Veni, Vidi …..Visa

Today is Wednesday and are winging our way to Catania, Sicily after 3 days in Rome. Mike and I had a couple of admin days in Koblenz, which is a euphemism for laundry and banking. Koblenz was lovely and I dragged Mike onto a cable car ride and we walked and enjoyed some final great German food. After an easy flight to Rome and an overnight, we met Tara who arrived on Sunday morning from Ottawa and Montreal. She was amazingly chipper considering the overnight flight.
The 3 of us started our quickie Rome visit with the Borghese Gallery. The headsets were the answer to navigating all the beautiful art and sculptures, including my favorite Bernini statue of Apollo and Daphne. We checked off a few more « must-sees » including Piazza Popalo and the Spanish steps. Monday we hit the Colosseum and the Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain and Tuesday we had the full tour of the Vatican and St.Peters Basilica. Tara had organized guided tours for both days, thank goodness, because the lines and crowds were unbelievable. With a guide you can move through so much more smoothly and actually get information along the way. When we mentioned the crowds, our Vatican guide shrugged and said …. »it’s beautiful. If it was ugly, no one would come ». According to the guides the number of tourists has not gone down and they are expecting a full November. Also, 2025 is a special jubilee year designated by the Pope so Rome is expecting 32 million more sinners to come through the gates to be absolved of sin that year. Might be a good time to avoid Rome unless you have amassed many sins , in which case you will have to brave the crowds. Besides the historic sites, and relics lying all around, we enjoyed some outdoor meals and drinks including a lovely pizza lunch at a restaurant recommended by a client of Tara’s. We also had a couple of very entertaining taxi rides around the city. For no apparent reason roads are closed and traffic is backed up. All part of the Rome experience. Once we enjoyed a gelato, our Rome bingo card was full and we still had our wallets! Bonus.
So we go forward to Sicily. Mike’s brother Al ( and Natalie) are waiting for us in Catania. Tomorrow Mount Etna. Let,s hope it doesn’t blow it’s top while we’re there.
Arrivederci Roma,
Love Mom , Heather
Ps Our hotel experience at the Palm Gallery was so-so. For those who we’ve traveled with before, you will remember that hotel but without the eagle-eyed supervision of Luisa, we had a different experience.Read more