Rome

Day 4

After our 6 hour flight, we arrived in Rome to weather that was cooler and overcast. We are staying in the city centre, so we enjoyed our transfer ride through the heart or Rome. A stark contrast from Dubai, one of the most modern cities to Rome, one of the oldest.

After we settled in, we went for a walk and unfortunately we are located in a shopping precinct, which made for an extended walk with all the stopping. It started to rain, so we invested in a couple of umbrellas from street sellers. It’s amazing the goods they have for sale. Our stops included Piazza Navona, the Trevi fountain and the Spanish Steps. We threw our coins into the Trevi, so we would return to the Eternal City. This is Nook and my, third visit so it must work! Rome has always been our favourite city, and still is. The vibe, history and culture is something we can never tire of. We found a small ristorante to enjoy pizza, pasta and vino!

Day 5

An early start with a 4.30am rise to catch the train to Naples for our day trip to the Amalfi Coast and Pompeii. Naples certainly has a different vibe to Rome. Quite dirty and appears run down, compared to Rome.

Our tour van stopped at a number of places to photos and to try local goods, most of which were lemon flavoured, due to the high production of lemons in this region. The lemon flavoured chocolate and limoncello was very tasty.

The towns along the Almafi Coast were amazing. Nestled in the surrounding cliffs, it is quite remarkable how these buildings have stood the test of time. No doubt the citizens are used to the thousands of tourists who descend on to their towns each day. The van ride was quite erratic. The driver was taking the sharp corners far too fast with much slowing and speeding. It made St Mary's Pass on the East Coast of Tasmania, look like a piece of cake. Unfortunately, this made Sam, Ollie and Nook feel quite unwell. When I brought this to the attention of the tour guide, no assistance was offered and we were dismissed which was disappointing and made parts of what should have been memorable day, quite disappointing.

However, we enjoyed a stoll through the town of Amalfi and then lunch of bruschetta, spaghetti and tiramisu washed down with a bottle of white wine!

After lunch, we went back up the Amalfi Coast, which wasn't as bad as the trip down and headed to Pompeii, where we enjoyed a guided tour of the historical site and life for these people 2000 years ago. We then headed back to the train station to catch our train back to Rome. We walked approx 30 minutes back to the hotel. The kids were tired, so they stayed in the apartment while Nook and I went for a night walk along the River Tiber to take an iconic night shot of St Peter’s Basilica with the bridge in the foreground (no filter!). We stopped to get a pizza for this kids and may have enjoyed some bruschetta and vino!

Day 6

Today, we arose early to attend a 9am Papal General Audience with Papa Francesco and show the kids around the Vatican. At 7.30am, the line wasnt too long, so Ella, Sam and I stayed in the first security line, while Nook and Ollie went to a nearby Macca's to get a bite to eat. We would never normally go to Macca's in a foreign country, but we hadnt had breakfast, and the nearby cafes didnt open until 8.30am. We got through the first security check point and then the second, without hitch except they confiscated my empty Nike drink bottle, but not other water bottles. Not sure what the security risk was?

I collected our free tickets from the Swiss Guards at the bronze door at the entrance to the Apostolic Palace and then we had to find a seat as thousands of other pilgrims were filling the square. I asked a guard where a good spot was and he said on a corner or an edge. Section 1 was filling quickly with hoardes of people running to get a seat. I decided to hang back and wait until they opened the second section, in which we managed front row! A prime position with a great view and Il Papa drove past in his Pope mobile (kids didnt believe that is the real name).

Unfortunately, Nook and Ollie hadnt made it back from Maccas in time and were stuck in the ever growing line to get through the first security check point.

His Wednesday General Audience catechesis focussed on the virtue of "justice" which can be found here.

After the audience, we had a look through St Peter’s Basilica at Michelangelo's Pieta, the tomb of Pope Sts John Paul II, John XXIII. Unfortunately Bernini's Baldacchino, was covered up due to renovations in preparation for the Great Jubilee Year of 2025.

We went downstairs to the grottos where the tomb of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and St Peter are. We then waited an hour in line to climb the 550+ steps up to the cupola of St Peters for amazing views over Rome.

We then stopped for lunch just ouside the Vatican and then caught the Metro for our guided tour of the ancient Roman Forum,

Palatine Hill and the Colosseum. In 2005, Nook and I did a self guided tour, however this guided tour was excellent as we learned so much about the history of this remarkable place that has played such an significant role in the development of civilisation.