Rome, Sevilla, Gibraltar, etc.
Rome was stiflingly hot and humid! Hmm… where have I ever heard that before?
But I’m getting ahead of myself here a bit. Please be warned that I haven’t gone on line for a looooong time. So be ready to spend a lot of time on this post because it’s almost a couple weeks worth.
Tuesday, July 24
We got picked up by our cabbie Abraham from our time share hotel Club Plaza at Puerto de la Cruz in Tenerife, Canary Islands, at around 7 pm. We got to the north airport (Rodeo) and we found out that most departing flights have been cancelled due to bad weather. The monitors showed that our flight will be delayed for about an hour – enough time for them to bus us to the south airport (Sofia) so we can catch our flight there to Madrid. When we got there, the flight got delayed for 3 more hours and we didn’t fly out till about 1:45 am. We got to the Madrid airport after a couple of hours and we waited there for our layover to Jerez for a morning flight at 8:30. After about an hour on air, Robert picked us up from the Jerez airport. He told us Mary called in sick that day due to a cold.
When we got to the house, he prepared lunch of chicken adobo and some much missed rice. Everyone was just happy to be back for a bit and relax. I did a couple of loads of laundry while I charged my laptop and downloaded my digital pictures at the same time. I finished Mina’s Cold Eyes and started A Mighty Heart. Mina did a great job on her first foray into writing. Cold Eyes had a couple of pretty cool twists. Once some typos are ignored it’s a page turner towards the middle of the book and an interesting read. I then started A Mighty Heart, about journalist Danny Pearl’s abduction in Pakistan written by his wife Mariane. I figured I’ll need a book for our 2 Madrid layovers to and from Rome. I also made sure to borrow Robert’s electrical outlet adaptor so I can use and charge my laptop in the hotel and airport terminals.
When I got tired from reading, I took a little nap. Robert roused everyone from our nap for an early dinner and dropped us off back at Jerez at 4 for our 7:15 pm flight to Madrid on our way to Rome.
Our stay at the Madrid airport was pretty uneventful, well except for one incident. Donna suggested for Jun and Rose to go out and take the subway to check out downtown Madrid. Donna and I stayed to watch out luggage. When they came back around midnight, they told us the story of how Jun almost got his pocket picked on their way to the subway. There were three suspicious looking guys who were getting too close to Jun. One of the guys dropped something on the floor which enabled them to back Jun to a corner but when he noticed something fishy is going on, he elbowed one of the guys and they quickly walked away.
Meanwhile, Donna started a conversation with a young student from Denmark on his way home to Cordova, Spain. We also found three Filipino girls and Donna noticed they’re not very talkative and she sensed that perhaps they’re TNT’s. I plugged in my laptop and I got some signal. I checked my eMail and replied to one from Sister Lita.
Wednesday, July 25
At around 8:30 in the morning we left Madrid for Rome. As soon as I sat down on the plane, I was out like a light and didn’t wake up until I felt the A340 tires touched down at Fiumicino airport in Rome at almost 11.
Rome was stiflingly hot and humid!
We asked around and we were told that taking the train to our hotel could cost up to 12 euros each and if we take a cab it may just cost us the same. So we decided to go out of the terminal and take a cab. We showed him the address of our hotel and it took him about 45 minutes to get us there. He charged us 50 euros for the trip.
We checked in at Hotel Diplomatic in Rome. It’s a three star hotel for $150 per night. The room was not too spacey but it’s clean with an averaged sized LG flat screen TV with cable but mostly Italian shows. The bathroom was pretty big though – typical European style with bidet and floor to ceiling marble tiles and counter tops.
One thing I noticed about Italian toilets - the tank is hidden behind the wall and there are two flushing mechanisms, 1 for number one, another for number two.
I didn’t get any signal for my laptop but I was able to download pictures from my memory stick.
We called Lita from our room and we caught her on her first day at work from her trip to the Philippines. She said she was busy that day but we got a dinner date with her and Fumio the next day. After a quick shower and a short nap, we went out to have a late lunch then asked for directions and walked towards St. Peter’s square to visit the Basilica. On the way, tourists are all over walking around like us. One can tell the way they once in a while glance at their maps on one hand, looking lost and confused with their backpacks, cameras and clutching a water bottle on the other hand.
We encountered a fairly long line at St. Peter’s square, first stop of which was for a couple of guards checking for dress code and the second one is the standard airport x-ray/metal detector. Shorts, mini skirts, tank tops and muscle shorts are not allowed.
