Egypt4u

Never mind Kiya, it sounds as if the theft had understandably took the edge off your enthusiasm and the looming grey skies did not help, but never mind you had the experience good or bad. It is often a shock to see the other side of some famous tourist destinations, once outside the immediate vicinity all the bad bits become more visible and the abject poverty shows through, often it is quite a contrast between rich and poor, sort of takes the glamour away somewhat. Hope you are feeling a bit better and it goes without saying that if you persist in feeling poorly you should visit your doctor and tell him/her that you have recently been abroad, better safe than sorry. So what is the update on your camera then and what did your brother think about the whole trip?

Never mind Kiya, it sounds as if the theft had understandably took the edge off your enthusiasm and the looming grey skies did not help, but never mind you had the experience good or bad. It is often a shock to see the other side of some famous tourist destinations, once outside the immediate vicinity all the bad bits become more visible and the abject poverty shows through, often it is quite a contrast between rich and poor, sort of takes the glamour away somewhat. Hope you are feeling a bit better and it goes without saying that if you persist in feeling poorly you should visit your doctor and tell him/her that you have recently been abroad, better safe than sorry. So what is the update on your camera then and what did your brother think about the whole trip?

Glad you are on the mend Kiya Lost 10 pounds, wow, that is serious weight loss in a short time but get your appetite back and rebuild your energy

Even with the pictures problem you are giving a good picture in words of your experience. That long Wednesday must have been very tiring. Naples was obviously a surprise but I am sure there are nice parts in the more touristy areas, and to be honest most cities have their scruffy areas.

Looking forward to hearing how you spent your other days.

Thursday 23rd........Our day out to the Vatican , after yesterdays disaster we were looking forward to a nice day, as our slot for our visit began at 12 noon, we were in no rush rising & hanged on the door to our room the " do not disturb" sign.
Rising around 9am & having coffee on the balcony watching the comings & goings it was a calm day & the sun shining.
Again I had pre-booked & paid this slot online at the official site for the Vatican, the pre-sales fee was 4 euros each & full price tickets 16 euros each a total of 40 euros, with my print out voucher showing booking code we were on our way.
We took a taxi from the rank outside the hotel ground, I knew it wasn't too far away so didn't expect a expensive fare, arriving at the Vatican & paying the driver around 11 euros, we stood in amazement as to where to begin, there was thousands of folks around, it doesn't look so busy in my photos but I can assure it was.
We found a local girl selling slots for a guide so we decided this was the best plan, we were led down to the shop nearby & was introduced to the guide Matthello, after introduction we waited for a group of at least 6 to form & soon there was 12 in our group, he led us to the foreground of the Vatican giving out information all the time, as we stood at the middle he pointed out a statue (not sure what it was ) leading from this a white line across the cobbles from one side to the other, this acted as a sun dial & as the months passed & the suns shadow stretching more & more landing on each plaque you see on the cobbles, looking from the distance you can tell which time of year it was.
We got lots more info but, can't remember everything, taking photos was very frustrating as an error showed up after each & every photo so had to switch off & on with every photo taken.
We were led inside to see lots of security guards around, we all had to put our cameras, bags, belts etc through security & ourselves through the body scanner just the same at any airport, once through we were led further in to a counter where we had to pay the guide fee of 52 euros for the 2 of us, (this was a con but David did not tell me this till back at the hotel) outside we were assured from the girl it was 26 euros for 2, I wish David spoke up at the time I would have certainly complained but he didn't want my day spoiled.
Bearing in mind with many many people you are near to rubbing shoulders with the tourists both sides of you, it made it difficult to see & appreciate the beauty surrounding us also for taking photos without getting bumped.

My first photos is of the outer court before we entered, David thought he should dress with shirt & trousers , you think he was going to meet the Pope....lol


Next photos are some from the inner court showing the famous pine cone with peacocks, I can't remember the reason behind the golden globe, there is 1 from the Egyptian gallery another showing from the Gallery of Maps, the actual mosaic floor we walked across is original from 2000 yrs ago, one from the Gallery of Tapestries.
All the time you were walking which felt like miles it went on & on & on with many stairs to climb also, it was very tiring & so many people it was stifling.


After 2hrs or so our time with Matthello ended & before we parted he gave us directions for going back a little distance to find the Borgias Appartments, in the 6 rooms of the Borgias was more or less empty stripped bare & hidden for many centuries with false walls till..... about 200yrs ago by accident with excavations going & knocking through one of the walls to find the hidden rooms.
This was one Pope we all know they cared to forget but for the Pope at the time of finding thought we might as well make some money out of this, as I said the rooms are more or less bare but the roofs of each are stunning, the roof you see with the golden squares & flower within is gorgeous & is the roof to Pope Alexander VI (Borgias) bedroom.....absolutely stunning.


