A Religious Experience, January 27, 2009

The Vatican, our destination for the day. We were not up too early although our 80Euro breakfast was only served until 10:30 so we were at breakfast each morning by 10 at the latest. They don't mean you can get there at 10:30, they mean the food goes away at 10:30! And the breakfast was included with our package so don't think we paid that! After a nice breakfast we took our time getting ready, so hard to leave that beautiful, comfortable room!

We took a taxi to the Vatican and when we saw the line we were a little dismayed, I had assumed there would be no line that time of year in the cold, wet weather. Because I am so comfortable talking to people I asked a policeman nearby how long that line was and he said 30 minutes at the longest so we decided to wait. César was talking on his cell and I wandered a little way taking pictures. When I came back there was a man in front of us who had not been there. Neither of us saw him enter the line in front of us. He started talking to us, in English with his Italian accent, and told us he was waiting for a group of handicapped children to show around. He expected them in 1/2 an hour. He was a wealth of information and very kind. As the line moved, after a while he took us to another line and we got through really quickly. César and I had so many questions about this whole experience later. Our first, if he knew about this line, why didn't he go there to begin with, or even take us there sooner. We chatted for a while about Italy and he asked what we were doing the next day. We told him we were taking the train to Florence. He said he could get us tickets to see the Pope, he always speaks to people on Wednesdays and he has special access and could get us tickets for free to go inside and actually see him!! I thought it sounded cool, but our time was so limited and he said he would get them for us and even if we didn't go, we could keep them for souvenirs. It took a while for César and I to get through security and we thought he was gone, but we walked a ways and he was waiting for us and told us he could take us on a little tour if we would like while he waited for his 'kids' to get there. We agreed and the man was fascinating!! I wish I could remember all that he told us. We were both thoroughly entertained by his knowledge and stories. He said he has lived a block away from there for 40 years and goes often. We learned more than we ever could have alone, or even on a tour with other people. Our questions were answered and the facts he shared weren't overwhelming. We had a tour of the basement where all of the popes are buried. They remain there until they are declared saints and then they are moved upstairs into the actual Vatican. I had expected a lot of gold there, but instead the valuable assets seem to be the sculptures. The sizes of things were astounding. In one painting high on the wall, he asked how long we thought the feather of the pen the pope was holding was. I said 2 feet, and it is actually 5 meters long!! He had an incredible way of making the facts he told us meaningful. Being a teacher, I was impressed with his ability to do this. We were both fascinated and we were probably with him well over an hour and thought it was strange that he never got a call from 'the kids'. Although he had mentioned the tickets several times, when we said goodbye he didn't mention them again and we both were hesitant to since we knew we weren't going to go. Although, to be honest, I think if we would have had the tickets, I would have gone for a bit, just to experience that, so I was disappointed he didn't follow up on that offer. As soon as we walked away, I was tempted to go back and ask him about them, and when I looked back he was gone, disappeared! Where did he come from the way he appeared in front of us in the line, and where did he go? We both were puzzled by the whole event! Strange things happen to me when I travel and I was glad that César was with me to experience this strange encounter this time. And so Joseph, our good friend and guide, walked out of our lives the way he had walked in. We agreed he hadn't wanted any payment, didn't ask for anything or act like he expected it at the end, just showed us the inside of his world.

My feet were in so much pain and it was raining so hard that we went to have lunch and then got in a taxi to return to the hotel. César really didn't want to go to the Sistine Chapel, and I wasn't sure I could walk there anyway. But as the taxi pulled away, I changed my mind and asked him to take us there instead. César wasn't too pleased, he said it is not appropriate to tell the taxi driver one destination far away and then change to one so close. I decided that I couldn't leave Rome contendedly if I hadn't seen the famous chapel and needed to see it. As César always is with me, he quickly got over his displeasure at my insisting we go, and I believe he enjoyed the experience as much as I did. What an amazing experience it was! And I am sure I would have had to go back to Rome if I hadn't seen it, so now I am content, even with all that we did miss. Walking in Rome is like walking into ancient history and this Vatican museum was filled with treasures, most of which we didn't see. We didn't stay long, and then headed back to the hotel to rest before our Opera night! We did have to cancel our visit to the Borghese Museum and Gardens and decided I would do that after César left on Thursday afternoon.

