Roma

Arrived in Rome after a red-eye flight from Toronto. Non-stop, thank god, but I was pretty wiped. I cannot sleep in a sitting position. My legs get jumpy and then my brain gets going and bye-bye sleepiness. But the long night was over and we were in Italy!!


Rome was hot. Hot, hot, hot. Luckily, we had air conditioning in our room, otherwise we would have really suffered. I am all for going native, but when you are in Rome in July, you better have some a/c!! Our hotel, Angel Hotel, was near the Vatican, small but comfortable rooms in a non-touristy area that was close to the river and very nice. And yes, I got a kick out of the name!

While in Rome, we did all the usual tourist stuff. The Pantheon, Fontana di Trevi, The Vatican, the Spanish Steps and the Colosseum. I still love the Pantheon beyond all belief; you turn a corner in a downtown area, and suddenly an ancient Roman temple looms in front of you.It satisfies my soul in a way I cannot describe. Grant's favourite, as I knew it would be, was the Colosseum. Yep, you can take the guy out of the arena, but you can't take the arena out of the guy!

"No photos", the stern man in front of the Sistine chapel intoned periodically as devious tourists attempted to capture the forbidden images of the ceiling. We used the nighttime setting and got a blurred image. Throngs of tourists lounged on benches surrounding the space, craning their necks to study Michelangelo's masterpiece. My count of up-close and personal Michelangelo artwork is three so far. Sadly, the Pieta, which is found in St Peter's Basilica, is so roped off and so far away that you might as well be looking at a picture of it. Not like the David (or "little David" as we call in my circle of friends) in Firenze, where you can practically reach out and touch his gorgeous (and massive) buttocks.

We spent two evenings in Piazza Navona, eating and drinking while watching the tourists wander by. We watched most of the World Cup semi-final match between Italy and Germany there, too. A restaurant had put up a big screen and fans sprawled all around the Piazza cheering and booing. When in Italy, eveyone became a football fan. Our last night we returned to the Piazza, where I purchased a painting from a local artist as a memento of my visit. And to my delight, I caught the crescent moon rising over the church as we sipped our limoncello.

Rome is a whirlwind of sights, sounds and heat. We were glad to move on after our 3 days.