The Vatican

Maria met us at our hotel at 1:45PM and we walked to the Vatican. The entrance, not 5 minutes from our hotel is through a massive ancient wall. Once inside, it’s the 21st Century. We visited the garden briefly and then entered the carriage house. This new addition to the Vatican Museums contains Pope-mobiles, limousines, Jeeps, carriages, wagons and those ornate enclosed chairs carried on the shoulders of slaves. I forget the name. Many of the carriages [probably 30 in total] are no less impressive that the royal carriages we see used for state pomp in England. We then headed to the painting galleries; the Vatican’s only Caravaggio is there. After a feast of Giotto, Fra Angelico, Fra Lippi, an un-finished Da Vinci, and the magnificent Caravaggio we entered the sculpture galleries. One of the galleries is the Hall of 1000 Heads and contains centuries of hairstyles and nose jobs. After touring the galleries we entered the basilica. The Pieta, even deep inside an impenetrable plexi-glass chamber is the most amazing sculpture I have ever seen. And he did it when he was 23 years old. The apse of St. Peter’s is impressive. Bernini’s towering canopy beneath the dome, the ornate altars at every turn, the gold leaf everywhere and the incredible stone floor testify to the power the Vatican hold over so many. We then went outside to the piazza. Maria told us that during the election of a new Pope the Piazza overflows down the Via to the Castel Sant’Angelo, similar to the spectacle of Obama’s inaugeration. We left Maria at the Vatican and walked down to the river to take a boat tour of the Tiber. After that we headed back to Prati and the restaurant we ate at the night before.

Embarkation Day

It’s 8AM and Craig and I are repacked and ready to go. I am up-loading yesterday’s photos to the on-line Gallery. There were so many I did not edit very carefully and there will be many that should not see the light of day but... They have been uploading for almost an hour now. It is almost entirely of the Vatican but we have some of a river [Tiber] cruise and a couple of “people pictures.” Perhaps on a lazy day at sea I will get around to editing. Off to Civitavecchia. I was going to write about the Vatican visit but circumstances have changed I should get this negative item off so I can get back on to the pleasantries.
We arrived at the pier at 11:30AM, our bags were carted off to the ship and we got in line to board. We had with us our fancy blue silk jacquard Holland-America packages, our “Signature” easy-boarding/on-line check-in forms, passports etc. We sidled up to the desk and were greeted with “I’m sorry, you are not booked on the cruise. Stifling the urge to pull the attendant across the table and clean his clock, I told him how ridiculous that was given what I had shown him. He backed off with “Well, you are not in the computer.” After a while and several consulting dimwits they decided that they must be wrong and provided us with room keys and access to the ship. Once aboard we discovered that our staterooms were not ready. This is not unusual as they, just hours before, were occupied by cruisers disembarking in Rome. We retired to the lido Deck for lunch and drinks. It was announced that our rooms were ready and we headed down. The keys did not work. Indeed half the keys in our section didn’t. I went down to the main deck and got replacement keys. They worked. Our luggage arrived and we started to unpack. We had our lifeboat drill [nothing has changed since the last account of this “separate-the-worthless-jerks-from-the-good-people” exercise] and made mental note of passengers to avoid. While we were resting before dinner I waltzed indignantly down to the front office to complain, inquire and follow up. We were still “phantom” guests. Our credit cards were screwed up, they had no record of the three excursions we had booked and they could not offer any explanation other than they had two computer up-grades, recently… really? Upgrades? Our situation was shared with 22 others.
We had a lovely dinner! Appetizers included assorted crostini and seafood ceviche. We had a cold rhubarb soup spiced up with a touch of cinnamon. It was praised ‘round the table. My entrée was a “basa filet” with asparagus and brown rice; Jim and Dotty had prime rib and Craig had salmon. It was all as good as it gets. Things have turned for the good. Dessert was Sherry Trifle, Berry Dream [a custard and mixed berry tart] and a chocolate[!] pudding. There were about a half dozen other offerings but we settled on these. With dinner we tried the bottle of Swiss wine we had received in Zurich and it stood up admirably. We took in the stage show on the way back to our rooms. It turned out to be a short, silly “get-acquainted” variety show with embarrassing audience participation games. Just before going to sleep I signed up for Internet access and will post this as soon as I get a good signal. We are in Livorno about to go to Lucca and Pisa.

