Part 5 - Memories of Journey - Paris to Rome by Road
Day 5
On this day the weather was very good in the morning neither hot nor cold . Beautiful blue sky above equally beautiful greenish blue or bluish green venetian ( not very sure ) lagoon . We set out to the motor launch station .
The launch man with a guide was waiting for us with a few more tourists . We were going to visit three most famous islands of Venice - Murano , Torcello and Bureno . The trip would be an over five hours tour . First of all we landed on Murano island . There we visited a glassblower factory . Here we saw a live demo how molten glass is transformed into beautiful art pieces or crockeries or other decorative and household uses . Tourists can buy the pieces they like and can take them away with them . Heavy pieces the company arranges to ship , at acost of course .
Our next destination was Torcello island . There we could see gorgeous Byzantine churches . In fact, it was not so interesting for us . Then we went to Burano island to see the church of Santa Fosca and other monuments . But one thing that we noticed very vividly is that Europe has enough art . Here old buildings were artfully built .
That was the end of three visits to Venice Islands and also Venice almost done .Anybody could see after looking at our faces that all of us were terribly tired . We went back to the hotel and whatever we had left in the fridge .
Day 6
This morning we were saying goodbye to Venice . We checked out of the hotel after breakfast . We came to the parking lot and again my daughter was on the wheel . Now our last destination was Rome , the Italian capital. I had read in school that Rome wasn't built in a day . Now I am going to see it with my eyes .
Venice to Rome distance by road is nearly 525 km and it could be covered within 6 hours . It was already past 9.30 in the morning and we were expected to be there anywhere between 3 pm to 4 pm . Again Florence was midway between Venice and Rome . We decided to have a break at Florence and finish our lunch there
In about three hours we were in Florence . We were hungry to taste Indian food. Mr Google helped us , we found the Crown of India restaurant . We had already booked a table for the three of us . We were there by a little after noon . All of us enjoyed full Indian Thali after a long time . We started on our last leg of journey .
After Florence we started for our final destination Rome . Baby decided to drive nonstop , which was a little over 3 hours . We reached our hotel around 5 pm . Actually we had no idea of the exact location of the hotel ,it was a little off the main city . But the hotel offered frequent up and down drop off at downtown and pickup from there . So it was not going to be a problem for us . We checked in and comfortably relaxed in our room . That day we decided not to move to a distant downtown . We enjoyed dinner and a concert in the dining hall of the hotel . That was all for the day .
Day 7
We were supposed to stay in Rome for two full days . After complimentary breakfast in the hotel we took a drop off to the center of Rome by the hotel shuttle . From there Roma Termini rail station was a few minutes walk .We were going to visit the Colosseum, an ancient monument and icon of Rome .
We boarded a metro B line train for Colosseo station . But we never imagined such a big rush in Italy’s metro . It was a bigger rush than we used to see in a Mumbai local and inside the coach was written ‘ beware of pickpockets ‘ . I laughed when I saw such a notification , I thought this happens in India only but it happens here also .
From Colosseo metro to Colosseum was hardly 3 minutes walk , almost opposite the metro station and we had to cross the main road . The Colosseum is the identity and icon of Rome . It is a huge amphitheatre built by ancient rules of Rome . It had a sitting capacity of more than 65000 . It used to host gladiatorial contests , public executions , animal hunts , enactment of Roman battles ,drama etc. It was a huge arena . Though it is in a state of ruin still it stands tall as the largest amphitheatre ever built in the world .
After a tour of the Colosseum and nearby , we spent some time downtown . We had our Indian lunch and at the same time got packed some food for our dinner . The hotel dinner was very costly and no Indian food was available there .
We were back in the hotel . We could have seen something more but Baby was too tired to walk anymore .
Day 7
Today we were going to see the Vatican city . After breakfast we got the hotel shuttle for the city . Again we boarded the metro at Roma Termini , but this time line A metro which goes to Ottaviano Pietro metro station , the nearest one from the Vatican .
The walled city of Vatican was only a short walk, about 6/ 7 minutes walk . The walled city itself is a sovereign country . It is the smallest nation in the world with a population of nearly 1000 . The Vatican is the seat of the Pope , head of Catholics and also he rules the city nation . The Pope resides within the Vatican city although sometimes he lives in the Quirinal Palace in Rome or else .
There it was a huge rush of visitors . Catholic from all over the world like to visit this place . We got in line and slowly and slowly we inched into the St. Peter’s Basilica . Various ex popes were laid to rest here . We visited the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican museum too .
We bought some soveniers from the Vatican city , some for ourselves and some for near and dear ones back at home . This was the end of our Italy tour. Next day we were scheduled to leave for our return trip to Paris . We had our return flight from Paris .
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