Roma






Sunday October 25th, 2015
Ludovici Rioni and Sallustiano Rioni are administrative divisions of Rome.










These are north, east districts and where we are staying here at Gialili B&B we appear to straddle these two districts of Rome.

Once out in the relative warmth of this fall day we ended up going back twice so we could be finally set to go. Tiredness has again set in and we are not the sharpest right now. Believe it or not continuous travel has it's downfalls, feeling worn out is one negative. We wanted to go to old Rome today.













































































































































Monday, October 26, 2015
Today is a big adventure in truly another country, the Vatican, the church, Sistine Chapel and the museums. 








We take the bus and subway there. The subway stop is decorated in small mosaic tile which is truly a work of art. We walk through the hordes of vendors, find the line-up, hoping it is not our line-up and we decide we had better eat first before going inside. Using Yelp, Ken finds a nearby place that is inexpensive and healthy. We really hit the jackpot on this place. A worker, maybe the owner, speaks English and talks to us in-depth about flavour matching our meal. Best veggie sandwiches ever!

Then back to the line-up. Ken hates lines, not a follower at all, if you know Ken you are likely chuckling right now. He takes us to a different type of entrance shows them our printed tickets, we are early, but in we go. Why are others not doing this? I was happy to be going straight in as I am a bit under the weather, likely getting Ken's cold. 

We are in the museum part and are for sometime. It consists of 54 salas or rooms. It is busy with many people, I am guessing that is why tickets are sold by entrance times. That way the place does not get too over run. We go up the gently spiraled staircase to the top level. There are displays of model boats and ships made out of authentic materials from countries around the world. Even a small birch bark canoe from Canada.    

From there it was a kind of follow the crowd kind of experience. We ended up outside on this wonderful fall afternoon.  We are in a plaza featuring Cortile delle Pigna, a huge bronze pine cone, once part of a Roman Fountain, flanked by Egyptian lions. In this plaza or courtyard was also a huge rotating sphere by Arnoldo Pomodoro. We had seen similar in Scotland, only smaller. 

We found ourselves in a very long and somewhat narrow museum of sculptures from ancient times. I usually try to take a photo of the art piece then the information about the artist and the name of the piece, etc. This would have been an overwhelming task in a gallery such as this because of the size and the amount of guests in the museum. Most were carved from marble. We saw So many Ancient Greek statues,  Sarcophagus of ancients, bas reliefs, marble bath tubs and we took only pictures of those that stood out to us. We might have missed some famous ones, oh well. Statues that honoured animals appealed to both of us. 

We were not allowed in Galleria Lapidaria. It was a huge gallery of ancient writing in stone tablets. 

The museum itself was pretty spectacular. As you were being ushered along by the crowds you would notice the huge marble columns or the paintings on the ceilings, including gold gilding and ceiling domes. Most floors were made of marble said in wonderful patterns.

We came to an Egyptian museum. It included pottery, hieroglyphics on stone tablets, burial or mummy cases with decoration on both the inside and outside, marble representations of cats, etc. Marble statues of pharaohs was another plus to going into this museum.

Going from one Sala or room to the other sometimes let you walk by an open window. This way you could get a bit of fresh air plus take a look from above at the wonderful plazas below surveying the outside beauty - hills, trees, city scape.
















































































Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Another moving day!









This time within the same city of Rome. We are leaving our little family run bed and breakfast close to downtown. Our move is to out near the airport - a Holiday Inn. Wednesday we are leaving Italy for Holland. We had thoughts of staying in the downtown and leaving Wednesday morning. That, however, would mean getting up way before six and taking a €48 taxi to the airport or taking a very long bus ride during peek commuter time. It was not a hard decision to make - go out to the airport area.

Ken discovered that the second bus we needed to take was at a stop under the road we were standing on. That meant he had to carry both of our bags down a long flight of stairs. We stood down there with a Franciscan Monk (after all we are in a religious capital of the world), traffic buzzing by and all the fumes and noise that entails for about twenty minutes. Another (rather unusual) lady pointed out that the stop was temporarily closed. Up went us, the bags and the Monk. Once we got our bearings again we were off to the main train terminal in Rome. Somehow we found a post office and mailed a few post cards. It was a long train ride out to where we were headed. Then a long haul to drag our suitcases to the hotel, a Holiday Inn. 

This move took us nearly three hours. We had thought of the possibility of us deciding to stay where we were downtown. Then doing that move in the morning, wow what a mistake that would have been. We could have missed our flight which Ken booked weeks ago at a great price. 

The Hotel was great with what appeared to be original art on the walls. I was very happy to get situated again as I have come down with a cold and need to rest. We take the train a few stops down the line to a huge mall. We need a food court. A much easier option than finding a restaurant out in this area. 

Back at the hotel I collapse in the comfortable, well appointed bed. We are off to the airport and on to Rotterdam tomorrow.






















Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Medici Holiday Inn by the FCO Airport in Rome was where we woke up today.












Rotterdam, Netherlands is today's destination. We had to wake up early, too. This meant we could get ready and leave the hotel via the 8:00am shuttle to the Airport. It was raining when we left Rome. Odd occurrence, but it seems to be often raining when we leave a place. Don't know how that has managed to happen on such a regular basis. 

We sat right near the back of the plane. I have decided that I like to be closer to the front. Although we were able to exit out the back door. The whole airport, flying experience was rather painless. The landing was a bit hard, but then it was raining, so wet on the runway. 

There was a bus that we took to the Metro. The trains in the Netherlands are excellent. We disembarked at a station right by the Art Hotel here in Rotterdam our final destination of the day. The Art Hotel was decorated wonderfully as you might expect. Perhaps a bit too eclectic for the taste of some. The restaurant, for example, had a row of different chandeliers along a row of tables. Some furniture was Victorian in style, some more fifties era. Plus there was a huge bouquet of lilies adding their fragrance to the mix. I loved it. 

The room has arty touches. At the end of the bed is a huge print in a gold frame. It has impact in our rather small room. We do have a small kitchen space which is perfect for our last few days on Europe. 

Ken went out and about investigating the city. We had been here, but only walking downtown. I stayed at the Hotel. I have contracted a cold and am feeling quite miserable. From flying, my ears are stuffed up and I cannot hear. I ended up sleeping most of the afternoon and early evening - hours. Tomorrow I hope to wake-up feeling much better.












































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