Europe Trip - Rome (24-26 Oct)

Saturday, 25 October 2009

We arrived in Rome, took a shower, and headed out the door. The Metro station was on the same block as the hotel, and for the first time this tour, we not only had a double bed, we had a queen size bed. Naaaice!

Werner was feeling sicker by the minute, but we still wanted to go get that first pizza! And with that I had home made Tiramisu, and Wer his first Gelato.

This church was right outside our hotel, and we actually went in on the Monday - beautiful - nothing like our churches here! The pizzeria was at Piazza del Popolo.

I sent Wer to bed after lunch, as he was really not feeling well. That evening we had dinner as Pastarito. OMG! What an amazing place! The have 21 different pastas, and about 15 sauces. So you mix 'n match the pasta with the sauce you want! Their pizzas are amazing as well! True Italian food, and of course, every meal had to be finished by Gelato!!!

Sunday, 26 October 2009

Okay, so I was very disappointed when I found out that the Vatican is closed on Sundays and that we will be arriving too late on the Saturday to make it. But, fantastic news!!! Every last Sunday of the month, the Vatican is open & free! So guess what - we went to Vatican City! A country within a city.


































Some artwork inside the Vatican, including the Greek Roman Goddess. In Rome they call her Diana of Ephesus, and in Greece they call her Artemis. She is the daughter of Zeus, and what made Werner pose with her for this photo, was the fact that she has many breasts! Somewhere in Rome, she was made into a fountain, and the water comes out of, well, her nipples...






























































































The Pope & I.











Werner with St Peters Basilica in the background. We later "stumbled upon" the Basilica, as we couldn't find it to get blessed by the Pope! :(













There were so many priests inside the Vatican, and finally I asked one for a photo! I did all these hand signals, thinking that he was Italian. After the photo was taken, he said in a very clear English: "God Bless You". Like Wer also said - it meant a lot coming from him! So at least we got blessed by someone that day!








And then, out of nowhere, I saw one of my "bucket list" items! A Swiss Guard in the original uniform! They are supposed to be the best guards in the world, and protect Vatican City.










After our wonderful Vatican experience and seeing the Sistine Chapel, and actually seeing the Creation of Adam, or as we call it, the Finger of God, we had some lasagna and headed for a sightseeing tour.

We saw Piazza Novonna and the Four Rivers Fountain by Bernini.

The Pantheon was another one of Werner's favourites!



At the Trevi fountain we saw this little devil, and then stared at the wonderfulness of the fountain, and of course, donated a few coins!






































I guess no trip to Rome is complete without seeing the Colosseum!






























Monday, 26 October 2009








We didn't do much today, but we did manage to get some stamps, and mail the last postcards!











We walked around a bit, and saw this old nun, and naturally I wanted a photo with her! She was so kind and couldn't understand a word English, but we managed to tell her we are from South Africa, and she was very 'thrilled', to say the least!









After that we had lunch at Pastarito again, and took a taxi to the airport. Rome has a massive airport, and we didn't have nearly enough time to enjoy all the duty free shops! After a truly terrible flight, it was finally home sweet home! Thanks to Pa Manie for playing taxi!


Well, folks, that it - our vacation in a nutshell!

Watch this space - I have some more orders for mosaic, and will be posting them shortly!

Marika (",)