{"id":89,"date":"2012-06-11T13:04:53","date_gmt":"2012-06-11T11:04:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joncu.roguenet.org\/swissblog\/?p=89"},"modified":"2021-09-21T22:47:36","modified_gmt":"2021-09-21T22:47:36","slug":"89","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/2012\/06\/11\/89\/","title":{"rendered":"Grazie Roma"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Itinerary:<\/h2>\n<ul style=\"font-family: arial\">\n<li>Thu. Arrive, get scammed, eat pizza and gelato<\/li>\n<li>Fri. Vatican, St. Peter\u2019s, pizza, Castle, gelato, gnocchi<\/li>\n<li>Sat. Forum, pizza, Coliseum, gelato, Chinese food<\/li>\n<li>Sun. Spanish steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Black Truffles,\u00a0Circus Maximus, spaghetti, tiramisu<\/li>\n<li>Mon. Return, lunch in Zurich, picnic\u00a0in Bern<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Details:<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Thu.<\/strong>\u00a0 After meeting MC\u2019s sisters and nephews in the airport, we were headed for the train, but we found ourselves by the taxi stands.\u00a0 We were approached to take a taxi, but of course said \u201cNo thanks, we\u2019re taking the train.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cO, it\u2019s only 20 Euro each, just a little more than the train and if you take the train, you still have to take a taxi from the train to your hotel and then you\u2019ll be paying more.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cO, no we\u2019ll walk, we\u2019re strong and it\u2019s not far.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cO, ha ha, I\u2019m sure you are, but we\u2019ll make a deal and give you a price on the return trip if you call us.\u201d Well, it wasn\u2019t quite that simple or straightforward, but it seemed with 6 of us, perhaps it would be easier, so we agreed.<\/p>\n<p>This despite the research 3 of us had done, saying taxi rates from the airport to Rome have been set at 40 Euros flat.\u00a0 It was almost worth the extra just to share the thrill of riding in a car in Rome, which has been declared the most dangerous city to drive in.<\/p>\n<p>On arrival at our hotel, neon signs gave us all the info we needed our first night:\u00a0 where to get pizza and gelato.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Fri.<\/strong> MC\u2019s sister Margie was our tour guide and primary pre-researcher for Rome.\u00a0 She had purchased our tickets for the Vatican Museum online ahead of time so we avoided the block-long line for buying tickets and walked right in.\u00a0 Crowds were thick, far more than at the Louvre, so if you pass something, don\u2019t plan on turning back to see it.\u00a0 Fortunately, like the Louvre, it is so dense with artwork, statuary, relics, and wall\/ceiling\/floor decoration that even those of us who had been there before enjoyed the visit.\u00a0 The Sistine Chapel was, for us, a letdown.\u00a0 You expect to be awed.\u00a0 Yes, the paintings are excellent and large&#8211;they cover the upper half of the 2-story-high walls and the entire ceiling.\u00a0 But this is a chapel and not awesome-sized, even compared to some of the rooms you have just walked through.\u00a0 Perhaps without the crowds and the guards standing on the altar to hush us and prevent pictures, it may have seemed less claustrophobic and dark.\u00a0 But I think there is simply too much build-up.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_101\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/VaticanHallway.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-101\" class=\"size-full wp-image-101\" title=\"VaticanHallway\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/VaticanHallway.jpg\" alt=\"Vatican Hallway\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/VaticanHallway.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/VaticanHallway-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-101\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vatican Hallway<\/p><\/div>\n<p>St. Peter\u2019s is free so we did have a long line to wait in, but it moved quickly.\u00a0 This cathedral definitely serves its purpose, assuming the builders wanted to display the power and wealth of the Catholic Church.\u00a0 Humongous.\u00a0 Tons of marble.\u00a0 Make sure you\u2019ve seen it all before you step outside; the guards don\u2019t let you back in.\u00a0 And don\u2019t go on Sunday.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_99\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/StPetersOutside.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-99\" class=\"size-full wp-image-99\" title=\"StPetersOutside\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/StPetersOutside.jpg\" alt=\"StPetersOutside\" width=\"600\" height=\"254\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/StPetersOutside.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/StPetersOutside-300x127.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-99\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The line to get into St. Peter&#039;s<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Castel di Angelo was something we had not heard of.\u00a0 Close to the Vatican, at one time an underground passage was dug between the two to provide an escape route for the pope in case anyone attacked the Vatican.\u00a0 Small fee, not crowded, nice views, lots of steps.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_91\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/CastelDiAngelo.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-91\" class=\"size-full wp-image-91\" title=\"CastelDiAngelo\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/CastelDiAngelo.jpg\" alt=\"CastelDiAngelo\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/CastelDiAngelo.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/CastelDiAngelo-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-91\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Castel di Angelo (with MC in hat, Nate in orange, Margie in backpack)<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>Sat.<\/strong> Again Margie\u2019s research paid off, as she knew which entrance to the Forum complex would have a short line.\u00a0 MC rented the audio guide, but while it does provide some interesting stories, it\u2019s hard to follow the map and orient yourself in the ruins.\u00a0 The book Anne had from DK Eyewitness Travel provided as much information on the Forum (and on all the other sites we visited).\u00a0 The Forum is a much larger, more complex, and more ruined place than we had expected.\u00a0 While we have information about what was here at various times, what we are left with now are a few columns, broken stones, and bits of wall, except where at some point buildings were re-cycled into churches.