We awoke early this morning to begin our long trip to the North. We delayed our 9:00 departure slightly – but for good reason. Last night after the game, Phil, Mandi, and Luis gathered the black uniforms to wash in the tub in Phil’s room. The uniforms were not dry in the morning so Phil and Mandi took them to a Laundromat around the corner from our hotel to dry them at 8:00 this morning. They were back at the bus by about 10 past nine with clothing that was still hot to the touch.
Our first stop was Pisa, which was about a 50 minute drive from our hotel. On our way, and about 15 minutes from our drop off point in Pisa, the bus was flagged down at a routine check-point for tour buses. Italian laws are extremely strict about bus drivers not going over their driving time constraints and get stopped randomly. The drivers must rest for nine hours between stopping and starting and must also stop every three hours. We found out while waiting that the bus also holds a CD of information that records when stops were made and how long there was between stopping and starting. They also check up to a week back to make sure everything checks out and Elena mentioned that sometimes they come on the bus to check things out. We did not have a police officer come onto the bus and had to wait for only about 10 minutes before Marco was given the go ahead and we were back on our way to Pisa. Elena did mention that on a prior tour, he bus got stopped and a different driver was over his driving time by just 20 minutes and the bus had to sit and wait for three hours before being able to continue on. She also informed us that because we will be doing so much driving over the next few days (since everything is more spread out), we will have two drivers with us so that we do not go over the driving time.
We have been in great hands with Marco and Elena!
After the small delay we transferred from the bus to a tram, which took us to the center of Pisa. In the Plazze del Miracoli was the Baptistery, the Cathedral, the city graveyard, and of course the Leaning Tower. The tower is actually the Bell Tower of the Church and was started in 1173 by one architect. He built the first three galleries and noticed that it was sinking and decided to abandon architecture. A new architect picked up the work and added the next two galleries before getting killed in battle. Finally, the final stages were added by a third architect and the Tower was completed in 1360. It is 53 meters high and contains 253 steps to the top.
In 1990, the Tower was closed for 11 years while a team of engineers examined and inspected the structure. It was decided that if the inclination of the tower continued (at a rate of 1 millimeter per year) it would eventually implode. So in 1992, steel support bands were added to both the inside and outside. Then, in 1995 600 tons of lead were added around the base of the Tower as another means of support. In 1999, engineers removed some of the soil underneath the high side to stop the inclination so that the Tower looks today as it did 200 years ago. The Tower reopened to the public six years ago, but visitors are limited by both the number of people that can go into the Tower and the frequency of admittance into the Tower. In addition to the Tower, the Cathedral is also sinking slightly as is the Baptistery.
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Day 5 - Florence or "Firenze"
We had a late start this morning, relatively speaking, leaving at 9:30 for Florence. But the day was extremely long with six-and-a-half hours in the city and then an hour drive to the pre-game meal, a game, and then a forty-minute drive back to the hotel, getting in at close to midnight.
We began the morning in Florence with a guided tour of the city that lasted about two hours. Our tour guide, Silvia, took us to most of the major sites in Florence and gave us a general layout of the city before breaking into small groups at around noon. We had until 4:30 to enjoy the city, whether it be shopping, site-seeing, the museums, or relaxing at the Botanical Gardens. Florence is known for both jewelry and leather among other things. The entire span of the Ponte Veccio Bridge is lined with jewelry store after jewelry store. The bridge was built in 1345 and is unchanged to this day. It is the only original bridge in Florence, surviving WWII, during which the other bridges were destroyed by mines. The shops along the Bridge once housed butcher shops, but the Emperor ordered that they sell only gold when he lived above the butcher shops. It has been lined with jewelry stores ever since.
We met at 4:30 in front of the original site of the David, which is also where the original home of the Medici Family (who founded the city) lived. Today, the building houses the Government offices for the city of Florence. After everyone in the group arrived in front of the replica of the David, we made about a half-hour walk to our bus, before driving to a sports complex for our pre-game meal. At the complex, we met the President of the team that uses that facility, Ilerio. Ilerio arranged our game in Florence and his wife is the President of the Italian National Team. Again, we had salad, pasta, chicken and dessert. The meal was an A++ event, with both the Italian and American flags gracing the dining room and Ilerio presenting Phil with a token of his appreciation.
We followed Ilerio to the site of the game with just over an hour before gametime, which meant only about a half-hour warm-up for the team. The teams exchanged small gifts with each other prior to the start of the game and then after reading rosters for each team, the National Anthems of both America and Italy were played.
