But Rome. Yes. The hotel did have a free shuttle to the Eternal City and yes, it was marvelous. I walked the whole day and literally every place I looked, every corner I turned had amazing old stuff just sitting around, being there.
Except for the costumed Italians who will pose for a photo for €1, really, everything in these photos is something one can just see on the street or wander into for free. The place is unbelievable.
Below right is a shot of the Roman Forum with a busload of Japanese tourists heading down for look under their umbrellas. I took this for my friend Linda. She’ll know why.
When I went into the city, I was wearing a short skirt and was the only one in the whole place with knees showing. At St. Peter’s (Vatican City), knees aren’t allowed anyway, so I had with me the only longer skirt in my carry-one, a filmy purple thing. I put it on in an alley behind the Parthenon when no one was looking. There are no bathrooms in Rome. Now I was the only one in Rome in a purple skirt. I fretted internally about this for a bit, all the other tourists “fit in” better, then I thought, why not wear the native costume of my country. They thought I was an artist.
I was shooting some close-up photos of this little gem of a fountain in an alley and a tiny old Italian man came up and said “Bella, bella. ” I agreed, the fountain was beautiful and he said, “no, bella signora!” He took this photo for me. I thanked him, but he kept on with the “bella signora” thing, so I kissed him on the forehead when he returned my camera, He was about 70 yrs old and very short. He declare “No! En la boca!” grabbed me and planted a big ol’ smacko right on my lips. Romance isn’t dead in Rome, but it’s getting close. Here he is:
I had heard Rome was dirty, but outside of a few places smelling like a sewer (what city doesn’t have those, and beside, there are no bathrooms in Rome), there was no paper or trash anywhere.
Now for the self-portrait collection – me in front various famous things –
The fountain at Piazza Navona where I sat and ate crusty bread and cheese from the little market. It was my favorite fountain. This is a terrible photo of Bernini's exquisite, huge sculpture.
I went back and added a few more that the bottom of the page.
In front of St. Peters, where I narrowly missed getting blessed by the Pope:
and below, the must-see Trevi fountain, which was the last stop on my wandering. It took me an hour and 3 gellati’s (ice creams) to find as I wandered circles on the winding alley. Someone else took pity on me as I took my own photo. Her shot was better.
I totally enjoyed the day. The people were overwhelmingly friendly. St. Peter’s left me speechless. Its massiveness defies description. They keep a lot of dead popes there but also Michelangelo’s exquisite Pieta.
I finally found a bathroom in a little café on the way to the Vatican where they sold sandwiches with cheese and mushrooms or cheese and spinach (yeah they were great) on white bread with the crusts cut off. The were amazed when I told them a sandwich at the hotel was 17E – theirs were 2E. And they had I bathroom. I would have paid 2E just for that.
My shipmates have told me, yes, we do get to go out at our home port. I thought we’d be too busy on that day, but no, so I plan to get back in there again.
two more shots better showing the grandeur of Navona, one of them on my final night in Europe. I didn't have to rush to catch the train, rush back for boat drill, so I stayed and had a meal at a cafe in the piazza and watched as night fell and the sky turned colbalt. The walk back to Termini station after dark felt pretty scary, but I was actually very safe.
and one more detail of the fabulous Trevi swimming pool