Due to the modern wonders of technology, I have decided to post thoughts, sights and pictures throughout my 14 day Mediterranean Adventure on the Crystal Serenity! Please feel free to post any additional information or experiences you have had in Europe for the benefit of those that are reviewing this blog! Please also feel free to e-mail a link to anyone you think would enjoy participating and following along on this adventure! Day One – Rome or Roma as the locals prefer!
I arrived fresh this morning after a great overnight flight from JFK, sleeping all the way, enjoying the great airline food, comfort and service. RIGHT! Actually it was not too bad, but I arrived in Rome at 7:00 AM local time or 10:00 PM Pacific Time. I promised myself I would stay up until evening to get my “body clock” on schedule! We will see…
We stayed at the famous Hotel Majestic, right on the Via Veneto one of Rome’s most well know boulevards, just down the from the Excelsior Hotel, the American Embassy and an unfortunate icon in modern times – the Hard Rock Café! Yes – I did go in and buy a pin for my friend Lori Carstens – and had to have a beer or two to toast my friends – but I digress…
I arrived at my hotel at approx. 10:00 AM and immediately set out to see the sights for a few hours before other members of my group started to arrive. I first got Euros at the local change house – and received my first shock of the day! We all hear Europe is expensive, but until they take your $200.00 in Dollars and return to you only $156.00 in Euros does it hit home! Oh well…
The concierge gave me a map, a few ideas and I hit the road – First stop – the Fontana di Trevi or Trevi Fountains as we are used to calling them here. As I walk I am struck again, like in most European Cities is sense of history and timelessness we do not have in the US due to the fact that the “new” buildings in Rome are older than our entire country! To see ancient ruins, surrounded by homes, businesses and modern roadways is quite a shock for me. Rome is a very easy city to get around in and the streets well marked for a walker like me. Within minutes I was wandering down a street barely wide enough for a golf cart – and I came upon the fountains!
In an area no larger than basketball court where HUNDREDS of tourists snapping pictures, tossing coins and making wishes into this beautiful fountain that had survived hundred and hundreds of years of wars, rebuilding and destroying and it was magnificent – I’ve included a few pictures as we go along and this was an amazing square. I can back the next morning so I could see it without the crowds and it was truly amazing. One of the things I found so interesting was the IMMENSNESS of the monuments. You literely had to start taking pictures blocks before you got close because they were too big to get a decent picture once you arrived!
No comments:
Post a Comment