Travels

Blanca & Ian's Travels

Italy

Trip Report - 2002
Updated July 2009

In Caesar's Footsteps

Itinerary

May 27 - Toronto to Roma
4 nights - Conca dei Marini (Amalfi Coast) - side trips to Positano, Amalfi, Ravello, Pompeii
4 nights - Todi (lower Umbria) - side trips to Montalcino, Deruta, Carsulae
3 nights - Roma
June 7 - Roma to Toronto

Resources

Fodor's Talk Forums & the Internet in General
Umbria: Bill Thayer's Excellent Website

This trip was planned up to a year in advance using Aeroplan miles. Since Italy is steeped in so much history & to 'see' it is so daunting, the first temptation was do what everybody else seems to do - go to the big 3 - Venice, Firenze (Florence) & Roma. And then one day, I asked my Italian barber what the most beautiful place in Italy was. His response: the Amalfi Coast. A little research & it was on the list. I came to the conclusion that Venice & Firenze were best left for a future northern Italian trip. Ditto Sicily for a southern swing. Since we like to travel outside of the major tour bus pathways sometimes, Umbria got the nod rather than the ever-so-popular Tuscany & Todi was chosen because it seemed big enough & small enough for a base. Many on Fodor's go on & on about Sorrento as the ideal base near the Amalfi Coast. The thought of all of those North Americans packing the place made me choose a spot on the coast itself rather than on that 'wrong side' of the mountain. Haha. We liked all of our 'different' choices . . . read on . . .

