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MAJESTICITALYText Version |
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Majestic
Italy
A Trip Report by
David Bowers
Day 1 - Monday, November
12
At long last, the day had arrived to begin our
journey to Italy. With most
things already packed, we awoke, made final preparations, loaded up the car,
and headed to breakfast. We
went to Daybreak for breakfast, ensuring that we started the trip with a
nice meal. Then after making
some last minute purchases, we headed to the
airport. We opted to listen
to a CD on the way to the airport.
This is important because it also meant that we were not listening
to the radio, and thus did not hear about the plane crash in New York City.
Shortly after 11:00 we pulled into a remote parking
facility, where a parking valet shuttled us to the Delta
terminal. We slowly made our
way to the international terminal, checked in for our flight to Venice, Italy
(via New York's JFK airport) and made our way to a
bench. It was about this time
that we met up with some more of the tour
members. Sitting in the terminal
building, we were filled in on the news.
Mysterious plane crash, New York, airport
closed. We sat in the terminal
waiting for the rest of the group to arrive, when several members of the
media descended on us for interviews.
This served as confirmation for the rumors that had been buzzing
around.
Shortly after 13:00, our travel agent arrived,
took attendance, reassured us that our trip was still on, and sent us to
our gate. Due to the new airport
regulations, the travel agent could only stay with us as far as the security
checkpoint. The lines at the
security checkpoint were no longer than they are usually, what differed is
that the lines were moving a lot slower than
usual. Travel credentials and
ID’s were checked and the screeners paused the belt to get a better
look at each bag. The National Guard was supervising the security
checkpoint. Having successfully
cleared security we caught the subway train to the
concourse.
Since it was only about 14:00 and our flight wasn't
scheduled to take off until 16:00, we decided on a light
lunch. It was at this time that
I noticed the concession prices at the airport have appeared to have been
lowered. I don't know if the
reduced traffic in the concourse prompted it, but the perceived value of
food to cost is pretty good.
After our light lunch we headed to the gate to hang out until our
flight. A lot of first introductions
were made and things were going well.
With just a slight delay, Delta began boarding procedures; first the
Business Class, then Skymiles Medallion, then wait a minute.
Passengers are seen getting
off the plane, and an announcement that this flight was being delayed
indefinitely. About ten minutes
later, our group leader was paged to the podium, and he came back and told
us that the flight had been cancelled.
Then some Delta representatives collected our tickets for the
CVG->JFK and the JFK->VCE legs of the trip and escorted us to a private
lounge. A lounge that was stocked with complimentary snacks, juices, soft
drinks, coffee, phones, etc. The
lounge also had a television, which gave us our first real glimpse of what
happened at JFK this morning. A
few moments later the Delta representative told us that they had been able
to arrange for us to fly to Venice, though a bit later than
planned. They announced that
we would be flying out of Cincinnati at 20:00 headed to London's Gatwick
airport, and then we would be placed on a British Airways flight from London
to Venice, Italy. The only downside would be that we would arrive in Venice
at 17:00 as opposed to 11:00 on Tuesday.
It was a forgone conclusion that Tuesday's touring itinerary would
have to be scrapped. A quick
glance revealed that we would therefore have to forgo to excursion to Padua
(Padova). We lounged awhile,
and then our new boarding passes came.
It's Teambuilding Game Time! - Rather than write
new tickets for every single passenger, Delta resorted to Flight Interruption
Manifest (FIM), special tickets that admitted four designated passengers
onto the flight. They also passed
out individual Boarding Passes for our first leg (Cincinnati to
London). As you probably guessed
the teambuilding game was that people had to stay in their groups of
four. Slightly later we were
shown back to the gate area for our flight to
London. This time boarding
procedures commences as usual except that I became the lucky winner of: A
Random Security Search. These searches entail the going through all of your
carry on baggage by hand, as well as inspecting your person with a hand held
metal detection wand. While
I can certainly appreciate why they are doing this, I still have to wonder
that if I made it through the main security checkpoint, what are they expecting
to find here? I almost think
it’s like a show, to show the other passengers that something is being
done,
Having done my part to demonstrate good air safety
I was permitted to board the plane and locate my
seat. And we sat, and sat, and sat. Then an announcement was
made about a faulty backup fuel pump, however we were told that it wasn't
mission critical and so after some paperwork was completed and waiting in
the queue for the runway we were off on our way to London.
The flight to London was relatively uneventful;
I was too keyed up (and a bit nervous after the day's proceedings) to get
any sleep. The movie was "Legally
Blonde", dinner was a steak issued without a steak
knife. To better appreciate
this, go to your local steak house and try to cut your steak using a plastic
knife. I resorted to using the
two slices of bread they gave me to make a sort of steak
sandwich. Real chewy and hard
to eat, but it worked. Note to airlines: Since you can't issue steak knives,
perhaps you should consider taking steaks off your
menus??????? After dinner it
was time to settle into countless hours of boredom. By the time we got near
London, I don't know if it was airsickness, dehydration, lack of sleep,
nervousness, claustrophobia or a combination but I was not a happy
camper. So much so that I only
ate the breakfast bar out of the breakfast we were served
aloft. One final comedic moment
in this most unusual flight was that right before landing, Delta shows a
brief film about the airport you are arriving at, to give you sort of an
orientation, sometimes travel highlights of the destination city are
mentioned. As we begin to arrive
in London, the movie started "We will be landing in Cincinnati in a few minutes"
A round of laughter, then the London video is
shown. Finally, thankfully,
we touched down in London. I'd
seen it in movies, but had never done it till
now. They rolled a huge staircase
up to the side of the plane, and we exited the plane to the tarmac, where
shuttle busses were waiting to take us to the
terminal. (8 hours in a Boeing
767)
Day 2 - Tuesday November 13,
2001
As we entered the terminal, we learned that since
we were connecting to another international flight, that we would not have
to go through passport control or
customs. So technically speaking
I never actually entered England.
However, I'm saying I was close
enough. Here our groups of four
regrouped to get our FIM's exchanged for boarding passes for our British
Airways flight. This process
went a lot smoother than I expected and I must give kudos to both Delta and
British Airways for the smooth transition that occurred at the check in desk
in London. We then had to go
through a security checkpoint, where I noticed their x-ray machines have
large cool color monitors where you can watch your own bag going through
along with the screener.
From there a short escalator ride brought us up to the waiting lounge,
England airports operate slightly different than
those in the States; here your gate number is not assigned (or at least not
announced) until 30 minutes before your flight. This tactic holds all passengers
in the central waiting lounge until their time, and away from the boarding
doors. What we were to learn
is that the waiting lounge doubles as a huge duty-free
mall. Since we had a five-hour
layover, we decided to cruise the mall, which included a Harrod's department
store. Other noteworthy stops were an Internet Point where I was able to
send some emails to friends, family, and co-workers, as well as read some
news on CNN, as well as what looked like a video arcade but I noted contained
a significant number of gambling
devices. I admit I dropped a
couple pounds into these machines to no
avail.
I then sat back in a chair with a Lilt (a product
of Coca-Cola Co. that tastes sort of like Citra), and soon joined a lot of
my tour mates as we commandeered a section of the waiting lounge and stretched
out on the benches and took naps in
shifts. One last stop to buy
a London postcard of the airport (my time in London) and a postcard of the
London Eye (I am a ride enthusiast after
all). An interesting oddity
is that the stores in this mall honor US
currency. The only catch is
that you get your change back in
Sterling. Supposedly the registers do the conversion for you, and
that the registers are allegedly set to the same rate as the Change office.
After a nice nap and rest, and feeling rejuvenated
it was time for our flight to Venice.
