Getting to Rome from the campground involved a bus ride and a half hour train trip to St. Peter's Square. The bus stop is across the road from the Campground and takes you directly to the train station, so that part is easy and convenient. The challenge is coordinating bus and train times as the train goes every 30 min. but the connecting bus only runs about 5 times a day. We had made the decision to spend more time in the countryside by Lake Bracciano to have some final rides before our bike is shuttled back to Germany. As well, we wanted to explore this area as we know that our favourite thing is to discover small towns and villages while riding in the country. We have fallen in love with some of the great cities we have visited..... Istanbul, Amsterdam, Budapest, Copenhagen, Vienna, Bangkok and Tokyo - but at this point in our travels, we feel that we don't have the energy to tackle the challenges of Rome. Any large city requires time to find its charm, and our plan includes booked accommodation in Siena and Pisa before we fly back to Germany next Monday. We just don't have the time. We have bought on-line tickets for the Vatican and will head in for the day today. If we love Rome, we'll spend another day - otherwise it is off to Siena Wednesday morning! The weather prediction for today is rain all day, so a day spent in the Vatican Museum is a good plan. The pre-purchased online tickets will allow us to skip the long lineup to buy tickets when we get there. When we arrived in the square, we couldn't believe the massive lineup to get into St.Peter's Basilica. The line wound completely around the huge St. Peter's Square and to the street. Unless this line slows down, we won't be able to see the Basilica, which is a shame. Buying a ticket with a specific time for entry to the Vatican does not mean that there is any control on the number admitted at a time. The crowds were unbelievable - first you line up to validate your online purchase, and then you line up for headsets. The Vatican Museum was jam packed with people. We are glad that we have a 12:30 entry as I suspect that it may take some time to get through everything that we want to see. At times, during our tour, Barry and I became separated and with the crush of people in the room, it was impossible to find each other. I kept thinking, what would this be like during the high season. Tour groups are a huge problem in our opinion. There were times when we were effectively shut out of a room or from viewing something because of the wall of people who blocked our way. It was a relief to get in to an area where we were with other solo visitors. We have no photos of the beautiful Sistine Chapel as no photography is allowed there. It was the culmination of the overcrowding we experienced while in the Chapel. We walked in to a sea of people - standing room only - and the guards were constantly telling us to move along. In this most special of places, the guards repeatedly told us loudly via microphone to keep the noise down. Ironically, they were louder than the crowd. Anyway, it was great to see the incredible art and ceiling, but it was somewhat marred by the cattle herding treatment that we felt there. Once again, massive groups on tours were clustered together. If you get stuck behind or in the middle of a tour group it was a difficult to keep moving, let alone see any of the art of statues. Rome is a paradox. It struggles with a crumbling infrastructure, garbage on the streets, grafitti and a bad reputation for pickpockets and touts, yet it has some of the most awe-inspiring monuments one can ever see. The trick is how to best to access and enjoy them. We went for a walk trying to get away from the well worn tourist streets. We did this and it was better, but still garbage was everywhere and the charm eluded us. Seeing the Vatican was undeniably an essential thing to do when visiting Rome, but for us, this is it for Rome for now. We will have to come in to Rome tomorrow to transfer to a bus to Siena, but we won't stop and spend any time here. Perhaps on another trip, we will come back, but do it differently. We think that finding a place to stay in Rome that is a comfortable oasis for recharging would be a good idea. As well, it would help to hire a personal tour guide to help us appreciate and understand this immense and confusing city. However, at this time, the likelihood of us returning here is pretty remote. In reading about Rome while we have been staying here - it is perhaps not surprising that Rome is such a mess. We have read about its massive debt load of 15.5 billion dollars, the recent resignation/ousting of its mayor who, despite his own weaknesses as a leader, exposed the corruption of its city works - notably garbage collection and his prediction of a return of the mafia. We aren't experts on Rome politics, but our brief visit showed us that this is a city in crisis. Over 12 million tourists visit here annually. It is the first city that we have visited where the ATM's, ticket machines at bus/train stations, etc "speak" loudly to you from a recorded message: "You are in an area of known pickpockets and criminals. Protect your belongings." It doesn't make you feel great about your surroundings. Enough said....
Walking across the bridge of the Tiber River. Parking is a precious commodity in Rome and drivers have used part of the lane on the other side of the bridge to leave their cars. We saw side roads where cars parked in the middle of the road, leaving just enough room for a car to get through - and this seemed to be acceptable. Creative parking is necessary here.
We really enjoyed the 120 foot long Vatican map room. The design is interesting - the room's orientation is used well - the centre arched roof represents the Appennines running down the "spine" of Italy and the left side shows maps of the Adriatic side and the right is the Mediterranean.
It is great to get a chance to watch art specialists work on restoration of these old paintings and frescoes. She was painstakingly mixing colours and adding drops of water to get the colour and texture just right.