	Day 1 Arrival & THE DRIVE to the Amalfi Coast We started our journey at Fiumicino. Aeroplan miles got us there & a kindly reservation clerk had given us wide seats on the plane. Not business class, just wider seats. Not bad. We arrived mid-morning. But, no sleep. We rented a car through Auto Europe (Europcar) - a Nissan Primera (auto). A long walk up & around from Terminal 2 Arrivals but easy to find overall. On return: The rental car return is on the arrivals level (and the signage is poor). Please note: If you drive an automatic at home, get one here. The price premium is more than outweighed by the lack of added stress. Believe me, for some areas you will need ALL of your concentration to avoid hitting things or driving over a 300m embankment. We skirted Roma to the south & & picked up the Autostrade heading south. Easy driving (just like any major highway in North America) but the tolls will cost you a bit. From memory - Roma to Napoli 9 Euros - Napoli to Orvieto cutoff 12 Euros. The road is well marked & maintained with a good assortment of gas stations & eateries along the way. Average speed 110 - 120 km/hr. Fast drivers (and there are many) drive up to 150 km/hr+. As all the guide books tell you, keep to the right & use the passing lane properly - to pass. If only we could train North Americans now . . . After around 3 hrs, we approached Naples - exiting the toll highway. I was using Internet maps & Via Michelin directions. Well, this was a big mistake. As soon as we hit surface roads, we got instantly lost. I looped to try to find the expressway. And remember, this was with NO sleep. After 15 minutes of desperation, we found a highway ramp & went on it. Another big mistake. This highway was a direct feeder to to Bagni, in northwestern Napoli with no exits. As soon as I could exit, we were dumped into madness. Napoli's drivers have no regard whatsoever for normal traffic rules. Stop signs are ignored. Lane markings are merely suggestions & they pass everywhere, anytime, whether someone is coming or not. They laugh at traffic signs. Just beep your horn & go like hell without hitting anybody is the plan. Trucks, cars, bicycles & MOTORBIKES everywhere. Every single one was dented. Pure pandemonium. And remember, I was driving this with with NO sleep. I headed roughly straight south, thinking I'd find a coast road (every town on water has a coast road, right?), or a policeman, fire station, gas station, anywhere I might get directions - in English. I'm a geographer's son & I inherited an excellent sense of direction & travel for business has trained me to 'read' a strange town. But Napoli? I lost it. B lost it. Finally when I was to my max, I pulled over to look at our silver dollar sized map of Napoli. We discussed abandoning the car & taking a taxi & claiming our rental was stolen. Then, an angel appeared. We were blocking the driveway to a house & the owner came down to see why we were blocking the driveway to his house. He spoke no English. We spoke no Italian. But sign language & gesturing at Pompeii on the map & Amalfi etc must have accomplished something. He went to his car & motioned for us to follow him. After 3 blocks or so he stopped & pointed down a road. We thanked him & trusted him & 5 minutes later we were on the expressway heading out. Grazie molto. Once on the highway again we meandered south & exited near Pompeii - YES! I found a street on my Michelin site directions! With tepidity, we wound our way thru Castellammare di Stabia - more vehicular chaos ensued, but we were a little calmer now. Of course, we missed the turn, but my radar kicked in after a mild detour. Finally, we got on the road to Sorrento - some nice views here by the way. In Sorrento, we saw a road sign for Positano & we went for it. This road hopped over the mountain & got to the coast road west of Positano. Wow. Now the roads were fun - although B has an entirely different view of this. To her, the mountain & coast roads were pure terror. But the scenery was stunning! When you get to the coast road SS163 expect very slow driving. The roads are narrow & follow the mountains. Meeting a bus on a corner is impossible. They beep their horns as they approach, so keep a window open. There are mirrors placed on corners so you can see what's coming. Motor bikes will pass you at will & fast local drivers will beep & pass. After a day or two, you'll be doing it too. Due to the almost complete lack of parking in any town, we had decided to park the car & bus/boat the coast. All was going well until Praiano, when we met a tour bus coming in the other direction. We could not get by each other on the narrow road in the village & backing up was out as cars had lined up behind both of us. This is not an uncommon occurrence on the coast road. I pulled over within millimeters of motorcycles & shops & pedestrians & folded in my mirror. The bus driver folded in his mirror & inched by. Interesting experience. Fifteen minutes later - with great relief - we pulled into the small parking lot of the Hotel Belvedere, our home for 4 nights. We made it. Grazie molto. And remember, this was with NO sleep. Total time from airport: about 6 hours. Hotel Belvedere - Conca dei Marini - Dbl 183€ http://www.belvederehotel.it/ This hotel is right on the coast road on a promontory about 4 kms west of Amalfi. It has a stunning location. We stayed on the upper floor in Rm 2 which shared a very large balcony with 2 other rooms. Patio chairs & lounges were supplied. The view from this patio towards Amalfi (with Ravello up above) is worthy of a postcard. A 180º vista. The photo at left was taken from here. Other rooms in the floors below us had a view of the sea, but this was truly spectacular. The room was not bad - certainly decent. B said it was an echo chamber. But the view! The restaurant was populated by English package tourists & had the feel of an English club. The 'regulars' sit at the same tables every night & the waiters even save 1/2 bottles of wine from the night before. Meals were tasty, with a choice of 3 entrees every night. After dinner most seem to retire to the sitting room for board games & reading. We drank. The hotel also had parking, a beautiful pool & a jetty for swimming in the sea. English-speaking staff. And it was a SITA bus stop. Not a bad location except you are restaurant-bound unless you drive or are bused or taxied.
The Belvedere Hotel Conca dei Marini
Amalfi Coast from our balcony Amalfi at extreme right Hotel from the pool
Note: Since writing the above, internet mapping - Google maps & Google Earth etc, have come long way. In hindsight, I should have stayed on the Autostrade all of the way to the coast road SS163 & made my way across there. I probably would have saved 2 hours of driving. And if I had had my TomTom back then . . . July 2009

The Duomo of Amalfi

Amalfi street

Day 2 Amalfi Coast . . . continued . . .

We woke to overcast skies & the threat of drizzle. So, we decided to see some of the towns on the coast rather than do the sun bit for obvious reasons. We caught the blue SITA Bus (standing room only) to visit Positano (0.93 Euros) from the bus stop in front of the Belvedere. This town is truly a beautiful spot, but obviously a tourist mecca. Many have waxed lyrically about this town so I won't. Positano is a hilly maze of shops, hotels and restaurants with little to no parking (you use the highway SS163 in & out of town) but certainly aimed squarely at the tourist trade. Many boutiques selling clothing, antiques, ticky-tacky etc. The beach is lined with restaurants & gelaterias. Positano is a good workout for the legs, since you are always going up or down the hill. The beach is more of a parking lot for fishing boats but you don't come to the Amalfi coast for serious beaching anyway.

