Italy: Venice and Rome

Day 20 (Saturday 14th July) continued

Nice was beautiful so long as you kept your eyes on the ocean, and whilst the town isn't pretty, parts of it are historic and interesting. I did go for a swim in the Mediterranean, which was crystal clear and pleasantly cold, although walking across the rock beach was even more painful than I thought it would be. I had some dinner and then it was back on the train for the sleeper to Venice.


Day 21 (Sunday 15th July)

I arrived in Venice at 7.30am and went straight to my hotel. Obviously my room wasn't free yet but they gave me some coffee and a croissant for breakfast and stored my bags for me so that I could head off on my sightseeing immediately.
I took the all stops ferry the entire length of the canal from the train station to St Marks Square and spent a few hours checking out the Basilica and the Ducal Palace. I went for a bit of a wander through the tiny streets in the surrounding area and then visited a couple of small museums. Another ferry ride and then I went and had dinner at a restaurant on the canal edge just near the Rialto Bridge.


Day 22 (Monday 16th July)

Another train day - this time from Venice to Rome. I met some other Australians on the train - a couple my own age who were travelling around Italy for a few weeks. His name was Gareth and he used to be the Ruck for the Sydney Swans - I thought the name rang a bell but couldn't be sure but Craig probably knows who he is.


Day 23 (Tuesday 17th July)

I started the day by visiting two of the larger Basilicas - Santa Maria Maggiore and San Giovanni in Laterno. They were both massive buildings with incredible paintings and architecture and very beautiful. From there I walked down to San Clemente which is a church that was built in the 1600's but which a priest with an interest in archaeology discovered was built on top of an earlier church from 400AD which is in turn built on a roman temple from 100AD. He spent 40 years excavating it, and it has been continued since his death. It's fascinating walking through the earlier churches. I wasted several hours and walked several unnecessary kilometres trying to find the Piazza of the Knights of Malta (a concrete carpark) so that I could see the keyhole view of the dome of St Peters. This turned out to be literally a key hole in a door you can't go through that does indeed give you a perfect view of the dome, but not worth spending three and a half hours on. After that I was supposed to go the Colosseum but I it shut much earlier than my guidebook suggested and I had missed it for the day.


Day 24 (Wednesday 18th July)

This was my Vatican City day. I started with the square in front of St Peters, then climbed the 550 steps to the top of the dome. Then I climbed down the 550 steps and went inside the Basilica itself. It is beautiful, but at that stage I didn't actually think it was much better than the two I saw the day before. From there I walked around to the Vatican Museums to visit the Sistine Chapel. It is on the walks to and from the Sistine Chapel that you really become impressed with the Vatican - the Basilica, the church itself, is probably the smaller part of the Vatican and the complex behind it is enormous and incredibly decorated not to mention the history behind it. The Sistine Chapel is every bit as impressive as they say, and I sat there for about half an hour before they booted us out for closing time. After that I walked over to the Castel Sant'Angelo - the castle retreat attached to the Vatican via the secret tunnels. It was built by one of the early popes to be his funeral monument, but is a genuine Medieval Castle and was a genuine part of the Vatican’s defences during its more militaristic past.


Day 25 (Thursday 19th July)

I had to check out of my hotel in the morning and then had to catch a plane at 5pm but did manage to squeeze in the Colosseum and the Pantheon (only just - I arrived at the airport only 30 minutes before my international flight and nearly wasn't allowed on the flight. Oops. *grin*) This took me to Amsterdam, where I had to kill 3 hours in the airport before my flight to Singapore.


Day 26 (Friday 20th July)

Having been up all day Thursday my flight left at 10pm Thursday night. It was a 12 hour flight but due to the time differences I got in at 4pm Friday Singapore time. I forced myself to stay up until nearly midnight so that I could fix my body clock but I was a walking zombie by the end of it.


Day 27 (Saturday 21st July)

I slept in until nearly 11 but I think I should be right by tomorrow which is lucky as I have to be at work 8am Monday morning. It's 1pm now and I'm about to walk down to China Town to have some Yum Cha for Brunch. I will add the photographs to both this post and the previous one some time this afternoon or evening.