Saturday, October 8, 2011
Rome, Italy and the Vatican City tour
Big day today, starting at 8:30 this morning, the tour bus arrived with our guide for the day, a woman named Flavia.
Her knowledge proved to be encyclopedic and her English excellent though heavily accented in a most charming way. The driver, a fellow named Nando, had no English but was an excellent driver and we hardly ever had to close our eyes out of fear and dread as he charged through the scarce Saturday Morning traffic in Rome. As we got to the Vatican we saw that the lineup was already around two sides of the Vatican walls and working on the third side. I almost felt guilty as Nando dropped the lift of the handicapped van for Shiela and her scooter, a scarce 20 yards from the front door of the Vatican Museum, on the sidewalk. Then we walked straight in, bypassing the lineup totally. I almost felt guilty, but not really. We got this treatment because we booked it three months ago, and paid in advance. There are no accidents, and all the credit goes to Jan for arranging this tour so well and so far in advance. Just like all the hotel accomodations on the road trip so far, and the car, the credit goes to her for her forethought and planning.
Flavia picked up the tickets and handled the details in the foyer of the museum, and within a couple of minuits we were off to the first elevator ride. Four of us and one guide, perfect, and all of us had questions which she answered fully for us every time. How special. We toured the halls and special rooms that were wheelchair accessable, and when the time came to go down to the Sistine Chapel, she arranged the elevators and lifts for us with no delays at all. We had our time in the chapel, made better by the fact that she had stepped though a book about Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel beforehand, showing us what we were about to see and telling us very interesting historical stories about each part, and how Michelangelo interacted with the various players in the drama of creating the art itself. When we got to the chapel, no talking was allowed and so Flavia's tutorial beforehand was still fresh in our minds and served the purpose very well. Later, after time for a bathroom break and some quality shopping, we were back in the van and scooted around to St.Peter's Basilica for that part of the tour. The security precautions held us up a bit, not Flavia's fault, and we all got through it fine and on into the church itself. Inside, talking allowed in here unlike the chapel, Flavia told us all the stories about the building and its contents, its history and its trials and triumphs.
Finally, outside again after a long and full half-day tour that stretched into over 5 hours, Nando and Flavia dropped us back at our hotel. We were tired and full of knowledge, and Jan and I celebrated by going off to the 'Prehistoric', a Pizza house nearby the hotel. We enjoyed ourselves there immensely, aided by and excellent house wine, and with the owner's reference to the owner of a nearby clothing shop, we adjourned there later to buy a shirt.
We returned to the hotel later with D&S in tow for dinner, then an early night to bed.
