rome

A masterpiece of human achievement

My Europe Tour 2025 – Blog #28 – Summary of my 44day Tour

The below blog can be more detailed in referring to Blog #1 by scrolling down beyond my 27 Europe blogs in my website of https://bhlifestyles.travel.blog for this amazing tour. My website has this recent Blog #28 first. My life mantra is to always make a positive difference/ improvement to whoever I meet & a slight twist to a Pericles quote (Died 429BC). “What you leave behind is not what is engraved on your headstone, but what is engraved into the minds & lives of others”

My initial passport was obtained in March 2016 at 60yrs old … yes, a late starter. Since then, in the last 10yrs I have been in 9 countries, such as, USA, Japan, Sth Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Peru, Ecuador, Chile & New Zealand whilst also travelling through my own country of Australia.

Europe is one region I thought was well beyond my means & capability, plus the currency killer however, it is time to be selfish & take time out from my ongoing extended family renovations & repairs assistance I’ve been providing over the years in my so-called retirement. LOL!! As I’ve aged, I had realised it is not the amount of moments that I breathe .. but the amount of moments my breath is taken away & that, as you will read on is how this Europe tour unfolded.

I am an ‘owner’ in Wyndham Resorts & through my credit level I can use their in-house Travel Club for assistance in compiling my tour proposal. I was blessed to have Nilli help me out where she organised my Sth America trip years prior & she remembered me too. I first compiled a list of my ex-backpacker friends I wanted to see over there in various countries & checked their availability for timing. Looks like 1st October 2025 to start my trip. From this list I was able to source the expected route & see what I can achieve to link up with everyone. This was quite a challenge to be practical & make it all work. Nili was impressed with my Excel spreadsheet & information provided & made her role much easier she said.

My friends live in Nuremberg, Munich, Amsterdam & Bristol UK. Drawing this out on a Europe map & checking the major places & sights I’d like to experience near to this route, plus keep my mum & youngest brother’s (both dec’d) wishes of places they never got to see. From this, I had to work out how many days I would need to use in each place of stay & to analyze what activities & tours to undertake to fully activate each day. Easy .. sarcasm. One could never do enough research, for there is so much to see & do.

From the above paragraph my tour now included Rome (1st stop), Nuremberg, Amsterdam, Paris, Amiens (brother for WW1 experience), Barcelona (my wish), Lisbon, Dublin, Bristol & London (mine & Mum’s wishes). These places were my most wished places to visit & the transport was relatively easy to address. I had to obtain entry requirements with the new ETA for England at £16 (2yr approval) & took 7mins to gain their approval, plus the upcoming 12th Oct 2025 new EES for the Schengen area entry.

With all this compiled information, Nilli set into action & also gained the best travel insurance which isn’t cheap at my age + still have the COVID part covered due to remaining world uncertainty. She made a few adjustments & upon my approval booked all the flights & most hotels stays & left me to do the train ticket purchases & a couple of accommodations where she couldn’t have access to. From my hometown to Europe & back will entail 44days in total, starting from Brisbane & leaving on 1st October 2025. If you review the calendar photo you can see most of my itinerary.

Europe, for me was always in the too-hard basket & when you throw all the current events we are fed on our media & travel alerts stemming from mass immigration to Germany, France & Italy to name a few then the anxiety steps in & for me I’ll be on my own even though I had done most of my travelling on my own over these past 10years.

My flight out from Brisbane entailed a 14hrs 50mins 1st leg to Doha & that is stretching my flight endurance limit & with a 3.5hr layover left a 5hr flight to Rome, arriving at 7.25am on 2nd Oct. I had obtained an eSIM with Saily within 30days of my departure & they had an excellent plan & with a set VPN too which activated the moment I landed in Rome, albeit my flight mode on my phone kept interacting after landing which knocked me out of internet until I had it sorted, via WiFi later in the day.  As you can see, I managed to do 28blogs for my Europe tour so keep scrolling down on my website to get the full itinerary tour & massive volume of photos to view.

From my blogs you will notice I never took a bus in cities to do the sightseeing like a Hop on Hop Off bus as it never suited me & I was watching my AUD to Euros (2 for 1) comparison, noting my pensioner status. Overall, I managed to travel 47,474klms through 8 countries, by 9 plane trips & 7 train trips using my Polarsteps App (you can follow my trips through this free app too). I highly recommend Polarsteps for travelling where people can trace where you are in real time plus you can write up your blogs & whatever photos you wish & when the trip is over you can get a deal to review & change your entries into a high-quality bound tour book at a set rate. In this 44day tour I walked 609,651 steps which was compiled by my Samsung Health in my phone that equals 475.23klms so that’s a lot of walking. I endeavoured to undertake a city walking tour wherever I can but sometimes the timing doesn’t work out so it’s back to my research & city walking. Hope you like this summary & please refer to my blogs for even more information, facts & statistics.

Rome – Italy

Rome was beyond amazing & you could spend countless days there & still not see everything. I would return to Rome in a heartbeat. That is the major thing to overcome; to realise you can’t see everything. The next thing is to assign a good travel time. I fluked October, being into Autumn mode where it is far cooler at around 20°C, less people but still packed in certain sights whereas in Summer, June to August is really hot in Rome for the pavements are black basalt paving everywhere & the streets & lanes are slightly narrow with the added tourist numbers.  The Piazzas (plazas) offer open spaces but are packed with tourists, especially, The Pantheon & Trevi Fountain. Always best to see these in early morning or late afternoon including the Colosseum, Roman Forum & Palantine Hill due to potential crowd crush & high temps.

