Roma...not the tomato

Our second time to Rome! There is much to see in Rome and since I really enjoyed our first visit I was looking forward to our second. I decided since we had seen many of the big highlights in Rome the first time we were here that we would spend time in a museum that we didn't get to the first time around. I had everything planned, get off the ship, walk 15 min to catch the train into town. I knew the schedule and how much it would cost. No problem. But Rome had other ideas. We get off of the ship and start to walk toward the train station when we are stopped by a group of taxi drivers...I didn't know if this was going to be a throw down with taxi driver hooligans or what was going on. They indicated that there was going to be a general strike today. Great!! We would be able to get into the city but not back to port...that is unless we used their services. I was skeptical and thought that maybe they were just trying to make a buck. There was an 'information' booth next to us so figured I had better ask to make sure what they were saying was legitimate. They concurred with the information that was being given to us. The information booth had one bus that would be going into town and we could purchase tickets if we wanted. We wanted. We bought round trip tickets for 80 Euro for the family...four times as much as I would have spent on the train and taxi...so not happy at this point. The Pextons, our friends from Washington were getting off in Rome. They had all of their luggage with them and they needed to pass through customs at the port. They also bought their tickets to get onto the bus to Rome, but they purchased them from a lady roaming amongst the people standing outside of the 'information' building. They were keeping lists of people who had purchased tickets, the problem was they were two distinct lists, there was no coordination of the lists to see who was on the bus. So when it was time to catch the bus we were all able to get on, except our friends the Pextons. They were the only people left standing, with their luggage and no way of getting to Rome. Sharma threw a mini fit, John was fit to be tied and our best efforts looked like they were going to be thwarted. There were seats on the bus, but they were for the infants that were being held on laps. To me this didn't make much sense, since when do you see infants sitting in seats by themselves. After a few tense moments, they relented...probably realizing they were going to lose money on not using those seats and John and Stacey were able to get on the bus.

An hour later we were being dropped off in front of the Vatican. We said our 'goodbyes' to the Pextons as they went to find their hotel and start their two day visit to Rome and we had our own destination. We (us and the Palmers) walked passed Castel Sant Angelo and over the Ponte Sant Angelo, which is the bridge that crosses the Tiber river. It is a nice bridge with marble figures lining the sides of the bridge.

From here we walked to Piazza Navona, my favorite piazza (at least so far). As we did the first time, we got several times trying to find this piazza and had to ask several people. I am not the typical male that won't ask for directions if I am lost. I want to know where I am going and will ask multiple people to make sure I don't waste my time. The Piazza was busy today, there were Christmas kiosks selling items and a lot of people taking pictures. We took a few pictures and looked for our next destination, a bathroom. We decided to find a McDonalds to use their facilities, but we did not realize how hard this task was going to be. It was coming up on our GPS, there were signs but we couldn't find it, it was the varitable needle in a haystack. We found ourselves next to the Pantheon and didn't even have a chance to spend much time here because we needed the bathroom so badly. I found somebody sweeping in front of their shop and I asked where the McDonalds was and she looked at me with this inquisitive and almost berating attitude and said 'why do you want a McDonalds when you have all of these local restaurants to choose from?' I explained our plight and she directed us to a local restaurant to use their bathroom...sweet relief.

We hurried over toward the Spanish steps area and stopped at a McDonalds to pick up a quick bite to eat before we had to get to the Borghese Gallery. In order to visit the Gallery I was instructed to purchase my tickets online because you had to have a reservation to visit it. We finished up at McDonalds so we could make our 1pm entrance time and we needed to be there at least 30 minutes before to pick up the tickets. We left McDonalds and climbed the Spanish steps. Just then Travis realized that he had left his backpack at McDonalds and needed to go back and retrieve it. We decided to split up, McKay and I would go to the Gallery and pick up our tickets in time and the rest would wait for Travis and then come and meet us. I didn't realize how far of a walk it still was to the Gallery, McKay and I took off in a very fast walk to pick up the tickets. We made it there just as our 30 min time limit was expiring. What made me perturbed was the fact that the person in front of me had no reservations and was allowed to buy tickets. I don't know if they say you have to buy tickets online, but the unwritten law is that you can purchase them on a walk up basis if there are tickets still available. Anyway, we followed the rule and retrieved our tickets at the appointed time. Our family and friends joined us 15 minutes later. Then we realized that we had to check in our belonging before entering the Gallery which was another 10 minute wait. They allot you 2 hours to see the Gallery and limit the number of people, which is actually nice, because even though you are fighting crowds it isn't terrible. The Borghese Gallery is spectacular with the finest marble creations I have seen. The bulk of the exhibit is by Bernini. There are several famous sculptures here and they all have intricate detail. The indentations that are carved into the marble, for example where somebody is grabbing somebody else, are so intricate and precise that it looks absolutely real. We spent a good hour looking at everything, but the kids moved through quickly and were anxious to go.

We took the Metro back to the Vatican as it was getting close to the time that we needed to get on the bus. Sharma and Corri did some shopping in the shops around the vatican. Me and the kids purchased gelato for everybody. We took pictures of the Swiss Guard around the Vatican and hung out in St Peter's square for 20 minutes. We made it back to the buses and loaded on ready for the hour long ride back to port. All in all, a good day in Rome. Whether there was an actual strike or not, I can't say...we may have been had, but in hindsight it was worth the extra money to make sure we got to Rome....I hope to see you again someday.