Italy Rome and Florence - May 2010

This is the follow up posting to the Transatlantic Cruise posting. We left the ship at Civitavecchia, Italy - the closest port to Rome. We left the ship at 9:30 am, one of the last groups. We took the bus to the entrance of the port and then found the train station. It was an hour and a half ride to Rome Termini Station. We got there at 11:00 am, but could not check into our apartment until 3:30 pm. So we walked to the Spanish Steps and had a nice long, long, long lunch. We asked the waiter where our apartment was, and luckily it was only a few blocks away. The agent showed up at 4:00 pm, no surprise. The apartment was fine, one bedroom, tiny kitchen (smaller than Rachel's), living room, and most important a washing machine. But there was no dryer, so we hung our clothes throughout the apartment for days.



Here are the Spanish Steps.

And the Colosseum.

It was funny seeing this gladiator with his gym bag. We've been watching the Starz Spartacus series, and were hoping to see him at the Colosseum.

We took a tour of the Colosseum and learned some interesting facts and fiction.

Even though we didn't make it to Pisa, I did find a leaning tower.

The second half of the tour was in the Palatino. We then visited the Forum by ourselves.

Here's the Vittorio Emanuele Monument, which we saw after leaving the Forum.

This panoramic picture was taken in the Trastevere section of Rome. We stopped for some wine and olives.

The next day we went to the Vatican - and guess who made an appearance - the Pope himself. I was about 10 feet away when his Pope-mobile passed by. We were planning to visit the museum, but nothing was open that morning. We got great seats, but then it started to rain, so we tried to leave - no luck, all the aisles were barricaded. So we stood there and waited until the Pope drove by. Finally, three hours after we arrived we were able to get out, but it was exciting see the Pope.

We each made a wish at the Trevi Fountain. Well I made three wishes and hope at least one comes through.

Here's the original floor of the Pantheon. Over 2000 years old.

Sorry this picture is on its side. But there must be 1000 of these Panini carts in Rome, and every one was run by Indians - like from India. When they decide to take something over, they do it in a big way.

We visited the Borghese Gardens, and here's a view from the top.

My grandfather had Harry's Tavern - this is the closest I could find in Rome.

You ask why I took this photo - Well the first words I learned in Spanish 101 were "Donde esta la biblioteca?" So we look for one in every city.

On or next to last day in Italy, we took a train to Florence. I wish we had fast trains like this in the USA. Here's the Duomo.

These four large bottles of wine were on the sidewalk outside a wine shop.

This is the smallest car I've ever seen. All the Smart cars park like this, backing into the curb.

This is the second leaning tower I've seen, but not Pisa.

The line to see the David was too long, so we settled for the reproduction outside.

The famous Ponto Vecchio spanning the Arno River.

What is Italy without Gelato? My favorites are pistachio and chocolate.

A final gelato shot.