The monitor revealed we would use gate 45, a look at the airport map
revealed gate 45 to be close. It
did not reveal that it would be two flights of escalators
down. Gate 45 is a bus station
of sorts. After you get downstairs
it splits into several lettered gates. A message board at the base of the
escalators revealed that we should go to doorway F. Here another oddity,
you can't enter the waiting area by the gate until you have checked
in. One final time to get our group of four together to enter
the waiting area. Here we sat
down to wait some more but as an astute observer noticed, "Hey, we get different
color chairs". After waiting
some more, the shuttle bus arrived to take us out to our
plane. A much smaller plane, well in reference to the
767. In actuality this would
be a Boeing 737. And another
oddity. Both the front and back
door of the plane were open, and as we approached the plane on the bus, we
were instructed that if you are in rows 1-12 to use the front door, rows
13-24, use the back door. It
may be the first time I have walked under the wing of a plane, other than
at a museum. Okay the seats
may be leather instead of cloth, but with all the doors open it was frigid
in there. And the seats offered
even less elbowroom than the 767.
Honestly when they served lunch (I opted for the lighter pasta dish)
you had to synchronize eat. But hey I got to read a different in-flight magazine.
And I noticed the European travelers actually pull the safety card out of
the seat pocket and follow along with the safety presentation the way you
are supposed to do. The man
seated next to me noted that usually this flight is near
empty. Well I guess when you
add 49 people to a 120-seat plane at the last
minute. After the marathon flight
to London the two-hour flight to Venice seemed
short. What was dismaying is
that it was only 16:45 and already sunset in
Venice. We saw sunrise out a
plane window and sunset out a plane
window. After calculating it
all up including layover in London it took 15 hours to get from Cincinnati
to Venice. If we start the clock
at the time Delta requested us to appear in Cincinnati for our original flight,
it took 23 hours to get to Venice. Which means I was to hit 31 straight hours
without any real sleep.
Having landed in Italy, we were allowed to exit
out the back door of the aircraft, again to a waiting bus. After the bus
filled, we were shuttled to the International arrivals
area. Barely inside the doors of the terminal, the line was
split into citizens of the European Union countries and those of us
outsiders. The first stop was
Passport Control, no questions were asked, just a stamp applied to our passports,
then baggage claim. With the
flight change and all we were really worried as we stepped up to the baggage
carousel. In our group all but three bags
arrived. I am happy to report
that all of our bags arrived. (Mom and
I) We then turned the corner to head to customs, followed
the arrows for "Nothing To Declare" and were quite surprised to find ourselves
heading outside the terminal building.
Piece of cake. Our tour
bus awaited across the street. We
checked our bigger bags to the bottom of the bus and climbed aboard for the
ride to our hotel. On our way
out of the airport I noted the name was "Marco Polo
Airport". We also met our tour Director, Teresa, and our driver,
Ernesto. The bus itself was much smaller than busses we had used on previous
trips, but at least we all fit. On
the way out it was formally announced that we would have to skip Padua, and
we got introduced to our tour manager and driver, got some introductory
information on currency, tour schedules, procedures, an overview of
Italy. The whole orientation was timed well and we reached the
hotel soon after.
We then checked into our hotel, the Hotel
Sirio. The Hotel Sirio is a
charming hotel that looks like it hasn't seen much renovation since the
1970's. Yes, big flowered print
wallpaper all over the rooms, the beige tile bathroom, and the wooden
furniture. The lack of air
conditioning. But it did afford
us some time to rest up for dinner at
19:30. We were assigned room
207, and upon seeing the long queue for elevators that can maybe hold three
people each, and thinking that 207 would be just one floor up we started
walking.
Surprise! When we hit
the first landing and found out that it was the first floor. We went down
to dinner around 19:00 and met up with those who had flown in previously
or had flown to JFK from other airports and reported to us that our original
flight to Venice went off with only 33 people on
it.
Dinner tonight was in the hotel
restaurant. Italian dining is
not as it is portrayed here in America.
For our first meal, we were first served Cheese Lasagna and bread
(this would be a beef-free tour in consideration of those worried about Foot
and Mouth). The Lasagna had a most delightful and unusual
cheese. As the lasagna plates
were being cleared, it came as a surprise that it was only an
appetizer. Next up came a plate with Roasted chicken, baked potato
wedges (real good), and tossed salad.
Lastly, a crumb cake was served for
desert. Wow, a huge meal
even by my standards.
Another oddity was that bottled water was available both with and
without carbonation. (Frizante
or Naturale)
After dinner it was pretty much mutual that we
would all get some well deserved sleep.
Besides, breakfast isn’t till 8:00 and the tour resumes at 9:00
Wednesday. Back in our room,
some time was taken for a well-deserved hot
shower. Mind you to be careful
not to trip over the bidet on the way to the
toilet. After feeling much better
I decided to watch a little TV.
Italian TV remotes will drive you up the
wall. While you can adjust numerous
things about the picture from the remote control, there are no simple Channel
Up/Down buttons. You must enter the channel number you wish to view
directly. But it’s not
that simple. For channels 1-9
you just press the channel number. For 10-19, you first press 10, then the
last digit. For 20-29 you first
press 20 then the last digit. The
TV seems to have a hard limit at 29 stations. And not all those were in use,
and several channels had the same logo.
As expected most channels were in Italian, but we could figure out
what type of show it was and watched a few
briefly. Very briefly this first
night as I couldn't hold my eyes open for longer than two minutes once I
was in bed. I did locate one
English language station on the television, CNN.
Enough about TV, its time for a good old sleep,
I’ll catch you in the morning, and I'll try to forget this room is 80
degrees with no A/C. (Now, I
just had to bring that thermometer, didn't I)?
Day 3 - Wednesday, November 14,
2001
We had intended to get up at six, but wound up
waking up to the wake up call at 6:30, due to incorrectly setting our brand
new travel alarm. Time to start getting dressed and
everything. Later we escaped
to the cool of the lobby. But
first these interesting doorknobs, you don't turn the knob, instead there
is a pushbutton on top that you push down
on. We soon made our way to
the hallway, and then to the elevators.
Elevators work differently in Italy. There isn't near as much
automation. Only one group can
use the elevator at any one time.
On each floor there is a single call button, and an indicator showing
if the car is in-use. If you
are lucky there may also be either a direction indicator or floor
indicator. You can't call the elevator until the "In Use" or "Occupato"
light goes out. When you do call it the car comes straight to your
floor. You get inside and then
can only make one floor selection.
If you press more than one floor button the car will move to the last
button pressed. The floor selected
will not light up; instead the lit button indicates which floor you are
on. A little confusing at first,
but you'll get the hang of it.
Soon we are down enjoying the cool of the
lobby.
A bit later we are invited into the restaurant
for a buffet breakfast. Breakfast here is not quite what you may be used
to. Your options are cold cereal
and milk, fresh fruit, bread and rolls (not sweet), and a deli tray with
ham, salami, and Swiss cheese.
Water, coffee, and juice are also
available. I can verify that
Italian coffee is a lot stronger than American coffee, and that breakfast
was satisfying. I especially
like the chocolate spread they had grouped along with the
jellies. We had some time to
grab cameras and things from the room before getting on the
bus.
Our hotel was not actually in Venice, but a suburb
called Mestre. Mestre was born out of
practicality. Most citizens of Mestre consider themselves
Venetians. The reason for moving
to the mainland city arose out of a lower cost of living, and avoiding the
seasonal flooding problems inherent in an island city such as Venice. Our
bus tour took us first to the boat dock. As I said Venice is an island city,
and as such a ride by waterbus is
needed. While at the boat dock,
some time was afforded for visiting the Change office, Toilettes, and a few
vendors who had setup in an open-air market type
arrangement.
As we had already taken care of currency exchange
back in the states, and for those of you who preach not to exchange money
before leaving, we only lost about $25 on the exchange by changing early,
which we considered to be well worth not standing in the long exchange line
here. We instead decided
to hit the restroom. As you
will find out in Europe people don't find nice ephusieums and simply call
a restroom a Toilet. So we go to the toilet, enter the building and find
our access back to the toilets blocked by a
turnstile. In order to pass
through the turnstile, you have to buy a Toilet Ticket from a vending machine
along the wall. Tickets cost
1,000 Lire ($0.50). You then
inserted the ticket into the turnstile and were admitted. Men and Women alike
to the same restroom. The boat dock restroom did have a divider down the
center of the room, though some did not.