There is an underground train station adjacent to the Colosseum & that should be looked at, for it’s also an underground museum which I didn’t know at the time. Same for The Pantheon in having an underground museum. The original street level of Rome is some 7m below the current street levels.

The Vatican is always busy & don’t sit at a table for coffee along the streets getting there as you could be slugged the table fee of some €20 for the pleasure. Take notice of the local laws for some fines are hefty including any train trips to validate your ticket, etc & don’t get confused with economy or 1st class trains. I got stung with an economy ticket on a 1st class train & was conned by the platform lady guiding me to the 1st Class train. Felt like a planned tourist trap. This was the train from the airport to the CBD Termini Station. They have since installed a ticket verification system & with substantial fines so be very diligent.

I spent a full day (13hrs) undertaking a bus guide tour to Positano (Amalfi Coast) & Pompeii which was amazing & on Blog #4. Most of my activity & access tours were through Viator, City Wonders, Get Your Guide, & Crown Tours. To repeat, Rome I would go back in a heartbeat.

Nuremberg – Germany

I was staying for 6nights with a young friend, AJ (privacy) who I helped tour New Zealand back in 2017 when she was backpacking & her & her family were keen to spend time with me seeing I had looked after her so well. I flew into Munich, then caught a 1hr train to Nuremberg. AJ took me to Tegernsee (South of Munich, a perfect getaway resort area) via a quick tour of the Audi Production Factory prior. We spent half a day in Munich & more time in Nuremberg which is a city that is amazing & so much history. Later I spent a night at AJ’s parents’ home NW of Nuremberg in the wine region & it was fantastic to enjoy a loving family’s home & cooking (lots of it!!) & to see such great countryside & very cute villages. Thoroughly enjoyed this friend week & hope to see AJ again soon for she really looked after this old man.

Amsterdam – Netherlands

I was able to fly direct via Nuremberg airport which was a bonus & getting through a tiny airport for a change. Airport train from Schiphol Airport was a breeze to Centraal Station (correct spelling). This city takes a while to get your bearings seeing it is a canal city so be patient. Amsterdam has a very expensive City Tax to pay when you check in to your hotel. My 5night stay & value of hotel rate plus a coefficient in a formula calculates a €128 fee. OUCH!!

Amsterdam is a tram & bike city, so I booked a bike tour & while riding a bike is simple you have the added pressure of avoiding people, cyclists & above all, the dreaded tram lines. Trust me, I saved a woman from getting hit by a tram she didn’t hear or see & most likely saved her life. It was a good way of covering a good distance & to see sights relatively easily. You can hire bikes, but I chose the foot walking mode for flexibility & ultimately safety. This city of freedom is so relaxed & at times I was quite ‘happy’ returning to my hotel for I could not avoid the constant fumes of weed throughout the day where it is legal in public, taverns, etc. You can’t avoid it.

I was so blessed to have my dear friends; Ayla & Renske who could meet with me over 2 separate days. It was like yesterday to seeing them again. 2 lovely women I met back in my hometown when they were backpacking. They both have children now but of course they were all in school. Both these 2 days I never wished to end. Such a great time to see them again & both are so gorgeous & haven’t really changed at all. Amsterdam is so unique & well worth a visit in seeing a city built on top of a forest of trees (tree piles) with slanting houses & buildings. To see Ann Frank’s house, you must book well in advance & I challenge you to handle the maze of the Rembrandt Museum.

Paris – France

I caught a regional train from Centraal Station – Amsterdam to Gare du Nord (Northern station of Paris) 3.5hrs & not a bullet train. The train was good, but Gare du Nord is one of the worst & complicated stations in Europe & I really found that out. It is HUGE & has 5 Halls (Sections of platforms). You have to get a cab, bus or another suburban interstop train to get to the Eifel Tower & main city area. I eventually got a ticket (4 RER B Sud) for €6.30 to Saint -Michel- Notre Dame Station & then changed to Champ de Mars Station, being the closest to the Eifel Tower & my Mercure Hotel. The City Tax was far cheaper at €25.35.

I only wanted to see the Eifel Tower, The Louvre, Notre Dame, Champs Elysees & Arc de Triomphe. If you read my relevant blog on Paris, you will note I was at The Louvre the morning it was robbed so I missed out on that plus the associated Seine River cruise & with the thousands awaiting to see inside Notre Dame I missed that too, but I got my outside photos at least & a good blog & life story. I found Paris to be rather dirty & slightly unkept of appearance, lots of Somalian market vendors selling Eifel trinkets, etc & would only return to see those missed internal landmarks mentioned above, possibly an overnight stay. My blog of the Eifel Tower shows the incredible history & statistics for this wonder of construction.

Amiens – France

I took a dreaded taxi to Gare Du Nord for the early set train departure. I was totally ripped off by an extremely rude French driver. I left by stating we (Australia) saved you (France) twice in 2 world wars & this is the shit we receive. I should have dropped the fare into the gutter for him to pick up. I was thankful my train was in Hall 1 (Ground Floor upon entry).

