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It's been some week! When last you left your intrepid adventurers, we were leaving London bound for Rome. I have written all the details in my PDA journal which you will just have to wait a couple of months to read. *tease tease* Meanwhile, I'll give you the brief overview.
We arrived in Rome on Wednesday, spent all of Holy Thursday roaming through Rome. Hee hee. It was great because all the churches were open late for mass so we could wander around late into the evening and still see the insides. We walked past the Colusseum which was really a lot more run down than I expected, we walked through the Forum, several piazzas and many churches. We also saw the Pantheon during a mass. It was actually really cool to hear the great acoustics in there. The priest didn't even need a microphone. Likewise, I'm sure he could hear me whispering too. *grin* We saw the Trevi Fountain by night and it was terrific. What a sight. We had our first genuine Italian gelato experience. Yum. *licks lips with remembrance*
The next morning we left for Napoli to see the Archeological museum. Napoli freaked me out. It is a run down ghetto slum with a LOT of bad vibes. We saw the museum and high-tailed it out of there. We spent at least an hour trying to find the train to Sorrento. Napoli is like this Bermuda triangle that won't let you go. We finally made it to Sorrento expecting to be free of the Easter crowd. I mean, everyone should be in Rome, right? Wrong. Everyone who wasn't in Rome went to Sorrento where there is a huge street procession on Holy Friday. We arrived just before the procession began and were lucky to find a hotel room at the very end of the street.
Spending a Catholic holy weekend among those who actually rejoice in the faith was exciting. My previous experiences being Catholic usually involved such great hypocrasy that it was impossible to really concentrate on the meaning of the time. Everyone was so somber leading up to Easter, wearing black, etc. On Sunday, everyone was hugging in the streets. We even received complimentary chocolate Easter eggs from the hotel. My first thought was to bring them home to Ian and Rya but they are big and they would have been a really big burden for two months. So, I broke them up and put them in a baggie and we've been eating them slowly.
The Easter holiday really messed up our schedule as trains and destinations just weren't open to be visited. We did Herculaneum one day and got stuck there when the trains stopped so we had to pay ransome and my first born to a cab driver to get back to Sorrento. George caught some bug and stayed in bed the next day so I did Pompeii "solo mio." The next day we took a bus tour of the Amolfi coast. Then we left yesterday morning and took the train back to Napoli where we, again, had problems catching the next train to Caserta. Bermuda-flipping-tringle.
Caserta is where my Dad's mom was born and where his parents met and married. We viewed the Royal Palace there and hopped a night train back to Rome. We had fully intended to wake early and see the Vatican but we ended up sleeping late... very late. Now we are waiting for our laundry to be finished. Then we'll start the rest of our Rome tour. We'll probably be here another two nights then head north.
As usual, I am keeping detailed notes of our adventures. You shall thrill to the ups and downs of them all on our epic voyage.
Love and hugs to you all!
We arrived in Rome on Wednesday, spent all of Holy Thursday roaming through Rome. Hee hee. It was great because all the churches were open late for mass so we could wander around late into the evening and still see the insides. We walked past the Colusseum which was really a lot more run down than I expected, we walked through the Forum, several piazzas and many churches. We also saw the Pantheon during a mass. It was actually really cool to hear the great acoustics in there. The priest didn't even need a microphone. Likewise, I'm sure he could hear me whispering too. *grin* We saw the Trevi Fountain by night and it was terrific. What a sight. We had our first genuine Italian gelato experience. Yum. *licks lips with remembrance*
The next morning we left for Napoli to see the Archeological museum. Napoli freaked me out. It is a run down ghetto slum with a LOT of bad vibes. We saw the museum and high-tailed it out of there. We spent at least an hour trying to find the train to Sorrento. Napoli is like this Bermuda triangle that won't let you go. We finally made it to Sorrento expecting to be free of the Easter crowd. I mean, everyone should be in Rome, right? Wrong. Everyone who wasn't in Rome went to Sorrento where there is a huge street procession on Holy Friday. We arrived just before the procession began and were lucky to find a hotel room at the very end of the street.
Spending a Catholic holy weekend among those who actually rejoice in the faith was exciting. My previous experiences being Catholic usually involved such great hypocrasy that it was impossible to really concentrate on the meaning of the time. Everyone was so somber leading up to Easter, wearing black, etc. On Sunday, everyone was hugging in the streets. We even received complimentary chocolate Easter eggs from the hotel. My first thought was to bring them home to Ian and Rya but they are big and they would have been a really big burden for two months. So, I broke them up and put them in a baggie and we've been eating them slowly.
The Easter holiday really messed up our schedule as trains and destinations just weren't open to be visited. We did Herculaneum one day and got stuck there when the trains stopped so we had to pay ransome and my first born to a cab driver to get back to Sorrento. George caught some bug and stayed in bed the next day so I did Pompeii "solo mio." The next day we took a bus tour of the Amolfi coast. Then we left yesterday morning and took the train back to Napoli where we, again, had problems catching the next train to Caserta. Bermuda-flipping-tringle.
Caserta is where my Dad's mom was born and where his parents met and married. We viewed the Royal Palace there and hopped a night train back to Rome. We had fully intended to wake early and see the Vatican but we ended up sleeping late... very late. Now we are waiting for our laundry to be finished. Then we'll start the rest of our Rome tour. We'll probably be here another two nights then head north.
As usual, I am keeping detailed notes of our adventures. You shall thrill to the ups and downs of them all on our epic voyage.
Love and hugs to you all!
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