2016 - The Italian Trip (Part 4 - Rome)

Monday 26 September
We arrived in Rome on time and made our way to the Beehive Hotel. This is just around the corner from the Termini station and is very comfortable.

After lunch in the railway station, we wandered down the Via Cavour to the Victor Monument.

Another good lunch at the upstairs cafe in Termini railway station.

Trajan's markets.

The view over the Piazza Venezia.

Inside the Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri.

Tuesday 27 September

We walked down to the Colosseum and the Forum. Naturally the crowds were huge so we did not even bother with the Colosseum. The Form is an interesting place to wander around and it is possible to find reasonably quiet areas.

The Colosseum.

A bell tower near the Forum.

The Basilica Santi Cosma e Damiano in the Forum.

The view from the Forum back over Rome.

The sports arena in the Forum.

After lunch in the Termini cafe, we caught the metro to the Spanish Steps.

The Spanish Steps.

Wednesday 28 September

To the Vatican Museum and St Peter's. I had previously bought tickets and we managed to avoid the very long queue by entering via the "Groups Only" line. Suppose a group of two counts.

A long walk through all the galleries towards the Sistine Chapel. The route was different from last time I was in the museum, there seemed to be lots of renovations happening.

The museum's courtyard.

Socrates (Greek philosopher and Brazilian footballer)

The famous double spiral staircase in the Vatican Museum.

From there we went to St Peter's and again the queue was long, about 45 minutes. It was busy inside, there being a Mass in progress.

The queue to get into St Peter's.

A late lunch, an afternoon nap and an excellent gelato from La Romana on Via Venti Settembre.

Thursday 29 September

A shopping day. We walked from the Flaminio metro station through the Piazza del Popolo and down the Via del Corso. This has a multitude of small, very expensive shops on it. The Ecco store had some nice shoes that I bought.

Music in the Piazza del Popolo.

The Piazza del Popolo.

The Via del Corso.

The owner of the Beehive had suggested we go out to the Cinecitta Metro stop as there is a large shopping mall situated next to the famous movie studio. Malls seem to be reasonably rare in Italy. I think the only thing we bought was a bunch of grapes from the supermarket.

A late lunch, an afternoon nap and an excellent gelato from La Romana on Via Venti Settembre.

Friday 30 September

This was a travel day as it takes the best part of two days (travel time and time differences) to get back to NZ. The flight left from Bologna so we had to catch a reasonably early train back there and it was just as well I had left some fat in the scheduling as there were serious delays on the train. We stopped just before Arezzo and we watched a farmer tend his garden for quite a while. The train driver / manager / conductor made several announcements, the last one in English that explained the delays.

We arrived in Bologna about 40 minutes late. There was no panic but I would not have wanted to have been delayed for too much longer.

The flight back from Bologna was okay and due to the connection time, Emirates gave us a free hotel in Dubai. Rather basic, shower, bed, shower, breakfast and back to DXB for our long flight home.

In all, Italy is a great place place and we both enjoyed it a lot.
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