\u00a0 Do try to make your way into Santa Francesca Romana which has a lovely and peaceful interior.\u00a0 It was nearly empty but for us.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_98\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/SantFrancescaCourt.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-98\" class=\"size-full wp-image-98\" title=\"SantaFrancescaCourt\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/SantFrancescaCourt.jpg\" alt=\"Santa Francesca Court\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/SantFrancescaCourt.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/SantFrancescaCourt-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-98\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Santa Francesca Romana Courtyard<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The Palatine Hill is another challenge for the imagination.\u00a0 Remnants of walls, reminders of gardens, a bit of mosaic are all that remain of the palaces of Augustus, Tiberius and Domitian.\u00a0 Seeing in person how the Romans constructed buildings was interesting.\u00a0 Walls were very thick piles of stones held by concrete (which the Romans invented).\u00a0 Then they were lined with thin red clay bricks which were next covered with slabs of marble.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_95\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/PalatineHill.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-95\" class=\"size-full wp-image-95\" title=\"PalatineHill\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/PalatineHill.jpg\" alt=\"Palatine Hill\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/PalatineHill.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/PalatineHill-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-95\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Palatine Hill<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Our Forum\/Palatine ticket also included the Coliseum, so again, after lunch, we avoided the line and walked right in.\u00a0 While it is much in ruins, there is&#8211;as you have seen in pictures&#8211;much left and it is not hard to believe it held 75,000 people.\u00a0 With the floor gone, you can see the two stories below where animals and gladiators awaited their fate.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_92\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/Coliseum.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-92\" class=\"size-full wp-image-92\" title=\"Coliseum\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/Coliseum.jpg\" alt=\"Coliseum\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/Coliseum.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/Coliseum-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-92\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Coliseum Interior<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>Sun.<\/strong> Free day&#8211;we freely strolled the city seeing lots of free stuff.\u00a0 We chose a walking route which emphasized Bernini\u2019s works, including the Fountain of the Triton and the Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona. We were duly awed by the Trevi Fountain, climbed down the Spanish Steps (the better direction to go), gasped at the Pantheon&#8217;s dome, lunched on black truffles in the Piazza Navona, strolled beside the Tiber, wondered at the 300,000 people who could watch the games at the Circus Maximus (now just a grass field), and ended the day with Tiramisu and Profiteroles (the latter drowned in chocolate whipped cream sauce!).\u00a0 A lovely end to a lovely visit.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_93\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/Family.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-93\" class=\"size-full wp-image-93\" title=\"Family\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/Family.jpg\" alt=\"MC's Family at the Trevi Fountain\" width=\"600\" height=\"448\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/Family.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/Family-300x224.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-93\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Margie, Toby, Nate, Anne and MC by the Trevi Fountain<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_100\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/TreviFountain.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-100\" class=\"size-full wp-image-100\" title=\"TreviFountain\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/TreviFountain.jpg\" alt=\"Trevi Fountain\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/TreviFountain.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/TreviFountain-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-100\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Trevi Fountain<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_94\" style=\"width: 460px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/FourRivers.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-94\" class=\"size-full wp-image-94\" title=\"FourRivers\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/FourRivers.jpg\" alt=\"Four Rivers Fountain\" width=\"450\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/FourRivers.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/FourRivers-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-94\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_96\" style=\"width: 460px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/Pantheon.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-96\" class=\"size-full wp-image-96\" title=\"Pantheon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/Pantheon.jpg\" alt=\"Pantheon\" width=\"450\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/Pantheon.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/07\/Pantheon-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-96\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pantheon<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Itinerary: Thu. Arrive, get scammed, eat pizza and gelato Fri. Vatican, St. Peter\u2019s, pizza, Castle, gelato, gnocchi Sat. Forum, pizza, Coliseum, gelato, Chinese food Sun. Spanish steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Black Truffles,\u00a0Circus Maximus, spaghetti, tiramisu Mon. Return, lunch in Zurich, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/2012\/06\/11\/89\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-italy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1525,"href":"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89\/revisions\/1525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}