Trip to Rome Part V - Coming Home!

Thursday morning we decided that we would go back to the Castle Saint Angelo to take the tour.  We didn't buy tickets in advance because it hadn't seemed too crowded the day before.  Once again, our instincts and our luck led us right.  We walked there from our hotel - about a twenty minute walk and arrived in time to be some of the first there.  We bought our tickets and went in.  As with all museums in Rome, this one had a lot of art.  Some of it was more modern, but some was quite old.  There is a program in Rome to buy up culturally significant art, and some of it was housed here.

Bridge between the Vatican and Castle St. Angelo (as seen in Angels and Demons). Look at all the motorcycles! A good mode of transportation on Rome's narrow streets.

Castle St. Angelo was originally built to be a tomb for Hadrian.  It was later made into a prison, and then a fortress.  The popes would use it to take refuge in times of war.  The castle itself was quite neat.  The girls liked seeing the defenses, including canons and canon balls that were on display.

Kids looking at the inner fortress walls.

More examining.

Inside the outer fortress walls.

Catapult.

Some of the cannons with cannon balls.

On the outer wall ramparts!

Sophie and Lexa in the Sentry booth.

All four girls in a recess in the wall.

A vew of the bridge with angels leading to the Castle St.. Angelo

Inside the inner fortress: Hadrian's tomb.

One of the angels at the courtyard inside the castle.

We found a bee on the mantle.  Roman houses have symbols for different families.  This one made us think of my dad, who kept bees for many years.

Looking into prison cells.

The Pope's chest inside the papal chamber.  We can't remember which pope, though...

The top of the fortress was quite impressive.  It had a wonderful view of St. Peter's from one side and Rome from the other.  We spent a couple of hours wandering around and looking at things and just enjoying it.  The castle never got too crowded, so it was also enjoyable.

A view of St. Peter's Basilica and Vatican

Another view from the top. The Tiber river with bridges.  There were four or five bridges very close to the castle. 

View of Rome from the top of the castle.

The angel at the top of the castle.  

The original corridor from the bottom to the tomb of Hadrian.  This was designed so the funeral procession could march into the tomb at Hadrian's burial. 

The Castle St. Angelo from the bridge.  This bridge had angels all across it.

We decided that we would go and try to see the Trevi fountain.  We knew that it was under construction, but it was the last really famous touristy thing that we had left to do in Rome, so we went.  We walked there - it was about a mile and a half.  When we got there we were able to get a good look at it.  It was neat because it was on a little square and came right out of a building.  We were sad we didn't get to see it with water in it, or to throw in a coin, since that means we would make it back to Rome.  We left right as a huge group of tourists (off a bus) came into the square.  Good luck again!

Walking along the river bank.

Taking a break on our walk through Rome. 

The Trevi fountain under construction.  See the worker in the middle for perspective...

Another view of the fountain.

On the streets of Rome.

We stopped by a Burger King to eat (bathrooms, plus less crowded than McDonald's).  After lunch we walked back to our hotel.  We had already gone five miles for the day when we got back.  We stopped by for more gelato to reward the kids for not complaining.  When we got to the hotel (it was about 2:00 p.m.) we had a message from Travelocity.  We called.  They were telling us that our flight had been cancelled and that we would have to wait to contact Transaero for a refund.  We told them that we knew - we had talked to them the day before.  They assured us that we would be contacted by a representative within 48 hours with a resolution.  Since we were supposed to fly out in 23 hours that was a problem.  This representative at least told us that she had found a flight back to Astana on Ukraine Airlines that left about the same time as our original flight the next day.  We booked that trip (it was fairly cheap) and so we knew we would be getting home.

In the evening we went to find a new restaurant, but got turned around.  We figured out where we were and found our little cafe from the night before and ate there again.

Friday morning we woke up and packed.  We ate breakfast and checked out of the hotel at 9:30.  Our driver (the same one who picked us up) took us back to the airport.  We checked in and got through security with no problems.  Ukraine airlines was pretty low cost and not our favorite airline, but it got us home.  We had a two and a half hour layover in Kiev.  We bought everyone a sandwich and drink from a food cart while we waited.

