Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Italy, Our Final Day

We decided to sleep in and relax on our final day in Rome. It was Sunday, as well as the first Sunday of the month, which meant that there was free entry into all museums. CROWDS. So we went had breakfast and talked about what we should do that day. Well, what do most people do on Sunday while in Rome? See the Pope of course! We had about 2 hours to wander over towards the Vatican, so we set out on our adventure.
Bright eyed and bushy tailed!

That the top of the Spanish Steps.


Which were closed off for restoration.





Jay asked if these were pajamas. No. Do you wear them in the bedroom? Nope. Men's suit.

WOW! Look at the bead work!

Stylin!






Gas station. Very interesting. We didn't really think about gas stations in Rome until we pass this one. It's ON the road. You pull over, an attendant fills you up and you on on your way.



Castle of St. Angelo


There it is! Our first view.

Getting closer! At this point we were ushered into 4 lines. At the end of each of the lines were 4-6 guards surveying the crowd, we then had to open our bags, and were searched with a wand metal detector and patted down. I had our 2 Oggi water bottles, and were told they were not allowed. I placed them into the cardboard boxes and were told we could retrieve them later.

And closer! Once inside you could hear the enormous choir singing (click to view video) being broadcast from huge speakers placed through out the square. There were people with special golden tickets (yes, they were really golden) that got a special place up front. The rest were herded into a central area. We hung back and watched the crowd and listened, not wanting to get stuck in the crowd, wanting to be able to leave when we wanted. At this point a guard told us in Italian, "Mr. and Mrs, Either you are here or not, please come forward and find a spot." They then closed of the area behind us. We were in.

Waiting... it's now 12:10 and he is late.

. There were a lot of curious onlookers like us, and other very Catholic people in the area. We lined up against a fence thinking that the Pope was going to appear from the window just above the white banner, wave his hand and be done with it. Next thing I know I hear the woman next to me saying "Mio Dio, Mio Dio!" My God! My God! and there he was, walking and waving to the crowd. We lost sight of him, but the crowd, which was silent(!) up until that time started to get excited!

A few moments later we saw why.

Nice frock!



There he goes! Well that was fun. I felt like I was seeing some celebrity that I have seen in movies my whole life. * please see notation. There was a camera man on the back filming the whole thing, which was broadcast just outside the square onto a HUGE screen for anyone who didn't make the cut off to see.


The most popular car in all of Rome.



The smallest electric car I have ever seen! Sat one in front and a small child directly behind.

Grabbing some lunch in front of the Pantheon.


Pastries!

We were done for the day. We wandered around some more and headed back to the hotel to pack up and get ready to leave in the morning. Our flight left at 9:30 am, but we had a train to catch.


Jay having one last espresso.

My Latte Machiatto and Nutella croissant. 

Goodbye Italy!

Hello Israel!


*While I am a Christian, I am not Catholic and do not personally hold the Pope in any position other than a religious leader no higher than Pastor Scott at Sparks Christian Fellowship.*

Italy Pt. 3 Florence

Ah, do you feel the achenes in our bodies? 40+ Year old bodies may think they can walk for 13 hours and be ok, but come morning, we were paying for it. Every step from our hotel bed to the train was felt ten fold. But we were ready to take on the day!
We quickly got ready and ate breakfast, gulping down our Italian coffee and headed over to Roma Termini for our 8:20am train to Florence! I was so excited! A high speed train through Tuscany! Yes please!
Tired but excited and joined in on the fashion trend. Everyone in Italy wears scarves. 
Plus it was cold!


245 Km/H! (153 MPH)

Greenery! 





Trying out the espresso in the cafe.




Such a quaint little town!


More motorcycles

Market

More seating areas jutting out into the street.



Our first stop was the Gallery Accademia, which houses Michaelangelo's David.
As we were walking there the street was lined with street hawkers selling paintings. I made the mistake of pointing to one in passing and said, oh, I have always loved that one. Next thing I know the guy grabbed it and started following us. I knew the going rate and when he said 20 Euro I knew he thought we were an easy target. I said No way. He said 15! I said 10! SOLD! He rolled it up and was on his way. Now, trying to be sly, we passed another one that I thought was beautiful. These guys are well trained and even though I didn't think I was obvious, he grabbed it and pointed to our painting asking HOW MUCH!? HOW MUCH? I told him 10, he grabbed my painting, unrolled it, rolled the other painting inside and said 8! And just like that I was the owner of 2 very lovely paintings for 18 Euro. (I will take a picture and show you later.) 
We pre-purchased tickets to the Gallery and I am glad I did. There was a line outside of people waiting to get in, but we walked right in. The gallery is very small. But there in the middle was this guy. Wow. That is all you can say when you are there standing in front of him.






The rest of the gallery was very underwhelming. But I am glad to have been able to see David.

As soon as you leave the Gallery, you see this lovely view of the Duomo.


Getting closer.


This thing is HUGE!!!

The bell tower. (click to listen)


We decided to have a snack and people watch for a while. I ordered a machiatto instead of a Latte machiatto. Whoa! Caffeine rush! Machiatto is an espresso with a shot of milk. A latte machiatto is milk with a shot of espresso. Much weaker.



Walking inside was a bout 15 degrees (f) cooler than outside! 
I would hate to visit in the middle of winter! 


Unless you paid, this was the best view of the painting inside the dome. I provided a link up top in the word Duomo, it has some great pictures and an aerial view to show the massive size of the church.
I have more pictures later when we pass it again.
Now, off to wander again.
By the way. My allergies were terrible in Florence. The wind was blowing and it was bringing in every single pollen spore from the surrounding area. It was bad.

Prices in the Disney Store were cheaper than in America!



So many Piazza's!

Street Art

Drooling Wild Boar








Medusa having her poor head cut off....




Yep. Allergy face.
Jay wasn't interested in seeing anymore museums, so we just decided to walk around and experience Florence itself. See where our feet would take us. Do me a favor. If you ever get the chance to visit Florence, do NOT go to the Boboli Gardens. I can not warn you enough. I had no idea. We had to pay 10 Euro each to get in, and once in we were faced with up hill gravel walkways that were lined with box hedges that were at least 20 feet high. That was it. That was our view. We were tired and hoped for a nice garden with some flowers, some benches, SOMETHING! We hit the washroom and I declared that I was going to find a grassy area and take a nap! And that is just what I did. After hiking up hill to get to the garden, then up hill to the grassy place, and allergies... I was done.


After my 30 minutes snooze (surrounded by other tourists doing the same thing)
This was the view. 

Us, smiling and pretending this place is fun.


We left and headed back into the city. We were hearing Ambulance sirens getting closer and then noticed a police officer taking pictures of a taxi... then, there was a poor woman sitting on the curb, the taxi had hit her! The poor woman. Her vacation ruined! We watched a nice puppet show, and continued on our way.





Back at the Duomo


FOOD!





At the train station. 1 Euro to use the toilet. 
We finally arrived back at the hotel near 11pm.