The long days and late nights are getting to us. We have been letting Jamie stay up way too late, seeing the shows at 8:30 and not getting to bed until after 10pm. So we paid for it this morning. We had train tickets from Civitavecchia to Rome for 8:41 am so we set the wake-up call for 6:30. Our typical routine is that Ann showers first, followed by Jim and the we start waking Jamie up about 45 minutes to an hour before we need to leave. But today, Jamie wasn’t budging. Boy was she cranky. “I don’t want to go to Rome, I want to stay on the ship…” We wanted to be on the shuttle down to the town by 8am but didn’t make it until 8:15. And this particular shuttle driver stopped about every 100 yards to say hello to his friends, pick up workers and give them a ride down to the next ship, etc. It was agonizing to be in a hurry and to have our driver be in “Italian mode.” Arrrrggghhh. So we bolted off the bus and practically ran to the train station – which we found on the map and were praying that we were on the right street – we had hope that we were heading the right direction since there were multiple other folks with suitcases walking down the same road, in the same direction coming from the port. We made it with about 3 minutes to spare but didn’t know where to head for the First Class cabin. So we jumped on the train where we could and started walking toward the back – we didn’t find First Class there so headed to the front. We had heard stories about the local trains and standing room only, and we got to see this first hand. That’s why Ann booked First Class, to be sure we would have a seat and air conditioning. Think again… We finally made it to the First Class cars, and they were totally full, with people standing in the aisles and no air-conditioning. So, we headed back to one of the standard cars that had A/C, figured if we had to stand, we might as well be cool. By this time, Jim’s back is drenched from the heat, our mad dash to the station and carrying the backpack. We squeeze our way into the aisle and hunker down for the 1 ¼ hour ride. In the meantime the train keeps stopping and more people get on, none get off. So, now people are standing in the areas between the train cars and one lady has the train door propped open. Ann, never one to be shy (remember last night?), walks over and says “you’re letting the air conditioning out” and closes the door and then stands nearby to make sure it stays closed. This worked for one stop until the next 15 people got on and the crowds from between the cars continue entering the cars. So, after the people are on and settled, Ann went over the next lady who was propping open the door and asks for the lady to please step inside and close the door behind her so that the air conditioning will stay in the car. Well, in this case, Ann met her match. This particular Italian lady wasn’t going to be intimidated, she said “no, we need the air conditioning” and the door stayed open and we got hotter and hotter as the air conditioning couldn’t keep up with the heat coming in from the area between the cars where the windows were open…
Finally, we arrived at the San Pietro (St. Peters) train stop. We followed the crowds and made it to St. Peter’s square. We regrouped, had some water and started looking for the entrance to the Vatican Museum for our 10:30 tour. We were directed over to a side street, to follow along the walls of the Vatican over to the museum entrance about 5 blocks away. We almost immediately ran into a HUGE line of people, waiting to get into the Vatican. The line had doubled back on itself, and must have been ½ mile long. And it was HOT. The smart tourists had umbrellas (portable shade). We walked up to the front of the line where there was a second entrance area, showed our FAX, they checked our names and we were in!!! Thank you so much DIS Boards for the advice about making a reservation in advance!!! We were so happy to be there and in the air-conditioned lobby. Then the English tour started. We found out that the lobby and the tapestry rooms are the ONLY ones that are air-conditioned. So, our 2-plus hour tour was interesting but by the time we were at the end, we were so tired that we could hardly appreciate the Sistine Chapel. It’s terrible to be in one of the greatest sites in the world, wondering “when is this going to be over?” One of the most interesting things we learned from our tour guide was that Michelangelo had a sense of humor. During the time period he was painting the chapel, painting nude figures was not considered appropriate. So, one of the “church” leaders protested about his figures… The final portion of the Chapel that Michelangelo painted was The Last Judgment. It’s the “back” wall of the chapel, depicting God/Jesus in Heaven in the center and Hell at the bottom of the wall. One of the figures at the bottom (in Hell) is the person who had been working against Michelangelo, protesting the nude figures – he has a snake wrapped around his body, and the snake is biting his private parts (talk about “revenge”)!!! The tour we had was provided by the Vatican. There are also tours available through private tour providers… however all seemed to rely on posters with photographs (or reproductions) of the walls and ceiling of the Chapel to talk about the highlights of the chapel and describe what we would be seeing inside. These posters were located in the courtyard or in the museum. Then, once inside, we were shusshed into the center of the Chapel and then we made our way to one of the perimeter benches to sit and observe.
The chapel is the final stop on the Vatican tour. After you visit the chapel, you should exit on the door to the right, to go directly to St. Peters. This way, you can avoid the lines outside in the square and go directly into the church. So, we lucked out, skipping the lines at the Vatican Museum because we had our reservations (thank goodness) and also skipping the lines at St. Peters. And on the way between the Chapel and St. Peters, Ann and Jim spied one of the official Vatican gift shops and did some shopping damage. We can’t provide details otherwise some folks’ Christmas presents won’t be a surprise!!!
After the Vatican, our goal was lunch and then the Colosseum. We had a lunch recommendation from the Rick Steves book (Perilli in Prati). Great book, by the way. The lunch was great and reasonable. And air-conditioned. Then we took the Metro to the Colosseum. Another adventure. We had to make one connection. The first train was one of the new, clean, great trains. The second was a more traditional, graffiti decorated, run down car. Great contrast between the two. We got to the Colosseum and had a small line to get tickets.
Once inside, we joined the crowds and took pictures of the walls, the crumbling steps, the floors where the Gladiators once fought, etc. Being the tourists that we were, we asked another American family to take a picture of us (and they asked the same in return). We started chatting, and it’s a small world (again). This particular gentleman was the track coach from St. Johns in Houston, where Ann’s friend Anne Marie’s children attend High School!! So, Rudy and Catie, hello from Rome!!!
After the Colosseum, of course we had to do the Trevi Fountain! Not too far of a walk. And Jamie got to throw the coin over her shoulder while Ann videoed. Then, being the overachiever that Ann is, we decided to head to the Spanish Steps for one last site before our train back to the ship. We found the Steps fairly easily, but were disappointed. Pretty bleak, no greenery and not very interesting. So, we thought we would save time and money by taking the Metro back to the Termini station to get the 5:46 train back to Civitavechhia. Unfortunately, the Metro/tube stops at this station were poorly marked, and we thought we were heading to the connecting line and instead ended up on a VERY long underground tunnel ending up who knows where. Jim and Ann were going crazy, not sure where we were and we finally exited the metro to take a taxi to the Termini station and making the train with about 5 minutes to spare. So, for the second time of the day, we got to stress out about making our train… At least this time we were able to sit down, we had assigned seats that were actually available! Unfortunately, the “air conditioned” train car really wasn’t – there was a tiny bit of cool air coming from the vents, but the open window was more effective (though just barely). The Italian rail system could take some lessons from Virgin in the UK. Now those trains are NICE.
We were soooo late back to the ship that we decided to just do Topsiders instead of regular dining. The food was a bit disappointing. The steak was tough, the pasta sort of bland, the fish a bit fishy. Desserts were good though. Due to the late excursions, there was no live show at the theatre, instead they were showing a movie. We skipped it, called the grandparents to catch up then crashed.
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