Arrival in Siena

We arrived in Siena at 9:30pm. There was a small walk to our hotel
where we got cleaned up and changed and started a walk to the Piazza
del Campo.

This city is incredible. I mean you are literally in a preserved
Medieval town. Thanks to Zio Frank for this tip otherwise we would
hsve totally missed out. Siena gets its name from Senius, twin of
Romulus. I guess that's why i see the statue of the she-wolf in many
places (its just as prominent as in Rome).

For our first night we grabbed a couple of slices of pizza, bought a
bottle of wine and just sat on the floor of the Campo with everyone
else and took in the atmosphere.

Arrivederci Roma

We arrived at the Bus Station a little early just in case there were
some changes. We left Rome at 6:30pm right on time. I would consider
the conditions on the bus ride slightly on the in-humane side :)
Little air circulation and it was a 3 hour tour ... a 3 hour tour. But
I was able to write up all of the blogs up to this point.

Summary of Roma: Grace and I both agree that you need at least 5 full
days to get the touring done half decently. Romans have over 2000 year
old history right in there backyard and lotscof it. It was wonderful
to experience it even if for just a short while.

Video of Forum

Best view of Roman Forum

>
>
>>
>>
>
>> From the top of the hill you get the absolute best view of
>> everything you just finished walking around. In this clip some of
>> the things that are seen are: St. Julia 's Basilica, Castor's
>> Temple (3 standalone columns), Romulus Temple (look for building
>> with green bronze doors ... Note those are the original doors from
>> when it was built !!) Constantine Basilica (look for three huge
>> arches) this makes this building by far the largest in the forum.
>> This building housed a statue of Constantine so big that its head
>> was 6 feet high) .... Ego-much?
>> Then toward the end of the clip look for Titans Arch which kindof
>> looks like the Arch de Triomphe. Finally, you also see Colosseum in
>> the background.
>> We could have stayed in this spot much longer but time was a wastin
>> and we were hungry. We ended up at a restaurant just across the
>> street of the Colosseum. Great view !!

Video to follow, I'm having trouble uploading

>>
>>
>>

View of Rome from Pallentine Hill

Pallentine Hill is like the Westmount of Ancient Rome. Atop this hill,
rich families built elaborate palaces with gardens to match. Not much
left today except the foundations.

Two Other Temples

In the background is the Temple of Castors (taller columns) and in the
foreground is the Temple of Vesta (shorter columns).
As the story goes Virgins used to guard the temple and any man found
going into the temple was killed.

The Virgins were responsable for keeping the Eternal Flame lit,
another interesting point to note is that this same building was also
known to have burnt down the most times .... If you got a job to do,
do it right is what I say ;)

Temple of Julius Cesear

Place where Julius Cesear was cremated.

Fondo Standing near Rastro

Fondo standing near the place where Emperors (including Julius Cesaer)
addressed the masses.

Roman Forum

Took us a while to find the entrance but next stop: Roman Forum and
Palentine Hill.

Photo inside Colosseum

Grace , Antonio and Fondo

Colosseum Visit (inside)

We got here as soon as it opened at 8:30 Sat. morning. We were like
the first ones in. It's hard to imagine what this place was actually
used for but it is wonderful feat of engineering.
On the lefthand side toward the end of the video clip you will see a
reconstruction of the arena floor which takes up about one fourth of
the area. Also on that side of the Arena ( although hard to see) is
the reconstruction of the seats where the Senators would have sat.

Grace and Fondo @ Trevi Fountain

As we were rounding the corner of the street leading to the Fountain
we could here the water and, I said to Grace, "Wait till you see this".

I don't know why any guide book would only allocate 15 min for this
gem. Once you move from the upper level to the Fountain's edge you
really get taken in by the sound of the water and the murmur of the
crowd. Some of the stones are carved into ocean plant life and the
bottom portion is made to look like it is growing out of the building
behind it.

You get interrupted by the occasional whistle from the police telling
people to get off of the rocks. For me it was getting pelted by coins
thrown from the upper level by Chinese women with bad aim, and then
being asked to throw the coins in for them ....