After a couple of hours meandering, we got a water taxi to Amalfi. For 6€ or so it was worth the price for the views, let alone the transportation. Amalfi is a larger town & the immediate downtown Duomo area is reasonably flat. Again, it is rife with cafes & shops catering to the tourist trade. It has a public & private beach area too & Amalfi's looks better. Also a good collection of pharmacies, liquor stores, bakeries, pizzerias etc. We lunched somewhere & shopped a little. Had a limoncello & bought some to take home as gifts.

The SITA buses congregate in the waterfront parking lot. Be warned, getting on one is not easy. When the right bus arrives people herd over & push & shove to get on. We missed the westbound Positano bus for this reason. We got talking to a couple from Texas & decided to share a taxi. 50€ to Positano. We paid 15€ for our portion. The buses are certainly a lot cheaper.

Dinner again in our 'club' at the hotel.

Pompeii with Mt. Vesuvius

An erotic frescoe at Pompeii

Foro of Pompeii

Day 3 Amalfi Coast . . . continued . . .

Time for a road trip. We had calmed down after a day of local touristing & decided that we had to break out to go see Pompeii. This time we decided to use a different route. SS366 exits the coast road west of Amalfi & climbed up through Conca dei Marini & on thru Agerola. A great drive with switchbacks, a tunnel & some nice villages along the way. It spit us out in Castellammare di Stabia & then it was a straight drive through the town to the Pompeii area - following the infrequent signs. There was one 4-way stop sign along the way & this was a test of will. Forget the 'driver on the right' crap you are used to. In Napoli, it's 'whoever has the most nerve' has the right of way.

We parked in a restaurant driveway just down the hill from the ruins for 5€. We had pizza for a lunch - just outside the Pompeii gate - the restaurant with all the lemons. Truly Neapolitan pizza. A little different than Pizza Hut. Pompeii was busy & hot & is, of course, a major tourist zoo. But quite spectacular. We skipped the abundant guides & went our own way. You can wander & find some nice remote areas in the ruins that let you absorb the history in reasonable solitude. I do have a beef about tour groups - when you meet a tour group, the massed people absolutely refuse to give way. Their herding nature is very strong. They act as if it is their RIGHT to bowl you over in their need to follow their particular umbrella wielding tour guide. Moo . . . outamyway . . . moo.

The drive back to our hotel was uneventful although around this time I started to gain confidence & to drive more like a local. B was not amused. It was getting too fun . . .

For dinner, we taxied to a small restaurant 1/2 way to Amalfi - Le Pesce d'Or. This was a small basic restaurant. The waiter was a tad brusque & the wine choice was limited - red or white. No other choice. The food was very good however & it was very cheap. On the way back, the driver insisted on showing us his 3 car garage cut into the mountain & hidden behind a motorized door. 20-30€ (excluding wine)

Sunning on our patio

The pool from our balcony

Villa Rufulo - Ravello

The view from Villa Rufulo

Day 4 Amalfi Coast . . . continued . . .

After 3 days of hustle, we were ready for a break. We lounged around the hotel for much of the day. Sunning & swimming. We took the elevator down to the pool - it's down the hill from the hotel & thru a carved rock tunnel. I even went for a quick dip in the Med from the hotel's jetty. Pretty cold. The pool attendant was very attentive. As soon as you left your lounge, he would spring up & rearrange your towel & align the bed with the sun.

For dinner, I had booked Cumpa' Cosimo - a restaurant in Ravello. So, late afternoon, we bused to Amalfi & forced our way onto the Ravello bus for the 1/2 hour drive - with the obligatory traffic backup for some idiot tour bus driver stuck at the 'Amalfi bend'.

Ravello was stunning. We had coffee in the piazza & then wandered through Villa Rufulo. Just a decrepit ruin but the view was really nice. We then meandered through town & out to the Villa Cimbrone & it's famous Infinity Terrace. Wow!

On the walk back to the piazza, we stopped for a pre-dinner drink at the Villa Maria Hotel restaurant. Sipping a drink while we listened to church bells in the gathering dusk on the adjacent ridge . . . a truly magical moment.

