Today is Tuesday October 15. It’s currently 10pm and we’re sitting around our very beautiful apartment in the Tuscan hills north of Florence, in fact, in a small village called Santa Brigida. (Edit: It’s not 10am Wednesday morning…) We collected our leased Peugeot 308 today from the Rome depot (we’ve done this twice before, once in Rome and once in France) and we will have it for the next month. Let me know if this is something you’d like to hear more about – hiring cars in Europe can be tricky and expensive, but we’ve found this lease company great to deal with.

In other news, since our departure 3 weeks ago, Hamish has grown and is now the tallest member of the family. Something I was acutely aware of when we got into the car today. He’s going to be wanting some front seat leg room!

Back to Rome – let’s start with Transport:

Departing Athens was straightforward – Uber and an airport bus. The bus is a dedicated airport bus, but has nowhere to store luggage. We just placed our bags flat in the central, circular, concertina area mid-wickets; no one seemed to care and no doubt we’re not the first ones to do this. Moving day is always lengthy and tiring. Always. We flew with ‘Sky Express’ a Greek airline and were rewarded with seats in the 3rd row – the curtained off area! Sounds fancy, but Sky Express are a bit like Jetstar inasmuch as you pay pay pay for everything (extra bags, food, seats etc). We had a 15kg checked luggage allowance and a 8kg carry on limit, but with a bit of prior rearrangement of heavier gear, did this easily.

I’d pre booked tickets on an airport bus from Rome Airport (Fiumicino) to the central train station (Termini) as it was half the price of the direct train – the Leonardo Express. Everything was running smoothly until we got to Termini and had to find our next platform, to catch a local train to a stop near our suburb. Rod bought our 48 hour public transport passes (Roma 48) and we eventually found the station Laziali – separate from Termini altogether. The ‘station’ and ‘platform’ looked like a scene from a post apocalyptic film – unmanned station, no one around, grass growing up through the tracks, a two carriage train, a teen jumping the barrier. Was there even a driver? Who knew. As the train pulled in we spoke to the driver “Saint Elena?” (That was our stop) “Si, yes, we stop” – so we got on. Like I said, not an ordinary train at all. Two steps up, very high into the carriage and then single rows of seats either side of the carriage. No button to press to alert our stop is coming up – we looked confused at best and thankfully a young man with his family talked to us and helped us out. Our plan was when the train stopped, I’d jump down and Rod would pass the luggage out as quickly as possible! It worked out in the end, and in fact, we caught that little weird train again today to get back to the Termini.

Whilst in Rome we used the metro – it was fast and efficient and the trains arrived (unlike the busses in Athens). But like Athens, most of the trips we experienced had 4 or 5 times the amount of people who can actually fit into a carriage. You just keep moving forward and moving forward, making sure you can reach one of the grab rails. It’s definitely a novelty, but it wore off quickly. Hamish was quick to spot someone getting up off a seat and would try to position himself ready to sit down.

Accommodation: Last week our Rome accommodation was cancelled and I rebooked a 2 bedroom apartment in a SE suburb of Rome called Pigneto. I’d ummed and aarhed about Pigneto from Australia months and months ago, but had gone with something a little closer and let’s be honest, a little cheaper. Rome is expensive! Pigneto is described as ‘hipster’ and this was apparent by the cool bars, restaurants and the trendy people riding bikes: fats, fold up electric, single speeds and cruisers. The vibe of the suburb wasn’t apparent until we headed out for dinner – the place was vibrant and we loved it. Our apartment would not have been out of place in Fitzroy or Brunswick, for example, but the only thing we didn’t enjoy were the neighbours who would activate modes: ‘yelling loudly’ or ‘singing badly’ as their only form of communication. Fortunately we have adjusted our meals times already (dinner at 8pm-ish), so we didn’t have to bear the noise for long.

In Pigneto and Vatican City we noticed a couple of street artworks we recognised from Paris 9 years ago: Space Invader. Invader is a French street artist who is known for tile mosaics based on the space invader game. A good pick up from Rod!

Food & Drinks: We have eaten well in Rome, very well. Pizza, focaccia, pasta, gelato, wine, aperol spritz, various cured meats and cheese – we have loved it all!

