In Rome with Roma & dad....leg one

Oh boy, what a week it's been.  I was quite proud of myself, I hadn't seemed to be affected with jet lag....well, that was up until today!  Oh my gosh, I'm so glad that I'd decided to take today off as I simply couldn't muster any energy to do anything but sit around.  It's very weird as we returned late Friday night, on Saturday I cleaned the house and went out for dinner (an early one) and then on Sunday, I worked at my favorite restaurant, Joseph's by the Sea in Old Orchard Beach, as the "toaster."  For those of you who don't know, I use to work at Joseph's as a waitress/cashier and hostess, that was years ago; now, I volunteer to go in on busy holiday mornings, well, specifically, Easter and Mother's Day and toast bread for the breakfast waitresses.  A very simple task but I was on my feet from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.....afterwards, I came home, showered, and we went out for dinner to celebrate mother's day!....So, perhaps that's why I'm tired...

Well, anyways, I'll post a few pictures of Rome today which is absolutely spectacular as you will see.  I'd never been and am very happy that I had the chance to go with my sister Roma and my dad, Clem, who'd been there 60 years ago!  He is 84 years old and I'm sure you'll all be impressed with the fact that he went to such a big, busy, noisy city at this point in his life...moreover, he is somewhat frugal and preferred using public transportation as opposed to a private driver/taxi driver which involved much more walking on his part.  I would have preferred the latter myself but reminded us that "whatever doesn't kill us, makes us stronger!"

Here we are, all excited about our trip...notice how we packed for a week in what we thought we'd be able to carry on....but, we flew Swiss Air, and these bags were too big and heavy and so we had to check them in...which turned out to be advantageous in hindsight.  We all liked Swiss Air, their staff are friendly and helpful, the food is good, and they have free drinks!!

We left at 9:45 p.m. from Boston, arrived in Zurich around 10 a.m. (they are six hours ahead of us), and got onto our connecting flight from Zurich to Rome around 11 or 11:30, arriving in the city around 3 p.m.  Fortunately, we'd arranged for someone from the Star of Rome (the b&b we stayed at) to come and pick us up.  He was exactly where he told me he'd be with a sign with my name on it!

Once we settled into the Star of Rome which was about a 20 minute bus ride from the Vatican, we got very specific and helpful instructions on how to use our metro/bus passes, where the ATM was, etc....and decided to head over to St. Peter's Square.  The first picture is of of the dome at St. Peter's which is the largest church in the world I believe.  It holds hundreds of precious works of art including  Michelangelo's Pieta which was created in 1499 was he was only 25.  The dome is 448 feet high and was also designed by Michelangelo but not completed by him.  I have a close-up of the Dome which I zoomed with my camera, you can see people walking along the perimeter!  I would have loved to have done that simply to take in the view, but the lines were too long.  

It was just super super awesome to be at St. Peter's Square and taking it all in!  

The dome at St. Peter's

The people walking around the dome....

"St. Peter’s Basilica sits atop a city of the dead, including its namesake’s tomb."

"A Roman necropolis stood on Vatican Hill in pagan times. When a great fire leveled much of Rome in A.D. 64, Emperor Nero, seeking to shift blame from himself, accused the Christians of starting the blaze. He executed them by burning them at the stake, tearing them apart with wild beasts and crucifying them. Among those crucified was St. Peter—disciple of Jesus Christ, leader of the Apostles and the first bishop of Rome—who was supposedly buried in a shallow grave on Vatican Hill. By the fourth century and official recognition of the Christian religion in Rome, Emperor Constantine began construction of the original basilica atop the ancient burial ground with what was believed to be the tomb of St. Peter at its center. The present basilica, built starting in the 1500s, sits over a maze of catacombs and St. Peter’s suspected grave."

3. Caligula captured the obelisk that stands in St. Peter’s Square.
Roman Emperor Caligula built a small circus in his mother’s gardens at the base of Vatican Hill where charioteers trained and where Nero is thought to have martyred the Christians. To crown the center of the amphitheater, Caligula had his forces transport from Egypt a pylon that had originally stood in Heliopolis. The obelisk, made of a single piece of red granite weighing more than 350 tons, was erected for an Egyptian pharaoh more than 3,000 years ago. In 1586 it was moved to its present location in St. Peter’s Square, where it does double duty as a giant sundial.

Roma posing!

Me posing!...would have preferred walking up to the dome but the lines were way too long....

and dad!  See all the chairs?  Well, they were set up for Sunday's mass when the Pope makes an appearance.

"The Swiss Guard, recognizable by its armor and colorful Renaissance-era uniforms, has been protecting the pontiff since 1506. That’s when Pope Julius II, following in the footsteps of many European courts of the time, hired one of the Swiss mercenary forces for his personal protection. The Swiss Guard’s role in Vatican City is strictly to protect the safety of the pope. Although the world’s smallest standing army appears to be strictly ceremonial, its soldiers are extensively trained and highly skilled marksmen. And, yes, the force is entirely comprised of Swiss citizens."

Afterwards, we walked a bit looking for a place to eat....my dad had stayed at the Columbus Hotel which we went over and checked out.   It'd been 60 years and the place looked it, I'm glad that we did not stay there although it would have been much more convenient.  Anyways, we asked someone who worked there where we should go and he pointed us in the right direction.

Here we are, celebrating our arrival in the Eternal City!

After dinner we took a leisurely stroll back towards St. Peter's Square.

There are fountains all over the city....the water is good and free!

Popes once escaped through a secret passageway.
In 1277, a half-mile-long elevated covered passageway, the Passetto di Borgo, which was constructed to link the Vatican with the fortified Castel Sant’Angelo on the banks of the Tiber River. It served as an escape route for popes, most notably in 1527 when it likely saved the life of Pope Clement VII during the sack of Rome. As the forces of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V rampaged through the city and murdered priests and nuns, the Swiss Guard held back the enemy long enough to allow Clement to safely reach the Castel Sant’Angelo, although 147 of the pope’s forces lost their lives in the battle.

The walls of the Vatican on your left.....
"Encircled by a 2-mile border with Italy, Vatican City is an independent city-state that covers just over 100 acres, making it one-eighth the size of New York’s Central Park. Vatican City is governed as an absolute monarchy with the pope at its head."

 And so, our first day ends.....buona notte!

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