The airport was much different than I remembered from 1998 and 2000 when I arrived and left Ukraine.  I remember the shock of arriving and seeing concrete painted green and guards with AK47s.  I wondered what I had gotten myself into.  Now it's a normal, boring, international airport.

We had a wonderful time on our trip.  We had an adventure with travel - but were safe and sound and happy to get home.  We are looking forward to having more adventures soon!

Trip to Rome Part IV - The Vatican Museum

The last big thing on our list of things to do in Rome was to go to the Vatican Museum.  We had been past the walls and on St. Peter's Square, so we were familiar with the area and the route.  It was about a 12 minute walk from our hotel to the entrance, so we were set.  We had gone online to buy tickets in advance, so when we arrived, we just went right in.  In fact, there weren't really any lines for non-pay-in-advance folks, so we thought that maybe it was a slow day.

The museum is huge and winding.  All the signs point to the Sistine Chapel right from the beginning, so you think that you will get there soon.  You do not.  You are routed through rooms full of items from Egypt, acquired in the 1840s, full of rooms of sculptures and paintings by the Italian masters, and through rooms and hallways decorated in the most elaborate manner.

Egyptian Hall. It was girls' favorite room, probably because they had a couple of mummies there. 

Egyptian gods

This was a courtyard full of Roman sculptures...

... and stone bathtubs! Our girls are wishing we had one of those!

Most of the items were marked and had descriptions in Italian, English, and German.  Some did not have descriptions in English, but there was so much to see that we usually were okay skipping over some descriptions.

A room with a huge marble table but it was the floor that got our attention: it is a mosaic floor made out of tiny tiles.

One of the ceilings

The had this huge hallway full of these big tapestries, most were made around 1400 AD

A big old map

Courtyard of the Vatican Museums. We walked through all 3 floors all the way around.

The museum winds around on a number of floors.  One of my favorite rooms was the one I spent the most time in: waiting while the girls used the restroom.  The room had been the dining room of one of the popes.  It had been painted by the students of one of the Masters (I want to say Donatello, but it is all just a blur - and WAS just a blur at the time).  The walls and ceiling were just covered in these intricate paintings.  And the only one who enjoyed them was the pope sitting down for his soup.  It was quite a place.

If I am not mistaken this was one of the rooms painted by Rafael.

More of the museum with its crowds.

Stained glass. 

The highlight of the tour was the Sistine chapel.  By the time we got there, it was quite crowded.  It is kept quite dark and no photography is allowed.  The size and detail in the paintings is fascinating.  The thought of spending days and days and days lying on your back with paint dripping on you doesn't really appeal to me, but the finished product is certainly impressive.

After we had finished the tour (in about 3 hours) we stopped and had pizza in the Vatican museum cafeteria.  The prices were as good there as anywhere else around and there was enough space for us to sit down.

Kids playing right outside of the Vatican Museums

We also spent about twenty minutes hanging out in the courtyard outside.  It was a trick to keep the kids from running on the grass, but we managed.  When we left the museum, there were huge lines stretching around the block.  The same was true of St. Peter's Square.  We had gone on Sunday and it was nearly deserted.  On Wednesday it was crowded with huge lines.  Once again we had timed things very well.

A LONG winding line to get into St. Peter's Basilica

We walked from the Vatican to the Castle St. Angelo.  We walked around the outside, but didn't go through the tour - we figured the girls had spent enough time in the museum for the day.  We did walk home and stop for Gelatto at a little shop near our hotel.

Castle St. Angelo

Loving our time in Rome!

Rome has these old drinking fountains everywhere. This one is at St. Peter's Piazza and is one of our favorites.

While walking back to our hotel we came across this tiny little truck - perfect for super narrow streets of Rome!

In the evening we went looking for a new place to eat.  We found a little family-owned cafe  a few blocks from the hotel. The prices were in between the cheaper cafeteria pizza places we had eaten and the restaurant we went to the night before.  We had pasta and other dishes that were enjoyed by everyone.  We ate out on the street under the stars and had a nice time.

At the little family owned cafe.

This is the owner who was serving us. He was super nice and even taught our girls how to eat long pasta properly using a spoon and a fork!

Happy Sophie! Or is it crazy Sophie? Maybe both!

