TripTracker.net - Western Europe 2010, Aida and the catacombs

Prologue: Tribute to the SWC South Africa 2010!D-Day: A beginning Eastfield to Istandbul: Grumpyness at 30000ft Turkish shuttle Istanbul by day Istanbul by night Long walk to freedom Lisbon walking tour Discovering Lisbon Exploring Sintra Fado’s night out The rain in Spain falls mainly on my brain A day in medieval Toledo Madrid on a Sunday Flamenco por una buena causa To Barcelona Barcelona! Barcelona!Gaudi in the morning Olympic in the afternoon Chilling in Barcelona La Rambla To Nice A Nice night Relax, take it Eze Monaco in an afternoon Chilling in Nice To Venice Our first day in Venice The attempt at Venice night photos The second day in Venice The last night in Venice The Farewell Frenzy in Firenze Exploring Florence Conquering the Dome Conquering the Torra Lucca, I am your father Picnic in Pisa A day in Pisa When in Rome…Ancient scorching Rome Welcome to Naples (and its crazy traffic)A day in Capri Ancient scorching Pompeii To Santa Fortunata Chilling in Sorrento Back to Rome Aida and the catacombs The Vatican in a flash The End

jnroux

Western Europe 2010

Aida and the catacombs

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Jul 16 2010, 02:46 PM

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Traveler

jnroux
Somerset West, South Africa

Journal

Location

Rome, Italy

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Our first mission for the day (besides the getting to Rome part) was to see the catacombs and the second to watch Aida at the Baths of Caracalla. On our way to the bus station we saw our first accident in Italy (really a surprising first considering the way they drive). I heard a hard sound and when I looked around I saw scooter parts everywhere and a guy with a helmet (the scooter driver) flying through the air! It happened about 50m away from me, so I am not sure what exactly happened. A few seconds later, a woman without a helmet also stood up from the ground (I assumed that she was the passenger of the scooter). I am sure the scooter and the car that hit it will be written off… the people seemed to be ok. When we reached the bus station 8 minutes later, the ambulance came whizzing by. We then took the bus (no 218) to Catacomb St Callisto and on the way there we met some very nice Irish people with whom we shared a few laughs with regards to the crazy Italians and the rain in Ireland. At Catacomb St Callisto we took the “English” guided tour (you are forced to take a guided tour and no photos are allowed) but the group was too big and the Italian-English-Greek accent of the guide was so bad that people started laughing (and crying). Nevertheless, the biggest catacomb in Rome was very impressive. We then walked to the Catacombs of St Sebastian and took the last English tour at 16:30. This time we were only 6 people (Riana & I and a family) and the tour guide, Shaun, was awesome. Shaun clearly knows his history and gave us some very cool facts and did not have any problems with answering our questions. All in all the Catacombs of St Sebastian were a lot awesomer and the tour ends with a look at a Roman Necropolis (city of the dead) and a visit to the church where St Sebastian’s remains are… I assume the church is also called St Sebastian. After visiting the catacombs we took the bus back and bought some food at the supermarket we saw earlier. Again, we had the same old food: salami, cheese, butter and buns. However, this time we bought the Fanta that I have been eyeing for a while: Rossa Orange Fanta (and it tasted awesome!). After supper we walked to the Teatro alle Terme di Caracalla, about a 45 minute walk from our B&B. There I felt the most underdressed that I have ever felt, since I was there with my shorts and T-shirt, while the locals dressed fancy (which was understandable for an opera of this calibre). The setting (ancient Roman baths with soft lighting) and weather (no wind, perfect for a braai) were perfect! The costumes, dances and music were also beautiful. Unfortunately it was in Italian and it was quite difficult to follow the story. When a lot of people wore black, we assumed some died… when the big scary woman made a high pitched sound, we assumed she was very happy or very sad. The opera started at 21:00 and the half-time break was from 22:30 to 23:00. At this stage we were very tired (since we were up at 6:00 the morning) and we dozed off every now and then (dreaming of our home in Somerset West, our “real” Queen size bed, real toasties with apricot jam and Gouda cheese) until we were woke by the high pitched sounds described earlier. We read the wiki with a synopsis of the Opera afterwards and now it all makes sense! The opera ended at 00:30 and now we know (SPOILER ALERT) that Aida dies. We walked back to our B&B all happy because we were walking towards our bed and because we believed Aida was still alive and with the dude she loved.

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	50. The End Jul 17 2010, 05:26 PMCape Town, South Africa4 photos Our flight in Istanbul was delay by 1 hour and 45 minutes AND our aircraft dated out of the 70s. No in-flight entertainment, warn-out chairs and very shaky (physically shaking) overhead compartments. Regardless of these things, we were still going home and it felt good. There was a lot of Afrikaans...

	49. The Vatican in a flash Jul 17 2010, 09:56 AMCape Town, South Africa11 photos For our last day in Rome we decided to visit the Vatican Museum, since we did not get to visit it during our previous trip to Rome (refer to Journal entry 41). Fortunately the closest Metro to the Vatican was also on our Metro line and we were “there” at about 8:55. We then stood in the longest...

	48. Aida and the catacombs Jul 16 2010, 02:46 PMRome, Italy9 photos Our first mission for the day (besides the getting to Rome part) was to see the catacombs and the second to watch Aida at the Baths of Caracalla. On our way to the bus station we saw our first accident in Italy (really a surprising first considering the way they drive). I heard a hard sound and...

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