Italy
Aurelio

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    • Day 33

      Rome Day 1

      August 3, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

      Nice day 30, bit of cloud

      Fresh swim in the pool

      Walked into StPeters Square

      Sure did our steps today

      Got a bus back

      Looking forward to seeing uncle

      Bill and Cousins tonight for dinner

      Fabulous nite Bewdifull pasta and

      Vino, Bellisimo
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    • Day 85

      ROME 22 miles

      October 5, 2023 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 22 °C

      Awake early. Not over-excitement. Whoever lives upstairs leaves for work at 5.30am. A lot of walking backwards and forwards, initially in bare feet but later in shoes. Not a problem given my planned timetable but might have been annoying to the old me.

      One slight oddity before I left. The owner had given me a wee tour when I arrived which had included the fancy pod-type coffee thingy. But when I tried to use it, using the cup advised, the machine obviously expected a more substantial cup. Coffee everywhere. Hence I was quite awake when I left but more from having to sort the mess than the caffeine that I was hoping for.

      In the main square by 6.25am. 5 minutes ahead of schedule. Found a bar for the required cappuccino/chocolate cornetto (only taken me 6 weeks of daily consumption to twig that in Italy a croissant is a cornetto).

      Sunrise is 7.10am but helped I suspect by some cloud cover it was easily light enough by my 6.40am departure.

      A strange day’s walking. Half of it was beside increasingly busy roads and the other half in sheep pastures, a Nature Reserve and a Park. When in the Italian green belt it felt incredibly countrified, even though it finished within a couple of miles of Saint Peter’s.

      Took advantage of a bar after about 10 miles. Very odd to have completed that much before 10am. Had another Italian sandwich. These are strange things to the British eye. I had avoided them for ages as they were large, white bread dods that I thought would be stale as hell. Thinking a really bad supermarket sandwich. In fact they appear to be made fresh each day by the bar selling them and the filling is actually spread throughout the sandwich, not just at the cut edge as per UK. Mighty fine and a sandwich plus a litre and a half sparkling water can be had for 4€.

      No sign of any other pilgrims until I reached downtown Rome when I came upon a bunch of 5. Didn’t speak to them of course but judging by their gear and their age I very much doubted they had walked from Canterbury. They were nearer a third my age than a half and I doubt had 3 months to waste going for a mighty long walk.

      I had spent ages trying to work out the logistics of arriving in Rome. I wanted to get the Testimonium which you could get from an office which shut at 5pm. I wanted to see round St Peter’s again and it shut at 6.30pm but you couldn’t take backpacks in and you couldn’t wear shorts. My hotel was about a mile and a half away from Saint Peter’s. My plan was to arrive early enough to get the Testimonium, get to the hotel, change and get back to Saint Peter’s. By then the notorious queue should have died down.

      Arrived before 3pm. Told that the system had changed. I now got the Testimonium inside Saint Peter’s. But there was a special entrance for pilgrims and a toilet just beside it where I could change into the required long trousers. So here’s a wee tip for those going to Rome. If you have a pilgrim's credential you can skip the whole of a horrendous queue and just walk in.

      The biggest anti-climax was the actual getting of the Testimonium. Much is made of the requirement for having walked or cycled so many miles, having stamps for every day etc but what it now comes down to is the cloakroom assistant who checks in and out the large bags, coats etc will write anyone’s name on a Testimonium sheet of paper. He isn’t interested in anything. Just tell him your name and you will get a Testimonium. Bit of an anti-climax but I didn’t really need someone gushing about how amazing that I had walked so far.

      And that is about that. Wandered round Saint Peter’s which is just the most incredible building. I can’t think of anywhere which so successfully makes you feel like you are an ant. Just tiny and insignificant. Which I suppose was what was intended.

      Thanks for sticking with me on my journey. It has been amazing and not one I will be in a rush to repeat.

      But you never know…..
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    • Day 10–14

      Florence to Rome

      May 10 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

      Today, we leave Florence after visiting the Piazza Di Santa Croce, and the Basilica di Santa Croce the final resting place of Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci and Galileo among others and Piazza del Duomo and Senoria Square and the Cathedral of FlorenceRead more

    • Day 9–11

      Rome

      September 13 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

      We arrived in rainy Rome. We met with our guide and walked through the city until we reached the grand Trevi Fountain. Along our walk, the guide explained that underneath the city, there used to be 11 aqueducts that supplied water to the town. Now, only one aqueduct remains, The Virgen Aqueduct, which is 2,050 years old. The Virgen Aqueduct now supplies water to the Trevi Fountain. From there, we walked to the Pantheon, which is 1,900 years old. It used to be a Roman temple in honor of the gods and goddesses that the people worshipped during that time. 1,400 years ago, three Pantheon became a church. The incredible thing about the Pantheon is that it is still the original structure made out of 100 percent concete. In fact, the dome inside of the Pantheon is the largest concrete dome in the world. We got to go inside the Pantheon, and it is unbelievably large, ornate and it's hard to believe how old it is. When we walked in, we were treated to an organ concert, which echoed throughout the whole church. The church contains tombs, remnants of original frescos, and statues. After the Pantheon, we walked to Piazza Navona, where there is the Fountain of the Four Rivers (under construction at this time), which preceded the Trevi Fountain. Afterward, we had free time for 2 hours for dinner and walking around some more. Paul and I walked to a very popular sandwich place called All'Antico Vinaio, which was recommended to us by 2 separate people. Not sure exactly what we ordered; we asked for a recommendation from the people working there. One of the sandwiches was made with pistachio spread and mortadella (a specially made pork salami), and one was made with artichoke paste; they were both very good. We then bought a bottle of wine, which Paul and I polished off on some steps near the center of the city. Around 9pm, we headed back to the hotel, exhausted and promptly fell asleep. Big day continuing in Rome tomorrow! Stay tuned!Read more