Men on one side of the divider. The public toilet was extremely clean
and well kept up. After doing business we passed through the exit turnstile
into a snack bar. We then started
looking through the vendor's booths as we had time to kill. We saw some neat
looking stuff but decided to buy stuff towards the end of the
day. What we did notice though was that the cold wind was cutting
right through us even with coats on.
We spotted a few tour members with Venice jackets on over their
coats. Last stall on the left.
Thank You. All I will say is that one clothing vendor did a very brisk business
in the brisk air. 55,000 Lire
each later we had another layer of jacket ($27.50) and we feel much better
now. We then regrouped with our guide to be led to our private
boat. We noted the boat dock
was wet and some water was spurting up between the
planks. High Tide.
Gotcha. Our boat was a bit of
a walk down the dock, past the public transit dock, and a good way into the
charter boat section. The first
athletic exercise of the day was boarding the boat up a gangplank that must
have been at a 60-degree angle.
Luckily we all made it and were soon seated at tables looking out
windows.
As we were taking our boat ride to Venice we learned
that the tide had completely covered the boat dock on the island so we would
go to Venice "the long way". This
allowed us to see more of Venice from our boat as we circled the city of
islands. Also along our boat ride we were given the chance to sign up for
the optional gondola ride. The
gondola ride is an integral attraction of Venice that was not included in
the base price of the tour. A
small discount was arranged for our group, which took the cost of a gondola
ride down from 60,000 lire ($30) to 50,000 lire
($25). Mom and I as well as
about 80% of our group opted to purchase the gondola
tickets. Our circle tour of
Venice by boat continued and eventually we made our way around to the boat
dock. As we approached the boat
dock we were informed that we may want to roll up our pants
legs. The dock was still under
water. We docked, made our way
down the steep decline and started to walk across the wet
dock. Wet dock meaning about 4-5 inches of
water. Some took their shoes
and socks off, and reported back that the water was very cold. Upon reaching
the street of the city, we spotted a thin stretch of dry land to perch ourselves
on. At this point a local vendor
started offering plastic boots for sale
(16,000 Lire or $8). It
was time for the gamble, do you buy the boots then have to lug them around
all day if it dries up, or do you not buy the boots and suffer the
consequences. Though a good
number of our group purchased the boots, we opted to go without and suffer
the consequences. He had to
wade through but only about 2 or 3 more deep pockets of water, and then we
would be high and dry the rest of the
day. Not even squishy
shoes! We made our way
from the boat dock by the Hotel Gabriel to the Piazza de San
Marco. About halfway there the
streets became completely flooded, but we were saved by Venetian
ingenuity. In Venice they have
constructed a set of temporary boardwalks on scaffolding that they set up
when the town gets flooded. They are about 1.75 people wide, and have no
railings. Upon these boards
people carefully edge their way around town to their
destination.
Carefully we made our way to San Marco Square
and stood on the shopping promenade across from San Marcos
Church. The entire square resembled
a giant swimming pool. Here
our guide informed us of how extremely lucky we are to see Venice
flooded. According to our guide
Venice is only flooded 3 times a year.
As Venice is in a lagoon of the Adriatic Sea, it is dependant on the
lunar tides. Today's strong
lunar tide, combined with brisk winds caused the entire town to
flood. Supposedly, a most rare
sight. We also saw from the
outside the Doge's Palace, which is now a museum, but used to be the seat
of the government, San Marco Cathedral, and the bell
tower. For those familiar with EPCOT, the Doges Palace is the
building the Italian restaurant is patterned after, and so is the bell
tower. The two really do stand
next to each other in real Italy. However just like EPCOT's bell tower, the
bell tower in Venice is also a reproduction as the original tower was destroyed
in the early 1900's and rebuilt. We then made our way inside San Marco which
took some time as to get to the proper boardwalk we had to go all the way
back to the Doges Palace along the Grand
Canal. Really these walkways
need some one-way signs. We
resorted to sidestepping to slowly make our way round to the side door of
San Marcos. Upon entering the church I note the vestibule to be flooded as
well. We were told that Venice
is building a series of mechanical floodgates to prevent occurrences such
as today; unfortunately this project is just beginning to be built. We make
our way into the church proper which is high and
dry. The Greek cross shape is called to our attention, as all
of the branches of the cross are of the same length, as opposed to most churches
where you have the one longer branch of the
cross. Also brought to our attention
are the golden mosaics of the church as well as other church
art. Our stop here is a brief
one, and we make our way past the sacristy and out the back door of the
church. We then walk down some
streets that are all dry. Our next stop is the Moreno Glass
Factory. Venetian glass is quite
popular, and we are scheduled to see a
demonstration. We are quickly
rushed through the shop and up the stairs to go to the demonstration
room. Here we get to awe as
the glassblower starts with a hunk of molten glass out of the oven (1800degreed
F) and proceeds to make a vase out of it right before our eyes, skillfully
using tools to make the handles and all. A very good demonstration, then the vase was put into
a cooling oven to slowly bring the vase down to room temperature, otherwise
it would shatter. The cooling
oven starts at 1,000degrees F) and is then shut off so it very slowly cools
down to room temperature in a 24 hour cycle. We are then led up to the third
floor for a demonstration and exhibition of their
work. It was explained that
red is the most expensive color because it contains pure gold, and then we
were shown some sculpture work that is not blown, it is carved, some table
service items (that would spend most of their life in a china closet) and
how to tell if a piece is genuine. (Hint: if it is stamped with the company
logo, it is a forgery, as they don’t stamp their logo) Then some rather
startling demonstrations were given including dropping a glass from a few
inches above the table, banging it on a hard surface and other
tricks. We are convinced that
the demonstrator knows just where to strike the
piece. Whether their work is that durable, or the exhibitor is
a good illusionist it's still a good
show. Then came time to mention
prices. At $50 for one glass,
(or $350 for the set of 6 glasses and pitcher), we knew this stuff was out
of our spending bracket. Mind you it was extremely
beautiful. We were then told to follow the Exit
signs. With some clever gates,
strategic signage, etc. it was designed so that to exit the factory tour
you had to pass through every single room of their Factory Outlet
Store. Some free time was given to take a rest, shop their store,
and use the toilet before going to lunch.
Lunch was at the Las Angeles (The Angels)
Ristorante. We were shown upstairs
to a private room. Lunch was
to start with a Mostacolli pasta, followed by a plate with a pork chop, baked
potato wedges, and spinach. I
had a Coca Cola Light (Diet Coke) with my meal and was just mentioning how
I was looking forward to having some Gelati, when desert was
announced. Dessert would be gelati, a dip of strawberry and
a dip of rich chocolate. As
I would learn Gelati is merely Italian for ice cream and not some fancy
concoction that PKI came up with.
But it’s not quite the same as ice cream; it’s a different
texture to it.
After lunch we had some free time, but decided
that it wasn't enough to do anything before our time appointed group gondola
ride. We decided to walk along
the shopping promenade of San Marcos Plaza and we shocked to find the entire
plaza DRY. Not just no water,
but DRY bricks. If not for the
temporary scaffold walkways, which now looked absurd, you would not have
known it was flooded this morning. While waiting for our guide we discovered
that the Italian police don't carry pistols, instead they prefer to carry
rifles. Must be a European
thing, as both London's Gatwick and Venice's Marco Polo Airport were guarded
by guards wielding machine guns, walking around
finger-on-trigger. Anyway, after
being in awe over the now dry piazza, it was soon time to be led to the gondola
dock. We were informed that
our guide wouldn't be making the trip but she pointed out key landmarks to
find our way back.
The gondola ride, as much as anything else, is
one of the icons of Venice.
