First 2 Days In Rome - Part 1

A comfortable Swiss Air flight ($85 from Zurich to Rome)  brought me into Rome's Leondardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport on Saturday afternoon (February 27) and I took a chance on the cheapest way to my accommodations - a €5 bus ride and a €1.50 Metro/subway ride.  I felt like I was back in China for the bus queue (there was none -- just crowding forward) -- but the Metro was easy to understand and use with selectable English prompts on the ticket machine.

Using my favorite booking site (booking.com), I had arranged an unusual but well regarded place to stay -- just two blocks from the Vatican and two blocks from the Metro for €46 a night.  The accommodation (which goes by the name "Deluxe Rooms") isn't for everyone because it is just a room in an apartment building -- but it is truly perfect for me. Right in the heart of plenty of activity, sightseeing and restaurants/cafes.

 And my view out the window.  The room is super quiet notwithstanding its proximity to the street as the updated windows are obviously sound proofed.

I love the bustle of a city (Neil Diamond's "It's A Beautiful Noise" comes to mind) -- and I enjoyed walking around my 6-day home and feasting at one of the many pizzerias.

Before I shut out the lights, I made a plan for the next day -- noting that it was the one "free day" of the month (last Sunday of the month) for entrance into the Vatican Museums (home to the Sistine Chapel) -- saving me €16 (about $17.25).

I should have gotten an earlier start Sunday -- because as I approached the Vatican Museum, it was clear that lots of others had my same money-saving plan in mind and the line was an hour long.  I only thought of giving up the plan for a moment because as I walked along the line to find the end, I realized that just waiting in line would give me an hour worth of people watching.  After all, I hadn't come just to see the sights -- one can always get a better vantage from a photograph on the internet -- but I was here for the experience.  Waiting in line and hearing the multitude of languages about me was the experience that the internet couldn't give me.  To be sure, I heard very little English and it was clear that I was among mostly Italian travelers/visitors.

The Vatican Museums including the Sistine Chapel were fascinating -- though I did think more than once about what Jesus might think of the extravagant wealth on display.  I took a few photos just for my own memories -- but nothing worth adding to this blog.  I read in one of the tour books that if one stopped to look at everything in the museums, it would take 2 years.  I compressed those two years into a few hours.

The excitement of the first touring day stayed with me -- and I ventured nearby to find yet another long line to get into St. Peter's Basilica.  By this time it had started to rain and I wanted to reassure myself that I was in the right line and I didn't need a ticket from some other place -- so I asked the young couple behind me in line if they spoke English.  They did -- and gave the reassurance I needed to stay in line as I put up my umbrella (purchased in 2009 in Wuhan, China during a similar downpour!)  And in offering to share my umbrella with the young couple, the line time melted away as we began talking -- they were the age of my youngest (turning 30 in April) and on their own adventure from their home in Poland.  By the time we got through security and entered the Basilica, we had figured out that we both had plans to attend the same "free" tour later in the afternoon. We bid farewell with the expectation we would cross paths again.

The Basilica is beautiful and interesting -- and my thoughts of what Jesus might think took a side-seat to the happiness of being in a place that I had heard about so many times in my life.

To Be Continued