6 August, 4AM

4AM checking in… My room is on the front of the hotel and a pretty busy street. The window is double paned and shuts out the noise quite well. I have it open now and can listen to the neighborhood getting its first morning stretch. The only traffic are trucks, which are surprisingly less annoying noise than the scooters later in the day. The sheer number is amazing. From my window I can count over 75 parked scooters. That is within a city block. Today we will walk to the Vatican for our tour with Maria at 2PM. We took a taxi back from the Pantheon last night and drove in front of St. Peter’s. It’s an impressive space but strangely smaller than I imagined. BTW, the Taxi was only 6,90 Euros, which surprised me. I was expecting 30 or even 40 from some of the info that’s been provided. It’s the same the world over; taxi drivers easily and often rip off tourists. We took a much shorter ride [half the distance] and were charged 8 Euros by a driver who feigned ignorance of English but knew enough to tell us his meter was broken. I wonder if there is an international organization for taxi drivers who might address this phenomenon. Will check it out when I have absolutely nothing else to do. My new mantra.

Five August

It’s 7:30AM at Il Gattopardo and no one is up yet. I guess alarm clocks don’t work when you are on vacation. We have our guide coming at 9AM to give us a comprehensive tour of the city. We will be taking taxis between sites as Maria says that is the most convenient and least expensive aside from renting a car. You won’t find me driving in this city any time soon. I am very confident of my skills as a driver but I lack the daredevil bravado required for this environment. One needs plenty of that to be a pedestrian. Maria arrived on time and we were off on the Metro. We took the A [Red] line across the Tiber to the Termini station and switched to the B [Blue] line and exited at the Coliseum. Our first stop was the Basilica of St. Peter in Chains. It is one of Rome’s oldest built in 440 and it houses Michelangelo’s incredible Moses. Also on view in a little glass box is the oldest version of the magician’s “two-chain-lengths-into-one” trick. It is said that the chains that bound St. Peter in Jerusalem were brought to Rome as a gift and placed with the chains that held him in prison here. They fused into one length with not so much as a “nothing up my sleeve.” Historically they have miraculous powers and a huge painting [c.1700] shows one such casting out of demons adorns the ceiling of the nave. We then walked down the hill to the Forum. This place is archeology heaven. Indeed Rome is. The ongoing excavations are revealing more and more of the cities 3500-year history. Imagine, only 2500 years after God created all this, Bronze Age visionaries established the real estate possibilities of this belly button of the world. In various parts of this “dig” one can see back through the ages and the seven or so layers that have been uncovered. Even today when a municipal project is started any digging is supervised to preserve what ever might be turned up. Something usually does turn up. Today we saw the torso of a horse, actually the main body of an equestrian statue that was unearthed at the base of the Coliseum as it was being cleaned up for a celebration. Archeologists are quite sure they will find the remainder of the statue and establish its personage and/or origins. They have also found one of its hooves. It is on display in the Coliseum. We had purchased tickets at the entrance of the Forum, which was a good idea as the ticket includes admission to the Coliseum. We approached the entrance, which was jammed with tourists waiting in line to buy their admission. We waltzed along side of them and into the great arena with out a moments wait. Nice job, Maria. BTW, Maria is a wonderful guide, one of about 1000 in Rome who are authorized/licensed to show you around. She lives not far from our hotel and knows our neighborhood quite well. She told us we could not have made a better choice for dinner last night. After walking for another hour or so we decided to call it quits for the tour and return to Prati and a lie down. That was about 2PM. It’s now 5:10 and I am craving Pizza! I will see if I can rouse the rest of the group and scout out a good brick oven.

Correction

My computer is still on your time so my posts are all dated 10 hours earlier than I actually posted them here. I will try to readjust the calendar when I have absolutely nothing else to do!