The team played another aggressive game and battled through to the final whistle, but fell to the team from Florence, an AI team, Gioiello Firenze, one of the top teams in the Tuscany Region, 1-0. The winning goal was scored with under two minutes left by a player who is also on the Italian National Team. Several of their players are also on the Italian National Team and the game was well-played on both sides with Brown narrowly missing a goal several times after their goalie came up with big saves. Both Steffi Yellin ’10 and Brenna Hogue ’10 played a solid game in net, with each making five saves.
Following the game, both teams were awarded trophies and then each player was given a small ceramic tile painted with a floral design. The head coach of the team from Florence was extremely complimentary of the Brown team, saying that the girls were both athletic and physical and that they also were strong technically.
It truly was a special night, as we also learned that the stadium we had just played in was the first field in the Tuscany Region, built by Mussolini in 1933.
Back at the hotel, we had some time to check our email quickly and get packed before our long trip tomorrow. We leave at 9:00 and head to Pisa, where we will stay for about an hour, before continuing to the North for Bergamo, which is about a four-hour drive. We have another game, in the early evening against another A1 League team, Atalanta, and then we will travel for about another two hours to check into our next hotel.
Montecatini didn’t have internet access in the rooms. There was one public computer, which was broken last night (I found out today it was only the mouse!). I hope to have some more luck at our next hotel so that I can update all of you with more regularity.
Ciao!
We began the morning in Florence with a guided tour of the city that lasted about two hours. Our tour guide, Silvia, took us to most of the major sites in Florence and gave us a general layout of the city before breaking into small groups at around noon. We had until 4:30 to enjoy the city, whether it be shopping, site-seeing, the museums, or relaxing at the Botanical Gardens. Florence is known for both jewelry and leather among other things. The entire span of the Ponte Veccio Bridge is lined with jewelry store after jewelry store. The bridge was built in 1345 and is unchanged to this day. It is the only original bridge in Florence, surviving WWII, during which the other bridges were destroyed by mines. The shops along the Bridge once housed butcher shops, but the Emperor ordered that they sell only gold when he lived above the butcher shops. It has been lined with jewelry stores ever since.
We met at 4:30 in front of the original site of the David, which is also where the original home of the Medici Family (who founded the city) lived. Today, the building houses the Government offices for the city of Florence. After everyone in the group arrived in front of the replica of the David, we made about a half-hour walk to our bus, before driving to a sports complex for our pre-game meal. At the complex, we met the President of the team that uses that facility, Ilerio. Ilerio arranged our game in Florence and his wife is the President of the Italian National Team. Again, we had salad, pasta, chicken and dessert. The meal was an A++ event, with both the Italian and American flags gracing the dining room and Ilerio presenting Phil with a token of his appreciation.
We followed Ilerio to the site of the game with just over an hour before gametime, which meant only about a half-hour warm-up for the team. The teams exchanged small gifts with each other prior to the start of the game and then after reading rosters for each team, the National Anthems of both America and Italy were played.
The team played another aggressive game and battled through to the final whistle, but fell to the team from Florence, an AI team, Gioiello Firenze, one of the top teams in the Tuscany Region, 1-0. The winning goal was scored with under two minutes left by a player who is also on the Italian National Team. Several of their players are also on the Italian National Team and the game was well-played on both sides with Brown narrowly missing a goal several times after their goalie came up with big saves. Both Steffi Yellin ’10 and Brenna Hogue ’10 played a solid game in net, with each making five saves.
Following the game, both teams were awarded trophies and then each player was given a small ceramic tile painted with a floral design. The head coach of the team from Florence was extremely complimentary of the Brown team, saying that the girls were both athletic and physical and that they also were strong technically.
It truly was a special night, as we also learned that the stadium we had just played in was the first field in the Tuscany Region, built by Mussolini in 1933.
Back at the hotel, we had some time to check our email quickly and get packed before our long trip tomorrow. We leave at 9:00 and head to Pisa, where we will stay for about an hour, before continuing to the North for Bergamo, which is about a four-hour drive. We have another game, in the early evening against another A1 League team, Atalanta, and then we will travel for about another two hours to check into our next hotel.
Montecatini didn’t have internet access in the rooms. There was one public computer, which was broken last night (I found out today it was only the mouse!). I hope to have some more luck at our next hotel so that I can update all of you with more regularity.