Travelling to & staying at Amiens is firstly for the train runs through it, has more accommodation available & is a bigger city than the village of Villers-Bretonneux (closer to the war section I am preferring to see). For my accommodation I selected La Pléiade Dorée from my Booking.com provider at my Genius Level rate. Travelling to the war locations I wanted to see involves a bit of hardship + hiring a car is a bit risky for me & to firstly obtain one, so I booked the best war tour available through Tripadvisor for a full day. It wasn’t cheap but goes for 8hrs & includes a private vehicle with a guide.

My WW1 Tour is an extra special day thought about long ago. It is about a ‘promise’ I secretly made to myself to visit the war area surrounding Villers-Bretonneux & The General Sir John Monash War Memorial just out of town. The promise came about when I was trying to organise a trip in 2017 for the 2018 opening of the underground War Museum at The General Sir John Monash War Memorial with my youngest brother, Rod but I won’t go into why he couldn’t agree to go, but it wasn’t his decision not to. Not long after my first planning of this trip & discussing it with him Rod suddenly passed away (at only 54). Rod was an avid reader of books on WW1 & knew a lot more than I on the subject. After he passed away, I made that promise to myself to take him with me .. much like I’ve done on every trip since 2017.

Our greatest ever Australian, General Sir John Monash who landed on Day 1 at Gallipoli 25th April 1915 & through his efforts & strategies saved countless lives & later ensured the safest retreat from the bloodbath of Gallipoli & in 1918 took control of the whole alliance armed forces of countries (England, USA, Canada, NZ & other countries) in an orchestrated front to defeat the German army. He was the only one to ever achieve that chief honour of such a combined force. Only cruel politics & jealousy kept him from being rightly called Field Marshall, for he was born in Melbourne of German Jew parents & as he grew always called Australia his country despite his heritage. He designed & constructed several rail bridges & the electricity network & brought concrete to Australia. A very famous Australian & forever remembered.

I am forever grateful for having the full day with my guide, Bridgitt on a Tripadvisor 8hr tour – Australian Battlefields Tour. She totally looked after me & spoke wonderful English & had supreme knowledge of the war & more recent history of the region. Totally blessed. The tour was well worth the money plus I added a good tip of €s too for driving me all the way back to my apartment.

Barcelona – Spain

My timetable & the rail timetable had me forced to stay overnight in Paris, back at Garde du Nord & then onto a hotel (Tim Hotel) near my departure point of Garde de Lyon for an early 3.5hr bullet train to Barcelona.

Almost every day my breath has been taken away in seeing such amazing sights but to see the Basilica de la Sagrada Familia is beyond any senses & imagination. I was just in awe of its magnificence & to know just one genius Antoni Gaudi at 31yrs old of age designed & engineered this amazing structure before my eyes. Beyond words & comprehension. I bought a booklet in their museum to grasp the many details, etc in this basilica.

How can anyone design the engineering, physics & still get the construction right when it comes to geological construction. If this is not the paramount of human design/ construction on earth I don’t know what is (forget the pyramids, Great Wall of China, etc). I hope you can get a grasp of this basilica, inside & out. The stats are beyond comprehension; there will be 20 towers when completed & with the central tower (under construction will reach 172.5m high, named Tower of Jesus Christ) & the 2nd highest tower, St Mary’s Tower at 138.5m high. 12 of the towers will represent the 12 apostles. I was able to take the tower lift option located within St Mary’s Tower & that is high!!! For a great city viewing & you are welcomed to exit by taking the spiral stone staircase all the way down, to which I did gracefully & carefully. June 2026 this basilica will be completed, making it the tallest church in the world & an observation platform showing 360 for the public within the Tower of Jesus Cross, recently installed.

Gaudi was killed by a tram in 1926 after leaving the basilica where he spent most of his life on-site. His funeral was massive & is body buried next the main altar in The Crypt below the main floor. Through other architects, engineers & sculptors he commissioned & trained carried on his innovative project. The Tower of Jesus with its upper arm of the 56-ft-tall four-armed cross, installed in late March 2026, making it the tallest church in the world & providing a full 360° view of Barcelona city. The cross was built in Germany using white enameled ceramic tiles, stone interior and glass that were made in the Spanish region of Catalonia. It was then transported in parts back to Barcelona by ferry and trucks and finally assembled at the church with precision crane work.

The outside of the basilica is fully biblical, with statues, symbols, nature & about everything else whereas the internal of the basilica is dedicated to light & peace & the stone columns representing trees of life. The colours of life (blue, yellow & green, etc) occur through the glass windows every morning & then changes to red/ orange for the setting sun. Every night, since the Cross installation the basilica has an amazing light show.

Barcelona is a must-see city & there is a lot to see but the Basilica de la Sagrada Familia totally did it for me. Blogs 14 & 15.

Lisbon – Portugal

I had a short flight into Lisbon from Barcelona & took a city bus into the Restauradores (CBD of the historic area). Not a great deal to see in this city however taking a full day bus tour to Sintra, Pena, Regaleira, Cabo Roca Coast & Cascais plus the additional Full Pena Palace and Regaleira really made this stay worthwhile. I was really surprised of what this day uncovered & was well worth the expenditure. Blog #18

Dublin – Ireland

A 3hr flight from beautiful sunny & mild Autumn of Portugal to the usual Dublin windy, rainy 11°C was not fun. Best to get the Dublin Express bus that takes you into the city for 30mins trip at €10. I did a very average walking city tour the next morning for 2hrs, but I’m sure there must be better ones so do your research. The Guinness Brewery Tour for ($52AUD) was well worth the long afternoon tour. Once you find the entrance, the facility is a great experience venturing up to the 7th Floor Guinness Gravity Bar for your free Guinness pint & mingling with a hundred or so thirsty drinkers & a great view of the city of the weather is fine. The history & statistics will blow your mind. 4hrs of free roaming can be over in just ‘minutes’.

