited.  I decided to go outside and my brother continued to wait.  They made my brother leave at 4:45. So we waited outside some more.  One of the guards told us the museum was empty and that possibly my SIL had gone out another exit which was in St. Peter's Square.  We walked to St. Peter's Square and I stopped to buy souvenirs and my brother tried to find my SIL.  We were taking the 7:00 shuttle and figured we would just meet her at the shuttle stop.  As we were walking back we found her.  She said she waited for us in the same place we waited for her.   When we didn't arrive, she left and went to St. Peter's Basilica.  I'm not sure how we missed each other.   Back to the hotel for our last night in Rome.

The shuttle driver took yet another route into the city on Thursday and we had made it 15 minutes earlier.  Excellent we thought – plenty of time.  Then our luck ran out, our train was delayed.  We finally took off for Padova, but missed our connecting train to Innsbruck.   We hopped on a train to Verona to catch a train to Innsbruck.   The train ride through the mountains of northern Italy was breathtaking.  We arrived in Innsbruck 2 hours later than scheduled.  We walked to our hotel and off to bed.

Stay tuned for part 3 – Munich.