Ciao!
Montecatini Terme
We arrived in Montecatini shortly before 8:00 and had just enough time to drop our bags in our rooms before heading back down to our dinner, where we were first greeted to the hotel with a welcome reception. Again, the dinner was a preset meal with salad, pasta, meet (pork tonight) and dessert. The food was once again very good and the tiramisu was out of this world. I actually didn’t think I had room for it, but it looked delicious and I ended up clearing my plate. Every single place we have eaten has been extremely accommodating with the meal. I am a vegetarian, as are some of the other people in the group, and they have all made an effort to either give us a separate helping of pasta or fix another meal for the second course, which is usually a plain omelet.
It was pretty late after dinner, but the night was cool and beautiful (it had rained earlier in the day) and almost everyone went out to walk around the town and work off some of the meal. The word Terme means spa in Italian and Montecatini is a spa town that was founded by the Romans in the second century. It is a quaint town with lots of shops and cafes. The first thing I noticed when getting off the bus was the smell of flowers, which we think was honeysuckle. It smelled absolutely wonderful and fresh in comparison to the city smells of Rome.
Our hotel in Montecatini was the Grand Hotel Nizza e Suisse, which was a quant hotel in the center of Montecatini. The rooms had a cozy feel to them with two twin beds, a small desk area, and a bathroom. I stayed in a triple so we also had a day bed tucked away perpendicular to the two twin beds. The bathroom in this hotel was my absolute favorite. Our room had dark blue, light blue and yellow tile in the bathroom and the design looked like it could have come out of a magazine. The bathroom again contained a sink, toilet and bidet. What made our room different that some of the others, was that we actually had a shower. I heard from some of the other people in the group that they only had a tub, which we also had. The tub did not have a curtain or anything around it and did not have a shower head up on the wall. Instead, there was a shower head connected to a host that was connected to the faucet down where the tub and the wall meet. One last note about the bathroom, is that in both hotels, the towels have been enormous. I was expecting small towels like what we get a lot of times in U.S. hotels, but the towels so far have been more like bath sheets!
It was pretty late after dinner, but the night was cool and beautiful (it had rained earlier in the day) and almost everyone went out to walk around the town and work off some of the meal. The word Terme means spa in Italian and Montecatini is a spa town that was founded by the Romans in the second century. It is a quaint town with lots of shops and cafes. The first thing I noticed when getting off the bus was the smell of flowers, which we think was honeysuckle. It smelled absolutely wonderful and fresh in comparison to the city smells of Rome.
Our hotel in Montecatini was the Grand Hotel Nizza e Suisse, which was a quant hotel in the center of Montecatini. The rooms had a cozy feel to them with two twin beds, a small desk area, and a bathroom. I stayed in a triple so we also had a day bed tucked away perpendicular to the two twin beds. The bathroom in this hotel was my absolute favorite. Our room had dark blue, light blue and yellow tile in the bathroom and the design looked like it could have come out of a magazine. The bathroom again contained a sink, toilet and bidet. What made our room different that some of the others, was that we actually had a shower. I heard from some of the other people in the group that they only had a tub, which we also had. The tub did not have a curtain or anything around it and did not have a shower head up on the wall. Instead, there was a shower head connected to a host that was connected to the faucet down where the tub and the wall meet. One last note about the bathroom, is that in both hotels, the towels have been enormous. I was expecting small towels like what we get a lot of times in U.S. hotels, but the towels so far have been more like bath sheets!
Trip to Tuscany
We drove for about an hour outside of Rome before stopping at a rest area on the highway – Autogrill - to eat lunch. Autogrills are all over the place and are similar to many rest stops in the U.S. It has entrances on both sides of the highway and the actual building is stretched over the road. They had a decent variety with sandwiches, salad, hamburgers, pasta, fruit, and desserts. After about 45 minutes, we were all back on the bus for the three-and-a-half hour drive to Tuscany. After three straight days of beautiful weather (although it was hot), we drove through pockets of Rain along the way. The rain would last for about 20 minutes and then change back over to sun. So, more like being in Florida than in the Northeast U.S. The country is beautiful, contrasting between mountains, vineyards, and small villages that resemble medieval forts.