Whenever you speak of Venice, someone always mentions the gondolas,
and therefore not to ride them would be not to truly see
Venice. As I mentioned earlier,
our tour group was afforded an opportunity to ride at a reduced
rate. Mom and I were in the
second boat to be loaded, loading not being so easy as there are no solid
handholds except the operators.
Each gondola seats 6 people, two facing forward, two facing the sides
in fold-down chairs, and one person facing the
rear. The gondolier stands on the very back of the
gondola. In one of our gondolas
we arranged for two musicians, an accordionist and a vocalist to join
us. Skillful navigation allowed the gondola with the musicians
to stay in the middle of the pack. A word about gondolas, they most closely
resemble canoes, as they are narrow and
long. Gondolas as a rule are
painted black with a real shiny finish, with brass trim and either red or
blue seat cushions. According to our local guide they are sometimes referred
to as floating coffins or death ships.
These nicknames stemming from both their appearance and their ultra
quiet operation, as they float gently in a misty fog evening. The gondoliers
themselves wear either white or black outfits; a few were seen to be wearing
outfits that Americans would more closely associate with jail uniforms. As
the dock had only two or three slips, and our group needed seven gondolas,
the first three boats were loaded, left the dock, then were held still a
few meters down the Grand Canal to let the others catch
up. We then proceeded from the
gondola dock nearest San Marcos Square along the grand canal to the site
of the famous Venice opera house, which was destroyed by fire a few years
ago and is currently being rebuilt. All the way accompanied by lively and sometimes romantic
music. A lot of photos were
taken and the group was in high spirits.
We then started touring the minor canals and waterways, and this is
where the ride really gets interesting.
You see there are no cars or motor vehicles in
Venice, instead the entire chain of islands contains an elaborate set of
waterways, both natural and manmade that allow for the residents and supplies
to reach their destination by water.
These tiny waterways even have traffic lights, traffic signs like
you would expect in a normal town.
Clearly in Venice the waterways are the street
system. This was truly pointed
out when we found ourselves in a gondola traffic
jam. Along the waterways the
gondolas navigate waterways that are maybe three gondolas wide at the most,
and pass under several footbridges.
These footbridges, although they appear quite low, are quite safe
as long as you remain seated keeping your arms and legs completely in the
gondola. It was noted that the
standing gondolier sometimes had to duck and assume otherwise awkward positions
to pass under some bridges. It
was also noted that several buildings had back doors and private docks along
the waterway. A curiosity appeared
in the form that a gondolier only uses one oar or gondola pole or whatever
they call it. And they only
row on one side of the gondola, yet are able to fully
steer. Though sometimes a
well-placed foot by the gondolier along the sides of the waterway was
employed. As I was sitting up
in the very front of the boat facing rearward, I noted a sort of coat of
arms on the front of the bow, proclaiming that our gondola was the Francesco,
at the very rear of the boat is a fin like tail that I have only seen used
on gondolas. Very
unique. Our gondola ride
lasted about 45 minutes, and then it was time to take turns at the boat slips
to get out. Getting out was
quite a challenge, and after we unloaded we took delight in watching the
others. After everyone had safely
unloaded we made our way to a souvenir cart to purchase some goodies, like
a book about Venice (hint to travelers: when buying books and videos in other
countries be sure to get the English version and for a video the NTSC version.
(Of course if you are not from the USA and you landed on this document, adjust
the language and video version as fits your situation) a tote bag, and a
postcard. The group I left back
at work had requested a postcard, so I figured the sooner I sent it, the
better chance it would have of reaching my office before I
did. Next stop was the Venice
post office. They don't have
stamp vending machines, and they only had one window
open. Hey wait! I could
be describing any local post office!
The slow moving line finally made its way to the front, where I learned
the postage would be 1,500 lire ($0.75).
I was more surprised when they handed me no less than 5 stamps to
affix to the card. Rather than try to keep track of the stamps and the postcard
separate, I affixed the stamps while at the post office then put the card
in my bag to fill out back at the hotel.
A brief stop to use the facilities, yes lire was
involved, as pay toilets are still standard operation over in Italy. We then
headed towards San Marco Church.
You see not only was this a sightseeing tour, this tour was also,
(maybe even primarily) a tour for our church choir (That's the Cathedral
Basilica of the Assumption, Covington, KY for those who are
interested). In fact this would
make the sixth trip the choir has made outside the USA. The choir was scheduled
to sing at the 18:45 mass at San Marcos in
Venice. The air outside is still
quite cold but the breeze seems to have
subsided. While waiting for
the church to open, I stopped in a coffee
bar. The Snack Bar
Americano. This particular snack
bar features American food like hot
dogs. I walked over to the coffee
bar and ordered a Hot Chocolate (or
Chocolat). To my surprise I
was served in a real china coffee cup.
This particular hot chocolate is the richest I have ever
had. Imagine a hot chocolate
made with Hershey's Special Dark. A nice warm filler, until it was time to
be admitted for church.
Mass this evening would be said in a small side
chapel, with hardly any lights on.
This was a minor disappointment as I had planned on taking the time
to look more closely at the mosaics all around the
church. From what I hear the
lack of sufficient lighting created some unique challenges for the choir
as well. Mass was noteworthy
in that it was said with the priest facing away from the
people. Something I had personally
never seen. The choir did a
good job, and dealt with the unusual circumstances like
pros. About halfway through the service somebody finally decided
to turn on the lights. Choral
performance #1 over, there was a brief stop outside for a group photo in
Venice before making our way back to the boat dock to catch our waterbus
back to the mainland.
The walk back to the dock was interesting, as
we passed several vendors who were noticeably not there during the day selling
all manner of roses and electronic toys and purses and stuff that you wonder
about its quality and origin.
Luckily the pathway back to the boat
dock was now
dry. The walk back also seemed
to take a lot longer, as each bridge took its toll on us with the stairs
both up to and down from the bridge.
There was one unhappy event when one of the “Cheerleaders”
fell on the steps and broke both of her upper
arms. Luckily she was able to
continue on the tour until the end after a trip to the
hospital. Eventually we made
our way back to the boat dock to discover no
boat. It seems that the boat
we went to Venice on was having some difficulties, however they were sending
another boat for us. The replacement
boat was smaller, yet we all fit on board in a cozy
manner. At least the second
boat had a much more gradual gangplank to load and
unload. We took a more
direct path back to the mainland dock, and made our way back to the
bus. It was noted that the entire
marketplace on the mainland dock was closed for the
evening. Our bus took us back
to the hotel.
Dinner was not included
today. Our tour called for the
breakfast plus one meal per day to be
included. Today the tour furnished
lunch so diner was our responsibility. After dropping souvenirs into our hotel rooms, a large
number of us met in the lobby to plan
dinner. The McDonalds next door
to our hotel was briefly considered and
rejected. We decided not to
venture out and instead chose the hotel
restaurant. Tonight we ate light,
or we ate more to the American method of Italian
dining. That is to say we merely
ordered a pasta dish and bread. I
did the spaghetti Napoli that is Spaghetti with tomato sauce, basil, oregano,
garlic, and cheese. A very good dinner followed by a very good night's
sleep. Catch you in the
morning!
Day 4 - Thursday, November 15,
2001
This was to be a day on the road, with a couple
of important stops along the way.
This required an early morning start to pack up and leave our bags
for the hotel staff, while we went down to
breakfast. Quite
tasty. Back up to my room where
I wrote the postcard and dropped it into the mail chute in the hotel lobby.
Then onto the bus for a lengthy drive to Ravenna. Most chose to get some
extra sleep on the bus ride. There
was a lengthy viaduct we passed in a large body of water, and the chance
to see even our driver get confused in the
roundabout. A couple hours later we were at the Ravenna train station
picking up our local guide (Luciana).
We would start with a driving tour of Ravenna, which would include
such sites as Dante's (Divine Comedy) tomb. On the way to Ravenna we got
some political commentary.