It didn't take long to fall fast asleep in the big, comfy bed for a nap! We got up, showered and got dressed up and left for the opera experience! It was in an old church and it was quite cold the whole time. Evidently they don't pay to have the heat turned on, if there even is any which I doubt. So we were quite cold and happy that the experience was just over an hour. We had been told by the hotel concierge that it began at 8PM and to be there a little before that. Well, that wasn't right and it didn't begin until 8:30 so we froze for 1/2 an hour sitting there. We sat in the front row and in gold on the rail in front of César it said, "American Ambassador" so I guess we did have the best seats! We both decided we would not enjoy a 3 hour opera so we chose an interesting alternative. There was a small group of musicians and 4 opera singers. The singers took turns performing arias from different famous operas. We enjoyed the variety of the music, even though we didn't understand a thing! It was a little over an hour long, perfect timing for us and as we left the church, we were quite content that we had now experienced opera in Italy. It was quite a bit more pleasurable than the flamenco of Barcelona! We walked a while and found an empty little restaurant and had a lovely dinner, this time we had spinachi gnocchi, a potato and spinach pasta and it was delicious! We ate real tiramisu for dessert and then walked a few blocks, got a taxi and returned to the hotel. Our taxi rides were quite a bit less expensive than they were the first day after César learned to say, "please start the meter" in Italian when we got into the cab! One driver was very, very angry at him and was shouting in Italian and dear César remained calm and later said that the man wanted him to sit in the front since he didn't trust him.

We arrived back at the hotel quite late, and again the joy of sharing the experience with someone was wonderful as we talked about our day, and the 'religious' experience. Another day was over and we had a trip to Florence to look forward to. I had really wanted to go to Pisa to see the leaning tower but César didn't want to be on a train that long, so that was the compromise I made with him, since we'd gone to the Sistine Chapel, we wouldn't go to Pisa. Someday I will go back there and see that. It would have made our train ride a lot longer having to change trains in Florence, so it was fine that we were just going to Florence. And so, another day in Rome was over.

Three Coins in A Fountain, January 26, 2009

The Trevi Fountain was the first stop on our tour of Rome at night. It was beautiful! I'd seen it during the day on my last trip and was in awe, and at night it is as spectacular, in a different way. There were many more people than my first visit, and it was a cold night. I threw the coins in the fountain, César didn't. Maybe I'll be back one day, one can never see everything there is to see in Rome. I could happily see the fountain again and again, marveling in the amazing sculptures that create it. The immensity amazes! We spent time there taking pictures and looking at it and had time to try gelato at one of the many places located near there. We saw several other sights but only got out of the bus one more time and I was disappointed not to get pictures of the colosseum lit up at night, it was magnificent. We did see and learn about the fountains in the Piazza de Navona, the place we had had dinner the night before. They were also gorgeous fountains! The tour was beautiful, but we had a quite arrogant and not kind young man for the tour guide. At the end of the tour, the part where they drop you at your hotel, the bus was not going to the hotels, but stopping a block or two away and the people had to walk, in a strange city late at night. Once they stopped on a street that was jet black and one young girl told the guide that the 2 of them were afraid to get out there and didn't know where they were and they were met with a sarcastic response that it was Rome, they were safe at night and it was just a couple of blocks away. I was quite disgusted with the tour at that point, and felt this was unacceptable. I told César that I would not get out unless they were right in front of our hotel. The tour guide and driver continually talked in Italian to each other and at one point César made a noise and the tour guide jumped. We were sitting right behind him. In Italian he asked César if he understood and he responded that he did, in Italian. Well you could see the visible anguish on the man's face as he realized that someone knew the unkind things they had been saying about people. To be honest, that is one of the many things I enjoy about traveling with César, his ability to speak and understand a variety of languages. Even though he is not that familiar with Italian, languages come to him so easily that he seemed quite proficient in a very short time. Well, the tour guide continued to discuss things with him in foreign languages, I think he tried some others to test César. He was quite curious about our relationship, living so far apart, but neither of us shared much about that. AND surprisingly, or maybe not, we were taken to the front of our hotel! I will be sure that no one I know ever takes a tour from that company again and we thought about calling the management about the problems, but decided that they wouldn't care with the attitudes we had picked up so far. So when you head to Rome check with me on which tour company NOT to use!

After the tour we had a delightful picnic in our lavish room! At lunch we had ordered a bruchetta with olive cream on it. In Paris we had a bruchetta and it was 1/4 of a large loaf of bread with toppings and toasted, so we expected something similar. Well, we were quite surprised when our 4.5euro appetizer arrived and was one regular piece of bread with a spread on it. So small for such an expense but the taste was divine! It was crushed olives and the combination of the toast and spread was something that we could not just have a taste of. The pasta was delicious too, as it was each place we went. I asked the server where there was a grocery store so we could purchase some of the 'olive cream' and it was a few blocks from our hotel. So the olive 'pate' was the highlight of the dinner. We had an assortment of things Italian and enjoyed our feast. Another late night in Rome which meant that we would not be up early for our trip to the Vatican the next day. A wonderful first full day in Rome!