April 19, 2007
I'm a little delayed in writing an update, so I'll cover two days in this one post. Give me a break, I'm on vacation.
Italy: Day 7
This was a cool day, as the morning was taken up by a shorter-than-it-should-have-been guided tour of various historical sites within Naples. The tour guide was funny and a bit on the crazy side, but it was an entertaining tour all the same. Marion and Stef were also on the tour, and after the tour was over the three of us spent the day wandering around the "old city" section of Naples. We walked around and got lost a few times, were repeatedly solicited by street salespeople hawking everything from cigarettes to laptops, popped in a shop here and there, and then made our way to the train station so the girls could sort out their tickets for getting to the airport later that evening.
After hanging out and talking for a little while we finally said our goodbyes since I had to find my way back to the hotel (and they had to find their way back to England), and parted ways.
Italy: Day 8
Today I headed up to Rome to try and get in as much as I could in a single day. Of course no matter how much planning you do, there are going to be snags that trip you up - especially when there's a language barrier in the way. I had no problems getting to Rome, since that was a simple two hour train ride from Naples. Once in Rome, however, I was on a mission to locate Palatine Hill since I had a tip that they sold combination tickets for both the Hill site as well as the Colosseum. I hailed a taxi and of course he didn't speak English, so I simply said "Palatino" and he seemed to know what I was talking about. We rode along for a few minutes while he started jabbering in Italian, gesturing to a green area and saying Palatino. Eight Euros later I was in an alley walking back toward the street not knowing where the hell I was. The taxi driver passed by me one last time, blurted out some more Italian and gestured to the same park area saying "Palatino."
I still have no idea what he was on about.
Anyway I walked a few blocks and found the REAL Palatine Hill by accident, so I walked in and bought my ticket, then did some exploring. After roaming around inside of Rome's most ancient areas, I found my way to the Colosseum.
Okay so this thing was built nearly two thousand years ago and was actively used for five hundred years, seating upwards of about 50,000 spectators. It was fully equipped with elevators from the underground level to bring animals and such to the arena level, and you could even flood the arena as necessary. I'm going to go ahead and say that this plave was designed by some seriously advanced engineers for any time period. The capabilities of this place are simply astounding when you consider the time it was built as well as both its usable and structural lifespans.
After the Colosseum I hopped in a taxi and headed right for Vatican City. Once there, I took a few pictures then headed to the entry lines where I was herded with the rest of the cattle to the metal detectors that preceded the inner perimeter. The first place I ended up was the crypt under St. Peter's Basilica, where various Popes are buried including the late John Paul II. His particular site was very well lit and the most visited, which shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone really.
I then went inside the Basilica itself, which is probably the most tremendous and ornately decorated room I have ever seen. Paintings and mosaics and sculptures were plentiful and you couldn't turn around without seeing a handful of each in any direction. I got to see Michelangelo's Pietà which is pretty incredible when seen in person.
You could spend a week inside this place just looking at everything, but I had to do a quick bit of shopping then head back to Naples since I was on a pretty tight schedule that was getting tighter by the minute. I started to leave the Vatican and was at the front door when a thought popped in my head out of nowhere. It was absurd but at the same time both hilarious and awesome. Here I was standing at the front door to the most famous holy facility in the world - the very seat of Catholocism - and I had an impluse, so I acted on it.
I moonwalked across the front door of St. Peter's Basilica.
At that point my time in Rome was pretty much wrapped, so while keeping a close eye on the time I headed back to Rome Terminal where I caught the train back to Naples, then weaved between stations to the bus stop where I then boarded at 9pm sharp, the very LAST bus of the night back to my hotel. Talk about timing!
(17:14)
Search :: Previous Entry :: Next Entry