Italy, Saturday 6/14/14

Today was our first day of officially touring Roma. It is going to be quite a busy day.  

We set the alarm for 6:00 AM so we would be up and ready for breakfast that began at 7:00.  It turned out that the alarm wasn't necessary.  We are 9 hours ahead of Seattle time so calls from the homeland began arriving at 3:00 AM. After the last call at around 4:30, we found it impossible to go back to sleep.  We got ready early and had to wait in the lobby ahead of the restaurant's opening. 

After a very nice buffet breakfast with almost everything imaginable, we hopped on our tour bus and set sail for Vatican City. 

We had a guided tour through the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel and then walked to Saint Peters Basilica.

 St. Peters was absolutely crammed full of people awaiting the Pope who was scheduled to hold a Mass for the throngs of the gathered masses.  

Apparently some in our group did stay around the Basilica and actually saw the Pope.  The lunch break occurred at the same time so we opted for an excellent pizza at nice little close by restaurant. (Sausage & mushroom with a little cheese, drizzled with olive oil). Fantastic. 

After lunch, our group met up again and boarded the bus which took us to the Colosseum and Forum ruins. 

Much of what we have seen of Rome is that of a typical large city.  Reasonably modern buildings and plenty of apartments along with a church here and there and some "other" structures.  

Vatican City is a walled area and very identifiable.  A beautiful place, indeed. Hearing the explanation for all of the fresco paintings gives you a better understanding of the history. 

Not far from there, you enter the "old" city that is finally the ornate and quaint buildings we were expecting to see more of.  

Smack-dab in the middle of that is the Roman Colosseum.  

It's almost surprising to see ruins in the middle of a city.  Usually old structures are torn down to make way for the latest need.  

Although not in their pique condition, they have stood since 750 BC.  

Fascinating to hear the history and tour the area. Handy too that we had guided tours. They were pre-booked and saved us the over 2 hour wait in line to buy tickets and see things without explanation. 

Dinner tonight is in another old part of Rome, at a restaurant called Trastevere.

 The name means across (Tras) the Tiber river (Tevere).  It was very mediocre but with the gaiety of our group and the classic tunes strummed by local musician, it made for an excellent evening. 

Back to the bar at the hotel for a nightcap, we got to chatting with a couple of other people on the tour that we had not previously met.  Perfect end to a terrific day!