It was planned as the trip of a lifetime for my wife and I, and it was. What follows is a day by day account of the trip with a “few” photos from the more than 6,000 I took to illustrate many of the amazing sites we visited.

DAY 1

As most European countries are in Europe, every trip there starts with a long flight. In our case it was a 3 AM wakeup and a 7:30 AM flight from San Francisco to Washington DC, and after a short layover on to Rome. The only thing of interest about the flight to Dulles airport in Washington was that after the plane landed we couldn’t get into the terminal. The plane pulled up to the gate like normal. Everybody immediately stood up as though us folks in Economy were somehow magically were going to get out of the plane quickly. Then after 5 minutes of everybody waiting to get off the plane, a stewardess informed us there was a problem with the gateway that we are suppose to use to get into the terminal. It was stuck 2 feet from the jet, and we have no communication with the people working the gateway. So at 35,000 feet we have communication with the ground, but at the terminal we have no communication. OK. If you are thinking, why didn’t they just move the plane that had traveled 2500 miles another two feet, that option was out of the question as the cargo doors had already been opened. After 25 minutes of sitting just 2 feet from the promised land, the gateway was somehow moved those last 2 feet and we arrived in Dulles airport in time to make our connecting flight.

You are here.  A photo of the plane’s entertainment/location device showing where our flight was at the time.

Once the plane lands at Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport it’s off to customs for my first real use the my passport. I’ve had to carry it before on other trips, but this will be my first time being questioned about why I’m visiting the country, ( business or pleasure ) and having my passport stamped. Well not so much. On the walk to customs all the members of our flight were joined by passengers from another flight walking to customs. This customs thing might take a while. Well not so much. The airport has about 10 agents working the custom’s booths and after they scan your passport and look at you for 2 seconds, you are through to Italy. No stamp, no questions, just NEXT.
Our transportation to our home for the next three days at the Visconti Palace was ready and waiting. The first thing you notice about driving in Rome is that driving and talking on your phone while holding it seems to be the law of the land. Our driver certainly upheld the law of the land. We arrived at the hotel around 10 AM and were allowed to check in early. So day one really begins now. After a very early wake up in America, about 2 hours of sleep during those 16 hours in the air, it’s now GO TIME as we have 3 days to see Rome.

The first stop on the well planned excursion in Rome would be the Piazza del Popolo and the new car obelisk. In reality the obelisk there is an Egyptian obelisk of Ramesses II. But it is having repair work done and it was sponsored by a new car company which had their ad at the base of the obelisk. The new car obelisk was much easier to remember than Remesses II. Working our way through the city our next stop would be the Pantheon. From there, it was short hop to the Piazza Navona which is where the first image in the post was made. Then off to the Campo de’ Fiori market and finally back to the Pantheon for a photo op and then back to the hotel for the end of Day one phase one.

Our search for food once back to the hotel led us to Miss Pizza just around the corner. We didn’t know at the time that this would be the first of many trips to Miss Pizza. With a few minutes rest and some food in our bellies it was time for phase two of day one. The first stop for the evening portion of the day would lead us to the Spanish steps where the wife and I shared a very good and very pricey Gelato. Now with some sugar to fuel our quest it was off to the Trevi fountain. It too was under repair, but the spender of the site was still apparent. Because the site was under repair they had set up a temporary “fountain” where you could throw coins. It wasn’t quite as impressive as the original as the photo below shows.

This is a photo of the Column of the Immaculate Conception. If my map skills are correct, this is just a few hundred feet away from the Spanish steps.

By now it was 9:30 PM local time, and time for dinner in the Piazza del Papolo. This photo shows our seats and view from the outdoor cafe we ate at. At 7:30 PM when we first passed this location the cafe was full with people seating in these seat staring into the sunset. Didn’t quite understand that. On the left of the photo you can see both Santa Maria dei Miracoli and  Santa Maria in Montesanto churches. It was then back to the hotel and the end of a very, very full day.

DAY TWO – the Vatican – Castel Sant’Angelo

After a very long and hectic first day, day two was “planned” to be a little more sane. On the other hand you have this expression, “the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry”.
Our tour of the Vatican started at 9 AM. On the map it looks like you can walk to the Vatican from our hotel. And you can walk to the Vatican from our hotel. It’s just that there are very few straight streets and square intersections on the road from our hotel ( the Visconti Palace ) to the Vatican. We did make it to our meeting place outside the Vatican for the tour. Then it’s the 10 minute line to get in. That is the short line for the tours. The regular line was said to take hours. Once in your tour guide has to purchase the tickets and it’s suggested to be a good time for a bathroom break.

