The next morning, having woken up late, we caught the next train available to Rome, (the EuroStar) which is extremely quick! It's also more expensive, however, and while I won't bore you with the details of this story, suffice it to say, Emma and I didn't have the right ticket. We narrowly avoided arrest and jail as well as international (Shapelle Corby-esque) fame by paying a penalty and the difference in fares!
When in Rome however we were met my Emma's lovely cousin Roberto, and his partner Mary. They took us to a lovely little converted contenental deli turned boutique ristorante. We waited to be seated in a lovely old building. The room was small, but the walls were lined with bottle after bottle of wine from in and around Italy! Lara and Vince would've loved it! It was possible to order meals from the menu, but the specialty was plates of cold meats and cheese. We had a plate of proscuittos, salamis and hams as well as a cheese plate which we all shared with a bottle of red. The meats were exquisite! Each plate had a different selection of the meats to try from the specialist continental deli.
After this, Mary and Roberto took us for a quick tour of Rome. We saw the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon as well as a few other places. We stopped for coffee and gelati along the way, (the gelati however was not as good as Vivoli's - the best gelati in Florence, further detail to come in a future post!) and after a long day Roberto and Mary dropped us at Emma's other cousin, Micheale's apartment, where we were staying. The apartment was quite close to the centre as such things go which was fantastic! Michaele came that night and took us to dinner at a little place near where he works. It was a FRENZY. The waiters took your order as quickly as they could, yelling 'Grazie grazie grazie!' over their shoulder as they ran back to the kitchen! Without fail, they would almost throw the order down on the table when it arrived. Our caraffe of white wine was so forcefully plonked on the table, a good measure of it slopped over the side! None the less, it was a fantastic atmosphere to be in! We finshed the dinner with 'macedonia' (fruit salad) that the waitress had massively talked up but turned out to be forgettable as well as a 'takeaway' Limoncello! We were then rushed out as there was rather a long line of people waiting for a table and took a walk about the city.
We walked past the Colosseum as well as the Roman Forum and stopped for a moment at a War Memorial that was erected by Mussolini (I think). Micheale was keen on helping us improve our Italian which meant he was speaking it as much as possible! Emma had nearly no problems, and I would nod and smile and hope that he would then translate into English, which he invariably did!
The next day was spent in a line at Piazza Saint Pietro (in the Vatican City) for almost 2 hours waiting to see Saint Peter's Basilica. Well worth the wait, the basilica is filled with treasures and beautifully decorated. We climbed to the top of the tower to see the view which again was AMAZING! (Photos to come soon!) In addition to this we wandered the Pope's tombs were all the Pope's are buried. Of particular note was John Paul's tomb. Everyone wanted to stop, but there were two Vatican employees calling out 'avanti, avanti!' (move on!). People were allowed to remain if they were praying however, and there were several people on their knees in front of the tomb, many with tears streaming down their forlorn faces.
The Sistene Chapel was closed that day so to kill some time before dinner we went to see the Trevi Fountain (beautiful) and then, if you can believe it, to see a MOVIE!! Emma really wanted to see Sex and the City, and I was happy to tag along, so we found a movie theatre that showed what they call here 'original language films' and bought two tickets. The movie theatres here are very different to back home. The Candy Bar is tiny, and there was no need to pass it to get to the cinema. In fact, the biggest part was the bar, where you could buy alcohol and coffee. There was also a little alcove where you could sit down and play poker machines! In the foyer! It was hilarious!! (Again I have some photos!) We also found some Choc-Top equivalents and there was of course, the obligatory Coke and popcorn! The movie meanwhile was fantastic! Extremely funny!
The next day, we tried to get up early to see a parade that Michaele had recommended. (It was a public holiday and the President was in a parade down the main road in the city) however, alas it was not to be. We headed straight for the Vatican Museum line which went for almost a kilometre. (This is where the Sistene Chapel is). Luckily we were able to dodge this by joining a tour. Definately the way to go! It was a bit more expensive, but we had the MOST fantastic guide named Alex, and really got our moneys worth! The tour went for almost three hours and the best part of course was the Sistene Chapel itself. While very crowded you were able to see everything. It was difficult to imagine Michaelangelo spending three years of his life on his back, painstakingly painting this ceiling. I learned that in fact, he had never picked up a brush prior to this point and had been forced into the project by the Pope of the time. There is however, much symbolism in the paintings which I definately would've missed if not for the guide.
Indescribable.
Following this we grabbed something to eat and headed home. The return train took 3 hours and 45 minutes! (Needless to say, was NOT EuroStar!) and by the time we got home we were pooped!
Congratulations for getting to the end!
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