Rome—1st Night and 1st Day

When we arrived in Rome at about 4:00 p.m. on Feb. 15th, we set about looking for the bus that would take us from Malpensa Airport to the Termini Station in Rome. Our notes said that we should find the bus at Bay 3. We followed the signs to "Ground Transportation," and found a line up of buses. The very first one said it was going to Termini Station. The driver wanted 8 Euros each, but our notes had said it would be 4 Euros. Nevertheless, so we proceeded to get tickets. Once we were on the bus, we sat there for 45 minutes. We were quite frustrated since we weren't there long when we saw where the Bay numbers were and realized we were in Bay 1. We watched as a bus pulled into Bay 3 with an ad that said "Termini Station, 4 Euros." We also watched as that bus left within 10 minutes and went on its way while we sat for another 40 minutes waiting for our bus to leave. Despite our frustration, we eventually left the airport and, after many other stops, landed at Termini Station.

Once at the station, we had to find our hotel. We knew it was only a few blocks, but figuring out which direction was a challenge since the streets near the station (and, as we were soon to find out, in all of the cities we visited) were slanted and crisscrossed and not always on our map. After a couple of miscues, we found the Impero Hotel, which was only about two blocks away.

Our room at the Impero was very large and charmingly furnished with sturdy, old, whicker furniture. We were on the first floor, and there was a gorgeous stairway leading from the lounge area outside of our room down to the front desk. So, we only used the elevator to move in and out. We stayed in Rome for four nights.

We took a tour of the Vatican on the first day. Our tour guide was Rita, and we were happy to have her input rather than just going to the Vatican on our own. And, besides all the little tidbits she shared with, the fact that she knew where to go and that we didn't have to wait in the lines made us quite glad we had chosen the tour method of visiting the Vatican. From where our tour bus parked to the Vatican entrance for groups, we had to walk about 10 minutes along the wall that surrounds the Vatican. Then, we entered into a building with amazing marble pillars, endless sculptures, and many huge tapestries. As we walked along, we had to keep remembering to "look up" since the ceilings were all as amazing—or more so—as the things on the walls.

The picture of Ellen in a winter coat with snow is in the Vatican City and is to give a sense of the temperature. However, in reality, there was only a little snow, and it was all gone after a couple of days. We did, however, wear our winter coats the whole time in Rome. Luckily, the days were gorgeous winter days in the 40s, so we were quite comfortable.

We were unable to take pictures in the Sistine Chapel, so our only pictures are off the Internet. We knew we would have many times on our trip when we would feel awe just thinking about how old things were, and this was our first such experience. It is simply mind-blowing to think about those murals having been there since the late 1400s and early 1500s.

We were allowed to take pictures in St. Peter's Basilica, and our pictures show the immensity and ornateness of the basilica. The sculpture Mary holding the body of Jesus is Michelangelo's Pieta. The body resting under an altar is the actual preserved body of Pope John XXIII, which has been on display since 2001. He was the pope from 1958–1963, and he is the first pope I remember as a grade school girl going to a Catholic school. He died in 1963, and when his coffin was opened in 2001, his body was perfectly intact. He is only the third pope to be given the honor of being placed in a glass coffin for viewing, and he was given this honor due to his efforts to reform the church during the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) and because he is going to be named (or has been named??) as a saint.

All the chairs set up in the open area in front of St. Peter's Basilica were for some event, but we didn't see that. The man standing at the top of the steps into St. Peter's, holding a sword, and wearing high boots and colorful sleeves is a member of the Swiss Guard. Although the Vatican City has other security people, the official Vatican guards are all Swiss and have been so since the early 1500s.

The building with the seven sculptures showing in front of it is where the pope lives. His apartment is on the top floor. On Sunday's around noon, he stands at the second window from the right and blesses the crowd.

After we left the Vatican, we walked around a little and found the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps since they weren't far from our hotel. The view from up high is from the top of the Spanish Steps.

On our first two nights in Rome, we ate at the same little restaurant (The Washington Ristorante), which was right across from our hotel. The food was good, and the waiters spoke enough English to make ordering easy. You can see by Ellen's bare feet that her warm boots that worked great for walking around Rome were too warm for the restaurant!