BLOG #15

5 September 2008
Hello to all……………we’ll be home this evening.
Rome is one spot in the world that everyone ought to experience at least once in a lifetime. As a matter of fact, it seemed as though everyone was doing exactly that during our one day visit. The Norwegian Jade was just one of eight large cruise ships that we could count in the harbor at Civitavecchio, the harbor that serves Rome. We knew for sure that everyone was trying to meet the above goal when we taxied to Trevi Fountain to toss a few coins. Our estimate was that there had to be at least three or four thousand picture takers in the Piazza Trevi during our visit. We got our pictures but it took a lot of elbowing and determination to get close enough to see if there was actually water in the fountain. There was.
We signed up for a shore excursion that promised a bus ride around Rome to see the really good stuff and three and half hours on our own to do what we wished. Our guided tour took us to the Coliseum, the Roman Forum, the Circus Maximus, the Spanish Steps, several dozen of the more than 700 churches in Rome, the seven hills of Rome, and a whole bunch of other stuff that was interesting at the time. After riding on a bus for three hours we wished for something to eat which we found at a nearby local. Then we were off to see the Vatican up close. We joined a two block long line leading to St. Peter’s Basilica, the largest religious building in the world. The line moved quickly as we were carried first to the tombs of the Popes that took us past the last pope’s beautifully lit niche and then to that of St. Peter, the first Pope. Upstairs we joined the awe struck as we gawked at the beauty of Michelangelo’s marvel that took the best part of a hundred years to complete. As a part of a crowd into the thousands, we reverently viewed the wonderful art work and statuary that makes St. Peter’s what it is. Finally we worked our way to Michelangelo’s “Pieta”, the white marble sculpture of Jesus laying across Mary’s lap that has entranced millions of visitors with its simplicity and fullness of meaning.
We couldn’t do the Vatican without experiencing the Sistine Chapel so we followed much smaller crowds out of the Basilica and around the Vatican Wall to the Vatican Museum. We found that one just doesn’t visit the Sistine Chapel. The path to the Sistine Chapel takes visitors through fifty-four separate chapels before entering the Sistine. The trek was more than worth it. The Sistine Chapel certainly lives up to its reputation for beautiful paintings created by Michelangelo and reverence. Even though several hundred people stood with us with necks bent back to look upwards, the silence was unbelievable. For a moment a little chatter began. A loud clap from an attendant was all it took for silence to return.
Once back on the street we reevaluated our plan to walk through the Roman Forum and Coliseum. The temperature had grown into the nineties and muggy. We already felt a little crisp from sun burn while standing in lines. Instead, we hailed a cab and headed for Trivi Fountain and the apparent primary focus of interest for Rome visitors.
We found the fountain, managed our way through the throngs of picture takers, pick pockets and men dressed up as Roman Centurions ready to pose, whip in hand, for the picture sure to thrill those back home who would feel obligated to look at everyone of your gazillion pictures from your Roman holiday. We managed a couple of snaps and decided that the lunch we hurriedly consumed several hours earlier hadn’t met our needs. We found a nearby sidewalk café where we could get a panni and cup and watch the hordes of tourists passing to and from the Piazza Trevi. They were all smiling and so were we.
Our stop at Livorno, Italy provided a jump off point for passengers who wished to do the great art museums in Florence, or the history and leaning-ness of Pisa, or to traverse the glorious Tuscany countryside and sample the famous wines of the areas. We chose to visit Pisa and its famous leaning tower. On the way we learned that Tuscany is one of Italy’s twenty regions and perhaps its most famous. The rolling hills reminded us of the foothills growing eastward out of San Joaquin Valley minus the oak trees.
Before we left Livorno our guide let us know that Livorno was the first major city in Italy to allow true freedom of religion. As a result, the city has had a more cosmopolitan population than is usual for the country. The city also hosts what was described to us as the United States largest military base in Europe. We drove along side the base for miles and were convinced she was right. She complained, in an off hand way, that the U. S. required all working on base to be able to speak English. This has been a thorn in the side of Livornoians for decades.
Pisa is famous for its “Leaning Tower” which actually leans fourteen degrees off of plumb. As a matter of fact, the other two 12th and 13th structures near the tower also lean. The tower was leaning before it was completed with dozens of adjustments made to keep it from falling over. Our guide told us that sooner or later it will fall but not for another century or so. As long as people are willing to pay fifteen euros for the privilege of climbing to the top, Pisa folks will find a way to keep it in place. The lean of the tower did make Galileo’s experiments with falling objects a little easier to manage and right there in the town where he grew up.
The Cathedral next to the tower was actually begun in 1053. It is unusual in that it exhibits elements of Romanesque, Gothic Moorish and Byzantine architecture. The result is a marvelously beautiful church. The Construction of the Baptistery next door was begun in 1152 and is of Romanesque style. The site is completed with a graveyard referred to locally as the Campo Sacre. Local lore insists that those buried in the “sacred field” turn to skeletons within the first twenty-four hours after burial. It struck us that they must have some very hungry termites in Pisa.
Our final cruise day took us to Villafranche and Monaco, the thirteenth country Dottie has visited in the past thirty-eight days (Her globe trotting total is now sixteen countries…and growing). We quickly decided after our visit that this must be the home of more wealthy people than any other two square kilometer space on the globe. Gas stations we passed posted prices of about $10.00 US per gallon. We learned that the smallest possible flat in town would cost well over a million dollars. The yachts rocking gently in the harbor spoke of great wealth. Even the run abouts tied up to the sea wall looked expensive.
Our tour took us past the houses of Princesses Caroline and Stephanie and to the castle where brother Albert now resides. We toured the Cathedral of Monaco and thought we were in a church serving millions rather than the 43,000 inhabitants. About 30,000 workers come into town each day to take care of the rich and famous and to sell baubles to tourists. Casino Square was bordered on one side by the world famous casino, a second side by a hotel where prices start at $1800 a night and a third by a huge sidewalk café where most people only sat in the shade rather than be subject to the pricey menu. Most of our tour group got off easy by buying little ice cream cones for about $6.00 a scoop.
Our guide reminded us that our tour bus was creeping along the hallowed lanes where formula I cars scream by at better than 300 Km and hour to entertain yacht-setters who come from all over the globe for the festivities. We tried to urge our driver to speed up a little going around hair pin turns but he only responded that he had a wife and nine children to feed.
Now we’re really in a hurry to get home and catch up on the Pleasanton side of our lives. Our bus from the ship will pick us up at the unfriendly hour of 7:00 AM with a travel plan that will have us home a little after 7:00 PM Pleasanton time. If it weren’t for the nine hour time difference it could be a restful bit of travel that included more than twenty thousand miles and a whole bunch of fun.
We love you all. We wished you could have been with us every moment of the trip…………….kind of.
Gram and Grampa Bill, Mom and Dad, Bill and Dottie