Since I have the time on the bus, I wanted to take the opportunity to talk a little more about our hotel in Rome. The hotel was a four-star hotel and most of us were roomed in triples. The typical set-up of the room was a sleeping area with two twin beds and then a living area with a pullout couch, TV and kitchenette. Both rooms also had balconies with a small table and chairs on the one off the living area. The bathrooms were typical, with a sink, toilet, and shower. Though it did also have a bidet in addition to the toilet. The tub was also extremely high. At 5’10”, I even had a large step to get into and out of the shower.
The elevators were also tiny and could hold a maximum of six people – with no luggage. During check-in and check-out the elevator was tight with 2 people. The most I rode with at one time was five and even that was tight. I think a lot of us took the stairs – we’ll see if this holds true as the trip goes on.
Since I have the time on the bus, I wanted to take the opportunity to talk a little more about our hotel in Rome. The hotel was a four-star hotel and most of us were roomed in triples. The typical set-up of the room was a sleeping area with two twin beds and then a living area with a pullout couch, TV and kitchenette. Both rooms also had balconies with a small table and chairs on the one off the living area. The bathrooms were typical, with a sink, toilet, and shower. Though it did also have a bidet in addition to the toilet. The tub was also extremely high. At 5’10”, I even had a large step to get into and out of the shower.
The elevators were also tiny and could hold a maximum of six people – with no luggage. During check-in and check-out the elevator was tight with 2 people. The most I rode with at one time was five and even that was tight. I think a lot of us took the stairs – we’ll see if this holds true as the trip goes on.
Day 4 - Ancient Rome
We began our final day in Rome with a late wake-up (8:30) and then breakfast at 9:00, before loading the bus for our departure and heading into Ancient Rome. We met our tour guide, Heinz, and immediately walked down to the Coliseum. From a distance you can tell it is enormous, but it is even more impressive when viewed from the ground. Started in 72 AD, it took just 10 years to complete and no improvements have ever been made to the structure. It could seat up to 55,000 people and be cleared in under 20 minutes. Some of the stone was used in the middle ages for building materials, which is why you see the missing sections today.
We walked past the Coliseum down to view some Roman ruins, including an area that was once a market and another part that was a firewall built to protect Agustus’ castles. We then continued through the sometimes-narrow streets to the Trevi Fountain, where we enjoyed about 15 minutes of free time. The Fountain has been a tourist destination for years now and has become the fountain in Rome that people throw coins into. The saying goes that if you throw a coin over your left shoulder with your right hand that you will return to Rome at some point. The water at the fountain flows through pipes that are over 2,000 years old.
After leaving the Fountain, we passed the Italian Parliament. Right in front of the Parliament was a group of protestors. Even though I could not understand what they were saying, I could tell their were protesting by their actions and unified chanting. They were protesting new laws passed by the Parliament concerning the rights or people in the workplace and part-time vs. full-time employees.
We walked past the Coliseum down to view some Roman ruins, including an area that was once a market and another part that was a firewall built to protect Agustus’ castles. We then continued through the sometimes-narrow streets to the Trevi Fountain, where we enjoyed about 15 minutes of free time. The Fountain has been a tourist destination for years now and has become the fountain in Rome that people throw coins into. The saying goes that if you throw a coin over your left shoulder with your right hand that you will return to Rome at some point. The water at the fountain flows through pipes that are over 2,000 years old.
After leaving the Fountain, we passed the Italian Parliament. Right in front of the Parliament was a group of protestors. Even though I could not understand what they were saying, I could tell their were protesting by their actions and unified chanting. They were protesting new laws passed by the Parliament concerning the rights or people in the workplace and part-time vs. full-time employees.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Day 3 - Vatican City & First Game
Today was our first full day of sight-seeing. After breakfast, we left the hotel to head to Vatican City for most of the day. Our first stop was the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel, where we walked around the outside of the entrance to the back of the line for tour groups. It was a decent sized line that probably would have taken us over an hour to get through. But, we lucked out in the first of two instances of the day. Elena went up to the front to check with our tour guide, Roberto, and we were able to get right in because he is a Vatican Museum specialist. The tour lasted about an hour-and-a-half and we were able to see a replica of Michelangelo’s Pieta, the original one sits directly inside St. Peter’s Basilica. We were able to get up close to the Pieta, which is one of the few works of art that has Michelangelo’s name on it, and many of us took photos of the statue.
The walk down to the Sistine Chapel was long, not in terms of time, but in length of the corridor. There was so much to look at and enjoy along the way. I am sure that each of us saw something different. The paintings on the ceilings, tapestries, and sculptures were all amazing and done by many different artists, including Michelangelo.