Activities: Day 1 – self-guided tourism. Before arriving in Rome, we were aware of the major restoration works being undertaken for the 25 year jubilee (it’s a religious thing) that is happening next year. So we were expecting scaffolding and barrier tape, but we didn’t care. The city is still impressive and we loved wandering the streets and side alleyways.

Spanish Steps – Trevi Fountain – Pantheon – Colosseum – Roman Forum – Palatine Hill

Day 2 itinerary – organised tours. We’d planned months ago to do separate activities today based on interest and it worked well. On this trip, Hamish would like to go to as many micro-nations as we can squeeze is, starting with Vatican City, the most micro of them all.

Rod and Hamish – Vatican Museum & Sistine Chapel (written by Rod and Hamish)

We arrive quite early, since we all took the same train and Belinda’s tour starts 30 minutes before ours. It’s very quiet in and around the Vatican at this hour. We look for our meeting point, which is a shop, but it is closed, so we walk around the corner for an early morning tea. No complaints from Hamish!

We start on time, after the shop does open and begin the walk to the Vatican museum, smugly strolling past queues at least 100 m long, with little evidence of movement. But then we get planted somewhere in a queue and the whining starts from some of our group. Why are we waiting? We paid extra for this! (Boomers!)

But the wait is brief and we are underway. It is quite overwhelming, with non-stop art/artifacts amidst a constant throng of shuffling people. We keep moving and observing; statues, gardens, views, paintings, fountains, tapestries, sarcophagi and more, before finally landing in the Sistine chapel with its abundance of art works and tourists craning their necks to view the ceiling. Our guide is good and the bluetooth works well. Hamish agrees that was a fascinating journey.

Hamish: it was amazing going to a teeny tiny country. A micro nation is a country less than 2km squared and I don’t know why I am interested in them, I just am. To me it did feel like a different country, due to, I don’t know, just the vibe. TBH is was amazing going to the Vatican – it was cool.

Belinda – St Peter’s Basilica, Papal Crypts & Dome climb.

I learned quite a bit about The Vatican (for ease, I think I’ll just combine Vatican/Vatican City/Catholic Church and call it “The Vatican”) from the guide on my 3 hour tour, but none of it was endearing. I tried to be open minded and non-judgemental, but it was a challenge…Here are a few (objective) facts:

The Vatican is not subject to regular laws and rules, including tax laws. Near the end of WW2 they protected a high level Nazi (I won’t name names, but he was instrumental in the ‘Final Solution’) by giving him false documentation/passport to escape to Brazil (in return, he allowed a few Jewish people to live).

There is strict, state run media – no free press.

All visitors are subject to CCTV

The current Pope is 88 and is confined to a wheelchair – he tried to be progressive once by showing support for all people and their right to marry, but this backfired and now he espouses a woman’s place is bringing up children and men should work to support their families

The current St Peter’s Basilica incorporates the old Basilica (which was destroyed thousands of years ago) and is a very impressive cathedral. It’s beautiful.

There are 550 steps to the top of the Dome – some are wide and flat, some are steep and worn. The Dome is the highest point in Rome – nothing is allowed to be higher. Many people climbed it, including me and when you get to the top, you get a photo and start the descent. I’m OK with heights, but at one point the dome is starting to curve in, but you’re still walking in a straight line – it messed up my proprioception for a bit, as my poor little brain tried to make sense of what was happening!

The ‘paintings’ in the Basilica are actually glass mosaics, due to the lack of temperature/humidity control. The original paintings are stored somewhere else.

During reconstruction of part of the building a full male skeleton was found: this was said to be St Peter. No carbon dating, no scientific proof – could be anyone, but The Vatican says it’s him, so it’s him.

And finally, the tour guide didn’t like it when I mentioned The Vatican protected “an Australian Cardinal” – did I care? No. His response was along the lines of ‘you shouldn’t let your personal life become public’ – I could have (should have) stood up for the lives of many Australians who have been abused by Catholic priests, but didn’t want to be escorted from the premises, or taken out by a Swiss Guard.

And just before I go, you can select a picture to make it full sized and don’t forget, you can have this blog delivered to your inbox by hitting subscribe at the bottom of the blog.

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