Rome

11/19/2012

The Colosseum in Rome.

Rome must be the most interesting city on the planet. It has history, ruins, churches, art, culture, and much more. I was in awe at nearly everything I’ve seen. I could have spent weeks there enjoying all Rome has to offer. I’ve taken too many pictures for this blog but not enough to adequately view Rome.

Due to McD's dropping the connection every hour, I lost 3 great pics of the Colosseum and surrounding areas. They couldn't be recovered.

Antonella joined me for 5 days and it was a pleasure to have someone to share the site seeing with. She makes a great companion but she was not used to the rigors of traveling around with a backpack especially up many stairs and hills. There were a few times where I helped by carrying her backpack. Even though it is only 12 kilos (25lbs) when you’re not used to it, the weight can slow you down profusely.

The only thing I don’t like about the many beautiful ruins and wonders of Rome is the fact they have to put security gates and other such things to keep vandals from destroying them. These security measures take from the beauty of the scene.

Spiraling up this column is the story of a battle depicted in pictures. Very cool.

Pantheon

Although we saw many of the artefacts of Rome, the highlights, such as the Sistine Chapel, were too expensive so we had to content ourselves with such things as we could view without charge.

Inside the Pantheon

As we got on the metro train to head for the main station to take a train to Naples, the train was packed and everyone was pushing their way in. Antonella found a seat and there was a small opening in front of her where my bag and I could fit so I was trying to make my way to her but this small woman was pressed up against me so tight I couldn’t turn to push my bag along the floor and it is too heavy for me to push sideways. The woman was about 20 years old, but all I could see was the top of her head and her hand on my chest. As I would scoot to the side she would scoot with me so I couldn’t get free. Antonella was gesturing for me to come to her but I threw up my hands to show I couldn’t go anywhere. Others were also watching the spectacle and one man told me she wants me to give her a hug. I didn’t and was quite uncomfortable with the situation when the train was about to leave and she suddenly broke away from me and jumped off the train.

When we got to the main train station, Antonella and I were discussing the strangeness of the event when she said the girl was a gypsy. A cold chill went down my spine when she said that so I reached into my pocket and sure enough, my wallet was gone. We tried calling the bank to block my debit card but out of 3 phones we didn’t have one with enough money on it to complete a call, especially since Barclay’s bank put us on hold forever. I couldn’t get online either because the only contact they accept for stolen cards is phone. I sent a complaint to their customer service hoping they would make the call for me but their response was an email stating they would contact me within 5 working days by letter to my home address. We had to get on the train for a 2 hour trip to Naples and I figured by the time I got there it would be too late and they would have drained my account. I tried a few more attempts to contact Barclays but they were all in vain. I did put about 200 Euros in my backpack for just such an emergency so I was not without money but they did get my Utah driver’s license, my UK driver’s license, my UK National Insurance # my Social Security card, my UK medical card, and the only pictures I had of my children as well as about 160 euros in cash.

One evening, while we were waiting for Antonella’s friend Gianni, to pick us up from the train station, I was telling her a story then said, “We were laughing and cracking up.” She didn’t understand what I was saying so I explained further. Later she tried repeating the phrase and said, “We are laughing and crapping up.” After I stopped laughing I told her, “Now that would be a talent I wouldn’t want to try.”

As I went through the pics I recovered I realized I lost several pics that were very interesting. What a pain. Three of a cool old train that was painted by graffiti from end to end and the fact that there was grass growing all over the tracks is now gone.

I also lost a few statues and pictures of other ruins and cool buildings in Rome

Check out this old train and look at the weeds along the tracks. The next pic is the side view of this train.

Glad I was able to find these pics of the train.

Fake Roman soldiers in hiking boots or shoes from today.

This and the next couple are from the Roman Forum.

This is the Basilica where the Pope comes a couple of time a year to renew his ordinances. This picture does not cover the entire Basilica as it is huge and I think, much nicer than St. Peters Cathedral in the Vatican. The next several pics are the inside.