Dinner at Cumpa' Cosimo was our best dinner in Italy. The food & wine were incredible & Netta - the owner - was a blast as she bellowed at staff & patrons alike. She warmed up to us & slipped us free Sambucas at the end of our meal. If you're in Ravello, you have to eat here. Antipasti & Primi were around 6 - 7€. Secondi were 9 - 10€. So figure 25 - 36€ per. I splurged on a 42€ Chianti Riserva that Netta insisted on charging only 40 for. She is a sweet lady & her English is quite good (better than the other staff). Dress informal. She opens at 6:30 & the place fills up by 9. Phone (39)089/857156.

The only negative was our reluctance to drink & drive. We had bused up, but after dinner the buses had stopped for the day. Netta called a driver which ended up costing 50€. So it WAS an expensive dinner. Of course, we could have stayed at the Villa Maria . . .

Weather Sidebar

We arrived at the same time the sun did, according to those we talked to. Temperatures were 22 - 28C (72 -80F) with moderate humidity. There was always a breeze from the water. Very, very pleasant with no AC necessary.

Todi - from the Roman wall.

One of Todi's Medieval gates

Fonte Cesia on top of a shrine

Day 5 Amalfi Coast to Todi, Umbria

We made an early & easy exit from the coast up & over the mountain again through Castellammare di Stabia directly to the Autostrade. I'm gonna miss that drive . . .

Once on the Autostrade, it was clear driving north. We exited at the Orvieto exit but turned south & looped under the Autostrade. Then it was a great drive thru the hills of Umbria beside the Tiber river. Total drive time was around 5 hours. Todi is perched on the peak of a hill with a commanding view of the valleys around. You enter through various gates in the Medieval/Roman/Etruscan wall. Tour buses can't enter (although school buses make it to the piazza) & must park in a large lot below the town to the west, where they have an elevator to bring people up to the street level. We drove in right to the main piazza & parked illegally until we found our hotel. They whisked our car away to a hidden parking spot - the location of which we discovered later.

This ancient hill town was everything we had hoped. Large enough to have a variety of restaurants, yet small enough for roaming. It has good tourist savvy, yet it is not overrun. Easy to reach, either via twisty road from the Orvieto Autostade cutoff or via the Terni/Perugia expressway (watch for carabineiri on this road!). Todi has a central piazza (surprise!) and our hotel was in a secondary piazza that was a small block away. The town had numerous sites: 12th century Duomo & palazzas, several very nice churches of different sizes & vintages. It also boasted Etruscan, Roman & medieval walls & gates. The views from numerous points on the walls were tremendous & the medieval feel of Todi's streets was just what we wanted. And it was never overrun with tourists.

Hotel Fonte Cesia Mini Suite 186€ http://www.fontecesia.it/

This hotel has an excellent location, 2 small blocks from main Piazza dei Popolo. Excellent staff with its own restaurant - La Palme. The Fonte Cesia is a modern 4 Star hotel whose lower public rooms used to be a convent. Our room was very large (Rm 111) with a large balcony (5m x 6m) that looked over the hotel's La Palme ristorante and the Piazza Fonte Cesia further below. Our view was roof tiles, with mountains far off in the distance. A very nice room - we loved it. The builder had a thing with strange light switches & the shower doors took some getting used to.

After arriving & getting settled, we kicked back & relaxed & explored some of the town.

For dinner, we slipped around the corner to the Cavour Ristorante for some pasta. Since we were in truffle land, I ordered a truffle pasta concoction for a starter & B ordered the same for entree. Mine was so 'truffly' that I hated it - too much truffle oil or something. B canceled her main & subbed another but in the end, we paid for it anyway. Wine was a local Montefalco Sangratino. Service was so-so but the waiter was really friendly & busy. Make sure you sit outside in the back for a great view of the countryside. 20 - 30€ (excluding wines).

Montalcino from afar.

Signs & vines south of Montalcino

Castello Banfi - Montalcino

Castello Banfi - Lunch Menu

Day 6 Montalcino, Tuscany - day trip from Todi . . .

