First day in ROME!

Blog by Tony (17 August, 2019)

With a good nights sleep in our new accomm. we were up around 6:30am.

We ventured out and I suggested that we see the Colosseum and Trevi Fountain today, and Vatican City and the Sistine Chapel tomorrow…. and with that…and with no map, no Wifi hence no Google Maps and no idea where we were going we got on the bus across the road at the terminal got a seat and set out to find the sites….how hard could it be?!?

Each stop that we arrived at more and more people jumped on…and by the 3rd stop the bus was full, but that didn’t stop people squeezing on.  In the end there were people at stops taking one look at the bus and all the people jammed inside and they were smart to wait for the next bus to come along and hope that it wasn’t as packed.  We were very lucky to have gotten on the bus at the terminal and found ourselves a seat…but as the bus was so packed we were unable to get off even if we wanted to.  So we stayed on the bus until it arrived at the end of the line which happened to be Roma Termini (the main trains station in Rome).  

We stayed on the bus and some people got off and a lot of people got on…and after what was easy a 30min wait in the heat with no air-conditioning…the change of driver took his seat with a round of applause from most of the people on the bus.  Heading back the way we came we decided to get off the bus where most of the people seemed to be on the streets…which was a good guess as it was a 15min walk to the Colosseum and other large buildings that we had no clue of.  After arriving at the Colosseum the line to get tickets was close to 50m long in the hot sun.  Despite many so called tour guides telling us that if we joined their tour that we could skip the line…Kellie decided that it wasn’t something that she was keen on seeing inside and that she’d much rather head to the Trevi Fountain.  

The time was now close to 1:00pm as we headed back the way we come and we stumbled across an information centre…so we called in, bought a water and asked how to get to the Trevi Fountain.  The lady showed us on the map where to go and that it was a 15-20min walk.  We also asked how to get to the Sistine Chapel entrance and Vatican City as we wanted to go their tomorrow.  She looked at us and said that both the Sistine Chapel and Vatican City was closed Sunday’s and that we would need to get there before 4:00pm…as this is what time they stopped letting people in.  

This put a rocket under our bums and we attempted to catch a taxi but the line-up was huge…so we went back to the bus stop that we had got off at and waited for bus #64 to take us to the Vatican City as we knew that from our accomm. it was around a 20min wait.  Knowing that we had just 3 hours to make it back to our accomm. so that Kellie could change clothes so that she would be allowed into the Sistine Chapel…and after what seemed like forever…our bus finally arrived.  

This time we were the ones squeezing onto the bus trying to find a place where we could stand without suffocating….which ended up being in the middle of the bus just as we got on.  The more the stops the more people that jumped on….cramming us even more.  My back was to the middle set of doors and as squashed as I was…I could feel a backpack pushed against me.  I turned around to see a tower of a man with his arms locked out against the vertical rail (OK…truth be told he was a little taller than Kobie)…and every time that I would give him a nudge that he was squashing me he pushed back.  I had the shits by this time and reached around and grabbed his backpack reefing down on it several times to give him the hint to take his off like everyone else and put it at his feet.  He looked at me angrily and started yelling something in Italian as he reluctantly removed his backpack.  Kellie said later that she was embarrassed and thought that she would have to jump on his back and claw his eyes out (Bahahahahaha…)

So after several stops a bunch of people got off (including dickhead) and Kellie and I were able to sit down.  Another stop and a bunch of people jumped on…and there was an older lady with a lanyard that I got up and offered her my seat.  I gathered that she was some sort of guide (as they all wore similar lanyards) so I asked whether she spoke English (which she did) and asked her where the entrance to the Sistine Chapel was.  It was at the last stop where she had gotten on…and although she said that Kellie should be fine with what she was wearing we were just a couple of stops away from our accomm. (and was starving) so we decided to head back and freshen up, quickly have some thing to eat, Kellie to get changed and then back to the terminal to catch a bus to the Sistine Chapel.

Within 30mins we were back on the bus and heading to the Sistine Chapel.  The ‘not very friendly bus driver’ grunted when we asked if he could let us know when to get off at the correct stop to the Sistine Chapel…which happened to be just 2 stops.  We got off and scrambled to find the entrance as it was now close to 2:30pm…and just 90mins before the doors closed.  We asked several tourists the best way to get to the entrance and they all said that the line-ups were huge and that we would have no chance to get inside if we didn’t already have tickets.  I could see Kellie was visibly distressed but I said we had plenty of time…and we found our way around the Vatican City wall to where the entrance was.  As we turned around the final street we arrived at the end of the line of hundreds of people waiting to get in.  There were rails leading all the way up the hill to the entrance.  The right lane was for those that already had their tickets and the left was for people that did not.

As we were waiting we were bombarded with scouters telling us that we will not get in with out a ticket…and that we just need to go to their office across the street and for 35 euro we could ‘skip the line’ and head up the right lane straight into the Sistine Chapel. Kellie and I both feeling hot and bothered was in no mood for being harassed by these scouters…and bluntly told them that we were not interested.

Not used to or phased by rejection we had them constantly approaching us…as we stood waiting at the end of the line with little movement. I think that within 20mins the line had progressed just 5m…with another 50m to go. As each minute that went by we both had the sinking feeling that we would not get to the entrance in time…so Kellie suggested that whilst she stay inline and keep our place….I head over to a restaurant that had Wifi to see if I could get online and purchase our tickets so that we could then take the right lane and straight into the chapel. So with that I went across to the nearest restaurant…and with a purchase of a couple of bottles of water the man connected my iPhone to his wifi.

