Before the trip, our intended Sunday return flight had been cancelled by Alitalia, and pushed instead to the Monday. Not a terrible thing, says I, for it gave us an extra "free" day in Rome to play after the bus tour was over and done.
Most of the Cosmos group were heading out today, to various destinations - some home, some moving on to other trips and tours. We enjoyed many fond farewells in the hotel lobby as we saw off several groups of new friends.
Preparing to depart Pineta Palace for downtown Rome, we asked about a taxi at the main desk. As luck would have it, a car for hire was just leaving the hotel after dropping off guests, and we managed to secure Davis and his Audi sedan for the equivalent of a crappy cab ride. Davis took us right downtown by the best routes, chattering the entire way in both Italian and English. I had been given the front seat by the others, and attempted to both engage and understand him as he drove with his elbows, hand-talking the entire way to Hotel Montreal....
Davis enjoyed our company so much that he gave us his card, and offered to pick us up at 5:45am the next morning for our trip to the airport. He was a great guy, had a very nice car, and we also favoured this over having to try to get a taxi at that early hour. It was perfect, and we agreed upon a pickup.
Hotel Montreal was surprisingly nice, a big old grand marble building, right near the Termini train station. We dumped our gear and found food, drink, and neighbourhoods to walk. John accidentally ordered tripe, erroneously thinking by the waiter's gestures that it was flank steak. Once ready to explore again, we hopped on the Metro and rode west to within walking distance of the Vatican City.
Unlike our previous visit, when St. Peter's Basilica was closed for the papal mass, this time we were able to go and in and witness the largest church in the world. The place made even the grand Duomos of Florence and Milan seem small. Pictures cannot hope to do it justice, but suffice it to say, "WOW!".
After exploring the Basilica, we wandered out of the Vatican City and back "into" Italy, checking out the Castel Sant'Angelo before crossing back over the Tiber to begin the meandering journey back to the hotel. We even ran into Aussies Bob and Liz from the Cosmos group, what are the odds in a city the size of Rome?!?!?
The circuitous trip back took us through a sudden downpour and even hail at Piazza Navona, where we took shelter for coffee, and then on to the Pantheon, Piazza Vittorio Emanuelle II, Trajan's Column, the Forum, and an evening visit past the Colissuem. Ourt stroll across the heart of Rome ended at Termini station and our hotel, after a very fine yet reasonable meal at Pastarino.
Back at the hotel, the evening that remained was spent on final packing, with special care to get all 12 of my souvenir beer bottles wrapped and packed safely into our travel backpacks to be checked. Before turning in, we requested a 5am wakeup call....
Vatican City from across a bridge over the Tiber
St. Peter's Square and Basilica
Inside St. Peter's - photos cannot capture the sheer scale!
Colisseum at Dusk
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