Mon-Thurs

[dancerjodi]

After a long time on planes and in airports, we were shuttled to the http://www.hoteldianaroma.com/ and checked in, got a good map and went walking down to http://www.inrometoday.it/phototour/fountains/tritone/tritonefountain.htm about 10 minutes from our hotel (after passing http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quattro_Fontane), had lunch at Carlo's (pizza) on Via Venuto and then walked across to the http://www.italylogue.com/planning-a-trip/capuchin-crypt.html and the church upstairs (alas, no pictures in there but we bought a postcard). So eerie and cool, its a crypt made of the bones of 4000 monks - dark, dank and with organ music playing in the background. We walked back to the hotel to meet up with our tour manager Karina, and then headed out via the coach to our (included) dinner in Rome at http://www.interviam.it/lang1/pg003.html , complete with Italian music (guitar, flute and soprano). Awesome antipasti, ok minestrone, awesome pasta, ok salmon/chicken. Good dessert with probably the most alcohol I've consumed since I've been sXe, not completely baked off. We collapsed into bed after not sleeping in 2 days due to our overnight flight and the 6 hour time difference.

We were up at 7:00 for breakfast in our hotel (awesome buffet, gorgeous roof-top view) and then met our local guide and driver on Wednesday. Gabriella was awesome - published too http://www.mosaictesserae.com/author_gabriella_fiorucci.asp . We drove by http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_di_Santa_Maria_Maggiore , went to the Trevi Fountain http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevi_Fountain but it was off for cleaning (came back to see it later at night) and then went past the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Forum on the way to the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colosseum for some wandering. This now counts as the oldest place I have been, and it was quite neat to wander around and see the work they are doing to continually restore this master. What a violent past this city has all in the form of entertainment! We drove from here past http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piazza_Venezia and the http://www.museicapitolini.org/, the few remains of the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circus_Maximus, along the Tiber River, past the Bridge that Julius met Cleopatra at http://catholic-resources.org/AncientRome/Tiber.htm , through the http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/italy/ghetto.htm and to our final destination with the group, http://www.vatican.va/phome_en.htm . We went in parts of the Vatican Museum (Sistine Chapel and various galleries - I really loved the Map gallery, such detail). Not having to wait in lines for this made the whole 'pay more to go with a group' benefit worth it (never mind the included transportation). Our guide had a mic and we all had headsets, so we got a personal tour from her (also coincidentally enough, a Vatican City Resident with an apartment next-door literally to the Pope). We were able to hear from her stories related to what we were surrounded by, in areas where we were supposed to remain quiet. Brian was bad and took some sneaky (flash-free) pictures in the Sistine Chapel. Amazing, being in such an area. It was a crazy day because the Pope has audience on Wednesdays apparently, but we survived the crowds. From there we went to St. Peter's Basilica, where we were allowed to take photos. The largest cathedral in the world, there are spots on the floor marking where other large cathedrals fit inside (St. Patrick in NYC is positively tiny comparatively). We were totally beat, so we returned back to the hotel for some rest before going on foot on our own for more sights: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheon,_Rome, found http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Rome-144659/Restaurants-Rome-Taverna_Le_Coppele-BR-1.html for dinner (fried zucchini flowers, lasagna and 4-cheese pizza, yum), headed to http://www.aviewoncities.com/rome/piazzanavona.htm (which was surprisingly kind of dead). From there we headed to the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Steps for some ice cream and gelato, walked from there to Trevi (to see it crazy packed and finally on), and back to our hotel to get ready for our journey to the Umbria Region.

We were up again for breakfast and hopped in the bus for a 3-hour drive to Assisi (along the way, getting some history and Italian lessons to prepare us for the rest of the trip). Though I wouldn't have set out specifically to go to Assisi it was part of this tour, and since my middle name is Frances, my grandmother's church was supported by the Franciscan brothers and I have a large affinity for animals I was excited to be going here. We enjoyed the medieval architecture, the slower pace and the amazing views much more than the craziness of Rome. The http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_San_Francesco_d%27Assisi was lovely, and its such a wonder that it is in such great shape after both time and earthquake damage from the late 90's. St. Francis' tomb (under the lower church) was quite moving in a creepy and dark sort of way (kind of like Cappucin), though no pictures were allowed inside of any of the indoor spaces. We wandered the streets, had lunch at http://www.trayle.com/destinations/poi/cafe_duomo (panini), I bought a small decorative plate in a tiny shop near Cafe Duomo for a naked spot in our kitchen where our land-line phone used to be (where I was forced to use my Italian to communicate with a sweet old woman who was trying to tell us about a festival in town - not too bad). They are in the midst of this festival now and we saw parades and folks in Medieval costumes in the streets. We drove from there to http://www.perugiaonline.com/ where we are staying at this wonderful hotel http://www.sangallo.it/it/ for one night. We dumped our bags, walked around town for a bit, saw the Virgin Mary's supposed wedding ring in a beautiful, dark church http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perugia_Cathedral , had some hot cocoa at http://www.caffediperugia.it/ (better than Burdick's - richer but less sweet with more cocoa flavor and less sugar flavor, and a separate espresso shot-sized cup of thick whip cream to add to it). Dinner (included) was at the hotel restaurant this evening and was excellent - each course was fresh, well flavored but not too heavy, and our dessert of "vanilla cream with wild berries" was to die for.

Our journey to Tuscany, where we'll visit Sienna and San Gimignano before settling in Firenze for two days. I can't believe that we'll be home in less than a week (already). I was planning on uploading pics, but our connection here is quite slow, so its going to have to wait until we return. Ciao!