After the tour of the Museum, we quickly made it to St. Peter’s Square, where we were able to catch the tail end of the Wednesday morning mass said by the Pope. The square was simply breath-taking and even larger than it appears on TV. We concluded the official portion of our tour with Roberto here and broke off into separate groups for three hours of free time and lunch.
Everyone broke off and headed to lunch in groups, where some even found an all-you-can eat pizza and pasta place for 10 euros. After lunch, some of us relaxed, some went shopping, and some to St. Peter’s Basilica. The Basilica opens for visitors between in the early afternoon and when the mass ended at 12:15, people were already forming a line. We had a feeling the line would be long by the time we got there at 1:15. As we suspected, the line was wrapped around more than half of the Square, and we figured we had to meet here at 3:15 anyway, so we might as well try to get in. Minutes after getting in line, a young woman approached us as said if we spoke English, there was a free tour being given up ahead so we decided to move up to the tour, skeptically at first. We decided to stay with the group and for the second time today, hardly had to wait to get into the building and we were inside within 15 minutes. Hopefully the luck continues for the rest of our stay in Europe!
Inside, we were all amazed at the beauty of the building. Words really can’t describe the Basilica so I have posted some photos of the inside, which was truly awe-inspiring.
After our various afternoon activities, we all met in St. Peter’s Square to head back to the hotel for a brief pit-stop before heading over to the sports complex 10 minutes away – though it took nearly 30 minutes with rush-hour traffic - for a pre-game meal and the first game of the trip against G.S. Roma, a B League Team. Dinner was once again a four-course meal with salad, pasta, a meet dish, and dessert. Our wait-staff provided some entertainment and was extremely accommodating, bringing out extra water and bread for all of us.
The team had about two hours between dinner and the game and used the time preparing for the contest, which was played on a turf field similar to Brown’s turf field behind the OMAC. The Bears continued to play their aggressive style and controlled the game throughout, winning by a 4-0 score. Lindsay scored an unassisted goal on Brown’s first shot of the game and then she gave the Bears a 2-0 lead before half-time, scoring off a pass from Alex. After a quick break, Jill put Brown up 3-0 off a feed from Lindsay and Kellie scored the final goal off a pass from Kate. Both Brenna and Steffi played in net with Brenna stopping three shots in the first half and Steffi making four saves in the second.
The difference in style between the two teams was readily apparent, with Brown committing the majority of the fouls called in the game and Roma playing a European style with a lot of flare and dramatics.
Brown had several fans in attendance to watch the game, including Gyneth Sick ’87, who played for Phil from 1983-1986 and now lives in Rome. After moving to Rome in 1987, Gyneth continued to play soccer for several years, suiting up for the same team we played tonight, G.S. Roma. Also in the cheering section were Jill’s parents, Dennis and Beverly, Aida, Meghan and Alexa Faria, and Janet Pincince.
After a quick photo of the team with one of the Roma players, we made the short drive – now down to 10 minutes – back to the hotel to relax, pack, and check our e-mail. Tomorrow, we will check out of this hotel and after touring the center of Rome, we depart Roma and move on to Tuscany, roughly a four-hour drive.
Pictures: As I figure things out over here, I apologize again for not getting pictures posted. The blog site is in Italian for me and I am trying to figure out the process for posting pictures. I hope to be able to have some for you tomorrow!
The walk down to the Sistine Chapel was long, not in terms of time, but in length of the corridor. There was so much to look at and enjoy along the way. I am sure that each of us saw something different. The paintings on the ceilings, tapestries, and sculptures were all amazing and done by many different artists, including Michelangelo.
After the tour of the Museum, we quickly made it to St. Peter’s Square, where we were able to catch the tail end of the Wednesday morning mass said by the Pope. The square was simply breath-taking and even larger than it appears on TV. We concluded the official portion of our tour with Roberto here and broke off into separate groups for three hours of free time and lunch.
Everyone broke off and headed to lunch in groups, where some even found an all-you-can eat pizza and pasta place for 10 euros. After lunch, some of us relaxed, some went shopping, and some to St. Peter’s Basilica. The Basilica opens for visitors between in the early afternoon and when the mass ended at 12:15, people were already forming a line. We had a feeling the line would be long by the time we got there at 1:15. As we suspected, the line was wrapped around more than half of the Square, and we figured we had to meet here at 3:15 anyway, so we might as well try to get in. Minutes after getting in line, a young woman approached us as said if we spoke English, there was a free tour being given up ahead so we decided to move up to the tour, skeptically at first. We decided to stay with the group and for the second time today, hardly had to wait to get into the building and we were inside within 15 minutes. Hopefully the luck continues for the rest of our stay in Europe!