In between the Vatican Museum and our dinner we were at the hotel.  We had an interesting time.  I had a message that I needed to call Travelocity right away.  I did.  It turns out that our flight from Rome had been cancelled.  The representative told us all of the information we knew (that Transaero was ceasing operations, that if they cancelled, we would need to contact them for a refund - through Travelocity - and that they would get back to us within 24-48 hours about a new itinerary. That was a problem since our flight was supposed to be less than 48 hours away.

We told them that we had called them at their request and that we would wait.  We looked at some flights to start to plan for the contingency that we would be stuck.  We decided that we would wait a day to see what would happen before we did anything.  Our trip had just gotten a bit more complicated.

Trip to Rome Part III - Spanish Steps, and Zoo

On Tuesday rain was forecast, but it was supposed to be a light rain.  We decided that we would go and see the Spanish steps and spend some time in the Villa Borghese Park.  We knew that there was a zoo there and that there was an art gallery.  We figured that if it was raining we'd look at art, and if it wasn't we could go to the zoo.

Spanish Steps

Piazza di Spagna

At the plaza by the Spanish Steps

We took the Metro downtown to the stop near the steps.  They were closed for repair, so we didn't get to sit on them, but we got to see them.  We also climbed up the steps just to the side of them, so we got the effect of climbing them.  At the base of the steps is a fountain shaped like a boat.  It was commissioned to commemorate a flood that took place in which a ship was washed up from a canal into the city.  The kids loved the fountain especially.

The boat fountain. It was built by Bernini, the father of the famous Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

The view of the city and of Vatican from the top of the Spanish Steps. 

Since we told them that there were 135 steps in the famous Spanish Steps, they started counted the steps of all of the stairs they climbed on since!

The day was a bit gray and there was a bit of sprinkling, but it wasn't cold or too wet.  We walked from the fountain to the Villa Borghese Park.  The park itself was very large and had a lot of pathways, areas with statues, and wide roads.  Every block or so was a little cart selling gelato and treats.  We found a little pond with some benches around it.  We sat for awhile and the kids were kids.  They found sticks, they ran, they shouted, they wanted to climb the trees and to throw things.  We let them get that out.  Then we walked to the gallery.  Tickets to the gallery were sold out for the next three days.  It was the only place in Rome where waiting wasn't an option, apparently!

It is not every day that they roll out the red carpet for you! Just inside the entrance to the Villa Borghese.

At the small pond/fountain.

Kids being kids at the park!

A statue of Victor Hugo in the park

At the park. We loved those trees!

Excited to go to the gallery not knowing yet that we couldn't get in!

We decided to head to the zoo.  We weren't sure if it was a little zoo or a big one.  It turned out to be the zoo of the city of Rome, so a big one.  It cost us a bit to get in - but we were committed and we all love the zoo.  It was a good medium-sized zoo.  Our favorite animals were the ones that were found in the reptile house - which was quite impressive.  We also liked the wide selection of monkeys - chimpanzees, small monkeys, orangutans and more.  They had African Wild Dogs in two places - and they were very interesting looking and incredibly stinky!

Mandrill - the world's largest monkey!

Some more monkeys doing monkey business!

Lemurs

Inside of the reptile house

Sometimes your face looks just like the other end!

We spent about three hours in the zoo and saw everything there was to see.  We bought lunch at the little zoo cafe on our way out of the zoo.  We walked to the Metro stop from the zoo - but took the long way, so we got in some extra walking.

At the little zoo cafe. The girls are studying those zoo maps trying to figure out where things are at the zoo.

In the evening we decided to go to someplace a little more fancy.  We went to a little corner restaurant and bar that was about a block from our hotel.  It was run by a mother and her two daughters.  We arrived and were about the only ones, but by the time we were getting our food, the place was full.  We ordered pasta - and the portions were huge.  I also had a pork chop, which was really delicious - and since I got to eat pasta from all the girls - I had plenty to eat.  None of us left hungry and we really liked the food.

At the restaurant waiting for food and having a good time.

That is a lot of fettuccine on Lexa's plate!

Day three was in the book.  We survived and thrived during a rainy day in the park in Rome!