St. Peter's Basilica

Just simply beautiful. The Basilica is huge. We came upstairs after
the Scavi tour, and walked the inside for at least 45 min. just to
appreciate the detail in every corner of this spectacular building.

Scavi Tour

>

> Aug. 29 @ 1:45pm
>
> Grace and I had the opportunity to visit the Excavation site under
> St. Peter's Basilica. I reserved the tickets 2 months in advance
> since the tour is quite popular and they only take 10 people at a
> time. Unfortunately no pictures allowed.
> So I won't go into super detail but this excavation site shows Pagan
> Mosoleums which were mulled over to create the original Basilica
> which was commisioned to be built by Constantine. The alter is said
> to have been built directly over the site of St. Peter's tomb. The
> excavation found the remains of what are believed to be St.
> Peter's bones.
> Great tour, I'm happy we got to do this.

Fondo in Storage

Picking up Fondo from the Baggage Storage.
>

Vatican Museum

Oh man Fondo's going to be pissed. They wouldn't let him inside the museum because he's a safety hazard. Apparently his pointy plastic hat is the culprit. Freakin Italians :)

Inside museum, really just too much art and artifacts to take in but it is fascinating nonetheless.

I'm no art expert, but I believe the tapestry above is titled "The Second to Last Supper". Jesus had a dinner party , not everyone showed up. Did a re-invite which led to .... Well you know the rest.

We also visited the Sistene Chapel today. The frescos just leave your mouth open as you stare at the ceiling. Guard does a mediocre job of keeping everyone hush, in fact all you hear every minute is him yelling "Quiet Please !!" "No Camera !!" ;)

For Terry

This is a request from Terry B. Here you go ;) Renaissance style ....
Don't act like you don't like it ;)

Freaky ..... I know right

Freaky .... I know right

Walking

Do you think they know the way to the Vatican?

Wait for it .....

Wait for it ......

Room in Rome

7:30 am Aug 29 2008

This our room, its quaint but clean. I propped up the old sewing
machine for the shot. Bathroom is outside and can only be described
"micro" . I've taken on a new skill and that is, washing my legs and
feet in the shower while standing perfectly vertical. Try it, u'll,
appreciate my talent :)

Today we head to Vatican city

Spanish Steps

9:10 pm Aug 28

We took the metro to the Spanish Steps (designed 1723). Get this,
Spanish association because of embassy down the street, Italian
design and funded by the French. Grabbed our first gelato ( best
ever !!! ) and just sat there taking in the wonderful atmosphere.
People just hanging out, some others playing guitar and singing.
There is a boat shaped fountain at the bottom where people were
taking turns drinking from the spouts. After quite a bit of
hesitation Grace and I tried it and it was cool and refreshing ...
hope it was potable :)

Fondo Colosseum

Fondo is quite the opportunistic exhibitionist, I think u'll see him
in quite a few more shots.
Notice the holes around the walls, I'm thinking WWII shelling? Could
it be?

Colosseo

This is the view just outside the metro station as we exited.

View from Plane

Circa: 7am Thurs Aug 28

This the view over the Alps. Plane comes in from the north then hangs
a right. Rome is near!!

On plane

Aww man ... In-flight movie is Vantage Point. Anybody see this piece
of crap?Its a cross between Groundhog Day and 24.

Waiting at Airport

So we just passed security, apparently jam spreaders are considered
knives, so we had to leave those behind. Duty-free is an on- going
sham for all but maybe booze and cigarettes.
Ok, just got the call, now boarding

Itinerary

Hi Guys,

Ok Fully packed now. Thought I'd list the Itinerary and post a snapshot of the path/places as seen from Google Earth.

So we land in Rome then we go --> Siena --> Florence --> Pisa --> Lucca --> Cinque Terre (Levanto is our home) --> Milan --> Lake Como (Varenna) --> Verona --> Venice --> Rimini --> San Marino --> Termoli --> Pietracatella/Ripabottoni --> then Home.
Click Image for larger view.

Packing

Ok, maybe the backpacking idea wasn't such a good one. Grace swapped
back to luggage and is all done. I'm still negotiating volume here.
Fondo is not helping matters, but we promised to bring him so we'll
find a place to stick him.