Djurdjevic - Personal Photos

25 Sep 2009

Updated Sep 24, 2009...

Touring Switzerland, France & Italy

Along with stops in New York on the way to and from Europe

ROME, Sep 17 - The drive from Florence to Rome was relatively uneventful although in heavy traffic on Italy's busiest freeway (see above map). We passed through occasional showers and snapped a few photos of picturesque towns on hilltops with beautiful vistas.

Our main challenge was finding our hotel in the maze of the Eternal City's twisted streets. And doing it without a proper city map. Making things worse, just as we got off the main freeway, the skies opened up with a torrential downpour. That's when I said a shamanic prayer for the rain to stop. Within minutes, it did. By the time we made it to the center of Rome, the sun had come out. That's when I knew we were welcome. I reassured Elizabeth that we would find the hotel basically by instinct alone. And we did.

Hilton Cavalieri is located on a hill above the Vatican, yet in its close proximity. As a result, we could say that we were able to look down to St. Peter's Basilica (left) from our vantage point. And vice versa. You can see the hill on which our hotel was located as seen from the Vatican in the right photo.

The hotel was beautiful, inside and out. It's exterior looked like a fin

ely manicured garden; the interior like an art gallery with antique furnishings. About the only discomfort upon check in was a mosquito bite that Elizabeth is pointing to in the above middle right picture. But she recovered from it pretty quickly as she luxuriated in the comfort of our bright and spacious room and a cushiony bed.

But we did not waste much time at the hotel before heading out to explore on foot the Vatican, and later Rome itself.

You'd never know that this was a slow tourist season if you went by the crowds inside and outside St. Peter's Basilica. Yet the cathedral is so huge that when the crowds dispersed around it, one did not feel oppressed. Elizabeth and

I even had the luxury of saying our prayers at a private altar while the evening service was going on at the main one. Check it out...

And while I was shooting this short video clip, Elizabeth took some pictures of me (right).

The beauty and richness of artistic treasures that adorn this church was stunning.

Afterwards, we strolled around the giant St. Peter's square (which is actually a circle) and took pictures of the Swiss guards (middle left) and the setting sun (middle right). Elizabeth then ended up with a heart necklace as a gift from a Vatican store which a nice sales lady shown in the right picture helped us choose.

We continued our walk down the Vatican's main street and along the banks of the river Tiber admiring the architectural beauty and variety of the Roman streets and colorful buildings.

Some older buildings were renovated and it looked like new, such as that "flat iron" one on the left, others spoke of their age through the patina of time that covered, but did not hide, their original beauty (right).

Eventually, we ended up at the Spanish Steps where the above three shots were taken. We recalled a number of movies we had seen over the years in which these famous romantic steps figured prominently. We had to pinch ourselves as we climbed up to be sure we were really there.

We weren't alone, as you can see from the above photos. But when we attended another evening service ad the church that towers over the Spanish Steps, we might as well have been alone. There were no more than 20 or so people there. Which was a shame, since the service and the music were really touching. Take a look...

Rome's skyline was dotted with domed cathedrals, including St. Peter's, visible in the distance (in all of the above shots). While some were admiring and absorbing the gorgeous sunset, others were using the romantic setting of the Spanish Steps for smooching, such as that couple in the rightmost picture.

Our next walking destination was another famous Roman site - the Trevi Fountain.

Who can forget Anita Ekberg and Marcello Mastroiani in their Trevi fountain scene from "La Dolce Vita," for example?

The place was packed, even if you could not tell that from the above pictures, carefully taken from angles that did not show the crowds around us.

We ended up having dinner at a nearby outdoor restaurant. As soon as we walked in, I hit it off with the waiter. We kept joking and teasing each other. He claimed to me from Philadelphia. Which is evidently a town in Calabria (Italy). Soon, other tables and waiters added to the fun. Folks from Houston, Michigan, San Francisco... etc., who joined our banter, made it seem as if a U.S.A. town hall meeting was taking place in the heart of Rome.

On our way back to the hotel, we passed a place that had an aerial view of what the ancient Rome might have looked like (left). We also passed a grand old building (the Imperial Palace - middle), before hailing a cab that took us back to Hilton Cavalieri. That's where a tired Elizabeth fell into the armchair in our room, displaying some of the loot (gifts) she picked up on our first day in Rome.