Something about how the rich areas of Ravenna feel that they are paying
too much of the taxes. In other
words, politics are the same all over. Our local guide while quite knowledgeable
also had a rather abrasive personality. Our first stop would be the National
Museum, which is housed in an old
monastery. A much-needed break
was given after the long bus ride, and we looked at some of the artwork and
artifacts on the entrance level of the
museum. I also spotted a common
site I would see at other historical sites. A coin operated television monitor
provided for those without the luxury of a guided
tour. Back to our guided tour.
It was pointed out that the museum we were standing in is housed in a building
of the 16th century, and that after we go down a flight of stairs
the church we would tour is from the 6th century.
The Basilica of St. Vitale is an octagonal shaped
church. It was pointed out that
this was the church of the government, not the main church of the
people. As such, local custom
would have dictated women to remain on the second floor gallery
level. We hear that the church was used both for political as
well as religious meetings. We are then shown the mosaics in the apse of
the church in great detail. These
have an emerald green background.
We also hear that unlike the mosaics of Venice, which are mostly flat,
Ravenna mosaics have a rough textured surface.
After a lengthy description
of the mosaics we exit the church and go to the Mausoleum
of Galla Placidia, another
6th century work. Once
inside the mausoleum the doors were closed so that we could appreciate the
light provided by windows made of alabaster, not glass. Inside the background
color was a royal blue, and mosaics lined all four the ceiling and walls
of the cross-shaped building. After seeing the mausoleum we exited the museum
by a side gate and made our way to a local Mosaic artisan's shop for a
demonstration on the manufacture of
mosaics. As a tie to our previous
days touring, mosaics are made out of tiny pieces of glass, and in this case
Moreno glass is used. The same
type of glass that was used in the glassblowers shop from yesterday's
tour. After the mosaic
demonstration, some time was given for gift shop purchases before getting
back on the bus for our next destination. We would travel by bus approximately
five miles to St. Apollinaire in Classe.
This was the church of the
people. Attention was paid to
the round bell tower in the rear of the church before
entering. Everything that St. Vitale was, this church
wasn't. St. Apollinaire featured
large bright windows and several openings, while St. Vitale had minimal windows
and limited access. We learned
that the difference is that of Roman vs. Gothic architecture and
theology. The roman belief was
"Church as Fortress of God" So there was little outside light admitted, while
the Gothic style saw light as God entering the building, so this church features
large windows, and several doorways.
As was eluded to in St. Vitale by having to go down the stairs from
the 16th century to the 6th century building, the historic
buildings are in fact sinking. And
over time newer buildings have been placed on top of the
old. In a corner of St. Apollinarie
church, you could see a small segment of the original flooring, and you could
see that it was easily 3 feet below the current
floor. Our guide explained that
when it was time to raise the floor, in order to keep the columns and capitals
intact, a portion of the wall above the column work would be removed in order
to preserve the column work. We
also received the detailed explanation of the mosaic work in this church
and learned how all the mosaic work was really a visual aid for the
congregation. A final point of interest was in the various crypts located
along the long walls. It was
noted that in most Roman churches only three sides of the crypt are decorated
as it is placed against a wall anyway. Here, an unusual thing all four sides
of the crypts are decorated. The
decorations having been chosen by the deceased shortly before death. Call
it the pre-planning of years
past. Lining the tops
of the walls are the portraits of the bishops of Ravenna, and special note
must be paid to one, whose name I forgot, but a sculpture of a papal crown
has been added to the top of it to indicate that he made it to the rank of
Pope. Other portraits had a
dove above them. This was to
signify bishops who were selected by an ancient custom of placing all bishop
candidates in the church and releasing a
dove. The priest who the dove
rested on became bishop.
Thus ended our formal touring in
Ravenna. Before getting back
on the bus some free time was offered.
As dinner was to be the day's included meal, a suggestion was made
that the restaurant located next door to the church was quite
reasonable. The vast majority
of the group decided on the local
restaurant. Once inside the
restaurant you could either order what you wanted, or go for the Tourist
Menu or (Menu Touristico). Of those who decided on lunch, most of us decided
on the Menu Touristico for 20,000 lire
($10.00). A tourist menu is
a complete meal prearranged to offer the tourist the chance at an authentic
meal without having to figure out the menu
themselves. Today they were serving "Light Lunch". At least they call
it light lunch; back here it would be a full
dinner. The meal consisted of
a salad and a pasta dish, similar but not exactly tortellini stuffed with
cheese and spinach. Even I the
staunch anti-vegetable person managed to enjoy my
pasta. Noteworthy also, is that
the price included beverage, and beer and wine were offered as choices in
the included beverage service. The meal concluded with an Ice cream cup,
with the unique feature that it was mostly vanilla with a chocolate musical
note that went as deep as the cup.
I'd say a fine meal for
$10. I just don't think
you can get a bad meal in Italy. It was a bit comical when our tour leader apologized for
rushing us through lunch.
Rushing? That was an
hour-long leisurely lunch, to those of us used to eating in 20 minutes or
less, this was a nice relaxing lunch.
As we would find out Italians really enjoy meals, and usually eat
at a slower and more relaxed pace than we Americans
do.
After having had lunch, it was back on the bus
for the long ride to Assisi.
Shortly after leaving Ravenna the Ferris wheel and top of the lift
hill for Katun, a B&M inverted roller coaster could be
seen. Luckily for the coaster
enthusiast in the group, Mirabilandialand was closed today, as it has been
since October 7. Why
lucky? Lucky as I didn't have
to bear the site of passing by an OPEN amusement
park. After passing by Miribilandia
it was a long bus ride through the mountains and tunnels of the hillside
for quite some time. It was
actually a very scenic and picturesque drive. About halfway there a stop
was made at a rest area/store then it was on to Assisi.
Assisi is a mountainside medieval
town. A town that is still
surrounded by walls and gates. As
it is built on a mountainside, there are almost no flat areas in the whole
town. The town featured quaint
buildings and narrow winding roads with several hairpin
turns. The roads are just large enough for an automobile and
perhaps a single file line of people.
It should be noted that most cars in Italy are compact in nature,
this is quite understandable when you hear that gas is about $3.75/gallon
over there. Actually gas is
about 1975 lire/liter over there, but I did the math for
you. The roads are so
narrow and steep, that our bus had to stop at a parking lot located just
outside of town. From there
our luggage was loaded onto tiny trucks, and cab service was offered to those
who wanted it (5,000 lire per person) ($2.50) to our hotel. I chose to walk
while Mom chose, quite wisely, to ride.
The first part of the walk involved a long ramp along a road up to
the city gates. Once through
the city gates, we would have to walk uphill several blocks to our
hotel. There are no new buildings
in Assisi, as they keep reusing the old
ones. There is reconstruction
but no new construction going on. Assisi, as you might know was the victim to a bad 1997
earthquake, and as such rebuilding is still
underway. Ah, here we are up at the Hotel
Fontebella. This hotel was sort
of strange for mom, as she had stayed there on a prior choir tour in
1986. After resting a while in the lobby, we were given our
key and headed upstairs to our room.
We rode up to our room on the 6th floor in an old elevator,
complete with manually operated doors.
Progress was brought to a halt if a person forgot to close all the
doors when leaving the elevator.
Now is as good a time as any to mention that Italy is not very wheelchair
friendly. Although no one in
our group had a wheelchair, it's one of the things I have come to notice
when I visit places. The majority
of the elevators we encountered on the trip were tiny, and even if they could
hold a person in a wheelchair, the doorways would be too narrow, or in the
case of this hotel the inside door of the elevator opened into the
car. Making it a trick to close even when you are able to
walk. If you have claustrophobia
stay out of Italian elevators.