This is photos of the roof in the Gallery of Maps, if you look closely you would think plaster cast figures were added but again it is an optical illusion done by the famous artists of the time, it is all art work & looked superb.


These photos were taken coming out & of the famous Swiss Guards with their beautiful colourful uniforms, the same ones used for many centuries. I think the poor lads were a bit tired of getting their photo taken so much.
Hitting fresh air was a treat most welcome after the stifling heat inside, body odour etc etc.
We had a second look in the shops , mostly looking at the books but the extreme prices that was forgotten & headed for a taxi back to hotel, here 2 young taxi drivers tried to con us of 27 euros for fare, I politely told them get lost & they'd no business offering a price by mouth as I knew by law the fare had to be shown on meter, I also had a print out of fares & laws of the taxis, & so we headed for another taxi, a nice older gentleman took us straight to hotel door for 10.50 euros.......you got to know what your doing with some of these guys.
Later on after showers & dressed we headed in the hotel shuttle bus down town Rome for a bite to eat & just to take in the early evening atmosphere around us.


To be continued........

Kiya it must have taken you ages to upload all these wonderful pictures, so thank you so much for your efforts.
Your story is fascinating and making very enjoyable reading and by all accounts a very expensive place to visit.

Oh dear how could I forget what you are all expecting ....The Sistine Chapel........

Entering the chapel from a small door at the left you are all motioned to keep to the right, anyone dared to speak to loud you were soon " shushed up" taking in its beauty of spectacular vibrant colour & vaulted roof & walls it is stunning! not so big as we first thought, as you stood in wonder yet again your ordered to keep moving to the right all the time letting more crowds in, absolutely no photos at all allowed in here.

It was a touch disappointing as it was so dimly lit you strained to see the actual beauty surrounding you.

It is hard to think how all the cardinals fitting in here when selecting a new pope.

After admiring for a few minutes your motioned to head to the door on the far right.......the way out.

Spectacular Kiya And I agree with Horus, no mean task just to upload and sort all those lovely pictures. If I never get to Rome I shall just go back to your pictures to remind me what I missed.
I had assumed from your earlier post that the water leak had made your camera kaput! Glad you found a way to save your pictures.
And David was very appropriately dressed (just in case he DID bump into the pope )

Friday 24th.......Today I had planned nothing accept for relaxation & rest, after the fore mentioned visits I'm convinced the Italians love to build up with the use of steps & stairs, many of them & this day was well needed for a rest.
We were in no rush to get up early rising around 9am, after a morning lazing around & the maids eager to get in & do their usual duties we decided on a short walk around the hotels many acres of woodland & gardens, it was a beautiful sunny day for it with rich blue skies which made good for some more photos ( these will come later) a little time later thinking the maids would be finished we made our way back to our room, over a coffee we decided rather than waste an afternoon we would head off with the shuttle bus from hotel down town to do a spot of light souvenir shopping.
After our walk down some of the quaint cobbled side streets & visiting a few shops with some haggling from myself we were happy with the wears we bought, poor David was left with the carrying in his holdall along with my camera, you never know when the camera can be used so it was always with us.
Eating out at one of the cafes we noticed quite a few of the Ho Ho buses passing & decided we could have a tour around the city of Rome on one of them, after all surly we wouldn't get tired sitting on a top deck bus for a couple of hours.
We headed off across the square to the point where you buy tickets for the Ho Ho bus & soon we were up on our way, included with the price we were given individual earphones for the audio guide.
The map shows the route the bus takes around the city & the approaching sites of interest, we decided we would go around the city nonstop taking 2 hrs from the beginning to end.

My first few photos were taken from bus, you'll recognise most of them.



We didn't get that far when approaching No 9 en route we spotted Castle Saint Angelo it was huge, we had to get off here, you all know by now how much I love castles & this one I certainly did.
I know nothing of its history but, hopefully find some books about it on the net.
We crossed over from the stop towards the bridge crossing over the River Tiber & towards the entrance to castle, the statues on each side of the bridge are stunning & the craftmanship superb!
I spotted some motor boats with tourists & canoeing , I tried here to catch the motion of the river trailing from the boats.
Looking up at the top of the castle I spotted in one of the tiny windows somebody moving & passed a remark to David " I'm going right up there whether it kills me or not", he didn't believe me we could but onwards & upwards we went.
Again many many stairs, the staircases were wide & thankfully the steps shallow, on some floors there were no railings to help haul you up but, here was more relaxed & at your own pace taking a breather at anytime as you ascended.
I took some photos from each floor also where I could, photos looking down on the streets surrounding the castle & over the city with the beautiful domes on view.



