Today’s post is 1620 words, 31 photos, a 7 minute read. Enjoy!

Hi everyone,

Welcome back to regular time with Traveling With Tom. After weeks of reruns, I’m back with scads of new material from our travels to Rome, Sicily, and Ghana, West Africa. I can’t wait to share my new experiences and photos with you for the next several weeks. Let’s get started.

The Trail to Rome

We left for Rome on a Friday morning on a flight from Madison to Atlanta. The plane left early and arrived early, we were pleasantly surprised. It was our first flight since the pandemic shut things down, we’d heard a lot of horror stories over the past few years about delays and cancellations. We were seated in comfort plus during our trip giving us a bit more legroom.

As we approached the Atlanta airport, the partly cloudy skies gave us hope that our flight to Rome would leave on time and there wouldn’t be any weather delays. There weren’t.

Our layover in Atlanta was more than a few hours due to our concern about the aforementioned problems. We had a nice lunch and then waited for our late evening flight from Atlanta to Rome. Fortunately, there was a nice youth art exposition in the international terminal that we enjoyed. Lots of talent in the group, even a little photography.

Closer to our departure time, we watched the ground crew ready the plane for the nine and half hour flight to Rome.

Meet Tammy. She was the flight attendant assigned to our area. When we boarded she noticed that I was wearing a shirt with the Green Bay Packers logo. The first time she came by to check if our seat belts were fastened, Tammy called me a “slacker backer.” I must have given her a funny look so she explained that she is part of a Chicago based flight crew and is a diehard Bears fan even if their recent seasons have been less than spectacular. Then I understood. Every time she came by there was banter between us about the Packers and the Bears. Things like how many times the Packers beat the Bears this year (twice) and how many Super Bowls the Bears won (1), the Packer have won 4. I apologize for the poor quality of the photo even if she is a Bears fan!

In addition to eating dinner and sleeping much of the way, I was engrossed in the book “A Gentleman in Moscow” by Amor Towles. Occasionally, I’d look and see where we were according to the flight tracker.

Rome

It was about 10:30 AM on Saturday morning when we arrived at the Rome airport. Since we didn’t have any checked luggage, we quickly cleared immigration and headed for the train station. Rome Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci Airport is located about 20 miles (31 km) west of the center of Rome. The easiest and most cost effective way to reach the Rome Termini (the central rail station) is by a direct train. By the time we reached the airport train station, we were ready for a pick-me-up caffe americano (a watered down expresso) and a wait for the next train. After a 30 minute ride we arrived at the busy Termini with people going every which way. After wandering around for a few minutes, we found the place to purchase a 7-day Metro (the Rome subway) tickets for € 24 each ($26 USD). We would ride this nearly everyday during our nine day stay.

Via Baccina 45

Months ago we reserved this AirBnb in the Monti section of Rome about a seven minute walk to and from the Cavour Metro stop. It was a homey one bedroom apartment with all the amenities we needed for our stay. The window above the entry door opened into our bedroom. When the daytime temps reached into the lower 60s, the apartment would become quite warm and stuffy. We would throw open the window to cool things off and watch the foot traffic pass by.

About a half a block away, there was a piazza with a fountain, The Fountain of the Catechumens. About 20 steps away was a gelateria (a shop that sells the Italian ice cream treat, gelato). Most evenings, people sat on the steps of the fountain, visiting with friends, and enjoying their gelato. This was after having dinner at one of the many nearby restaurants, trattorias, pizzerias, and osterias. 

After a walk to the closest grocery store for supplies, we had an early dinner and walked around the neighborhood looking in the shops. As we were about to turn on to our street when we heard a megaphone shouting out a message followed by chanting and the blowing of whistles. We walked up the half block to Via Cavour where there was a march in support of Ukraine. It was the second anniversary of the invasion by the aggressors. Folks in the crowd were carrying the blue and yellow Ukrainian flags. The bullhorn message was in Italian and Ukrainian so we didn’t understand the words but got the message. Glory to Ukraine!

The demonstration was followed by several police cars and a bunch of cars waiting to get around the crowd. A typical Saturday night in Rome, lots of fun and demonstrations. This wouldn’t be our last.

After a leisurely breakfast on Sunday morning, my Traveling Partner and I headed out to the Metro for the trek to Vatican City.

Church of Santo Spirito in Sassia

Near the Vatican, after weaving through the construction, we found the Church of Santo Spirito in Sassia. This church offers the Catholic Mass in English every Sunday morning. The sanctuary was nearly full of worshippers. This church was completed in 1545 and contains numerous paintings, frescoes, and works of well regarded artists from several periods. Since the church is quite old, note the netting below the ceiling that prevents debris from falling on congregants.

The church is just a few blocks from St. Peter’s Basilica as seen in the photo below.

The Sunday Angelus

Every Sunday at precisely 12 Noon, Pope Francis comes to the window of the Papal apartments to give a brief message and blessing to all pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square. After attending English Mass and a stop for a caffe americano and a pastry we got in the security check line for entry into Vatican City, St. Peter’s Square and Basilica. We’d heard that the Pope had been sick and might not deliver the Angelus. We asked a couple of police officers before getting in line, they said he was  sick but maybe it might happen. A typical Italian response, maybe, maybe not.

When we cleared security and entered the Square on the beautiful sunny, but cool day, there was a large crowd waiting for the Pope to appear. At about 5 minutes to 12, the window opened and a strip of purple cloth was unfurled from the window of the Papal apartments. 

As we waited for the Pope to appear, I shot a few photos of objects in the Square.

At 12 Noon the Pope approached the window, a cheer went up as he greeted the crowd of several thousand, by saying: “Dear brothers and sisters, buongiorno!” His message was all in Italian. The English version was posted on the Vatican website vatican.va. He talked about the Transfiguration of Jesus and keeping one’s eye of the light of Jesus.

He went on to acknowledge that the day prior, February 24, 2024, was the second anniversary of the beginning of the war in Ukraine. He pleaded for the end of the war and aggression and prayed for a lasting peace. He also asked the audience to join him in praying for the people, especially the children, of Palestine who were suffering from the ravages of war. He greeted some of the groups of pilgrims in attendance and conferred his blessing on the crowd.

He finished by saying: “I wish you a happy Sunday. Please, do not forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch. Arrivederci.” It was an honor to have the opportunity to be in his presence and hear his words of comfort. It wouldn’t be the last time we saw the Pope during our stay in Rome.

Even the dog enjoyed the Pope’s message!

After the Angelus, we entered St. Peter’s Basilica and wandered around gawking at the majesty of the building, the artwork, and solemnity of the center of the Catholic world. But lo and behold, more earthly matters took hold, we were hungry. Our breakfast and mid-morning pastry had worn off. We would be back later in the week to spend more time in St. Peter’s.

We headed back towards the Metro stop, looking for a restaurant that we enjoyed with The Youngest during our 2007 visit to Italy and Rome. We remembered the excellent pizza and watching three Italian guys eat so much, an appetizer, a first plate, a second plate, a pizza, and finally a dessert. One of the fellas ate so much that one of the buttons popped off his shirt. We knew it was about a half block down a side street off the main tourist trail to the Vatican. We found a place and after we ate, we realized it was the same place we ate at in 2007! The decor had changed, the red checkered table clothes were gone and they added outside seating. When we saw the owner, now much older but still cooking for his guests, and the article about the restaurant that appeared in the Los Angeles Times in the early 2000s, we knew it was the right place. We would eat here again later in the week.

That does for this week. Join me next week for more adventures in Rome.

Until then, happy travels!

Tom

PS: If you missed last week’s post, click here.