It’s 9:30 AM and you have your ticket and are ready to go. Since the Vatican Museum can be a little crowed, our tour guide used “whispers” as they are called in Europe to give us information. I’ll be honest, most of the way through the tour I used the radio/headset to keep in contact with our group and once the group was too far away you couldn’t hear the tour guide and it was time to catch up with the group. I was there to take photos. I could read about everything the guide was saying, but most likely I will never be there again to take photos. So I took lots and lots of photos.

Our tour inside the Vatican museum ends with the real big event, that of course being the Sistine Chapel. No photos are allowed in the Sistine Chapel. There are signs EVERYWHERE saying that. Then there is the guard that mentions it quite loudly about every two minutes. So I have no photos of the Sistine Chapel to post.
After the Vatican tour, you we went into Saint Peter’s Basilica. You thought you saw some amazing stuff on the Vatican tour, but for my Euro’s the size and beauty of everything in St. Peter’s Basilica was more amazing. Did I mention it was amazing? Did I mention it’s big and amazing? In these photos it looks like it’s not so crowed. It is.

It looks like an amazing statue, and it is. I’ve included the 2nd photo with the gentlemen in front of the statue to show the size of the statue.

Once the tour of St. Peter’s Basilica is done you walk out into St. Peter’s Square.

After a quick cab ride back to the hotel, it’s once again time for Miss Pizza of Rome Italy.

Now with some fuel in the tanks, it’s off to Castel Sant’Angelo which is in easy walking distance from the hotel.

The best sign I saw on the entire trip. It took me a moment to figure it out. If you have never been to Rome, you would know there were selfie stick salesmen at EVERY tourist attraction. Now you know, and the sign prohibits selfie stick photos. GOOD.

Sometimes when the weather turns bad, wonderful photos can be made. The very light rain provided a rainbow and great light for a photo of Palace of Justice.

DAY THREE – the Colosseum – Roman Forum – St. Paul’s Basilica outside the Wall

Lesson learned from Day Two. Take a cab if you aren’t sure how to get there in Italy and your tour starts a 9 AM. So the day started off with a cab ride to the Colosseum for our extended tour of both the Colosseum and the Roman Forum.

As I’ve seen plenty of pictures of the Colosseum, I had a pretty good idea what it looked like. What I found most impressive and what you can’t see in most photos is the size of the stones/marble that comprise the Colosseum. The photo below presents one with an idea of how large the stones were. This photo was taken near the top of the structure.

Once through the Colosseum and Roman Forum our next stop was to be the St Peter In Chains Cathedral. We found the church pretty quick and easy on our own. So of course it was closed from 1 pm to 3 pm. As it was 1:20 pm is was time to move on. A quick walk back to the Colosseum and a cab to us to our next stop, that being the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Wall. 

The view inside the chair room. I doubt that’s the real name of this room.

I posted this photo of pretty much the same shot with people in it to give a sense of the size of the building.

The clouds that had been building for the last several hours finally started to bring the predicted rain for the afternoon. Turns out that wild and wacky driving that takes place in Rome doesn’t work quite as well when it rains. I was surprised how much slower the cab ride back to the hotel was. By the time we reached our hotel, it was pouring. That was OK for us, we were pretty much done for the day. As it was pouring rain and the hotel doesn’t serve lunch, it was out to find some food. Surprise, surprise, it was once again back to Miss Pizza for lunch as a walk anywhere else might have involved getting quite wet.
Lucky for us the rain only lasted for 2 hours, and we were back on our way to see what we could see. Day three ended with a walk back to the Spanish steps and then dinner at a different outdoor cafe at the  Piazza del Popolo from Day One. There was a Bride and Groom that seemed to have been just married at the Spanish steps, so of course I took a photo.

DAY FOUR – last day in Rome

I woke up early  and figured it was go time once again as I had only another 4 hours in town before a bus ride to the ship.

That’s 6:14 in the AM.

Early morning shadow of tourist running around taking photos. OK, it’s my shadow.

Rare photo of the Brown river showing it’s Blue color. It is actually the Tiber River, but if you have ever seen it in person, you would think it was the Brown river.

Another view of the Brown river.

One more view of the Palace of Justice in Rome. I think this would be considered the back of the building. Pretty fancy for the back of a building.