The next day was my Walking Pub Tour & I wished I had done this before the city walking tour. Kevin Adams was an amazing guide with so much knowledge & he also does food tours http://www.walkingfoodtours.ie. There are 798 pubs in Dublin alone. He told us The Brazen Head on Liffeyside Bridge St is Dublin’s oldest pub where it started beer moonshining in 1198 & now on the same site the pub was built in 1754. Smithwick’s (Irish Red Ale) is traced back to 1710 as the first official beer produced in Dublin by John Smithwick’s Brewery at St Francis Abbey (Kilkenny) adding on to the same beer produced by the then monks. Pls read my respective blog of this tour to learn some old sayings of drinking & how they came about. So funny & forever in my memory. Blogs 20 & 21.

Bristol – UK

Leaving Dublin was easy for me being close to the River Liffey where I walked over in the dark to the Custom House bus stop (800m) for the Dublin Express to Dublin T2 (€10, booked online for 4.05am) for 06.35am – 07.55 BA (British Airways) on Aer Lingus flight to Bristol Airport, UK (1.5hrs) to stay with my married friends my eldest son & I met doing the Machu Picchu 4day Trek in Peru in 2019. This is where my ETA came into play (new entry tax for Britain).

David picked me up at this small airport & for the next few days, saw lots of Bristol & Bath which were quite surprising & enjoyable & had lots of Roman buildings & infrastructure plus the famous Roman Baths. Sue really looked after me & David at times had soccer commitments. I finally got to inspect the last operational Concorde aircraft jet where my last opportunity was missed back in 1986. Despite staying with great friends my blogs had plenty of info & photos. Sue managed to get me to my train after a 4day stay for London too which was amazing & so thoughtful. Such treasured memories with great friends.

London – UK

The train trip was such a breeze from Bristol (1hr 40mins) to Paddington Station (a very busy station) & it was just a simple 15mins walk to my Thistle Hyde Park Kensington Hotel on Bayswater Rd aligned with Hyde Park. The walk had a mixture of shops, apartments, pubs & basically everything else of a busy suburb. A great location.

Hyde Park is a fantastic green space & HUGE!!!! Kensington is a great suburb & rather close to most of Westminster CBD landmarks & then onto London CBD. Quite a few blogs on this major world city & our birthplace of Australia. Lots of photos & of course I was aligned to not seeing everything. No use writing more as you need to read my blogs. London was brilliant but had to watch the British Pounds against my poor AUD. So much history & architecture.

Home – Australia

I took an iconic taxicab to Paddington Station. The driver was a pleasant surprise to experience a real taxi driver & cab. Without a hassle I caught the 4.30am direct train to Heathrow Airport T2/ T3 platform. At this terminal stop I must disembark but stay on this platform as per the platform announcement & digital signage for the next train in 5mins that took me to my required Terminal 4. So easy.

After my 5day stay in London I was back onto the long-haul flights back to Brisbane & then more travelling to my birthplace of Grafton, then to my new home of Yamba (40mins bus). All in all, my travelling time getting home was in total (allowing for layovers, hotel stay & waiting times) at 44hrs 20mins. 37hrs directly associated with travel & all of a sudden, it hit me … I had just completed Europe Stage 1 & saw so many things I thought were out of my reach in life. At some point I’ll be focussing on doing Europe Stage 2 asap. I quickly reviewed my Polarsteps App of all my Europe blogs & ordered 2 large volumes of my blogs & photos (high volume of writing & photos) & they arrived quickly & are such a blessing to review them to prove I did this tour.

I’ll finish this summary blog now, so please stay safe, happy & healthy & my usual quote I used to put at my endings follows.

Eckart Tolle – “If I am not the hero in my life .. who the hell could it be”? Ciao for now. Stay safe, happy & healthy.

My Europe Tour 2025 – Blog #5 – Rome City

Day 4 5/10/25 Rome City Walking Tour. My last full day in Rome. Scott is our guide for the walking tour & we finally found him at the City Wonders Piazza di Spagna, 00187 Roma RM without the blue shirt as prescribed so you always have to keep a look out for your guide. I was starting to get worried due to the last City Wonders debacle I described in my last blog. He was very pleasant & had no pushed time attitude. Scott is an American but has lived here for a decade or more & has a generational connection to Rome & has stayed here since retracing his family history. On my way to the meeting place & steps, I walked the same streets as before & noticed an impressive building with huge stone walls & metal gates. I was previously in a rush but today I noticed it was the National Museum but not sure when I can return for a viewing. Maybe next time visiting Rome. LOL!

Today (my last Rome day), we are going to see the famous Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps & Pantheon Walking Tour, however we will finish the tour at Piazza Navona some klms away but after that we will have plenty of free time to do our own thing. Now that everyone has arrived Scott shows us the Spanish Steps that was right behind us in the Piazza di Spagna all this time. Of course, there are no historical signage to identify this to tourists so I’m not to blame. I saw this structure the day before when heading to my meeting point for the Positano tour plus the central fountain. These steps are called the Spanish Steps however above these steps is a building with a mixture of French & Spanish architecture and with that ongoing conflict the Spanish eventually won. This is quite a meeting place for tourists & locals; however, the police can move you on if you sit on the steps, for it is forbidden.