When I planned our trip, one place that I wanted to go was Montalcino in Tuscany. I figured that it would be an easy drive from Todi. What I hadn't thought of, was that by this time in our trip, we would be sick of spending time in the car. This day certainly confirmed that. As a wine fancier, one of my favorites is Brunello di Montalcino. I have an over 20-year love affair with it, so I could not pass up the opportunity to visit Castello Banfi for a gourmet lunch. It was Saturday & I had pre-arranged reservations months in advance. We drove out to the Autostrade then north. We cut off towards Chianciano Terme on S146 bypassing Montepulciano & heading towards Montalcino. Take a left by the castle in Montalcino & south to the Banfi estate on the right after 10 kms or so. The signs marking vineyards along the way is like a who's who of Brunello. I wanted to stop at every one, but we had a mission. It was a 2 ½ drive all told from Todi.

Great food, stunning wine (the 97 Brunello was amazing). Of course, I bought some (31 Euros, as well as a bottle of their new 1997 Poggio Alle Mura 38 Euros). Yum, yum. The meal is in a smallish dining hall with an open kitchen & one hostess. It was a little surreal - three couples & a family group - everybody was really, really quiet - like dinner with royalty.

Castello Banfi http://www.castellobanfi.com/tour/index.html

On the drive back we skipped the parade of tour buses along S146 and went south via S2. A great highway with no traffic to speak of, but we were pulled over by Uzi toting carabineiri in the middle of nowhere near Mount Amiata. They used the pole with the red circle in the middle to signal me as I came around a bend. Cool, just like in the movies. I was speeding, of course - probably 120km/hr in a 90 - but they waved us on after a peek in the windows - maybe it was 'Be Kind to Tourist Day'.

Dinner was at the Ristorante Jacopone, right near the hotel. Good Umbrian food with slightly offhand service. Good wine selection. We had a different Montefalco Sangratino I believe. 20 - 30€ (excluding wine).

Saturday night was party night in Todi. The whole piazza filled up with cars as the social scene in Todi erupted. Everybody from miles around came to town to see & be seen. Quite a sight. All of the cafes & gellaterias were filled up so we gawked for a while & went to bed.

Piazza del Popolo with Duomo - Todi

The 'new' town below & hills - Todi

The Medieval washing area
Fonte Scarnabecco 1241

Day 7 Todi . . . continued . . .

Relaxing was the order of the day after our driving overload of 2 days. We wandered the town, visiting churches: the Duomo - Santa Maria Assunta, San Fortunato with Jacopone's tomb, Santa Maria della Consolazione by Bramante (one of San Pietro's builders) & Santa Maria in Camuccia with it's stolen & recovered Black Madonna. Also visited misc Roman & Medieval sites around town & generally meandered. We relaxed on our terrace on high for a while. Every morning I watched the hawks & swallows do their sky dancing from there.

We ate lunch at the busy Ristorante Umbria - the 'best' restaurant in town. Wonderful view from their outside patio right on the Roman walls looking east. Go for lunch or early dinner so you can enjoy the view. Good Umbrian food, wild boar (VG) and lots of truffle dishes. Not cheap. 30 - 40€ (excluding wine - we had a ½ bottle of Lungarotti's Rubesco that called to me).

At some point in the late afternoon, a religious procession marched by on the street below our patio. We had noticed that people were hanging banners out of their windows during the day in the street below our patio. And speaking of the patio, some kindly staff member had set up these great folding wooden loungers with stuffed cushions for us. Only this room had access to this patio, but it wasn't private. It was still really nice, though.

Dinner: La Palme - our hotel restaurant was very pleasant with a good selection of Umbrian & general Italian wine. Our meats were good & the rare-ish Sagrantino di Montefalco Riserva wine was excellent. Extremely nice locale - nestled in an upper courtyard with palm trees, hence the name. 30 - 40€ (excluding wine). Tip: Go here & skip Ristorante Umbria.

Sitting on the steps of the Duomo Sunday night - a band played in the piazza as a small car show (Maseratis, Fiats,& a Porsche etc) wrapped up and the parishioners made their way to a special mass - what a great scene.

Arch of San Damino with Via Flaminia Carsulae

The view south from Carsulae

Chiesa di San Damino - Carsulae

Day 8 Todi . . . continued . . .

This was an Umbrian day-trip day. I promised B that we wouldn't drive far.