Inside, we were all amazed at the beauty of the building. Words really can’t describe the Basilica so I have posted some photos of the inside, which was truly awe-inspiring.
After our various afternoon activities, we all met in St. Peter’s Square to head back to the hotel for a brief pit-stop before heading over to the sports complex 10 minutes away – though it took nearly 30 minutes with rush-hour traffic - for a pre-game meal and the first game of the trip against G.S. Roma, a B League Team. Dinner was once again a four-course meal with salad, pasta, a meet dish, and dessert. Our wait-staff provided some entertainment and was extremely accommodating, bringing out extra water and bread for all of us.
The team had about two hours between dinner and the game and used the time preparing for the contest, which was played on a turf field similar to Brown’s turf field behind the OMAC. The Bears continued to play their aggressive style and controlled the game throughout, winning by a 4-0 score. Lindsay scored an unassisted goal on Brown’s first shot of the game and then she gave the Bears a 2-0 lead before half-time, scoring off a pass from Alex. After a quick break, Jill put Brown up 3-0 off a feed from Lindsay and Kellie scored the final goal off a pass from Kate. Both Brenna and Steffi played in net with Brenna stopping three shots in the first half and Steffi making four saves in the second.
The difference in style between the two teams was readily apparent, with Brown committing the majority of the fouls called in the game and Roma playing a European style with a lot of flare and dramatics.
Brown had several fans in attendance to watch the game, including Gyneth Sick ’87, who played for Phil from 1983-1986 and now lives in Rome. After moving to Rome in 1987, Gyneth continued to play soccer for several years, suiting up for the same team we played tonight, G.S. Roma. Also in the cheering section were Jill’s parents, Dennis and Beverly, Aida, Meghan and Alexa Faria, and Janet Pincince.
After a quick photo of the team with one of the Roma players, we made the short drive – now down to 10 minutes – back to the hotel to relax, pack, and check our e-mail. Tomorrow, we will check out of this hotel and after touring the center of Rome, we depart Roma and move on to Tuscany, roughly a four-hour drive.
Pictures: As I figure things out over here, I apologize again for not getting pictures posted. The blog site is in Italian for me and I am trying to figure out the process for posting pictures. I hope to be able to have some for you tomorrow!
Day 1/2
I am sorry for not getting these updates in sooner. I had some difficultly getting onto the internet here at the hotel with my computer and figured out how to get onto the network this morning (Wed). I hope to post updates more frequently as we progress through our trip.
Despite the rainy weather on Monday in Providence, we got off to an unblemished start, arriving in Boston two hours prior to the 5:35 flight to Paris and well ahead of a long line that assembled at the check-in counter just after all of us had checked our bags.
We took up the back of the plane and arrived in Paris on time at 6:15 a.m. (12:15 a.m. EST). The process to get to our connecting gate for our flight to Rome was somewhat of a learning experience that had many of us appreciating the systems in place in America. In order to keep some sort of traffic flow, there were a series of doors that people must walk through in Charles de Gaulles to get to the customs area. These doors only a pre-determined number of people in at a time and then you must wait until the opening comes around again to enter and pass through the doors. With several flights having just landed, you can imagine the scene of people with their carry-on bags crowded in front of the doors, trying to then squeeze through an opening wide enough for two people. The pushing and shoving continued down a set of stairs and through a narrow passage-way, where two lines formed to catch a tram to the connecting gate.
All of us made it on the same tram and upon exiting the tram we were corralled into another line, this time to get our passports checked and stamped. The line was long and hot with a lot of people from different backgrounds and speaking different languages trying to communicate with one another - which just resulted in people attempting to push their way through the line. After getting stamped, we moved onto another (and final) line for the security check point to screen our carry on bags, arriving at the gate with about an hour before taking off for Rome. Most of the team used this time to catch up on some much-needed sleep.