    • Day 10

      Musei Capitolini - Rome part 3

      September 14 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 73 °F

      We walked through the excavations of the ancient city with ground level ruins of Rome (in fact, all of Rome is the "ancient city", but only a fraction of it has been excavated because if it was all excavated, there would be no more city of Rome as we know it, including the Vatican, because everything is under ground!) It was SO cool to see what Rome looked like thousands of years ago. So many statues and structures have remained intact, and some have been put together piece by piece in order to reconstruct what it looked like at that time. Then we entered the Musei Capitolini, which is in the middle of del Campidoglio on top of Capitoline Hill, which, during Medieval Times, was the center of the civic government. Inside of the museum, we learned many facts about the origins of the city of Rome. It began with twin brothers, Romulus and Remus, who were ordered to be killed after their birth. Their mother put them in a basket in the Tiber River and left to die. A She-Wolf found them and raised them like her own. When the twins were older, they fought over the land, and eventually, Romulus killed his brother and created the city in his name and eventually became king of his city, now known as Rome. Also, in the museum, we saw huge statues of Marcus Aurelius, more remnants of the ruins, and learned about how bronze statues were created. After the museum, we took a break for lunch and then headed back to the hotel for a quick rest before our next adventure, the colloseum, and a Roman dinner experience.Read more

    • Day 10

      Collosseum and Roman dinner - Rome 4

      September 14 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 73 °F

      After our short break, we headed towards the Colosseum. It is a sight to be seen! Unbelievable how the structure has been standing for almost 2,000 years. Across the street from the very large Colosseum, there was a mini Colosseum (not much left to see there today), where the gladiators slept and gathered. The mini Colosseum was excavated 60 years ago after destroying 2 modern buildings that were above ground. The large Colosseum, as we know it today, was originally built by stacking blocks with iron rods in the middle for stability. It only took 10 years to build!The holes we see on and around the Colosseum are from workers pilfering the iron to use for weaponry after the Colosseum was considered a ruin. In the year 80, the Colosseum had a grand opening in which it gathered thousands of animals of all sorts and killed about 5,000 of them that day for show. At the beginning, the shows that took place in the Colosseum were mostly Pagen and dedicated to gods and goddesses. The "shows" were mostly slaves and criminals who were untrained and put into the arena with several large animals, with only a shield for every other person, a net to "trap" the animals and a stick to "kill" the animals. As you can imagine, hundreds of thousands of people were killed for sport. Once the Christians took over the Colosseum, the fights were all fair, only one gladiator against another, each with a shield and a sword, and they did not fight to the death. It is an incredible structure filled with so much history.
      After that, we walked to a nearby Roman restaurant where we were treated to delicious Italian food, accompanied by operatic singers, who sang familiar Italian songs. We had wine, bruschetta, olives, meats and cheeses, and, of course, pizza. Honestly, it was all delicious. A very special experience. When we got back on the bus, Ben (our travel director) played music over the loud speakers, and the whole bus sang along. That was super fun. We got back to the hotel completely exhausted, packed up our things in preparation for leaving Rome tomorrow, and fell asleep. Unfortunately, Paul is coming down with something; he had a fever, the sniffles, and a cough. I am taking good care of him. Tomorrow, we have a very long drive. Hopefully, we will sleep on the bus! Our Rome adventures have come to a close. One more stop in Italy - Venice, here we come!
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    • Day 35

      # Tag 35 / halbziiit

      June 9, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

      Ab in Vatikan isch hüt Ziel gsie...
      Eiieiii d'Mensche spinnet sicher. 5h ahstoh für eh Chile ahluege🙈 eus heds vo use glängt.
      Mir hend die ziit lieber zum Espresso trinke und Touri Bus fahre gnützt.

      Fazit coooli Stadt aber unglaublich vell lüüüt ah de hot spots...und zimmli wiiiti Wäg.

      Am obig hemmer den na dörfe ah de Tyara ihrere Nachtwanderig teilnäh...Thema Flädermüüs 😜(Sara falls da gsesch du hesch recht gha...es hed aso in Italie 😜🤩)

      Morn gnüssemer de Camping, am Obig gömmer den id Stadt go Znacht esse🤩 Rome by night sicher was ganz anders🙏

      #papamoll #vaticano
      #roma #warteufebuuus
      #vollegrill
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    • Day 9

      Camping (sort of) in Italy

      May 1 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

      At a "campground" in Rome. Kind of like a KOA campground. Bungalow's with pool, market, etc. Restaurant (Enzo the chef if you ever watch cooking competitions but he's not really here..lol). Dinner was amazing. Pasta carbonara with pork cheeks which sounded gross but was actually really good. Roasted vegetables, really good. Looking forward to the quiet tonight being out of the city a ways.Read more

    • Day 11

      The rest of today

      May 3 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

      I easily walked 5 or 6 miles going place to place to see as much as possible. Couldn't tell you what half these places were but most were pretty cool....Italy worth the trip for the gnocchi and gelato alone 🤣Read more

    • Day 13

      Pool day

      May 5 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

      So, it became necessary for some man to push me off the bus so he could get out first…so now walking on my left foot is a challenge…meant to go to the Vatican City and museums today but that’s not looking good, so it’s a pool day, $21 euros for sunscreen and a Diet Coke but I’ve got a prime seat at the pool for watching the hot Italian lifeguard ,,,,it could be worse!Read more

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