Italy 2010

July 23, Palermo, Sicily

Today, I fly to Rome and then the Bari, on the east coast where I  caught a ferry to Dubrovnik, Croatia.  The ferry left a 10 pm, another overnight one!  And this one does not have seats, it is just the open deck, meaning that it is find a plastic chair or deck space.  The night was warm and the breeze was very nice.  The moon on the water was great.  The ferry arrived in Dubrovnik at about 7 am.  The sunrise over the Croatian coast was also great.  I actually probably got about 4 hours sleep.

July 22, Palermo, Sicily

Off this morning to go to Santa Cita.  This church has one chapel that is completely done in marble inlays.  Black, red and white!  The detail is unbelievable.  Next door is the Oratorio del Rosario, which from what I can work out is still part of the Santa Cita church.  This building has a chapel in it, with a garden.  But the chapel has every wall completely covered in sculptures of angels!  Again the detail is really something.

In the afternoon, head out to the Catacombs.  These are under a monastery, but really not completely underground.  Not sure how the 'near the quarry' meaning works for this.  Here there are actually the mummified remains of 8000 people, apparently from the mid 1800s.  A bit creepy at the start, but then the interesting part is that many are dressed in their appropriate occupation dress.  There is also 1 young girl who is in near perfect condition, considering her remains are almost 200 years old.  I was told that no one has figured out just how she has stayed in such good condition.

The traffic in this city is just crazy, even worse than Rome.  There are no lanes on the streets and I could not figure out just how anyone  gets anywhere!  And of course there is the constant blaring of the the horns!  Either to say get out of the way, hurry up or a few times just a warning that they are moving into that very small empty space.  I do have to say the drivers are amazing parallel parkers!  They can fit a car into a spot that seems to have only about 4 inches clearance, all together, not in the front and back!  All of this did make for a challenge to get across the street as there are not many street lights.  I usually waited for someone with a small child, my thinking that they would not hit a kid!  Seems to work, still here and did not get run over.  But a few times I did wonder!

July 21, Palermo, Sicily

Piazza Bellini, and the fountain Pretoria!  Very nice sculpture, no water and fenced off, but the detail in the statues of the people and the many animals is very nice.  Also walked by the Cathedral, which is a mixture of Gothic, Norman and Arab influences.  Actually does not look to bad.  Just a little bit more up the street is the Porta Nuova.  Traffic actually goes through the gate, but there are no stidewalks!  Was a challenge as it is really wide enough for 1 car, but usually 2 cars and a scooter go through!  Then you have to get past!  Just wait for the smallest break in the traffic to sneak around the corner.  

Also walked by the  Quattro Canti, a corner of 2 main streets where there are fountains (with water) on all 4 corners of the street.  The sculptures are about 2 stories high.  Very impressive.

July 20, Palermo, Sicily

Up early, even with an 11 am flight!  Not sure how long it is going to take and how much of a wait I will have for the train to the airport.

Turns out I had to wait for the clerk to come to work in order to check out, but in no time caught the tram to the main rail station and then walked right on the train to the airport!  Must of got some of the US ladies karma, as with them there was no waiting for the bus, or the trains.

Arrived no problem and was able to get to the city centre!  Found a restaurant just off the main square, and it turns out it was a buffalo place, so for the first time had a buffalo burger.  Not to bad.  

Spend the afternoon wandering around part of the city.  Walked by many very nice looking churches and fountains.  Many of the fountains did not have water!

Interesting place.  There seems to be a lot of garbage on the streets, but if you can see past that, then a fairly nice city!  The waterfront close to the city is concrete blocks with a park area.  Not much shade, but then no where near as hot as Rome!  Good thing, but still has to be near 35.

July 19, Rome

Up and on the tram by 9 am!  Heading to the Catacombs of San Sebatian and need to catch the Metro and then a bus!

Met 3 US women on the bus heading to the same way.  Was great to talk to them.  One was visiting, and 2 were working for the government in the northern part of Italy and were just touring for an extended weekend.

