Florence and Rome

As you have probably noticed by now I did not publish anything for Florence. There are a couple of reasons. One, the port for Florence is Livorno. It is located 90 minutes by bus from Florence. Guess what? It was raining and blowing in Livorno and Florence and we had a long day yesterday so we just stayed on the boat. We read, napped and just relaxed. So that is the report on Florence. We are in Livorno again on Monday so no big deal.
 Today is Saturday and we are in Rome. Well not exactly. We are in Civitavecchia. This also is 90 minutes by bus from Rome and it is raining and cool. Really cool. We left the boat at 7:30 AM for our ride into Rome. Since it was Saturday the roads were not as crowded as a weekday. That is what they told us. Looked pretty crowded to me. We arrived close to Vatican City and unloaded. It was not raining in Civitavecchia, so I forgot the umbrellas. First thing off of the bus, after a lecture on where to meet the guide and what time, we bought new umbrellas. ! Bright green, so we could find each other in the crowds. And let me tell you there were crowds. Six cruise ships were in port and I think everybody from those ship were in Rome at Vatican City.

We met Judi’s cousin John and his wife Laurie at the Obelisk in St. Peter’s Square. John gave us a tour with wonderful information starting with the Obelisk. He is so knowledgeable; I wish that I could remember half of what he told us.


The Obelisk is located in the center of St. Peters Square. Placed on four bronze fixtures called astragali, on top of a series of super imposed bases, the obelisk is over 33 meters or 107 feet high. It has been in its present location since 1586 when Pope Sixtus V ordered it raised in the square. Ship builder were called to hoist the obelisk since they were familiar with ropes and pulleys. The Pope ordered total silence in the square, where a large crowd had gathered to watch, on the penalty of death. As they were raising the obelisk, a young worker saw that the ropes were starting to smoke from the friction, and yelled water on the ropes. After the obelisk was erected the Pope called for the young man and awarded him for saving the obelisk from crashing to the ground. The young man’s family had a farm in northern Italy that raised canes. To this day the Palm branches used on Palm Sunday in the Vatican come from that farm.


The Colonnade was designed Bernini and are two semicircular wings that seem to welcome everyone to the Basilica. He also designed 140 statues of saints, which decorate the colonnade. The new basilica was commissioned by Pope Julius II. He entrusted the design to Bramante and it took 176 years to complete. Michelangelo began to build the dome when he was almost 70 years old.



The interior of St. Peter’s is enormous. The internal length is around 574 yards. The ceiling is so high that the obelisk could stand inside the basilica. The proportions are such that you do not realize to the size. There are letters around the ceiling that are 6 feet high and they look about a foot high. It is a big church. Judi’s cousin is the editor of the Catholic press in the Vatican, and therefore using his ID, we bypassed some very long lines to enter the basilica.

We saw the area were St. Peter is buried. The doors to the basilica are massive and very ornate. The Holy Door is on the far right and is only opened every 25 years at the beginning of the Holy Year. The door is sealed until then and then with much ritual it is unsealed and the Pope is the first to enter through it. The bronze statue of St. Peter from the 13th century is magnificent. There are more statues and the cupola above the Tomb of St. Peter, which is made of bonze taken from the Pantheon, by Bernini.

After leaving the basilica we went around the corner and John took us into the Vatican. We took some pictures and headed for lunch. I did not know that there was a Jewish quarter in Rome. In 1944 just before the end of the war the Nazi’s came in and rounded up over 2,000 Jews and sent them to Auschwitz. A convent close to the Jewish quarter hid several hundred in their basement. Some others fled the area and were safe. John took us to a Wine bar in the area and we had lunch there. We ordered a bottle wine. It was an Italian Chardonnay. The waitress suggested we let her bring us lunch, so we did. It started with a couple of plates of vegetables, then a plate of cold cuts. I was surprised to find a couple of kinds of ham on it. Next came a plate of 5 cheeses with some plum sauce. The cheeses started soft and worked up to hard and that was the order that we ate them in. They showed us around the Jewish quarter for a short time. Some very interesting building with statues in them that any museum would die to have.

We stopped by Largo Argentina. There are 4 temples here date from the 3rd century BC. The area is still being excavated. The ruins are at least 20 feet below street level. This shows how much junk and trash has accumulated over the centuries.


We took a cab back to the area to catch our bus and then it was back to the ship. It was rainy, cold and windy, but we had a wonderful day. I slept most of the way back to the ship. Wine has that affect on me.


Tomorrow we are in Cannes, France. The film festival is going on at the moment. I wonder if Jennifer Aniston will see me?