Thursday 28 June - Vatican City

The Vatican is the world's smallest nation, covering just 50 hectares, and is a theocracy of just over 550 citizens, headed by the Pope, but its sightseeing complex is beyond compare.  Within its walls are the ornate St Peter's Basilica (bottom picture), the Sistine Chapel, lush gardens (top picture), apartments frescoed by Fra'Angelico, raphael and Pinturiccio and some 10 museums.  Michelangelo's ceiling is one of the most spectacular works of art in the world in the Sistine Chapel.

We spent all day touring Vatican City.  We were booked to begin at 10.30 on a self-guided tour so we had plenty of time to look around.  There were so many people that in some places we had standing room only and had to wait for the crowd to shift so that we could move.  Some brilliant art to see and admire.  After finishing at St Peter's Basilica (another awesome building) we walked to Ottaviano Metro station - I loved the streets of Ottaviano and in particular, one 'pasta' shop with the most delightful pastries I've ever tasted!

Finally, we stopped quickly at Spagna to try to catch Leanne and Lexie and apologise for missing another catch up.  Our feet are just so sore from walking in the 37 degree celsius heat today!!!

An 'early'? night to be had - not - as we are packing and I'm blogging because we leave early tomorrow morning on a transport to the airport, then a transport to Civitavecchia - to board our Princess ship and depart for the Meditteranean!

Ciao!

Wednesday 27th - Rome!

Delicious breakfast at the hotel - then we set off to explore Rome!  Re di Roma metro station just down at the corner.  Rode to Flaminio station - and began Kez's tour with the Piazza del Popolo.


Architect Guiseppe Valadier expanded this site of festivals and public executions into an elegant piazza in 1811-23, adding four Egyptian-style lion fountains in the base of one of Rome's oldest obelisks.  The 1200 BC  Ramases II monolith was moved to the Circus Maximus by Augustus then placed here by Pope Sixtus V.


Walked along the Via del Corso (main shopping street) to The Spanish Steps and the Villa Borghese.


This elegant, off-centre sweep of a staircase is Rome's most beloved Rococo monument.  It was named after the Spanish embassy to the Vatican located nearby.  All year round it is littered with people drinking in la dolce vita (sweet life) and musicians strumming guitars until late into the night.


It was a long, hot, sweaty walk up those steps but the view from the top was worth it!  Had to avoid the hawkers handing out single red roses to any unsuspecting tourist - who may have been instantly flattered but - upon accepting the flower was then hassled to hand over a payment!


We found our way next to the Trevi Fountain!

This beautiful fountain is one of the most familiar sights of Rome.  The relief shows a virgin discovering the spring from which Augustus built the Acqua Vergine aqueduct, which still feeds the fountain.  

The movie, 'Three Coins in a Fountain' taught 'us' to throw coins over our shoulder to ensure a return visit to Rome.  We (and several thousand other people) were doing this exact movement at the fountain.  It was fun!

In the heat of the day, we continued......  walking to The Pantheon and listening to our walking tour;  on to the Piazza Navona (one of Rome's loveliest pedestrian squares);  then over to the Metro station to ride to Termini station.  There we changed onto the Blue line to ride the train to the Colosseo.  

Here the imperial passion for bloody spectacle reached its peak of excess.  When Emperor Titus inaugurated the amphitheatre in AD80, he declared 100 days of celebratory games, some involving the massacre of 5000 wild beasts....

The Colosseum is certainly one of the wonders of the Ancient world - and we queued up to walk around.  By this time it was after 4pm and believe it or not - I had heat rash developing on my lower legs!  We decided to head back to our hotel. David and I headed out again just after 7pm and went back into the city centre to meet up with Leanne and Lexie - who had arrived in Rome for a few days as well!  We had an enjoyable dinner - even though it was still very hot!  David and I headed back to our hotel just before 10pm!

Tuesday 26th - Transit day

We packed up and found our way to Gatwick Airport - via the Underground (tube) and the Gatwick Express from Victoria station.  An interesting experience through Gatwick with officers-in-training at the security checkpoints.   Dave and I were subjected to a 'full' pat down - no 'would you mind?' - it was 'we are' and Dave and I didn't dare object!
A quick sniff through duty free and off to our flight! (We could have taken up to 10 x 1L bottles to another EU country!!!)  2 hr flight on British Airways into Rome!

Although functioning as a vibrant, modern capital akin to any in Europe, the unique appeal of Rome is that the entire city is a vast, 3000 year old, indoor-outdoor museum.  In every quarter you'll find ancient monuments, art treasures and timeless architecture in churches, galleries and protected ruins.  Home to the world's smallest country, the Vatican, Rome has religion at its heart and history in its soul - a city that dazzles and inspires visitors time and time again.


We were able to find a shuttle transport at the airport which took us straight to our hotel - Re di Roma.  The traffic was 'crazy' - especially people on scooters! We arrived at about 6pm - sun still shining - it doesn't set until after 8.30pm.  Staff at the hotel delightful - after check in, they booked a table for us at a 'trattoria' (usually a family run restaurant) just around the corner - 'Da Brunno'.  We enjoyed a delightful 3 course meal - bruschetta, pasta then a meat dish!  The waiter spoke english but we all tried to speak as much italiano as possible.  When we left and paid the bill, because we left a tip - he sounded  a push-bike horn - apparently a tradition when someone leaves a tip!

Harrison's to Harrods!