Scott has us now walking towards the famous Trevi Fountain & I’m really happy we are doing so because the courtyard area is filled to the brim with tourists later in the morning & into the afternoon & it is not a pleasant experience. Sharyn at my cousin’s Wobbly Chook Brewing Company back home said you have to see this amazing, sculptured fountain. So, Sharyn, here I am, & throwing a coin over my left shoulder like many thousands before me. Apparently, the fountain coins are removed weekly & approximately €22,000 is gained. The coin throwing is a legend that it will make you come back to Rome another time.

The Trevi Fountain is something to behold. The details of sculptures, the size of the fountain. It is a full building width & the high volume of water comes from the aqueduct system below the ground. The God in the centre is Neptune. The crowd must keep shuffling along & when access is obtained you must get to the fountain edge asap (no standing at the top steps) or the ‘fountain police’ will blow their whistles in disgust. Definitely, no hands or feet in the water. Criminal offence. With our ongoing movement, we were soon out of the enclosure & Scott starts showing us his hidden Rome with amazing glass roof arcades of luxury shops, polished marble columns & ancient treasures.

Unfortunately, one of the major things I wanted to see was the Marcus Arillus Statue, but this was fully enclosed with scaffolding (photo 2 below) to undertake the necessary refurbishment. Another thing to revisit Rome. Hope you enjoyed the scaffolding photo? The next photo Scott said was Italy’s White House (3rd photo). This is where President Meloni resides & carries out her duties. It was a very unassuming building & one I would have walked straight past. The next building in this very large courtyard was the more impressive Senate Building (4th photo) where laws are made.

The photo of stones, bricks & different shades of mortar are the original footing/ foundations of the Roman era & they remain in perfect condition to this day. There are several of these exposed footings for viewing & again the public would just walk past this history. Throughout roughly 2,000years of history, no-one could replicate this concrete mortar, for the recipe was lost early until modern day technology scrutinised extensively the granules & found the missing ingredient was the grey & white pumice ash from the eruption of Mt Vesuvius in 79AD. The setting mixture is incredibly strong & can withstand the elements of weather.

Following on from these footings & turning a few corners we come across the incredible Pantheon with its amazingly strong frontage of 16 hand-carved stone columns. Each of these columns weigh 60tons & were hand crafted in Egypt & shipped over (don’t know how they did that). They used up to twelve elephants to erect each column. With this being a Walking Tour there is no admission today to enter The Pantheon but after the tour you can line up with the public & buy the tickets unless you paid for entrance ticket previously online, etc. I saw the interior of The Pantheon on the 1st day of my arrival in Rome, so you would have to go back to my 2nd blog to see the photos & details.

Standing outside you can see the shape of the world’s largest concrete dome of that type above us. The dome is 43.44m (142.5’) in diameter & is the largest unsupported concrete dome in the world & has had the record for over 2,000years (125AD). History does not record who built it, but it started in 27BC & was rebuilt to finish 125AD. The circular walls are 24’ thick & the entrance doors are bronze at 24’ high with an opening of about 14’ wide. The open eye “oculus” of the dome is a whopping 27’ in diameter & hardly any rain falls through it. The floor has a 1’ slope from the centre to accommodate any rain that rarely comes through it. The concrete dome construction was possible due to the Roman Concrete I described earlier. The concrete thickness reduces as it gets closer to the top of the dome to overcome the additional weight.

Behind the Pantheon you can see the curved walls plus looking down over the handrail you can see the original Rome ground floor level (7m below). Walking back, we find ourselves in the Piazza Trevi for more central fountains. Scott has a connected outlet where we are granted a free drink or Gelato, so we are granted 15mins of free time. My gelato was another thing I must do while in Rome, so another box ticked. I kept an eye on Scott where he was waiting but a couple of women were immersed in their gelato & wandered off too far. In these massive crowds they came over & grabbed me (I stood out in my ultra blue trekking coat). They were so relieved when I pointed out Scott in the crowd & they walked straight over. I think they would even hug him if they could. Scott stated it is the busiest he has seen Rome in October.

After our welcomed Gelato treat we head down an alley which then opened up into the Piazza della Minerva where the Basilica of Saint Mary of Minerva, a 13th century Gothic catholic church with a Michelangelo sculpture located within designed by Fra Ristoro de’ Campi & Fra Sisto di Firenze in 1280 however the basilica was not completed until 1725 after several changes. Scott tells us an ancient architect story where Bernini & another architect (name escapes me) competed to gain the commission to construct a magnificent building adjacent to the basilica. This building was being constructed (curved frontages depicts this architect) under the vengeful Bernini however, he won the commission to do the Obelisk out in the front in the Piazza.

Bernini Obelisk

Bernini created an elongated rectangle spear with a tiny headpiece on top that resembled the learning knowledge of man & the weight it therefore carries. This spear was carried by his sculpture of an elephant for it’s the strongest of all living mammals that roamed the Earth that could carry this weight & has the best brain memory. The tale then turns that the elephant’s backside is pointed directly at the new building construction & still remains in place today. A well-known architect’s revenge. LOL!

