Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Rome

The trip was Rome was absolutely great. When I was here before, we did the entire Rome experience in three days and now we do it in four. That means that this time we did not have to run through the city in order to see all the major sites. And we did see all the major sites!



One of the things that I love most about Rome is that you can be walking down a street and window shopping for great contemporary stuff and then you see a ruin. Or you turn the corner and see the Colluseum. Our hotel was a block from the place where Julius Caesar was stabbed!



Tracy took some of us to new attraction called the Time Elevator. It is just like a ride at Universal Studios or DisneyWorld but it is about the history of Rome. You get strapped into a seat that jerks and turns you alittle and feel like your are space traveling and flying over both ancient and modern Rome. Great fun.



The food was good! We went to this wonderful coffee place that is known for its special coffee blends. All my friends will be surprised to hear that I have been attempting to drink coffee. I LOVE the cappuccino and the cafe is growing on me.



One of the craziest things that happened in Rome was the traffic wreck that occured on Saturday night right outside my bedroom window. Tracy and I were sharing a room and we were exhausted so we went to bed at about 10:30 pm. At two minutes to midnight (I checked the clock!) we both woke up to a very, very loud sound of metal hitting metal. I had heard a police siren in my dream and sure enough a police car with lights and siren had been hit by a crazy Rome driver. They hit so hard that one was knocked into a bicycle on the side of the street. Within seconds there were 12 other police cars there on the scene. They immediately started dealing with the traffice because it is a busy main street in Rome. The traffic was wild. It took about 5 minutes for the ambulances to get through the traffic. The policeman was taken away on a backboard but he was moving his arms and legs so I think he will be ok. The people in the other car were sitting on the curb so I think they are ok also, but what drama in the middle of my sleep!



There were a couple of trips to the Hard Rock Cafe...I know, it screams "I Am a Tourist" but the food is good and I really needed a hamburger and onion rings.



The weather was good until Sunday when the rain started. I can say with blessed assuredness that I had so much more fun in Rome with the pleasant 60 to 70 degree temps than I did in the summer of 2000. That was week of the Polish pilgrimage to the Vatican during the summer of Jubilee. 60,000 Polish travelers in the 90 to 100 degree heat can be quite smelly. Plus, I was sweating and you know how I hate to sweat. This visit did NOT include sweat. For that I am very, very thankful!





powered by performancing firefox

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home