Wednesday in Roma

So far, so great!
In 1989 Angelo Croce bought and old one-room tavern near the corner of Via G. Bettolo and Via S. Saint Bon. It was originally a post WWI hangout serving basic lunches and dinners as well as wine and spirits. Angelo expanded it to take up the corner storefronts and christened it Osteria dell’Angelo. An osteria is a neighborhood bar-restaurant, which in large cities caters primarily to locals. Today he operates this family restaurant with his son Carrado and daughter Marta. We had reservations for 8:30 [20:30 for the international set] and were seated at the last out-door table. The pranzo menu was Presso fisso for 25 Euros “se magna o non se magna.” Coffee and beverages are extra. The antipasto consisted of oiled toast, mini salamis, beans and a subtle spread that could have been composed of tuna, white beans, hummus, etc.; we could not figure it out. We will ask next time we go and we will go again. The pasta course offered 4 choices with two rigatoni, one spaghetti and one fettuccine. This was followed by a choice of meatball, rabbit, ox-tail and at least one other. Insalata included mixed greens, bean salad and some others. The dessert was a little, hard doughnut flavored with pistachio and amaretto. We had the house red which was served chilled but warmed up in the warm Roman night air. It was a nice low alcohol, dry, fruit-forward delight at 8 Euros a litre. As usual the Walters charmed the pants off the proprietors and we were comped a ½ litre of their dessert red. Carrado [the son] described it a sweet but I detected only the slightest hint of sweetness. It was perfect with the little cookies/doughnuts. We were the only tourists there and it seemed that everyone, even the passers-by, new and loved Angelo and his family. We were treated at least as well as the regulars. Our tab was 116 Euros which included 1½ litres of wine, 3 bottles of water and two espressos. Everyone has been telling me about the quality of coffee in Roma and I agree! It is as if I have been drinking a cheap imitation for the last 45 years. It’s 11PM and we just got home [oops; I mean back to our hotel]. We started the day [?] at about 2:30PM with a walk to Hadrian’s Tomb, AKA Castel Sant’Angelo. We walked along the Tiber to the Palazzo di Giustizia which is a pompously ornate “hall of justice” that virtually everyone scorns. It was built between 1889 and 1910 to “right the injustices of Papal rule, and the best insult I have heard is that it may collapse under it’s own weight. We had lunch at Dal Toscano, a popular Tuscan eatery near our hotel. I thought it was fine particularly as the pasta is served al dente as I remember al dent from growing up amidst Italians in Connecticut. I can’t think of anywhere that they do real al dente in Healdsburg other than the old Felix and Louie’s and I always heard complaints that they served their pasta undercooked. I am full [fat?] and happy… and ready for bed. I will get some photos up on line soon.

Refinements and...

My first espresso, and the absence of my companions propel me to return to my beloved computer. I will continue with my qualifying follow-ups and fill ins. The flight to Frankfurt from Chicago was in a 777 [2-2-2] in Business Class. The food was forgettable and even more so by the frequent ingestion of alcoholic beverages. Mikey can drink this month and the champagne flowed freely. The movies offered on this flight, indeed the entire entertainment package, made me realize how little I know of the “real” world. You could not pay me to watch these movies and the television/in-flight network selections [has this been going on for some time?] were.., old? From prime-time in some parallel universe? Meant to put you to sleep? Well, my noise-canceling headphones were a good investment and the intermittent lumbar massage control on the seat provided enough comfort to get me through the long haul. The Swiss Air to Zurich was a small Avro RJ85/100 with no discernible division between First, Business and Coach. The flight attendant merely offered food and beverage to the first three rows and returned to the galley. The flight was only 45 minutes. Landing in Zurich at the onset of a light rain colored the landscape in rich dark hues. It was lushly wooded with breaths of condensing moisture lifting from the trees. The land was sparsely cultivated and the towns were all small with perfect red rooftops and tight uniform streets and intersections. It all looked so perfect that the aerial introduction sufficed. Is there an underbelly in Switzerland? Do the cities have slums? Are there any homeless? My first encounter with this land of Watches and Chocolate revealed only what a good PR firm would want revealed. Zurich to Rome was on an Air Bus 320 [3-3] and I have already told you about that delightful experience. On the ride to the hotel in Roma I saw a lot of Aixams. They are so like the Smart car you would not tell them apart. The name suggests someone came up with Maxia but that sounded too much like a Japanese model so “let’s spell it backwards. There are probably as many motor scooters as there are cars and one cannot watch the young couples “scooting” about without conjuring up visions of “Roman Holiday” and Audrey Hepburn in a starched white blouse and black capris. BTW, check out the trailer for Pedro Almodovar’s new film [Broken Embraces?] for a glimpse of his affection for Penelope Cruz and his claim that she embodies the essence of Ms. Hepburn. You will be blown away! Ciao, amici.