The last stop was Piazza Navona (2 photos above on the right), but we managed to sidetrack a bit & saw what is known as the Royal Palace which is an opulent building of grandeur. With our last good-byes to everyone, I decided to walk back to the Trevi Fountain, for that is the way back towards my hotel but can see some other sights along the way. Well!!!! The crowd now was insane. I had virtually no way of cutting through .. I just had to shuffle my way along until a crack in the crowd appeared. Heaven helps those trying to view the fountain. Totally insane!

The Royal Palace

I must get up extra early the next day to catch the airport train to fly to Munich & then a train to Munich Hbf (Central) & then a connecting train to Nuremburg to stay with a young backpacking friend AJ (privacy) who I took around NZ Sth Island with my son Scott back in 2017. Her & her family have been hoping I could come over to see them one day with how we both looked after her. She had to trust an old man & his son for 18days. We all had a great time & not an issue for all that time & she remains in contact with me to this day. With my early rise planned for travelling, I decided to pack my bags as much as possible & have a nanny nap before heading out for dinner as a method of recovery from all my walking. Today, I managed 13,166 steps, 10.12klms. I’ll end my 5th Blog here & many thanks for reading them. My next blog will be my trip stay with AJ & Munich, Nuremburg, Tegernsee & her hometown in the winery area. Please stay safe, happy & healthy.

My Europe Tour 2025 – Blog #3 – Rome – Vatican

3/10/25 Day 2 OK, with the Colosseum, Roman Forum & Palatine Hill Areas 3hr full on tour & past lunchtime on a warm day it was now very pressing for me to get over to the other side of the River Tiber to the Vatican City for my tour of the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, St Peter’s Basilica, etc. Today, Rome had a united train strike, so public transport was overwhelmed & traffic very heavy so as per my usual method I did my walking. From the Colosseum to the Vatican City is 4.1klms taking a calculated 55mins. I did it in 40mins & still took various photo landmarks along the way & in time to meet our guide. At the start there is no direct straight route until you come to the River Tiber, so it feels like I’m walking a circle. Lots to see along the way to the Vatican so the walk has benefits … if you’re fit too. LOL!! Beware .. lots of photos following.

From my photos you can see various history buildings, magnificent statues, fountains but extremely hard for me to know who & what they are until I see the photo details in my phone, for I make a point to have my location setting on which then aligns the photo to the name & address. It is obvious you can see the dome of the Vatican for miles so it’s easier knowing you’re going in the right direction. Firstly, you come across the original Stone wall with entrance doors which is not for us public people. The Vatican is its own country & government so a law unto themselves of course. While I think of it there are some restaurants/ cafés etc around the Vatican City that secretly invoke a table fee if you wish to sit down for a meal, coffee, etc. If you don’t ask about it when entering, you will find out big time when you get the bill. Some demand €20 which is a big OUCH!!! Can be a bloody expensive coffee. On that note, I didn’t spend a cent anywhere near the Vatican City.

The entrance brings you into a large courtyard with impressive building facades, a large pinecone & an incredible spiral ball sculpture that has several opinions of what it supposed to represent. Certainly, an eye grabber & such a detailed sculpture of modern art. The Pinecone sculpture, known as the Fontana della Pigna, is a monumental bronze statue located in a courtyard to the museum entrance, symbolizing immortality and rebirth. The Pinecone, or Pignone, is a bronze sculpture that stands approximately 4 metres (13 feet) tall & is hollow. It dates back to the 2nd century AD and was originally part of a fountain that adorned the Temple of Isis in ancient Rome. The courtyard itself is a blend of ancient and modern art, with the Sphere within a Sphere sculpture by Arnaldo Pomodoro also located here, symbolizing the relationship between the spiritual and physical worlds. With the sphere you can apply your muscles & get it to rotate & the inner sphere rotates with the out one & this action causes a mesmerizing stance if you’re not careful.

From the new side entrance, you are led into a chamber that overlooks a spiral ramp, much like the Guggenheim in NY. Our guide took us past this for some unknown reason into a large hall with over 1,000 small & large sculptures which is a bit much to take in however, the curved ceilings are really an eye opener too. I remain wondering where the spiral ramp would take you.

The Vatican City is completely full of all types of impressive sculptures, paintings & artifacts. I think our guide said 10,000 art pieces so there is no way in seeing them all. I can’t see how anyone can put a $value on these, get insurance cover & pay the premiums. LOL!! While you are walking with the crowd admiring the super detailed sculptures, etc you have to at the same time take in the high wall & ceiling paintings throughout the complex. It can be quite a feat! Our guide is super-fast in her speech too .. you can feel her religious passion & belief, so a lot of things are missed like each painting shows a story of course & once you get it, it all makes sense, but our transmitted earpieces cut in & out at times & there’s just too much to see & deal with.

While you’re looking at the ceiling, don’t forget to look at the various floors. Haha … another test! Some floors are all types of marble, granite & most impressive mosaic tiles, so fine you can hardly see the floors are tiled (like a painting). While I’m at it, one photo (hard to remember in my photos which one however it is about 4m x 3m in area) is of fine mosaic tiles so small that from my allowed 1.5m distance it is argued it’s a painting. How in the hell (bad word to use here .. haha .. but plenty of hell images in the paintings so I’m free I guess) does anyone have the skills to do this intense mural? Awaiting your answer … crickets?? The other impossible thing, when you’re allowed to take photos is to do it without the crowd always in front of you.

