All Roads Lead to Rome

 They say all roads lead to Rome and boy was that true today.  Today was a good day but a long one.  We boarded the bus at 8 am and didn't get back til 5:30. Our tour today was to the Vatican City.  It was about a 95 minute drive to Rome.  The tour included lunch at a local restaurant.  That was great but we stopped for lunch at 10:30 am.  I just had breakfast a few hours earlier.  They brought a pasta dish to start.  It was a huge bowl full.  Then they brought eggplant parmesan.  It would have been good if I wouldn’t have been so full.  They had watermelon for dessert.  Then off to the Vatican   As you know the Vatican City is its own country.  As we walked through the big double iron doors to the Vatican, we were told we were crossing the border.  It was record heat at one point my watch said it was 100. There were thousands upon thousands upon thousands of people there.  It was like herding cattle through.  We walked so fast there was hardly time to stop and look anything let alone take a picture so I did walk by photos so they aren’t the greatest.   Art said he felt he was fed by a firehouse.  

The whole thing was worth it when we walked into the Sistine Chapel.  It was absolutely incredible.  So awe inspiring.  So much more than I imagined it the pictures I have seen.  I felt so grateful to have been able to see it in person.  We were given 15 minutes to be there.  Not a lot of time to take it all in.  It was super crowded.  Our guide kept telling us to look for her and not leave through the exits, she would take us a back way. If we went through the exits, we would be lost from the bus. We all gathered ……except one couple…. we waited and waited for them and then we had to leave…..without them.  I wondered if maybe they went out the exits.  We were all given a card with emergency numbers on it just in case we got lost.  I had hoped they would use it.  

We had a great bus driver AND he looked just like Fabio.  He took all through the town, slowing so we could take photos and driving back through when possible so everyone had a change at a photo.  Great guy.  Well we were on the freeway headed back to the port and a smaller car tried to pass us and yep you guessed it…… It clipped the back of the bus.  I guess the damage was pretty minor and no one got hurt but it was truly unexpected and I felt really bad for the driver.  

Some of the local opera folks came on board tonight and performed it was just delightful!  After Art and I stepped in the the lounge for a few minutes and listened to the ship's band .  They played music from the 70s.  a crowd pleaser for sure.  The band is really good. 

We are headed to the next port.