We drove north to Deruta - ceramics central in Umbria. You can shop for ceramics from 20 - 30 factories, artist's studios and vendors along the main street of the new town. Warning: You will spend money here & then have to cart the stuff around for the rest of your trip! All prices & qualities from cheap souvenirs to very fine dinnerware. Many outlets offer shipping to North America.

Next up was Carsulae. Only 20 minutes south of Todi, just off the Terni/Perugia Hwy is this partly excavated roman town with the Via Flaminia as the main street. That's right. The Via Flaminia. Gaius Marius, Pompey, Caesar . . . they all marched on it with their legions. The ruts are still visible. The site was quite impressive & very quiet with only 4 or 5 other people wandering this big area. A brand-new visitor's center is at the entrance. An amphitheater, a theater, several temple foundations & a cute little medieval church, complete with frescoes. The massive Arch of San Damino straddles the Via Flaminia as the road disappears into the earth down a hill. Well worth a visit if you're anywhere nearby.

Dinner: Cavour Ristorante again for pizza.

Weather Sidebar

Very warm - temperatures were 26 - 29C (75 -85F) with moderate humidity. Very pleasant summer-like weather.

Driving Sidebar

After Napoli & the Amalfi Coast, driving in Umbria was a breeze. The only thing you have to watch is the road signs. When you come to a decision point, EVERY town & village is listed & you have to scan the list to find the one you want.

Our dump in Roma - Caravaggio

Coliseum

Inside the Coliseum

Arch of Constantine

Day 9 Todi to Roma

In the car & on the road again. Todi to Roma was a fast drive. We hopped on the Perugia/Terni highway (kind of a modern Via Flaminia) & skirted Roma to the north to get to the airport. Probably a 1 1/2 hr drive.

We dropped the car at Fiumicino and took the train into Termini. Doing a train with baggage is not fun, but it was cheap. You have to bull your way on & put your luggage anywhere you can see it. 18€ for 2 one-way & the station is in the same building as the car drop-off. The downside came at Termini, where we had to walk what seemed like miles to get to the taxis. (OK, they did have moving sidewalks).

Hotel Carravaggio 186€ (double per night) http://caravaggio.hotelinroma.com/

I chose this carefully on the net but obviously, not carefully enough. It was a dump, but a reasonably well-located dump one block from Via Nazionale, near the Quirinale. The lobby was dismal (and not like the pictures in the brochure). The breakfast room was worse (and not like the pictures in the brochure). The actual rooms were next door thru a separate entranceway that needed sandblasting or something & the elevator was obviously built before either World War. Another deserted but antiqued lobby was on the second floor at the start of the maze that they called hallways. The room was small & decrepit & desperately needed help - peeling wallpaper etc (and not like the pictures in the brochure). The satellite TV seemed to work better with the antenna & the AC was shut off because "no one in Roma uses AC this early". Oh well, it was only a 15 minute walk from the Trevi, the Foro & 20 minutes from the Pantheon. I have to admit though, the staff was excellent. BTW Via Nazionale is lined with mid-priced clothing boutiques for shopping.

Since we arrived before lunch, we hit the ground running. We walked to the Imperial Forum & had lunch in some wallet-sucking tourist restaurant right beside the Foro di Traiano. Next up was the Coliseum. We waved off the tour guides & wandered around the site ourselves. Very moving for B.

Then it was up the Via Sacre & onto the Palatine & the Republican Forum. Whew! Major history overload. Finally, it was up the Capitoline & thru Michelangelo's Campodoglio but we skipped the museum inside. We'll have to go back sometime . . .

The traffic in Roma is nuts, of course. Not as crazed overall as Napoli, but very constant & very noisy. Motorcycles, motorbikes & motor scooters everywhere. Streets. Sidewalks. They creep to the front at every red light & roar off. Of course, this is not unique to Roma. As a pedestrian, you have to be bold & stare them down. So get some Italian attitude & be brave.

Dinner: Il Bacaro (Pantheon area) http://www.ilbacaro.com/

One from the guide books. This one was crowded & the owner took forever (15 - 20 minutes) to wander over for wine advice. The food was very strange combinations - maybe a little too strange. My wife went to the washroom, which didn't flush & she got locked in! The staff seemed indifferent to this. Another patron, from North Carolina got locked in too. Their table was 2" from our table, so we got to know them quite well. Give this restaurant a miss unless you can sit outside. Make sure you go to a washroom before you arrive. 40 - 50€ (excluding wine).