While I remember, there is one painting (artist name lost in my memory) painted this huge painting of God with Jesus holding one arm raised lifting the good people up to his heaven & the other hand pressing down the no-gooders into the hell version. At the time of the painting the artist was getting a lot of pressure & demands from a less liked pope at the time. Down the bottom of the rh corner is the portrait of that pope being in the no-good section. Classic revenge: while his self-portrait is closer to Jesus & in the centre of the painting holding a distorted dark face in a cloth which resembles his bad face doing this revenge side of him (sin). Apparently, the Pope never discovered this in the painting for he would have surely taken more than revenge upon the artist. There are lots of occasions where the artist or the architect has taken a revenge on the opposition in these paintings & structures. Very interesting.  

Curved walls & ceilings, domes, fountains, arches, gold, silver, bronze are beyond belief & I can’t type what I’m seeing, so enjoy each photo for is just too much to take in. Also note: NO photos to be taken within the Sistine Chapel so that’s another 50photos I could have on my phone to further show what is housed in that area. OMG!! Amazing & full of Michelangelo’s work throughout the ceiling (4yrs to paint it), The Last Judgement & The Creation of Adam. You could stand there for hours taking in the finest details of the immense artworks Michelangelo painted. A testimony to an extreme talent of a human.

We eventually see daylight into St Peter’s Square & after about 10mins we ventured into St Peter’s Basilica (up until 1989 it was the largest Christian church in the world) to more amazement & insane treasures of everything imaginable. There was a special service happening at the altar, so we couldn’t venture past the barricade, some 30m from the alter. The pipe organ was playing & a choir singing & it was an amazing experience to feel how this church really is. Reaching the end of the tour we are left to take our time in our departure while in St Peter’s, so after a while I ventured out to start my walk home being almost converted to priesthood. I was surprised to see a gorgeous blonde that was in our other group walking to the side 2m from me. We sat on different seat areas while waiting for our check-in prior. After my introduction I asked her what she thought of the last 3hrs. Her statement matched mine “OVERWHELMING”!!! Like me, couldn’t believe what we had seen. We walked for a bit together, but you could see she was concerned walking with a stranger & saw a shop she said to see, so I allowed her to ‘escape’ .. haha .. that’s how it goes .. allowing trust, privacy & safety to others as being paramount.

On my way back to my hotel I walked past the Colosseum & more impressive landmarks getting the evening light senses on my photos without the dreaded glaring sun I had to fight against at times. Just on the other side of the Colosseum I came across a set of stairs & too far to circle around them, so I toughened up & took the 101 steps to the top. Certain muscles let me know about it after the day of walking I had done. All in all, with my full day of walking which included the Colosseum area tour of the morning I had managed 24,350 steps or 18.94klms. Yikes!!!

Hope you enjoy the photos & truly, I cannot type or include all my photos on everything, so I’ll end my 3rd Blog here & many thanks for reading them. My next blogs will have more sights of Rome, Politano & Pompei. Please stay safe, happy & healthy

My Europe Tour 2025 – Blog #2 – Rome

Day 1 in Rome – 2/10/2025

OK!! I’m now in Rome city (Historic Quarter & my first EVER day in Europe) 9am after my expensive train from the airport (Blog 1) & my first project is to find a café, for coffee & to use their WiFi as my Saily Data package has not evolved as promoted to me. Using my data provider on my original Australian Network will incur an obscene charge per day so I’ll persist in seeking out a better solution. I am without the internet & everything else. A wonderful café opposite to the Rome Termini (Central Station) was Sfizio & they were superb. Everything appeared to kick in on my phone with Saily once the WiFi took hold. I could now confirm where my hotel is (not far) but upon leaving Sfizio & a block away, I again had no internet. I finally found my hotel Bettoja Hotel Massimo D’Azeglio without Google Maps & left my bags at reception (too early to check-in) & took a map they had at the counter, as I had a Patheon Tour (Italia Explorer) booked for 2pm @ $21.84AUD. With plenty of time I headed off, but the map reading was all over the place. The thousands of people & tourists made walking the streets bloody hard & I found myself doubling back several times & not quite int the direction needed. The street signage was in a level of crap of small writing & not making sense!!! Really out of my depth.

With frustration mounting (I had already done about 6klms of walking) & by the time I had found The Pantheon & my guide before the required deadline. He helped by putting me straight in (skip the line booking) which was a huge bonus instead of waiting for my designated time. The Pantheon was truly amazing & I can’t believe how this construction was carried out back then. The front 16 stone columns each weigh 60tons & were hand crafted in Egypt & shipped over. They used up to twelve elephants to erect each column. When inside, the wonder continues with great stone sculptures, arts & the world’s largest concrete dome of that type above us. The dome is 43.44m (142.5’) in diameter & is the largest unsupported concrete dome in the world & has had the record for over 2,000years (125AD). History does not record who built it, but it started in 27BC & was rebuilt to finish 125AD. The circular walls are 24’ thick & the entrance doors are bronze at 24’ high with an opening of about 14’ wide. The open eye “oculus” of the dome is a whopping 27’ in diameter & hardly any rain falls through it. The floor has a 1’ slope from the centre to accommodate any rain that rarely comes through it. For centuries experts could not prove the components of the true Roman Concrete of that age. The recipe had been lost long ago. With the latest technology used on original foundation footings still present today they found the vital ingredient which was the ash (white & grey pumice) from the eruption of Mt Vesuvius in 79AD over Pompei, etc making it the strongest concrete ever.

