Sunday, August 14
Today is our last day in Rome, as we are travelling to Civitavecchia tonight by train, so we didn't want to rush around a lot and get all hot and sweaty! We had to check out of our B&B this morning and leave our luggage there, so we had until about 5pm to see some new things.
The Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica was a 5 minute walk, and being a Sunday we weren't sure if they would let tourists in while services were being held. We didn't have to worry, we just had to put our bags through the X-Ray machine and we walked through a metal detector, just like at an airport! This unfortunately is where the world is at, but better safe than sorry - and all this to get into a church!!
The hassle was definitely worth it, and after admiring the magnificence of the building we sat quietly to join in the service with the other worshippers. To see more than just the main nave you had to buy tickets to different parts of the building, so we chose to do a guided tour of the Loggia and Bernini staircase. The group we were in were mainly Italians, and the guide's English version seemed a lot shorter than his Italian explanation. Still he was good and what we saw was fantastic.
We also paid to see the treasures in the Museum, which consisted of lots of vestments worn by Popes and Cardinals, as well as lots of religious icons etc. We were amazed at the engravings of the church done in the 17th Century when it was enlarged, with cross sections and plans showing what it would look like - and it still does! We also bumped into Eugenia, a Russian girl who had studied in Australia and who was on the same tour as us. We invited her to join us for lunch so we went to a nearby cafe.
After a very pleasant lunch we went our separate ways - we headed off to some shops and then a last walk down Via Cavour before collecting our luggage and heading for the nearby Metro station. Having done the journey before we knew where to go, but carrying the cases up and down stairs as well as wheeling them hundreds of meters added to the effort big time. We arrived at Ostiense station in plenty of time and enjoyed a refreshing beer and pizza for dinner! We then waited on Platform 4 for the train, and then about 10 minutes before we noticed they had changed the platform! This resulted in a mad dash, only to find the train was delayed 25 minutes!
We found our carriage and seats, only to find the air conditioning in our carriage wasn't working, but once the train got going it cooled down a bit. We reached Civitavecchia about 9pm, and were going to walk the 500 meters to our B&B, but a taxi was at the station so we paid 10 euro for the luxury of not pushing/dragging our cases in the dark! Money well spent after a big travel day.
Today is our last day in Rome, as we are travelling to Civitavecchia tonight by train, so we didn't want to rush around a lot and get all hot and sweaty! We had to check out of our B&B this morning and leave our luggage there, so we had until about 5pm to see some new things.
The Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica was a 5 minute walk, and being a Sunday we weren't sure if they would let tourists in while services were being held. We didn't have to worry, we just had to put our bags through the X-Ray machine and we walked through a metal detector, just like at an airport! This unfortunately is where the world is at, but better safe than sorry - and all this to get into a church!!
The hassle was definitely worth it, and after admiring the magnificence of the building we sat quietly to join in the service with the other worshippers. To see more than just the main nave you had to buy tickets to different parts of the building, so we chose to do a guided tour of the Loggia and Bernini staircase. The group we were in were mainly Italians, and the guide's English version seemed a lot shorter than his Italian explanation. Still he was good and what we saw was fantastic.
We also paid to see the treasures in the Museum, which consisted of lots of vestments worn by Popes and Cardinals, as well as lots of religious icons etc. We were amazed at the engravings of the church done in the 17th Century when it was enlarged, with cross sections and plans showing what it would look like - and it still does! We also bumped into Eugenia, a Russian girl who had studied in Australia and who was on the same tour as us. We invited her to join us for lunch so we went to a nearby cafe.
After a very pleasant lunch we went our separate ways - we headed off to some shops and then a last walk down Via Cavour before collecting our luggage and heading for the nearby Metro station. Having done the journey before we knew where to go, but carrying the cases up and down stairs as well as wheeling them hundreds of meters added to the effort big time. We arrived at Ostiense station in plenty of time and enjoyed a refreshing beer and pizza for dinner! We then waited on Platform 4 for the train, and then about 10 minutes before we noticed they had changed the platform! This resulted in a mad dash, only to find the train was delayed 25 minutes!
We found our carriage and seats, only to find the air conditioning in our carriage wasn't working, but once the train got going it cooled down a bit. We reached Civitavecchia about 9pm, and were going to walk the 500 meters to our B&B, but a taxi was at the station so we paid 10 euro for the luxury of not pushing/dragging our cases in the dark! Money well spent after a big travel day.
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