Vatican Museum

The Pope in San Pietro's Piazza

Day 10 Roma . . . continued . . .

Vatican Day!

We taxied over to the Vatican museum just around 8AM to get in the line. The goal was to follow some net directions I had to beeline to the Sistine Chapel before it became hopelessly jammed. The guards supposedly frown on this exhibit 'vaulting' but when we did get admitted, that's what we did. And we weren't alone. So, after this neck-craning wonder we wandered leisurely back through the rest of the museum. I know we skipped a lot of the painting's galleries but we saw numerous Raphael's & Michelangelo's etc etc. And a lot of the sculpture. And the Egyptian stuff. And after that, we didn't care because we were arted out. Time for something different . . . but we'll have to go back . . .

We left the museum & went around the corner to the Piazza of San Pietro - which was cordoned off by police. Pope John Paul II was doing his outdoor Wednesday mass. Look for the tiny white blob under the canopy in the photo at left. That's him!

Since we couldn't get in, we wandered down the nearby streets & found a cafe for lunch, A pressed sandwich of some sort, I think. We ate outside. Interesting to have nuns & priests flitting around everywhere on the streets etc in full getup.

After lunch, we lined up for the dome elevator. 20 minutes & we were at the interim part when you realize that those pictures you see from down below in the church are large mosaics. Who'd have thought? Then up the twisted & narrowing stairway to the outer dome. B didn't like that part - especially the rope in the last stretch. But the view that awaits & the photo ops made it worthwhile. Back to ground level & we wandered into the church itself.

Religion aside. And the politics of religion aside, this is one stunning place! Michelangelo's Pietà - now unfortunately behind photo-smearing glass. The size of the building. The lavishness. The tombs of the popes. San Pietro's tomb. Even if you believe that god is a newt, this church is a must-see. Man's devotion to god, on LSD.

After this experience, we stumbled across the Tiber & grabbed a cab. Exhausted.

Dinner: Al Bric (Navona area)

A nice restaurant, noted (in the guide books) for having a great wine selection & they did. The food was very good too. A great meal. The waitress was very kind & helped us decode the menu. A bottle of Barbaresco bit the dust here. 40 -50€ (excluding wine)

One thing to note here, is walking in Roma. As long as your hotel is not in the 'burbs, Roma is a great walking city. I'm sure crime exists around every corner, but we saw none & never felt afraid staggering back to our hotel day or night. Of course we were North American early birds & went back to our hotel just when Roma is starting to rock & roll. They do eat very late . . .

Piazza of Pantheon

The Pantheon & musicians

Day 11 Roma . . . continued . . . our last day . . .

This day, we had no plan. It was done. We were getting touristed out. We left the hotel & made our way through the ups & downs of the long-gone Subura to the OTHER Church of San Pietro - the Vincoli one. Here, the marble of Moses by Michelangelo is the star. Oh yeah, and St Peter's 'chains'. Well, relics can't compete with a masterpiece.

We then headed up past Nero's Domus Aurea & eventually we got back to the Piazza Pantheon which we always seemed to be walking through. Then it was on to the Piazza Navona & wandering back, we stumbled upon the Teatro Argentina, with all of the cats. It is noted more as a cat sanctuary now, rather than for its notoriety. Caesar died in Pompey's Theater - the steps of which are visible. He killed the Republic of Rome & died because of it. Now cats get the crowds.

Rain kicked in at the Trevi - another place we kept 'finding'. We huddled with the vendors for a while & then made it to a department store nearby to wait out the brief shower.

Dinner this night ended up being a walk-by ristorante somewhere between Marcus Aurelius's column & the Pantheon. It was very good but the name never registered. We were tired. We were ready to go home.

Weather Sidebar

It was getting warmer by the time we hit Roma. Temps were 26 - 29C (75 -85F) with high humidity in the AM. We had our only rain in Roma, on the last day, after the last piazza. Perfect. It's amazing how umbrella vendors are on the street everywhere as soon as a drop of rain falls.