Rome

By the time we got to Rome, I think my sister Susan was getting a bit tired from dealing with the hordes of tourists and all the walking.  We took a three hour bus ride from Siena to Rome's second largest train station, and from there to our hotel, which involved taking a metro train and still another bus to Largo Argentina (a major transportation hub in Rome). From there we walked to the hotel, located near Campo de' Fiori, one of the nicest piazzas in the city, where we had dinner that night. By this time, of course, I don't think Susan cared if we were at Campo de' Fiori in Rome or Smokestack Alley Plaza in Gary, Indiana.  She choose the first restaurant we came across, and insisted on heading back to her hotel room right after dinner.  The photograph on the left, by the way, is of a statue of a heretic burned alive in Campo de' Fiori back in the middle ages.  Jules Caesar was also assassinated in this piazza back when the Theater of Pompeii was located here.  I mentioned these fascinating tidbits to Susan, but she didn't care.

Rome, I must admit, is a huge, very frenetic city, which during ancient times required chariots to get around in, which sadly were not at our disposal during this trip (I do remember seeing them around town the last time I was there, however). While Susan rested, I took advantage of the time to take some photographs around the hotel, such as the one on the right I took from the hotel's rooftop bar. I personally like Rome a lot, with it's narrow streets and buildings going back to the birth of Christ, if not earlier.  Granted, it is crowded, but still fun (I know, I know - they don't call me "Crazy Old Man Hoyt" for nothing).

The next day we took the bus to the Vatican.  We had reservations for the Vatican Museum at 12:00, and found we had to circle the Vatican (which is an entire country, I must remind you) to get there. The neighborhood was very nice and enjoyable to see, despite the long walk. However, when we approached the entrance, a number of tour guides warned us that unless we took their tour, we would have to exit the museum and walk all the way back to the front of St. Peters and stand in a long line to get into the basilica.  I finally gave in after the third or fourth sales pitch, and we took the tour. I later found out from reading Rick Steves guidebook that this is technically true, but if you just confidently go through the tour guide's door you should be able to get into St. Peter's anyway. The crowds, by the way, were massive in the museum.  When we finally got into St. Peters, we looked around a bit and then immediately headed to the Travestore neighborhood (which is very historic and old), where we had wine and beer on the main square to recuperate.

That night (after a long rest period) we took Rick Steves Night Walk Across Rome, which goes from the Campo de' Fiori to the Spanish Steps, and laces together Rome's nicest piazzas and urban spaces.  Susan was a trooper, and we made it all the way to the Spanish Steps (which we didn't climb, by the way). We also passed the Trevi Fountain (seen in the photograph on the right), but the crowds were so huge we didn't linger, and headed instead to a nearby cafe for dinner. The next day I had planned for us to visit the Colosseum and the Roman Forum, but Susan was in no mood for any more sightseeing.  We did, however, take the bus there and looked at the Arch of Constantine, walked around the Colosseum, and spotted the entrance to the Forum , but then headed directly to the Metro and the train to Sorrento. Arrivederci Roma!