I quickly searched for many sites selling tickets online for what we were wanting…but all were 35 euro or above. I met up with Kellie back inline…which didn’t seem to move any closer to to the ticket box….and after telling her all that I could find on the internet we agreed to approach a scouter and take them up on their offer. So I left Kellie again in line and before I could say anything I was approached again by a scouter.

Out of the half dozen or so scouters that approached us there was a large African/American lady that was not too pushy and friendly who looked at me with a ‘see…I told you so’ look and asked whether I was ready to skip the line!. I said that we were and how much were the tickets. She said for 57 euro each we could join a tour…but as it was now close to 3:30pm we would have to hurry as it was their last tour for the day.

So we waited forever at the lights to cross the busy street and made it to the ticket office only to find that they had sold their last tickets and that their tours were closed for the day. So I followed the scouter as she hurried to another ticket office on the corner just 4 shops down. With a lot of commotion between the scouter and the man behind the counter….he looked at me and said that he could fit us in but I would have to be ready in 2mins. So with that I paid the 114 euros and again waited for the lights to go green before crossing the road to tell Kellie the good news.

But when I crossed the road it was as if the lineup had disappeared!
I ran up the road and around the corner to find Kellie next inline to be served…and had to ask her to jump out of line as we were now booked on a tour. The look on her face was scary and I feared for my life. After standing in line…in the heat….for close to an hour….I was asking her to step out…which she was reluctant to do.

So we hurried down the hill, across the road, and to a small group of Germans and Asians. We then had to follow the man that sold me the ticket…back across the road, back up the hill…and meet with who was to be our tour guide who was already briefing our group of 20+ tourists about our tour.

He was noticeably pissed about having more people added to his already large group…and with voices raised and arms flying up in the air and all around the ticket guy left in a huff and we joined the group.

After 10 mins of waffle and standing some more unwanted time in the heat there was movement and we followed the tour guide to the gate. We waited another 20mins whilst his offsider was getting tickets for the adults and had a group of teenagers follow him so to show proof that they were under a certain age and legible for a cheaper rate. So when he arrived back with the young group it was time to walk up a winding staircase that had to be 3 stories high before we were at the top. Our tour guide raised what looked like a car aerial that he had snapped off someones car and held it up in the air and said to keep an eye on it and follow him to not fall behind and stay in the group.

At the top of the winding staircase we were each handed a small radio with a single ear piece that plugged into the device. This was so that we could hear our tour guide speak. Kellie’s ear piece kept falling out and I think she got the shits with it in the end as I didn’t see her wearing it…and instead she was smart to stay in front so she could actually hear the tour guide speak without the use of the device.

We followed the tour guide around as he gave us some insight into the Romans and everything that they had and displayed in the museum was stolen by them and the church from the Greeks and Egyptians. Things like rare marble, crystal and gold were all stolen and use to make their sculptures and other forms of art for the Vatican and Sistine Chapel.

Through large hallways adorned with 16th and 17th Century tapestries…some 15 feet high and 30 feet wide, to open galleries filled with huge statues of well known figures such as David and such…we made it to a doorway where we were told that there were no cameras or videos allowed. This doorway lead to the Sistine Chapel where the famous painting on its ceiling created by Michaelangelo was displayed.

On entering the Sistine Chapel there was stage like platform to the right as we walked down a level of stairs where there was a large open area where all tourists that arrived before us were standing in their groups with their tour guides. Most with their heads tilted back staring in amazement at the mammoth painting that covered the entire ceiling of the chapel.

The Sistine Chapel ceiling, painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512, is a cornerstone work of High Renaissance art. The ceiling is that of the Sistine Chapel, the large papal chapel built within the Vatican between 1477 and 1480 by Pope Sixtus IV, for whom the chapel is named.

Despite all the tour guides warning their groups not to take photos and videos…and although we were again warned not to film or take pictures as we entered the chapel by the handful of staff standing on the stage…there were still some dumbasses that didn’t or wouldn’t listen. These people were yelled at by the staff up on the stage who had a perfect view of all in the chapel and could keep an eye on and catch out all of those that tried to sneak a pic. (The same thing happened when we were at the Cairo Museum in Egypt when viewing Tutankhamun’s mask).

After 15 minutes of staring at the ceiling and neck cramps….we were lead out of the Sistine Chapel to a big gold door known as The Holy door. Apparently a huge gathering of priests can be seen lined up around the corner every 25 years here to ask forgiveness….read more!

Well…despite all the people on the day telling us that we wouldn’t make it in time…Kellie could now tick off another one of her Bucket List’s…things to do!

We left the group and made our way to the bus stop which was right in front of a fast food take-away with 3 big ice cold slushy machines on display. Just about to drop dead we ordered a large raspberry and lemon (everyone in Italy loves lemons) slushy. As we’d not eaten since breakfast we also ordered 2 kebabs to take back home with us to eat. I went and purchased 2 bus tickets from a shop next door and went to the bus stop to wait for our bus.

When we looked at the bus stop sign…..we noticed that this wasn’t a stop for our bus. So we walked around the corner in the direction that we knew would be the way home…and there was no bus stop to be seen. We asked a waiter standing at the door of his restaurant whether he knew where our bus stop would be to take us to St. Peters station…and he said that we didn’t need to take a bus…and that it was only a short walk to get there.

So with his directions Kellie and I set off to see just how close/far away our accommodation was. Within 5mins….we were at our place! All this time we were catching buses and we could have easily walked to the Sistine Chapel within 15mins.

Glad to be at our accomm. we ate our kebabs, drank lots and lots of water…and it was lights out!