The catacombs were amazing!  7 miles of tunnels on 3 levels, as deep as 70 feet.  Dug out of a soft volcanic rock in the 3 to 5th centuries.  1000s of bodies entombed here, but they have all been moved to the 3rd level, so did not see any bones.  The tunnels are just a maze!  They are also outside of the city walls!  Interesting as they tombs are Christian, but there one of the first was a pagan mausoleum.  And the mausoleum now has the Basilica San Sebatian above it.  

Catacombs, really means 'near the quarry'.

Headed back to the Roman Forum where I spent almost 3 hours wandering around the ruins.  The size, the complexity and the detail of the buildings is very difficult to describe.  But even though it was humid and above 40 degrees it was still very interesting.

I ended up walking back to the train station, only about 20 minutes, but the route took me through a park and then through some of the residential area.  Headed back to the hotel, and had a shower and nap, with the intention of heading to a restaurant that had been recommended.  But ran out of energy and ended up just going to the local shopping area for a glass of wine and pasta.  Ok, was expecting real pasta, but I think it was microwaved!  Memories of my cooking, so not that great!

July 18, Rome

Lazy start to the day.  Spent some time talking to a guy that is from Warman Saskatchewan this morning at breakfast.  He is now working in London.

To get to the main Rail terminal, I have to catch this very very very old tram line!  Today it was rattling so much I thought for sure it was going to fall apart!  Guys on the trams said yesterday that it does break down a lot.  I do see that in the neighbourhood they are working on another, 3rd, metro line.  That will be great!  This one gets so busy that not everyone can get on!

Today went back to the coliseum area, and then wandered around the streets in the area.  Went to Basillica di San Giovanni in Laterano.  Does not look like much from the outside but the inside is impressive!  Again, huge ceilings, this time with gold trim, lots of it.  And more frescos around the whole building.  The floors were done in the usual marble, all with some pattern of various colours!  This building was consecrated in 324 AD, and was the original home for the Pope.

Did not do much else.  Went to the grocery store and wandered back to the hotel.

Went out later for Italian ice cream.  This has become a nightly must!  What am I going to do when I leave Italy.

July 17, Rome

Today off to the Vatican.  Don't think it counts as another Cathedral, although there is St Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel.

Today I paid extra to get a tour!  This allowed the group to go in fast and not have to stand in line.  They said it was a 2 hour wait, but I think it was really longer than that, it was huge!  Even still the people inside was unbelievable.  It was so busy, that it was wall to wall people!  Everywhere in the museum, the Sistine Chapel and even the square!  The guide said that the most they have put through is 27,000 in one day!  At 15 euros each!  Not bad!  The museum has many priceless items.  Nero's marble bath with is red marble and about 10 feet in diameter.  And of course lots of sculptures.  The highlight was the Sistine Chapel with the fresco done by Michelangelo in mid 1500s.  Very impressive.  The long hall that has maps was also very interesting.  Surprisingly they are about 85% accurate even though done about 500 years ago.

I also went in to the area where all the previous Pope's tombs are.

Also went to the top of the dome of St Peter's.  This was a new 'twist' on small narrow spiral staircases.  The walls in part were slanted in, in the shape of the dome!  Made the useable part of the steps even smaller!  Also made for uneasy balance.  But made it to the top and down again no problems.

There is also 2 spots in the square where the columns that go around most of the area actually disappear behind the front one.  Again the it is always surprising of the things they thought of when they built the square, and then be able to pull it off using such heavy marbel columns.

Then off to visit some of the other highlights of Rome - Trevi Fountain (again hordes of people), and the Spanish Steps.

Since it was 42 degrees, I was done in.  And then you have to count the humidity.  Glad I have air-conditioning in my room.

July 16, Rome

Got to the train station and there were the Kelowna people!  

Train ride was uneventful, and took about 4 hours.

Arrived in Rome early afternoon.  We decided that we would check into hotels and then meet at the Coliseum.  With the Roma pass, able to use all the city transport system and get into 2 places for free!  Magic words!  But the best was that we were able to go into a special gate with the pass, by passing the whole line up!  That was worth the money right there!

The place is amazing, huge!  Seating is steep but the sides, all the way around.  Also the technology used to move the animals and gladiators up from the 2 basement floors was really something.

Spent about 2 hours wandering around.  Was great to spend time with the couple from Kelowna.

Then we went for dinner not too far from the Coliseum.  Great Italian food and wine and of course the company.