Douglas Easton Travel Blog - Douglas Easton Travel

April 08, 2008

Rome

The two of us arrived in Rome a few days ago filled with excitement and anticipation about our four-month journey through Europe. Rome is the first of the ten European tours we'll be leading this spring and summer, and what a fantastic place to begin.

While last year's tour of Venice, Florence and Rome was loads of fun, it nevertheless only allowed us three days in the Eternal City. Trying to cram in all of Rome's world-class sites (the Colosseum; the Palatine; the Vatican Libraries and the Sistine Chapel; the Pantheon; the Trevi Fountain; the piazza Navona; the piazza del Popolo; Hadrian's Villa; the Villa d'Este; the Imperial Forum; the Castel Sant' Angelo; Caracalla's Baths; the San Calisto Catacombs; etc., etc.) was just impossible... So this year, we have an entire, one-week tour to get it all in - a walking tour just of Rome - and we'll barely fit it all in! We've spent these first days breaking in our new walking shoes, and they're getting a workout!

Our incredibly comfortable and stylish accommodations are situated in the heart of Rome, only a ten-minute walk from the Colosseum. This morning, Doug made the group his special French toast with raspberry sauce before we set out to visit the Palatine Hill. How amazing to stroll among the ruins where history was made 2,000 years ago by such famous names as Augustus, Caligula, Tiberius, Nero, Constantine... To tread the ground in front of what was the Roman Senate, before which Julius Caesar was assassinated one fateful ides of March... indescribable.

Yesterday we experienced a sensory overload while visiting the Holy See. The creators of the magnificent and priceless works adorning the walls of the Vatican Museums form a Who's Who of the art world. It's impossible to appreciate all of the treasures on display - there simply isn't enough time. Of course, the jewel of our guided tour was the Sistine Chapel, whose miraculous ceiling continues to awe visitors more than 500 years after Michelangelo first put paint to brush.

In part because of all the walking, nobody's gaining any weight... despite all of the luscious lasagna, tender tortellini and pillow-sofft gnocchi we've been scarfing down... not to mention the irresistible breads dipped in silky olive oils, or our daily ration of one gelato (which we've already exceeded on two occasions). John invariably opts for the coconut and extra-bittersewet chocolate, while Doug weakens at the sight of pistacchio and caramel. Several tiramisus have also disppeared as well... But you only live once.

On Saturday, April 12, our Rome tour will conclude, but that's also the day that our Tuscany tour, based in lovely Cortona, begins.

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