Other items were the lack of elevators in some places, or the elevator
does not serve all the floors in a building, or steep stairs, or public restrooms
either in a basement or upper level of a building with no wheelchair
access. Okay now we are in our hotel room, on the top
floor. Due to the unusual placement
of the window, a small winding staircase with banister was built in our room
to reach the window. Odd
to have a window that high up on the top floor of a
building. At this hotel we saw
an unusual tactic of conserving
electricity. When you enter
the room, you have to place your key into a slot on the
wall. Once the key is fully
inserted the electricity for the room will turn
on. Once that card is removed
from the wall, you have a limited number of minutes before the power goes
out. Did I mention that
the climate control device also turns
off? As this hotel used mechanical
locks in the doors, a specially shaped key ring fob was inserted into the
wall. After coming from the
Hotel Sirio this place is a definite step up in
luxury. Heated bath towel racks,
let's hear it for drying off after a shower with a heated bath
towel. We had some time to rest up, before we headed down to
our restaurant. The restaurant,
while associated with the hotel, is not actually in the
hotel. Despite the panel on
the elevator that said to press "1" for the
restaurant. We boarded the lift
pressed "1" (the bottom floor on the floor selection panel), and once we
arrived at the bottom, discovered that it would be another fight of stairs
down to the hotel's other lobby, then across the street to the
restaurant.
Dinner was the included meal today, and consisted
of Cream of Asparagus soup. Again
Mr. I-Hate-Vegetables made quick work of finishing his soup. Mmmmm
Good. The soup had pasta in
it so I guess counted for our pasta dish. It was quickly followed by meat
that was never really identified, a salad and some
peas. Dinner was real good,
as all our meals have been. After
dinner it was time for the choirs first major concert of the trip. Realizing
that the church was back down at the bottom of the hill, I spied an empty
seat in a cab of choir members, and quickly parted with 5,000 lire to ride
down to the church with them. The taxi ride is very note worthy as it surpasses
any motion-simulator experience.
What can compare with tiny streets,
dodging pedestrians, hairpins turns without even slowing
down. Tiny clearances, low margin
for error, etc. A taxi
ride that turned into a real thrill ride. The taxi deposited us at the upper
level of St. Francis Church. The
church of St. Francis in Assisi is quite noteworthy in that it is actually
two churches, one placed above the
other. Tonight's concert would
take place in the upper church. The upper church was badly damaged in the
earthquake of 1997, and the walls still show signs of
damage. What is even more amazing is the amount of restoration
that has gone on. Several years
ago, our local church had booked a speaker for the lecture series from Assisi
to talk about the town and the restoration project that was ahead of
them. The slide show she gave
back then showed the wall mosaics on the floor in pieces, and skilled art
students working at benches trying to recreate them as if working on giant
jigsaw puzzles. My friends,
it is truly amazing how much restoration has
occurred. Through a team of
very patient individuals the majority of the artwork has been
restored. And tonight we would
be able to gaze at the art under the full power of the electric
light. Oh, and I discovered
that the person sitting next to me in the audience was that same lecturer
from a long time ago.
Tonight's concert was an international group effort,
our choir, and a choir from Assisi joined together for tonight's
program. Each choir performed
its own separate concert, and then joined together for the closing number
(Mozart's Ave Verum). The music
was of course classical and church
music. I must say both choirs
put on an excellent performance that was well received by the large crowd
in attendance. An especially
emotional moment took place when our choir performed "America The
Beautiful": When I saw that
on the program, I wasn't sure how that would go over in a foreign
land. I report that it was well
received and served to point out that there were other American groups in
the audience that night. Namely
a group on retreat from Lexington.
After a particularly fine concert and some photo opportunities, I
decided again to join a group in a taxi back UP the steep hillside to our
hotel.
Once back at the hotel, I joined a good-sized
group at the hotel bar, where I had a fine Italian beer,
Peroni. Peroni is served in
rather large bottles so I only needed one
bottle. The mingling and laughter
in the hotel bar was lively and could be heard all the way up on the
6th floor landing of the
stairs. After some drinks, and friendship, I returned to my room
for a shower. A shower that first required a pole vault into the rather high
bathtub. No shower curtain,
just a Plexiglas shield that didn't seem large enough, but was strategically
placed to catch the shower water.
Did I mention the nice heated bath towels? And so to
sleep.
Day 5 - Friday, November 16,
2001
Today, we awake, get dressed, you know all the
usual stuff, then headed down to the bottom level of the hotel for
breakfast. Fortunately, breakfast
is held inside the main hotel building in a room that looks a definitely
medieval. Battle axes on the
walls, tournament banners on the arched ceilings, and all. The breakfast
menu was quite similar to that served at the Hotel Sirio in Venice. After
breakfast, we were told to meet back at the tour bus, which if you recall
is parked WAY down at the bottom of the town in Parking Lot
A. Morning rush hour in
Assisi, Narrow roads, cars zooming by, medieval buildings, oh and some concert
announcements. Wait! That’s
a poster for our group’s concert from last
night. Too bad they used some really good glue to apply the posters
to the walls. This was our first
walk through town in bright daylight, and Assisi is just a magic mountainside
town. So small, so quaint, so
relaxing. Eventually we make
our way outside the city gates, down the hill and onto the
bus.
At the bus, we meet our local guide. While on
the bus we hear about the town of Assisi, we pass a road down to the old
monastery, we keep driving. We
notice the city wall, and eventually wind up in parking lot B, which is at
the top of the city. Smart
tactic. Use motorized transportation
to get to the farthest, hardest to reach point and walk
back. At the upper parking lot, we take a series of two escalators
to the highest point in Assisi, and therefore start our walk back
down. We first stop at a fantastic
overlook where we can see the city and mountainside below
us. We then head to St.
Claire's. The historical
significance of St. Claire's Church is that it holds the famous crucifix,
which is believed to have spoken to St. Francis of
Assisi. A brief tour of the
church, and the chapel, which holds the famous crucifix, took place, followed
by a brief prayer. Another oddity
of that particular crucifix is that is shows Christ alive.
From St. Claire's we were a bit surprised to learn
that we would have to walk uphill to the Assisi town square of
sorts. This is where the government
offices are located, and a rather famous
temple. It was pointed out that
the stairs leading up to the temple seemed to be
stunted. As we learned in Ravenna,
the older buildings are actually sinking, and that there would have been
a further 12 stairs back in the days of the Roman
Empire. We spent some time in the town square, before heading
back downhill with an ultimate destination of St. Francis
Basilica. Along the way down
we stopped at a famous house of some sort, though because I was lagging behind
the group I did not hear what was important about it.
At the base of the hill our guide told us about
St. Francis, the two churches in one
building. How the lower church
contains the tomb of St. Francis. The lower church having previously been
a courthouse in St. Francis's day.
In fact both churches of the Basilica were built some time after St.
Francis death. As you may recall,
yesterday we had the concert in the upper basilica, today we would have the
Mass in the lower basilica.
There is a world of difference between these two
churches. The lower basilica
almost had a cave like atmosphere, with minimal windows mounted high up in
the walls. Our Mass was in the
chapel nearest the main entrance.
Our choir sang for the mass of course, and even our tour director
got into the act by doing the readings.
Of note was a portable organ that was wheeled in that is said to have
been over 600 years old. Its
keys aren't painted white like modern instruments; instead a bare wood finish
is left. Unlike Venice, the mass was said in a fashion that is
more like we are used to in the States.
In fact Venice is the only place where the priest faced away from
the people.
After mass we had some time to explore the Lower
Basilica on our own. This included
a trip to the crypt of St. Francis, a very simple affair, reflecting the
saint’s values. Another
member of our group discovered a high tech spin on an old tradition.
Coin-operated votive candles. Instead of trusting people with matches, the
person merely inserts a coin and a candle is automatically lighted for
them. After touring the
rather dark surrounds of the Lower basilica, we exited out into the square
for further instructions.
Group vote, we can either have 2 hours of free
time here, and continue on our way, or leave Assisi now and have our break
somewhere along the way to Rome.
As most folks hadn't gotten time to purchase souvenirs yet, the group
opted to take the free time in Assisi.
Our local guide had mentioned that any extra copies of our concert
poster would be up at the Tourism Board.
