Planes, Trains, Boats, Busses and Automobiles Ch 3

Ah - Rome!! We finally made it. I can't imagine what this place must be like during the summer. The tourists were enjoying a "late" vacation in August. We found that getting around on foot wasn't hard since our apartment was in a great location near the Spanish Steps (which I passed numerous times but never climbed. I'll save that for another trip). The subway system is rather two dimensional, nothing like Paris. We got a bus map and decided that if we wanted to get out of our area, we could always jump on since we had purchased three day passes to get us into attractions and was good for the subways and busses.

We had to make it to the Vatican. It was a pretty easy subway ride and walk in good weather. We followed all of the tours to get to the entrance and found that it was not too crowded. It is everything that has been said and more. The Sistine Chapel is unbelievable and St. Peter’s is way over the top. There is no way that pictures can do it justice (but I have many attempts to try and capture some of it)

After leaving, we decided we needed to try something completely different so we found a bus heading for Trastevere. We were crushed in and didn’t know where we were going to get off. I was digging for a map and Ryan and I were trying to look out the windows over people’s heads to see if we could find some landmark to alert us to where we were. I started counting bridges and looking for the Isola Tiberina (Island in the middle of the Tiber River). We finally decided on a stop and got off; it was close enough. To get back we decided to take the Metro “B” line back to the main station, transfer to the “A” line and walk back from the Spanish Steps. I think I know the way by heart, if it’s daylight.

I’m sure that Lynn and Anne have waxed eloquently about the trip so I won’t go into the sight seeing stuff. As we were leaving a day before the kids, I talked to the concierge at the Plaza Hotel across the street from our apartment and he acknowledged that he could call us a cab if one was not there when we got up the next morning. We were up and out the door by 6:30 and sure enough, we had the cab waiting for us. Let’s hear it for great concierges’, even when you aren’t staying at their hotel! One taxi ride, one more plane ride and we made it back to Tripoli.