I couldn't believe I found some rooms arranged/ordered for his own purposes by the famous Pope Alexander VI (Borgias) or I should I say the infamous, in here there is the very seat he used for private meetings & the bed solely used by him, the roofs to the rooms are spectacular.

Finally we reach the top of the castle & the beautiful winged statue to prove it, it looks much larger than when looking up at it from the ground.
After a rest & admiring the views we work our way back down, to catch our bus back down town.
We both really enjoyed the 4 hrs spent here & was ready for another bite to eat & drink before our shuttle bus back to hotel.

This just keeps getting better Kiya, a really great travelogue, you were really so busy on your short break

Loving your story Kiya. LLL will have a lot of catching up to do....

So pleased for you that your camera didn't give up the ghost after the water incident. The pictures are great and keep showing us what a fine city Rome is. The pictures where you had a higher vantage point give a great sense of depth. I particularly like the one of the Vatican, from the top of the bus? I also like the one of the two bridges with the boat on the Tiber and the Italian flag to right of frame. Another is the wide view across the domes and rooftops of the city. Great stuff

LLL is reading and it IS fascinating Kiya (but internet is sooooooo SLOW here I can't open the photos as it takes forever). Looking forward to MORE!

Thank you folks for your lovely comments, there is more to come, give me some time to get through the next batch........it will be worth it

I'm an avid reader too, Kiya!

Have you been to Rome ? , love it ........ pure quality

Hi folks, Sorry for my delay with photos I had a bilious attack at the beginning of the week for a couple of days, poor Roy was in a panic early Tuesday morning seeing me curled up crying with pain in my tummy & being sick, he was convinced I was having an appendix just like he did & wanted to call an ambulance, I managed to stop him & the pains subsided 2-3 hrs later.
Anyone who has had an bilious attack will know how it is & how sore your torso is for a few days later.

Roy went off shore first thing on Weds morning to Tunisia but luckily I have my 2 girls popping in.

Thankfully today is the best I've felt since coming home from holiday so got cracking sorting out more photos & hopefully all going well I will have them loaded tomorrow sometime for you all to see.

Your patience will be rewarded

Take care and take things easy

Saturday 25th..... I decided at home all the main historical sites were booked to see around Rome & south at Pompei so I thought lets go north to the beautiful city of Florence.
Once again I booked on line but this time went way out for the best train available the Frecciarossa fast speed trains, the most modern in Italy, they are more expensive but worth it.
We showered & had a quick breakfast & on our way with a taxi from the rank outside the hotel grounds taking us to Roma Termini for the 10.20 am train to Firenze (SMN) Santa Maria Novella Station.
On arriving at the station we checked the board for our train & platform to show & soon we were walking the platform for our carriage No 9, gosh the lenght of these trains I thought I'd walked half a mile to meet our carriage, stepping in I could see they were narrow with 2 rows of seats on each side, there are open compartments of 4 seats very roomy with table.

We got ourselves comfortable at our window seats David sitting opposite me, there was 1 other young lady sat next to me but so busy on her mobile I didn't really get into conversation with her.
In a few minutes we were on the move, nearby was a TV set fixed from the roof often showing the pictures of the historical sites around Italy & now & again it would show the actual speed the train was doing.
Around seven mins later the train stopped at Roma Tiburtina station for 2 mins & then we were off nonstop for the rest of the journey to Florence.
Soon the ticket collector came for tickets, I noticed how smart he was dressed in his uniform with matching hat & crisp white shirt & tie with the train motif showing, he took his little machine & read the PNR code on my printout & handing it back wished us a nice journey.
The sun was shining with lovely blue skies & the odd fluffy cloud floating by, once truly into the countryside we had some beautiful views with different hues of green, yellow & brown of the low lying hills in the distance & seeing many quaint farms spread about the lands.
Looking at the TV I could see now we were at a speed on average at 300 mph, wow! you'd hardly feel you were moving at all, the only time you realised the speed was when another train passed, blink & it was gone with just a little shudder to the carriage was felt afterwards.
Glancing at David I couldn't help but smile as he was nodding off again, even a baby would have slept so soundly on these trains.
Arriving at Florence 71 mins later & stepping off the train I had with me a printout for walking directions to the Uffizi & Accademia Gallerias, these galleries are world famous & thousands of tourists flock here each year for reasons you will see in my photos.
We couldn't see any sign posts for the way to start so once more we relied on the local taxi getting us there, after a few mins we arrived at the Uffizi Galleria & walked down a wide cobbled passageway to enter the gallery grounds, the Uffizi is in a U shape & to the right I could see the long ques for tickets, bypassing them I spotted the doorway for pre booked tickets, (at home you can't get these tickets online but have to phone Rome, I got through straight away & waited for the English option button to press, speaking with an Italian/English speaking lady it was easy to pre book our time slots for each gallery & given a number for each slot to show upon entry)
At the doorway we were directed to a door across the way for to show our number & pay/pick up tickets, back across handing our tickets we entered the gallery & followed the arrows turning a bend to face OMG! more stairs, they were very wide & high with thankfully railings on both sides & at the middle, taking our time & breather now & again there must have been at least 20 steps when reaching the top just to turn another bend to face the same again, this went on for 4 flights before eventually reaching the corridor of the gallery.
The corridors are long with rooms off both sides, some you can enter some were roped off but where they were roped off visitors were fair & patient to each other allowing time to take photos those that wanted to.
There is many works of art hanging all stunning in their own right with beautiful vibrant colours & many statues to numerous to mention.
The roofs also stunning in shining golden colour were magnificent .
When we finished we entered out to a cafe in the sunshine at the top of the building, we had a light bite to eat & capuccino, relaxing for a while & soaking up the sunshine just outside the gallery grounds opposite is another building, I'm not sure what it was maybe today a monastery ? you can see on this building many coat of arms the middle the " cross keys " the symbol for the pope.
Some movement at the top open windows caught my eye, I watched it for a while slowly walking the lenght across the building from side to side at one moment it stopped looked out & continued.
I ask David to look up & see if he could see what I was seeing, to start with he didn't then he spotted the movement, it looked though he was dressed in a robe with hood up, we watched him for a while before he disappeared behind one of the pillars.
You can zoom in & clearly see his shape with hood...............have I at last seen my first ghost, probably not but I can pretend.......