We recalled from the walking tour that the Tourism board was way up
at the top of the city. After
a convenience stop, a small group of us headed up to the Tourism
Board. There we met another
tour member who was just leaving the government office, and informed us that
she had acquired the entire lot of remaining
posters. The posters were carefully
packed away and distributed at the first choir rehearsal after our return
to the states. Good team
effort. The small group I was
with decided to stop in a counter service pizza parlor, a pizza-by-the-slice
joint. I had been told that
pizza varied drastically in Italy depending on where you
were. Up here in Assisi, pizza had a real thick, crunchy
crust. No matter where you got
pizza in Italy, very fresh ingredients were
used. Such as squeezing tomatoes
for the sauce right when the pizza is made. Nothing from a can here
folks. Fresh real ingredients
are used, and go pizza shops have displays of fresh toppings on display.
Some of the best pizza I've had, and reasonable at only 2,000L ($1) per slice.
Large slices too.
On the way to the pizza place, in the same food
area, I had seen a Gelati Stand. After finishing my pizza, I walked over
to the Gelati stand only to find it
closed. Those worried about
my Gelati intake will be happy to know I found a Gelatria (think ice cream
parlor) on my way back down through the
town. A few stops were made
for souvenirs as we made our way back to parking lot A at the bottom of the
town. From here it was back
on the bus for a short drive to our next stop.
Just outside of Assisi, we stopped at the Basilica
did S. Maria degli Angeli. As
had become common, the church was explained out on the front steps of the
church, as to preserve the rule of silence
inside. This Basilica is important
because it too, is two churches in one.
This time the much larger church (16th century) served
to protect a tiny church built in the 1st century. This is the
church that St. Francis reportedly restored with his bare hands after hearing
the message of the crucifix.
But the original church is only one site to be seen
here. After touring the main
basilica, it is necessary to follow the signs to the rose
garden. Along this one-way pathway you pass the statue of St.
Francis holding a basket. In
the basket is a real live dove.
(Symbol of peace). Further
along the walking tour you exit the building to the rose garden that bears
roses with no thorns. Last stop
is the cave that is said to have been where St. Francis
prayed. After the cave you go
through a few courtyards and labyrinth like hallways to get back to the main
church. Along the way the path
leads you through a gift shop.
After our tour of the church, we re-boarded the bus for the long ride
to Rome. The ride to Rome was
pretty, but I would be dishonest if I didn't say that most people caught
up on some sleep sometime along the way.
At about the halfway point we pulled off the road to go to a 'rest
area'. This rest area is one
of those tourist trap stops. Our
tour director even warned us that it was. It's a "Pssst! Bring your tour
group here, and we'll make it worth your while"
places. Upon exiting the bus,
you enter the building to find nice large, clean, free
restrooms. The catch is that
after using the restroom, you can't exit the building the same way you went
in. You must instead go through
the market. The market is set
up in such a manner that you must go down every single
aisle. The building exit is
located at the far end behind the checkout
counters. While the first aisle
offers traditional convenience store items, and even a snack bar, the markets
true purpose is revealed.
Italian Candy, Italian Wine, Italian Olive Oil, Italian Salsa, Italian
spices, Italian Jewelry, Italian Cosmetics, as well as an aisle full of
traditional tourist souvenir items.
However the market had a fun atmosphere with lots of free samples
to be had as you made your way through the maze, including wine
tasting. It was a fun rest stop,
and I don't think anybody got out without buying
something,
As we left the market our guide
said. "With smooth sailing we
should be in Rome within an hour" No sooner had she said that, we turned
the corner onto the Autosrtade (turnpike) to discover the traffic jam to
end all traffic jams. A few miles on the Autostrade revealed the
reason. A multi car pile up
in the high-speed lane. That
and road construction did not help
matters. The statue of
St. Christopher (the patron saint of transportation) was pointed out along
the entrance to the turnpike. It
was a slower drive to Rome than expected, and our guide was biting her nails,
but rest assured we made it to Rome on
time. We drove past the Olympic
Stadium, where we noticed they were getting ready for some event that night,
and then we drove through the modern, commercialistic side of
Rome. As we were told, Rome
has too faces, the Historic Rome, and the Contemporary
Rome. W also got our first glimpse
of Roman driving habits. All
traffic rules are out the windows folks.
Traffic lights and signs are merely
suggestions. Parking wherever
you can cram your compact car, be it sideways, backwards, on the side walk,
in the grass, as long as it isn't blocking traffic, its
alright. Besides the compact
car, motorcycles and motor scooters are quite the rage in
Rome. And remember, in Rome,
pedestrians do NOT have the right of
way. As the group joked "He
who hesitates, dies". To
help combat this traffic problem, many sections of Rome are restricted to
cars belonging to residents of those neighborhoods
only. This includes tour
busses, forcing tour groups to sometimes have to walk several blocks from
a main street to the site they want to visit. To further help, Rome has a
very fine public transit system involving busses, subways, shuttles, streetcars
(yes on rails), trains, and they are said to be working on an elevated railway
system. In addition public transit is very reasonable, with fares being
calculated based on time. The
lowest time unit sold is 75 Minutes for 1,500 L (75 cents), up to all day
passes for 9,000: ($4.50). No
fare boxes, and tickets must be purchased before you plan to
ride. However, ever corner
tobacconist sells transit tickets. (And phone cards, and stamps, and lottery
tickets) In short the tobacconist
is the tourist's friend. When
you enter the subway platform, or board your first public vehicle, you must
have your ticket punched by a time clock located by the boarding
doors. It's on an honor system;
just don't get caught without a properly punched, unexpired
ticket. The fine for being caught
on a public transit vehicle without a proper ticket is 50,000L ($25.00).
This was told to us in our Roman
orientation. It was noted that
many Italians do chance riding without tickets, as the transit inspectors
tend to spot check tourists.
We then were awe struck by getting our first glimpse
of St. Peters Square. It's truly
an awe inspiring sight with the round colonnade, the two fountains, the obelisk,
and St. Peters Basilica located directly behind
it. For the Catholic visitor, this is truly the "You are in
Rome" sight. Even more amazing was when our hotel was located directly across
the street from St. Peter's Square.
Due to very special circumstances, we were afforded the opportunity
to stay in the Residence of Paul VI.
The floors the hotel is now
located on were previously used as a seminary; they are now a modern
hotel. But not just any hotel,
this is a private hotel, which means that you have to be invited to stay
there. According to the hotel brochure the hotel had 23 rooms, and we had
more than 46 people. This
left some people, mainly those who joined the trip as a pilgrimage and were
not sharing a room with a choir member to be accommodated in a nearby hotel
that looked to be quite nice. The
lower floors of the building contained offices, most noteworthy the Philippine
Embassy to the Holy State (Vatican City), further down was an official Vatican
gift shop, a cafeteria, gelatria and some other retail
stores. We caught the main elevator
and rode up to III. We then entered the hotel, picked up our room cards,
and headed to our room. While
at first we were disappointed that the rooms weren't large and luxurious,
they were quite nice including all the comforts of a fine hotel, including
a superb view of the dome of St. Peters, and a television that had a channel
surfer compatible remote control.
The same energy saving tactic was employed at this hotel, and after
a little rest, we rejoined the others at the bus for
dinner.
Dinner tonight would be at a local restaurant
"Osteria de Pontiffs" or something like
that. It was decorated with
portraits of popes past and present.
This time the meal started with ravioli, served before what we presumed
to be turkey and vegetables. Fresh
fruit for desert. Another great
meal, supporting my theory that it just isn't possible to get a bad meal
in Italy.
