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Thursday, April 26, 2007

Easter in Rome

One of the trips we took with Mum and Dad was to Rome for Easter. We flew in the evening before Easter (Easter-Eve) and after bargaining with many taxi drivers we found one that would take us to our hotel for less than €10. (The first Taxi Driver suggested we pay €30). That evening we ate some great Pizza, Nat ate one with an Egg on it...

Easter morning we watched some of the Pope's Easter service on TV, The Pope was sad we didn't attend in person. Then we headed out on the Lonely Planet's Walking Tour of Rome.

The Trevi FountainThe Trevi FountainThe Trevi Fountain
The Trevi Fountain

The PantheonThe Pantheon
The Pantheon

Elephant Obelisk outside Chiesa S. MinervaChiesa S. Minerva
Elephant Obelisk and Chiesa S. Minerva Church

Piazza NavonaPiazza Navona
Piazza Navona

Castel St. AngeloCastel St. Angelo
Castel St. Angelo

Saint Peter's BasilicaOutside St. Peter's Basilica
St. Peter's Basilica

The next day we were off to do more stuff. First off we visited the Colosseum. We managed to snag a tour outside which allowed us to skip the lines... The tour was great, so great that we took the free tour of the Roman Forum that the same company offered immediately following the tour of the Coloseum.

The ColosseumThe Colosseum
The Colosseum

The Roman ForumThe Roman Forum
The Roman Forum

After the roman forum we snagged yet another tour. This one was to the Christian Catacombs, and it made some stops along the way. First, it stopped at a church with a statue of Moses (he had horns). I believe it was carved by everyone's favourite ninja turtle Michelangelo. The same church also had the chains that were used to crucify St. Peter. The church was called The Church of St Peter in Chains which would make a great Heavy Metal band name. The Catacombs we saw were on the outskirts of the city, these catacombs were different than the ones we saw last time, apparently there are many catacombs in Rome (over 60)

Inside a church in RomeInside a church in Rome
The Church of St Peter in Chains

Christian Catacombs RomeChristian Catacombs Rome
The Christian Catacombs of Rome

The Rome MetroAfter the Catacombs we went to see The Mausoleum of Emperor Augustus, and the Spanish Steps. Because it was the day after Easter, it was very busy. We took the metro from the Spanish Steps to the apartment we were staying in. The metro was extremely full and yet at each stop more people insisted on cramming into it to the point where your body contorted around objects in the train. It was probably like Japanese subways, however I can't say for sure as I've only seen pictures. Anyway because we were so packed on it made it almost impossible to get off... Nat's purse was still caught in the crowd on the way out and an old woman took it upon herself to hit Nat's arm repeatedly. I'm not sure what this was supposed to accomplish.

The Spanish Steps RomeThe Spanish Steps Rome
The Spanish Steps

The Next day we visited the Vatican Museum. Again we went with that same tour company and we skipped both the lines to the museum and to St. Peter's Basilica which was nice! Our tour guide's name was Fabio. Unlike other Fabios he kept his shirt buttoned up the entire tour.

The VaticanThe Vatican
The Vatican Museum

Last time we were in Rome we didn't get to see St. Peter's Basilica. It turns out it's huge! Fantastically huge! And everything inside is also huge. The alter is several stories high (can't remember how many).

St. Peter's BasilicaSt. Peter's Basilica
Inside St. Peter's Basilica

The Next morning we rented a car and drove to Sant'Agata (near Sorrento) on the bay of Naples...

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Monday, April 16, 2007

Bormio with Mum and Dad

Dad Mum and Nat up the mountain in Bormio

On the Road to BormeoWondering Around BormioMum and Dad came to visit for our easter holiday. We all went to Bormio for the evening... It's a small town on the border of Italy and Switzerland in the Alps... We rented a car to make the trip, it turned out that driving around italy is a little less intimidating than I thought it would be. Renting the car was more difficult than driving it, as I needed my passport but didn't bring it...

Me and Dad at Diner in BormioMum and Dad in BormioWhile in Bormio we ate some good food. And went to the top of the mountain... We also visited Bagni Vecchi a Thermal Spa thing, which has been used since the roman times. One bath in particular was inside a cave in the mountain there was naturally heated hot waters pouring into the cave, another cave filled with steam from the hot spring water, and a bath filled with cold water...

Bagni Vecchi Bormio
An artists illustration of what it might have looked like...


A link to all the pictures...

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