Leaving Uffizi Galleria we headed off for our next slot with taxi to the Accademia Galleria just a few mins away, we went through the same procedure here with number in hand & paying/picking up tickets.
When entering we were faced with 2 more flights of stairs , reaching the top I had one aim to find , thinking I would see it last in the gallery but, there he was in all his glory Michelangelo's "David" it is a work of art indeed with so much detail, I walked all around him taking pictures of each angle for you all to see, the detail is stunning from every angle, you'll even notice his sling across his back.
We stood there for a while just admiring the work that has gone into this & staring into his eyes you can almost see him turn to flesh...........truly amazing!!
Leaving "David" behind we had a walk around some of the galleries rooms, somehow seeing everything else here mattered less although I did take some pictures of the statues in what seemed open store rooms.















Leaving the Accademia Galleria I had a secret in store for David to see, we decided to walk & although I wasn't sure of the way the building I was heading for I could see parts of the roof tops & windows towering above the surrounding buildings.
Winding our way through some narrow cobbled streets we eventually arrive into the square where the spectacular Duomo Catherdral stands, it is breath taking & truly an Architectural Masterpiece, I've never seen anything like it in my life before.
Though I can't really tell you anything about it the first to greet us was the bell tower which stands separated from the main building.









tried my best for photos but the building is so big & wide it's impossible to get it all in one shot, I guess the best viewing of this beautiful building would be from the air to get the extent of sheer size & height, so I leave you to admire the photos I did take.
Leaving the Duomo we had a little time before our train back to Rome so went for a stroll through some of the quaint little streets & shops stopping at one of the jewellery shops, in here we had a good look around & David bought a couple of nice pieces of gold for his wife Jill, we wondered through some others & getting some more little souvenirs.
It was time for heading back to catch our 18.04 pm train back to Rome arriving at 19.35, another pleasant journey, leaving the train at Roma Termini we headed for Piazza Barberini, it was dark now but had to get a bite to eat so thought we can't come to Italy without trying the local pizza.
I can't remember the name of pizza we had but, it was huge & every topping you can think of, mmmmm it was delicious......I didn't think I could manage to eat it all but..........I did.
With tummy's full we headed across the square to catch the shuttle bus back to our hotel, with nice hot baths we were ready for more rest & so relaxed in our jammies & hotel robes watching telly for a while & enjoying chocolates left in our room courtesy of the hotel before shut eyes.

To be continued..........

Wow Kiya you certainly planned every detail of your trip and you cannot have missed very much out, you should write a tour guide

Awe thanks Horus but I was just thinking today my grammar has plenty room for improvement

I'm so glad I had the time to do research on planing my holiday, the internet has it's uses & would advise anyone planing to go to Rome book as much as you can on line, it certainly beats all the long queues

I'm right there with you on your trip Kiya! Enjoying every second of it.

I have to say I really can't express enough appreciation for the level of artistic talent that went into all the paintings and sculptures and buildings. When I look at the photos of everything that was built way back when - well - I don't have sufficient words to express how beautiful all the art work is. Can't even grasp the high high level of talent, creativity and work that went into everything........lovely photos of it all!