After dinner we got back on the bus for a night
tour of Rome. Rome offers a
fascinating tour of Rome at night, with all the famous historical sites lit
up in a nice mellow light. We
passed the Palatine Hill, the Circus Maximus, the Coliseum, the "Wedding
Cake" (Victor Emanuel Monument, now their "Tomb of the unknown soldier",
San Angelo, some roman bridges where we learned the extra holes in the bridges
are to allow the river to pass through the bridge without damaging the bridge,
a theatre that looks a lot like the Coliseum, and a lot
more. At the end of the bus
ride the group decided to skip a stop at Piazza Nuvona, a popular artsy shopping
district. It is fair to
say that everybody was very tired. We returned to our hotel; found the front
door locked, no card slot. And got accustomed to communicating to the front desk
via intercom whenever the doorman wasn't
there. I must say there
is some added comfort to having a hotel in a secure
building. Fortunately
for the hotel desk, the front door can be opened
electronically. We then went upstairs and began another night’s
sleep.
Day 6 - Saturday, November 17,
2001
Again we awake, in
Rome. Before even getting dressed, a look out the window was
in order to reconfirm that we really are staying right next door to St. Peter's
Square. Okay, we weren't dreaming
it. Get dressed, and learn that breakfast will be served up in the clubroom
on the 5th floor. The
lift was full, so we took the stairs and proceeded to have
breakfast. As a nice surprise,
in addition to all the breakfast goodies we had been getting used to they
had added scrambled eggs and bacon.
We had a very delightful breakfast, stopped back past our room to
get cameras, and then went out from of the building to catch our bus for
a tour of Rome. Today's tour would be during the day, in the historic
center.
We passed a lot of the same sites we saw last
night, and they did look different during the
day. Our formal tour was to
concentrate on a mere handful of sites.
We drove out to the nearest bus parking area to the Coliseum, and
before heading to the Coliseum, we headed up into town a
bit. We stopped to wait for
some stragglers to catch up in front of a building of a Roman
university. This university,
instead of having all its buildings together in a campus like arrangement,
was instead spread out all through Rome.
Some more political commentary was made as to how they were no longer
free to their residents. After this brief pause, we started noting that the
street vendors are aggressive here in
Rome. From the minute we stepped
off the bus till we got back on we were being followed and pestered by someone
selling some trinket. Our first
major stop was St. Peter in Chains, not to be confused with St. Peters located
across from our hotel. One of
the two key relics in this church is Michelangelo's famous statue of Moses,
which is quite impressive. The
statue appears to be moving, and is just so large it’s awe
striking. Then again in Italy
churches are a LOT bigger than what I am accustomed to in the states. The
other relic is the chains from which St. Peter was allegedly held
prisoner. We enjoyed a guided
tour and a little bit of free time in the
church. The church is currently
undergoing a rehab project, and much of the front half is covered in
scaffolding. However, an unusual
vantage point of Michelangelo's sculptures can be obtained as a temporary
stairway and observation gallery had been erected by the local fine arts
society to allow a closer look at some of the sculptures located high up
in the side of the church.
Talk about making the most of a situation.
We then left the church, and made our way to a
nice overlook where we could see the ruins of a temple and the
Coliseum. The Coliseum was at
the bottom of a steep hill, but our group took a wise shortcut through a
subway station so that a normal set off stairs could be employed instead
of the steep hillside. As you
exit the station, you are thrust right into the plaza holding the famous
Roman Coliseum, or Flavian Amphitheatre as it is also
called. We learned a lot of
interesting trivia points about the famous
stadium. Similar to modern day
stadiums, fans of the contests in this stadium were assigned a gate nearest
their seat, according to their ticket.
80 gates in all existed, numbered I to
LXXX. Some of these gates gate
numbers can be seen in the portion of the Coliseum where the outermost wall
still stands. This section is
also interesting for another reason.
If you look around the roof, you will see a punch of square holes,
and mounted under them, stone blocks jetting out from the
wall. When asked to guess their
purpose, many suggested that they were to hold
flagpoles. Not
so. In fact they existed for
a much more ingenious reason. The
Roman Coliseum had, a RETRACTABLE ROOF! In this case the covering was made
of canvas, and had a big hole in the middle of it, to let in the sunlight
to serve as a spotlight over the arena
floor. No mechanical system
here. A crew of 2,500 was required to raise or lower the
roof. The roof pegs were inserted
through the holes in the roof, and rested on the stone
blocks. Stadium capacity was
60,000. Along the base of the
statue are a number of costumed characters, in this case gladiators, and
a Julius Caesar type person. They
serve to entertain the tourist and also so that you can have your photo taken
with a 'real gladiator''. Buyers
beware if you take them up on the offer.
These characters expect to be paid for their time to be in your
photographs. The going rate
to have your photo taken with a gladiator is 10,000:
($5). And this is so your friend
can take your picture, of you with the gladiator, using YOUR camera, and
YOUR film. $5 per photo, that
is. They will even pose
with their 'blood' covered sword.
This is along with a lot of street vendors and horse and buggy
rides. I suggest that Chariot
rides would be much better insofar as keeping with the
theme. Then again I can see
the inherent dangers in offering chariot
rides.
Oh where was I, describing the
Coliseum. A lot of folks seem
to think that the ruins of the coliseum are the way they are because of natural
decay and deterioration. Not
So! After the coliseum had become
obsolete, it was viewed at the time to be an inexhaustible quarry of stone
for construction crews. This pillaging of the building only came to a stop
when it was actually made a church of all
things. A church dedicated to
all the martyrs who died there.
The church can still be accessed off the 'plaza' level of the
stadium. If in the coliseum
bowl, it's down the aisle with the big cross built above the arena
wall. It should be noted
that the Pope uses the bowl of the Coliseum once per year, for the Good Friday
service. Other curiosities are
more well known, like the intentional flooding of the arena to allow mock
naval games, or the various kinds of contests. (Gladiator Vs. Animal, Animal
Vs. Animal, Gladiator Vs. Gladiator)
These were deadly games, as the loser usually died then and there,
unless they were given a royal pardon.
The winner would either get paid if they were a professional gladiator,
or be awarded their freedom if they were a prisoner or
slave. The Coliseum was a popular
place for executions, and depending on the crime, the prisoner may or may
not be given the luxury of having
weapons. Under the missing arena floor you can see the maze of
tiny rooms and animal cages.
Unfortunately our tour would be an exterior tour and not include the
inside. I will have to deal
with this later, as the Coliseum was one place I really wanted to walk around
inside.
Next on our walking tour was the Roman
Forum. Or the ruins of the Roman
Forum. The Forum used to the
political, social and commercial town center. Now it is a field of
ruins. Mind you ruins that attract lots of tourists. While there
may not be much left to see, you almost feel self compelled to walk about
the ruins. Maybe Tillyou wasn't
that crazy when he posted a sign about charging admission to the ruins of
his once great Steeplechase park. To be walking and touching ancient Roman
history is an awe-inspiring experience.
Along with the forums, time was taken under the
Arch of Titus. These arches
were built to celebrate military
victories. The Arch of Titus
celebrated the beginning of the roman takeover of the Jewish
lands. A menorah can clearly
be seen in the carving, a close glance reveals it is being paraded through
the town as a spoil of war. A
military engagement was judged successful by the townspeople by the amount
of war spoils the army had plundered and is bringing
back. Great victories
were cause for building great arches such as this one to commemorate the
wining general. Some time
was given to explore the Roman Forum on our
own. Then we returned to the
subway station where a break of another kind was given to those in
need. We then used the
subway station again for its escalator back to the top of the hill. We returned
to our bus, where we exchanged stories with those who had declined the walking
tour, and opted instead for an informal driving tour of
Rome. This driving tour
was unscheduled and unannounced, and was seen as a great gesture by the bus
driver, who could have, by all rights just remained parked there for the
two hours of the walking tour.
Once on the bus, we were reminded that we had
the afternoon free, and before going to our final spot on the formal touring
itinerary, we were given some
essentials. A street map of
Rome and the Vatican. A transit
map of the city showing the major bus routes and subway lines, and a free
pass for one day, good for busses operated by the Tourist association for
the benefit of tourists. They
differ from the normal busses as they are blue instead of orange, and have
route numbers starting with "J".