Rome Highlights

If it's Monday it must be Rome, and indeed it is. Gianni our private driver met us at the pier with his brand new Lancia sedan. The four of us climbed in and were off for the 1 1/2 hour drive from Civitavecchia to Rome. Gianni shared tidbits of information about the area we were passing thru enroute to our destination. Upon entering this bustling city it was obvious that it was a Monday morning. All the workers were headed back to the heart of the city from their weekend homes by the seaside. In other words, traffice was heavy. We headed straight for the Vatican, but even at 9:45 in the morning, the line wrapped around 3 sides of this 190 acre walled city, with people waiting for the 10AM opening. Needless to say, Gianni said it would be best to try later in the day. After crossing over the Tiber river, we were in the other section of Rome where the majority of historic sites are to be found.

Gianni showed us so many of the significant sites I can only begin to list them. We drove by Saint Mary of the Holy Mount, which is one of the seven churches of Rome. We stopped at the Trevi Fountain which at the time was being emptied of all its coins. The armored truck carried away 5 laundry size canvas bags of coins. We contributed by tossing a coin over our shoulder for luck. Our next interesting stop was the Church of St. Peter, a beautiful setting for the statue of Moses, sculpted by Michaelangelo prior to his being assigned to do the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Inside this church were the chains in which Peter was locked up in while in prison during his ministry.

Our next stop was the Colusseum, an awesome structure to view, and to hear the stories of events that were held within from Gianni. According to Gianni, it took 7000 Jewish slaves to build the Colusseum, the capacity of the structure was 80000 people and it could be evacuated in 10 minutes time as there are 80 exits. Next to the Colusseum is the Arch of Constantine the Greek. Before lunch we also saw the Roman Baths and had a unique visit to the "keyhole of Rome" as well as a stop at Palentine Hill where the rape of the Sabine women took place according to legend in 753 BC. On this site now is the Imperial Palace, built in 80 AD.

After enjoying a meal served at a quiet, picturesque restaurantby 3 old men (we called it the Elderly Gentlemen's Club), we went to the Roman Forum, City Hall, the Pantheon and St. Peter's Square. St. Peter's Square took from 1450-1626 to build, has 152 statues around the top of it. Gianni pointed out which window was the Papal residency and told us that the columns on either side of the church represent the outstretched arms of Christ. We returned to the entrance of the Vatican but the line was still queued around 2 sides of the Vatican. Because the Vatican was due to close in 40 minutes, it was determined we would not queue up to try and get in. Therefore, it was time to head back to Civitavecchia and our floating home.

Ciao,

Sandy