Most of you know how tours in Europe (or anywhere for that matter) are run. They are geared to see as many touristy places as possible in a very superficial way. This Globus tour, while a very good one, was no different. The best parts of our Italian vacation were the days at the beginning and end of the tour when we were on our own.
During our 4 days in Rome (Sat-Tues) we stayed at a perfectly charming little hotel in the center of town almost next door to the Rome Opera House (closed and under scaffolding). We could walk to almost everything. Sat Afternoon Marienne and I struck out down the Via Quatra di Fontana to meet Pam, her life long friend and Delta airline hostess in town for the day, at the Spanish Steps. We stopped for a delicious Gelato (ice cream) and wandered around lost for a while before we found the Trevi Fountain. At one of their busy piazza intersections, a police car came careening thru the traffic, its two tone siren blaring away. Hanging out of the 2 back side windows-almost to their waist-were two cops, each wildly waving a ‘ping-pong’ paddle imprinted with the word STOP. It all happened too fast for a picture, but we roared in laughter because it looked exactly like a Keystone Kops silent film clip.
We spent almost all day Sunday wandering thru the ruins of all the different Roman forums. I was amazed to see ancient walls from 2000 years ago thoroughly imbedded as an integral part of currently used apartments and business buildings! I successfully fought off a pretty determined 10 yr. old gypsy girl trying to steal my wallet out of my fanny pack, as I screamed “Basta” (‘enough’ — its the only Italian word I could think of in the heat of the moment). It was loud enough to attract a handsome Italian man who came over and told her off in Italian – a real savior.
We did not go inside the Coliseum because that was listed as a major stop on our tour — Mistake! – Our guide passed it off as not worth seeing and skipped it. But we luxuriated for an hour at the San Pietro in Vincoli church, drinking in the beauty of Michangelo’s Moses sculpture. Italians have crazy hours and ignore or are very loose about laws and printed times. The church with the angel used in “Tosca” opened 45 minutes after its scheduled time, (and then we found the angel was buried under scaffolding and tarps); the Art Museum showing a special El Greco exhibit was listed as closed on Monday, so we went Tues to discover that it had been open Mon, and was closed Tues! So Wed. we left our tour, staying an extra hour at St. Peters. A half hour breathing in the beauty of the cathedral. The rest of the time trying to eat lunch outside in the foyer, but got chased off of the steps by the Swiss Guard.
We then took an adventurous bus ride back to the El Greco exhibit. It was actually kind of scary. We walked out and caught a public bus with all kinds of people and had to watch to make sure nothing was stolen. The El Greco museum was finally open so we got to tour the exhibit. When we came out of the museum, we had researched taking public transportation. So we decided – what the heck – to take a taxi after that scary public bus ride. It was a good decision. The taxi took us right to our restaurant. We got extra time talking with the people at the restaurant. It made it a nice, relaxing, afternoon. It was well worth it!
And then our tour people came in. While they rode a bus from St. Peters to the hotel and maybe changed clothes, and then went back out to have another bus ride to the restaurant, all touristy stuff, they missed experiencing the real Italian streets, an art exhibit, and a leisurely end of the day at the restaurant. I like our adventures better!
The tour, Wed. thru the following Friday, was as memorable for what we missed as for what we saw.
We got to see Pisa and its leaning tower, but missed Siena; What we saw in Florence was great, but had to leave at 3PM because of a hotel change, denying us another afternoon and evening there. 2 hours in Milan only gave us time to superficially survey the Cathedral, (kind of like our choir tour trips) and practically run through the La Scala Opera museum. I wanted more time in San Marco cathedral in Venice to drink in the beautiful mosaics, but we experienced “walking the planks” in San Marco Square when it was covered midday with the high tide water. Ravenna was a 40 minute pit stop at a 12th century church just south of town while the gorgeous St. Vitale mosaics were skipped. In Assisi, we missed seeing the renovated upper basilica destroyed by the earthquake two years ago by just 6 weeks, but the rest of the complex was very interesting. I’ll always wonder how they restored those beautiful Giotto frescos. A 2 hour tour of Pompeii, a day at the Isle of Capri, and a hydrofoil ride to Naples completed the formal tour.
The 5 wonderful days – Sat thru Wed – on our own in Sorrento were spent at the Sorrento Palace Hotel, a large complex with a 6 level contoured swimming pool with cascading falls between each level, and high enough up the mountain to give a fantastic view of the Bay of Naples and Mt. Vesuvius. We learned it was built by the Italian Mafia with laundered money. Sat, Sun, and Wed. Mariennne and I just relaxed and rested, lolling by the pool, drinking in the view, visiting with tour friends, and I tried out the weight room. Globus offered many more bus tours which we ignored to ‘do our own thing’ on Mon and Tues. Our 2 hour Pompeii tour had been wholly inadequate. The guide lined the group up along a wall along the street and stood there and talked for almost 20 minutes. I ignore guides for the most part. I study intensively before I go so I have time to really SEE these wonderful places. So I wandered behind that wall and found the Basilica. I leisurely looked at everything, and came out to find the guide still talking, so I went across the street and took in the Temple of Apollo. Still talking; so I rested a bit. Finally, totally ignoring these two wonderful spots I had found, he took us thru the Forum, to a restaurant, and the House of Vettii (that was wonderful). But he also ignored the Roman Baths, House of the Faun, the Bordello, Large and small theaters, Gladiator Academy, etc. etc. So Mon. Marienne and I took the train back to Naples and spent several hours at the National Archeological Museum, to see other Pompeii artifacts. While there, it poured rain, after which we hopped the train back and got off at Pompeii to catch everything the first tour missed. The rain was just passing Pompeii, and had driven many of the tourists out of the ‘city’. So when we went in, there were very few people left wandering around, the clouds were roiling, lightning and thunder echoed in the background. The atmosphere really gave us the shivvers, making us feel like Vesuvius might erupt again any minute. It was truly thrilling. Tues was an even better day. I had booked a private driver to take us to Paestum (Greek temples and city from 400 B.C. with a wonderful museum.) Paolo was a retired merchant seaman who had sailed all over the world, including the US and was a wonderful driver and guide. Anytime and any place we wanted, he would stop for us to take pictures; what a luxury! He took us to WWII sites and graveyard, gave us all the time we wanted at Paestum, drove thru Salerno (where we tried an Italian McDonald’s – pretty good!) and then along the Amalfi Coast. (Note photograph) This was truly the highlight of our whole trip. Near the end we had truly become friends, and he asked us what we were doing for dinner. Having soup at the hotel dining room. “I take you to dinner!” he said. Oh! What a dinner. He drove us to the top of the mountain to a cozy restaurant owned by a friend of his and off the tourist trail. A REAL Italian restaurant where real Italians eat. It sat on the edge of the cliff, and from our table by the window we could see the Bay on Naples on our left, and the Bay of Salerno on our right. Behind us the pizza oven flamed (just like the one we saw at Pompeii) and we could watch the cook make our pizza . Paolo had pizza, we had an appetizer and entree each, and we all enjoyed a bottle of the owner’s home made wine (Delicious!!) Total of $18 for all 3 of us!!. Moral: ignore the tourist traps; see the Real Italy!
I never send post cards on a trip like this. Hopefully, this triptych and the enclosed personal photos are a better substitute.
Arrivederci.
Picture: Restaurant Owner – Carolyn Ruth Hunt – Marienne K. Skinner – Paolo, our driver