The day has arrived! We board the plane in New Plymouth and begin our fabulous months holiday. The first 17 days doing a tour of Italy and Sicily. The last 2 weeks we meet Daniel and Marysia in Budapest and travel together back to London. What an adventure! A trip of a lifetime! Our first stop is overnight in Auckland with Jessica. That night is followed by two twelve hour flights, one from Auckland to Singapore, the next from Singapore to Rome…A long trip….but one we have been looking forward to for 10 long months.
The plane trips went smoothly. We tried not to sleep too much on the flight to Singapore as we knew we would need to make the next 12 hour flight be our night time. The four hour stopover in Singapore was a bit of a nightmare….we were soooo tired. Eventually we all gave in and had about a two hour sleep in the airport! The next flight was much better as we slept most of the journey.
We arrived in Rome early enough to be able to do our own ‘discover Rome walking tour’ before our real tour began. And…we found the spanish steps! We also realised very quickly just how hot the weather here is. 39 degrees! We get back to the Hotel at head to the foyer where we meet the rest of the tour party. Then….we are off by bus to have a lovely meal together. During the meal time we have an opportunity to give a little introduction of ‘who you are’ for the other tour members to get to know you better. I had gone downstairs to the toilet…and couldn’t open the door. I panicked….yelled…but no-one heard me. Finally I got the door open and got back to my seat to find out that Judy had introduced me in my absense. I wonder what she said?
After tea we went on another bus ride to have a look at Rome by night. We were taken to see a sample of the places we were going to see in daylight the next day. Unfortunately we were so tired it was hard to stay awake. I think most of us had little naps on the bus…but it was still great! We were so excited! And even though we were tired then next morning we woke at 5am…and did so for three days in a row! Ahhhh the joys of jet lag!
The next morning and we wake up to a very big day. A tour of the Vatican city and the Sistine chapel in the morning and the Colosseum in the afternoon. Now I really can’t describe in words at just how amazing the sights in Vativan city and the Sistene Chapel are…you just have to go there and see them for yourselves…but I will assure you….you would be equally amazed. The artwork in many forms are wonderful…and the buildings as well. There are absolutely thousands of statues as well. I didn’t take photos of them as I did that last time we visited two years ago….and they haven’t changed….hehe. But I couldn’t resist taking more photos of the ceilings…they just amaze me. Hopefully the photos will help to describe the wow factor.
The last place to visit at the vatican city is St Peters Cathedral. Now….that really has the WOW factor. So hard to describe as it is just filled with wonderful artwork, architecture and statues…all with a religious theme. I will add some photos, but I hope they do the place justice. This place really should be on everyones bucket list. You will never forget seeing this place once you go there.
In the afternoon we went to the Coloseum and although I have been there before, I loved it. It is just amazing!….I could go there again! It was fabulous watching Teresa face and reactions as a first time visitor! You can tell people what it is like, but you can’t really comprehend just how amazing it is unless you see it for yourself.
But the highlight for the day for me was the walking tours we did from 4 pm until late at night finishing with a 7 course meal in a restaurant at the place where Julius Caeser was assasinated!…3 floors underground!
The Pathenon took my breath away. You walk in through enormous marble columns and look up to see the hugest dome with an open centre. Yes it can rain in the Pathenon…but when it was built so many years ago…they even made holes in the floor and a drainage system so the place wouldn’t flood.
Now I can’t remember the names of the Cathedrals we went too I will look into them later on and add them to my blog…St Peters at Vatican city was amazing…but the two we saw later on in the day were just as spectacular! We also saw the Trevi Fountain and joined in the hundreds of people to get a photo in front of it. fabulous experience!
Okay…So now I have added a heap of photos of our wonderful time in Rome. I have hundreds more photos so these ones are really only a sample of the sights that Rome has to offer. As I said…Rome is a must to visit….you will love it and never regret the expense it costs to go there. I hope you have enjoyed looking through my sample of Rome 🙂