After arriving and collecting our luggage (all of it made it!), we were joined by Caitlin and Andrea, who met us at Rome’s Fiumicino airport, and greeted by our tour manager, Elena, who will be with us for the entire tour. Before heading to the hotel, we enjoyed a one-and-a-half-hour driving tour of the city (although I think several of us were so tired, the drive in the bus lulled us to sleep). Fortunately, we will have the chance to see all of the sites Elena pointed out to us in the coming days, when we visit Vatican City tomorrow and then the Coliseum, Roman Forums and Spanish Steps on Thursday.
Upon our arrival at the hotel, Elena had announced that she had some snacks and sodas for the group, which was much appreciated after the long day of travel and little to eat! We checked into the hotel around 1:45, and then enjoyed some free time, which most of us used to shower and to rest. Some of us headed back into the city for some shopping and site-seeing before going back to the hotel for our 7:00 dinner. The meal was a four-course Roman dinner – salad, pasta, meat, and dessert.
Everyone was ready for bed following the dinner at 8:00, and tomorrow will be an early morning with our wakeup calls scheduled for 7:00 a.m.
One thing about the city of Rome that was immediately apparent is the traffic. It was mid-day when we were initially driving in and relatively quiet. However, on our return trip to and from the city, we were driving in the middle of rush hour. The roads were pure chaos. Cars, most of which are extremely small in comparison to those we drive in the U.S., buses, scooters, pedestrians, people washing windows, and vendors, all weaving in and out of each other at high speed. It seems that they do not adhere to many rules, relatively few turn signals are used, and cars were parked anywhere they could find space, even on the sidewalks.
Despite the rainy weather on Monday in Providence, we got off to an unblemished start, arriving in Boston two hours prior to the 5:35 flight to Paris and well ahead of a long line that assembled at the check-in counter just after all of us had checked our bags.
We took up the back of the plane and arrived in Paris on time at 6:15 a.m. (12:15 a.m. EST). The process to get to our connecting gate for our flight to Rome was somewhat of a learning experience that had many of us appreciating the systems in place in America. In order to keep some sort of traffic flow, there were a series of doors that people must walk through in Charles de Gaulles to get to the customs area. These doors only a pre-determined number of people in at a time and then you must wait until the opening comes around again to enter and pass through the doors. With several flights having just landed, you can imagine the scene of people with their carry-on bags crowded in front of the doors, trying to then squeeze through an opening wide enough for two people. The pushing and shoving continued down a set of stairs and through a narrow passage-way, where two lines formed to catch a tram to the connecting gate.
All of us made it on the same tram and upon exiting the tram we were corralled into another line, this time to get our passports checked and stamped. The line was long and hot with a lot of people from different backgrounds and speaking different languages trying to communicate with one another - which just resulted in people attempting to push their way through the line. After getting stamped, we moved onto another (and final) line for the security check point to screen our carry on bags, arriving at the gate with about an hour before taking off for Rome. Most of the team used this time to catch up on some much-needed sleep.
After arriving and collecting our luggage (all of it made it!), we were joined by Caitlin and Andrea, who met us at Rome’s Fiumicino airport, and greeted by our tour manager, Elena, who will be with us for the entire tour. Before heading to the hotel, we enjoyed a one-and-a-half-hour driving tour of the city (although I think several of us were so tired, the drive in the bus lulled us to sleep). Fortunately, we will have the chance to see all of the sites Elena pointed out to us in the coming days, when we visit Vatican City tomorrow and then the Coliseum, Roman Forums and Spanish Steps on Thursday.
Upon our arrival at the hotel, Elena had announced that she had some snacks and sodas for the group, which was much appreciated after the long day of travel and little to eat! We checked into the hotel around 1:45, and then enjoyed some free time, which most of us used to shower and to rest. Some of us headed back into the city for some shopping and site-seeing before going back to the hotel for our 7:00 dinner. The meal was a four-course Roman dinner – salad, pasta, meat, and dessert.
Everyone was ready for bed following the dinner at 8:00, and tomorrow will be an early morning with our wakeup calls scheduled for 7:00 a.m.
One thing about the city of Rome that was immediately apparent is the traffic. It was mid-day when we were initially driving in and relatively quiet. However, on our return trip to and from the city, we were driving in the middle of rush hour. The roads were pure chaos. Cars, most of which are extremely small in comparison to those we drive in the U.S., buses, scooters, pedestrians, people washing windows, and vendors, all weaving in and out of each other at high speed. It seems that they do not adhere to many rules, relatively few turn signals are used, and cars were parked anywhere they could find space, even on the sidewalks.
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