The Pantheon & Obelisk

After the Pantheon I found another café with WiFi & contacted the Bot in Saily Support where the AI really can be scary .. so human like in answering & it diagnosed my phone was cutting in & out with the Airplane mode. After a few interactions & waiting the required seconds on the mode setting Saily cut in fully & no more problems after that so it was easy to find my way back to my hotel. I am now aware the Airplane mode can be erratic. My Samsung Health App notified me I had walked 23,705 steps equaling 18.56klms if you don’t mind. Yikes!!!

Upon returning to my hotel, quite close to the Rome Termini Station (Central) I was quite shocked trying to convince the reception staff on my check-in stating they had my bags in storage that morning. Finally, the staff realised I was in the wrong Bettoja Hotel, which was directly across the road from my Bettoja Massimo D’Azeglio. I was informed the father Bettoja had 3 hotels & upon his passing, each of his 3 sons inherited a hotel each & they are near each other (Mediterraneo was opposite & Atlantico on same block but further down). They are stunning hotels & had better get my attendances right over the next few days. LOL!! Finally settled into the night & sorting out my 4day stay & to get ready for my early morning Colosseum tour (1.5klms, 18mins walk away from my hotel).

3/10/25 Day 2 The hotel delivered my brekky right on time so heading out in the late dawn went very well. After lunchtime I must walk from the Colosseum over the River Tiber to the Vatican (50min walk, 4.1klms) for that tour. A HUGE day of course. My Colosseum, Roman Forum & Palatine Hill Areas Tour by Crown Tours through Viator, was for a 9.30am start where the meeting point was 20mins walk away & I detest being late for anything. It is critical to organising an early morning tour, as by lunchtime the volume of people at the Colosseum is beyond ridiculous & the temperature is more comforting. Our guide was Annalisa, a documented archaeologist who apologised frequently in confirming a lot what we have been shown & taught are so out of touch to the real history we may become upset or disillusioned. The Gladiator movie was an example where it was more of Hollywood illusion of course.

After the viewing in awe of the Colosseum structure as we walked closer for its massive size you notice a side section is missing of its upper decks. This was due to outside thieves or colonies stealing the blocks of limestone/ travertine blocks for their other infrastructure which was an ongoing crime as building resources & workers were hard to get. The other side of the Colosseum was inhabited by a large village; hence blocks couldn’t be stolen from there. Due to the ‘vandalism’ it weakened the structure & when a great earthquake happened in 1349 & some of the fallen debris eventually was used to build hospitals, palaces & other structures. In a lot of walls of blocks, you can see small holes chipped into the blocks where the rare steel metal joining spikes were removed for other structures in time. This also weakened the walls.

The Colosseum was built in just 8yrs (72AD-80AD) using over 100,000cubic metres of stone & Roman concrete. After the fall of the Roman Empire the Colosseum was abandoned & fell into disrepair. The arena was a timber floor supported by numerous brick walls as per my photo. Sections of the floor was raised vertically by means of the adjacent aqueduct system that hydraulically lifted the selected platform for better public viewing when required. The underfloor structure, known as the hypogeum, consisted of numerous alleys of brick walls & cages where animals were caged for hunting performances. The next fighting gladiators were housed there just before their fights were to take place. The remaining gladiators were kept longer outside the Colosseum for relief & training & entered the arena underground by a tunnel. Gladiators were well paid by their schooling master’s & not killed merely for sport as per the movie The Gladiator. Their surviving skills kept them in a good financial status, but no life was long in Rome those days but not every gladiator was eliminated, unless they were poor performers.

The arena floor was also treated with a small layer of sand for the shows to reduce the effect of blood volume & slipperiness, mainly from the animal kills & not so much from any gladiator kills. Animals were hunted & slaughtered far more than any gladiator. If you look closely at the interior photo you can manage to see there were 5 seat terraces (see the staircase remains) where they placed all the lower-class people up onto the highest level, for their role was to cheer the loudest & to confirm if the losing gladiator was to live or die. The decision was decided by the volume of the cheering, not the emperor’s, thumbs up or down.

Everything you view is of a grand scale & it is hard to understand just 8yrs to build. On the eastern side, when you walk around you can see the original Rome floor was some 7m below the current ground level. This area would flood so over time the romans would build over what the floods provided with more soil making it now 7m above.

On the same side you can see the remnants of the high-level aqueducts that fed the water into the sub floor of the arena area for the hydraulics to work. The sub-floor would be flooded for approx. 1m deep. This again is confirmed when you venture adjacent to the Colosseum on the western side called Palatine Hill which also shows more intricate structure history including aqueducts over this expansive area. In the lower area, there is a small, curved wall with a new protective roof over it & this is where Julius Ceasar was assassinated by a stabbing. There is far too much history to type, discuss & take photos, so you must come to Rome for yourself & it would be a bonus in scoring our guide, Annalisa who is a walking encyclopedia. Enjoy the photos & look closely at the detail.

I’ll end my 2nd Blog here & many thanks for reading them. My next blogs will have far more pictures & of major significance of the major sights of Rome starting with the Vatican. Please stay safe, happy & healthy.