Italy 2004

13th July 2004

Hello again everyone!!!

Last time I wrote I was about to head off to Rome. Well, I can now say that I have been there and done that but I am sure I will not be able to adequately put into words what an amazing week I had in Italy although I will try....I say Italy because I took the train to Florence as well for a day on Saturday and that was amazing as well!!!

I got to Rome last Tuesday and went to the hotel, dumped my stuff and immediately went for a wander around town. I could have taken the train but I wanted to explore! One thing though...crossing roads...The Roman's don't stop at Zebra crossings...you just have to walk across the road anywhere, look confident and they will stop or swerve around you...the rules of the road we are all used to don't apply in Rome...they have their own rules!!!

Got to the Roman Forum and Colosseum around 5pm and was blown away. Went photo mad and was basically in awe of the place. Bought some souvenirs around the Colosseum (as you do) and continued on my walk of the place. Saw loads that night but to understand the true significance and historicalrelevance I had to wait until I did the walking tours.

On Wednesday I made my way down to the Vatican to do a tour that was recommended to me by a Canadian couple I was in Africa with. I rocked up tothe Vatican around 11.30 as the tour was starting at 12.30 and took a wander around. I couldn't quite believe how big it all was. The walking tour wasgreat. The tour guide was an enthusiastic American who knew his stuff really well. It was great to have a native English speaking tour guide as that certainly made it easier.


We went through the Vatican Museums and all the works of art that are in the Museums are just amazing! I am not an art or history buff at all but to behonest, you can't help but be impressed by the artworks in the Museum as well as the architecture of the place itself. To think that a lot of this stuff had been done around 500 years ago is just amazing and it really blew me away! We ended the Vatican Museum tour in the Sistine Chapel and I don't think it can be really appreciated until you see it for yourself…to think that a work of art like that was done by one man, so high up is just incredible! The colours were so vibrant and the art itself truly amazing!

We continued on to the Vatican itself and it's size is just mammoth! It can fit 90,000 people and when you consider that St Peter's Square can only fit70,000 it gives you some idea of the scale of the place. Truly spectacular. I climbed to the top of St Peter's Dome and the views of Rome were superb...all this on my first full day and I still had another 4 days left!!!

On Thursday I had a morning of sleeping in, taking it easy and wandering around the shopping district as the walking tour of the Colosseum, PalantineHill and Roman Forum wasn't going to begin until 4pm..after most of the crowds during the peak of the day had dissipated. Again, the tour guide was great. A tiny New Zealand girl who again knew the history like the back of her hand. Inside the Colosseum was impressive as was the Palantine hill and Roman Forum. The Roman Forum particularly impressed me as although it is nothing but a bunch of ruins now, when the photos were shown of what it would have looked like 2000 years ago, you can't help but admire it. Remarkable...

I went to the prison cell where St Peter and St Paul were held before their executions and I couldn't believe where I was or what I was seeing. So much history in one place..

Friday was spent exploring a bunch of sights that were mentioned in the book Angels & Demons which I read whilst in Africa and I went to a lot ofobscure churches and sights in search of the monuments mentioned in the book. I found most of them and continued in the afternoon back to the Vatican forsome more looking around and some more shopping...yes folks, I spent up big in Rome and after I finish writing this email I have to go to the post office to send more stuff home!!! I've been going nuts...I left Australia with one suitcase, I will be returning with two suitcases and by then I will all ready have sent 2 or 3 packages home!!! Crazy stuff but all worthwhile!

Friday night I did another walking tour of the Piazzas and Fountains at night. The tours were definitely the way to go as although it is possible to see a lot of things in Rome without doing tours, unless you do the research for yourself the history of a lot of the places will be lost. The tour was great and at one stage we were entering another Piazza and there was an orchestra playing an opera score...it was all for free, out in the open and the passion that they played with just was overwhelming...the music was great and everyone on the tour could not quite believe where we were...this was Italy at its best!!!

Saturday I took the train to Florence for a day trip which was only 1.5 hours away from Rome on the very fast train.

I spent the day there doing 4 hours worth of walking tours of the major sights in Florence as well as the statue of David which again was another piece of art that has to be seen to be believed. The amazing thing about all the art etc was just that how precise it all was and how talented artists like Michaelangelo must have been!

I did some more shopping in Florence as there were sales on everywhere...you know how it is!!!

So, back to Rome I went Saturday night, spent the day on Sunday pretty much wandering around town just checking out some more off beat places, found aflea market and just enjoyed the Rome way of life...I'm glad I could speak enough Italian to get by on this trip as it helped a lot. Most places had some English but being able to speak some broken Italian of my own certainly helped!

And that's it. Yesterday I came back to London and here I am writing you all an email. Could easily have stayed in Italy longer but again, I'll just haveto go back some other time!!!

Off to Scotland tomorrow for golf at St Andrews and to watch the British Open. Should be great and then next week I head off to Ireland for moregolf and then a visit to Coke in Belfast. Should be great!

Until then, stay well and hope all is well wherever you are. I can't wait to show you all the photos!!!

Dave
:-)