Monday morning 25th - a 'work' day so we couldn't start riding the tube until 'off peak' began at 9.30.  We decided to get the tube to Embankment station so that we could catch a ferry to Greenwich.  Wow - a super fast clipper and we were on a 30 minute trip down the Thames - on a lovely sunny day.  I immediately liked the feel of Greenwich village - a cosy little town.  We walked uphill to the Royal Observatory.  Plenty of work going on in the village - it will be the equestrian and modern pentathlon event area for the Olympics/Para Olympics.
Greenwich Park - the oldest enclosed Royal park with majestic views right across the River Thames to Docklands and the whole of London.  Also home to the Royal Observatory and the prime meridian.  A meridian is a north-south line selected as the zero reference line for astronomical observations. By comparing thousands of observations taken from the same meridian it is possible to build up an accurate map of the sky.


David was excited to see "Harrison's Clock".  Harrison was a self-educated English carpenter and later a clockmaker. He invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought device in solving the problem of establishing the East-West position or longitude of a ship at sea, thus revolutionising and extending the possibility of safe long distance sea travel in the Age of Sail. So David says, that without this invention, history, as we know it today, would be different.  Linda says, unless someone else invented it - but not at that time!

Next, we just had to go to Knightsbridge station to find the 'holy grail' of shopping (according to Linda's Uncle Frank) 'Harrods'.
'Harrods - Opened in 1849 and possibly the most famous department store in the world, Harrods boasts a phenomenal range of luxurious departments, a palatial food hall and a bewildering number of restaurants and cafes.'


Yep - we did it.
The highlight of the afternoon was finding 'ca puccino' where we enjoyed a classic coffee and pastry.  Our server was a delightful young man named Ernesto who was from Spain - and we encouraged Davidcito to order in 'espanol' (he said, 'Thanks for dropping me in it!')....  Ernesto was very understanding!

At one with the 'Beefeaters' (& ravens!)

Woke to an overcast day.  At our ‘breakfast meeting’ this morning we decided on three objectives:  To visit: the Tower of London; Tower Bridge and Buckingham Palace.  This meant riding the ‘tube’ to the City of London.  We had a fantastic day!

For more than 900 years, the Tower has dominated the city of London and today is one of the capital’s most famous landmarks.  Through its history, the Tower has served as a royal palace and fortress, prison and place of execution, an arsenal, royal mint, menagerie and jewel house.  Highlights include:  the Bloody Tower, Traitor’s Gate, the famous ‘Beefeaters’, Crown Jewels and the Fusilier’s Museum.

Our photo is taken just inside the entrance to the Tower of London.  A 'Beefeater' was our tour guide - they have to have served 22+ years in the military, have an outstanding service record and be of Warrant Officer rank or above....  These personnel live in the Tower of London grounds with their families.  Legend has it that they were called 'beefeaters' because that's how the monarch paid them for their work - in beef rations.   Our friend, Dave, had read somewhere that they were called 'beefeaters' because they had to taste every meal before it was served to the King in case it was poisoned!  The Sun was shining – although we were lucky to miss a huge and heavy shower whilst we were inside the White Tower - an interesting building which was at times an armoury, observatory and prison.  Today is has a huge museum showcasing weapons, armour, a display of Kings and their horses and other objects from that time period.  We were so engrossed - we only just managed to fit in lunch at about 1pm, having viewed the Crown Jewels, including Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation Crown!  Now there's some SERIOUS bling!  No photos allowed!  The armour plated doors at the entrance - 2000kg (2t) each!!!  

Next, we walked to the Tower Bridge and Exhibition.

An iconic part of the famous London skyline, this legendary feat of Victorian engineering is still raised more than 1000 times a year for ships to pass up the Thames.  The exhibition provides breathtaking panoramic views across London from high-level walkways to the history of the Bridge and its historic Victorian Engine Rooms. 

The highlight of the tour was walking across the Tower Bridge and looking at the view of the Thames, right down to the Millenium Bridge.  The sun had returned and the day was warming up, albeit windy – which has made us feel tired and ‘dried out’ tonight.  I had no idea of the feat of engineering that it was to build such a bridge at that time (late 1800’s). 

It was a bit of a walk from Tower Bridge to our next destination – Buckingham Palace.  Stopped along the way by some ‘lost’ French tourists, we had to consult the map.  Managed again to board the ever-crowded ‘tube’ (London railway) – remember it’s Sunday afternoon, the sun is shining and EVERYONE is out enjoying the weekend!  Walked from Green Park station to Buckingham Palace.

Buckingham Palace serves as both the office and London residence of Her Majesty The Queen, as well as the administrative headquarters of the Royal Household.  It is one of the few working royal palaces remaining in the world today.  Wow!

Lots of people looking around but to our utter disappointment, we were not invited inside to ‘tea’ with any of the royals……(oh well, their loss!)

Exhausted by this time, we decided to head back to our lovely hotel to enjoy a bottle of red and do some research ready for tomorrow’s ‘business meeting’ at breakfast!

Arrival in London!

Landed this morning after a very looong flight from Singapore.  Made it through customs, found the right trains, found the right hotel - ahhh..... All settled!  Waiting for Kez and Dave to arrive!
Went for a wander in the lovely afternoon sunshine - found a place called Regents Park.

The Regent's Park is the largest grass area for sports in Central London and offers a wide variety of activities, as well as an Open Air Theatre, the London Zoo and many cafes and restaurants.

Henry VIII appropriated The Regent's Park for use as a hunting ground, which he considered to be an invigorating ride from Whitehall Palace. At that time, the only boundaries were a ditch and a rampart. Were he here today, Henry would hardly recognise the stylish gardens and sports fields that now stand in its place.

Lots and lots of people wandering around - then we realised it is the 'Taste of London - Best Restaurant' festival! Dave liked the colours of the flowers in the garden (violas?) and so took a photo - only then did we realise the pattern! (must have jet lag still.....)  :-)

Here we go!

We are at the airport - Dave masquerading as a tourist already - beer, newspaper, relaxation!  Fabulous!