Once inside, the first thing that comes into mind is the building’s immense size and opulence. I found myself apologizing for its excess and I had to mention my feelings to Jun but he says that glory to God is enough justification to build something like this. It’s supposed to be the biggest in the world. There are literally thousands of priceless relics, antiquities, and various works of art – paintings, sculptures, frescoes and murals.
Bottom left picture shows Donna paying homage to the statue of St. Peter.
Bottom right picture is a four-poster structure which underneath is supposed to be the tomb of St. Peter, I believe.
Sorry, this is the best I can do for La Pieta. We cannot get any closer and my camera doesn't work well with low lighting.
After spending a couple of hours there, Jun and I went walking around to find where the Sistine Chapel was located; while Rose and Donna went souvenir shopping. After asking around a couple of times, we found out where it was but we were told it’s closed for the day. We figured we’ll hit it with the tour the next day. Lita suggested for us to take the hop-on-hop-off tour bus to make the most of our day. We turned around and looked for the shoppers. When they finished (for the day) we started walking back with Jun referring to our area map.
Since we hardly had any sleep from the night before at the Madrid airport, Jun and Rose decided to go to bed early. But Donna and I woke up around 11 pm feeling hungry so we went downstairs and ordered a pizza from the restaurant we had lunch earlier. Their thin crust smoked salmon pizza was to die for.
Thursday, July 26
All of us woke up early and hit the hotel’s complimentary breakfast. It was pretty decent; cold cuts, rolls, various Danish and croissants, cereal and milk, juice, yogurt, coffee and hot chocolate. Donna and I ordered the hot chocolate which was so thick it’s like drinking some hot dark chocolate bars.
When we went back up to the room after breakfast, Lita called wanting to know how we’re doing and confirmed our dinner date. We were supposed to meet her at the train station in front of the Colosseum.
The front desk clerk gave us instructions on how to get some bus tickets to get to the main train station (called Termini) where we can get our tickets for the tour bus.
We found out there are quite a bit of Filipinos in Rome; working in souvenir shops, the clerk at the ice cream parlor, the waiter in one of the restaurants we had lunch in across the Vatican Museum, the couple in the bus, they’re everywhere, really. And they’re very helpful anytime we ask questions, directions, etc. But each and every one of them always reminds us to be wary of pickpockets and muggers. Through snippets of conversation we learn that most of them speak Italian, some have families living with them and some are not. But of course their common thread – leaving to find their better luck outside the Philippines.
Anyway, we got our 19 euro tour tickets and we were told the first stop is a few minutes walk away – the Sta. Maria Majori cathedral. This is also a big church but it’s small after seeing the Basilica.
There are a total of 14 stops on the tour but we decided to stop only on the major ones since we obviously won’t have enough time to go through all of them. Next stop on our itinerary was number 3, the Colosseum. It’s so amazing to finally be on this place after so many years of always seeing it in the movies, on postcards, etc. We stood in line for security and tickets (11 euro) along with tourists from all over the world. We stayed for about an hour checking the place out and of course taking hundreds of pictures. I’m reminded of a scene in the movie Enter the Dragon where Bruce Lee had a final confrontation against Chuck Norris shot on the Colosseum. Jun and I walked all around it but the heat was so oppressive, Rose and Donna decided to sit it out and wait for us in the shade.
Sistine Chapel was number 7. By the time we got there it was already past three. Guess what – we struck out for the 2nd time, it’s closed! We had lunch and went on to our next stop, number 11, the Trevi Fountain. The famous scene in that old movie with the theme song Three Coins in the Fountain was shot here. After asking for directions three or four times, we finally found it tucked in an intersection of narrow streets. The Rome of today was built around the pre historic sites of the old Rome. Thus, one sees pretty much a tour site every other block or so. The Trevi fountain was just a marvel to see. It would be nice if there’s some semblance of control over all the vendors around the area.
Once we got our fill of the fountain, we tried to figure out how to get to our meeting place with Lita. First, I tried to get some bus tickets for us to go to the Colosseum train station. I was told that we didn’t need to take the bus since it’s a walking distance (10 to 15 min or so) from our location. So, walk we did. People here have a tendency to underestimate time and distance. After a little over half an hour, we finally saw a glimpse of the Colosseum!
I crossed the street towards the train station while every one sat it out. A few minutes later, a Japanese gentleman approached and said, “Rey?” What are the chances of a Japanese guy addressing me by name in the middle of Rome? I had to assume he’s Fumio, Lita’s husband. I fetched the rest of the group and Fumio led us into the subway, up to a couple of set of escalators and then we saw Lita waiting. She basically just got back from work. The two of them took us to their place, a 5th story apartment literally overlooking the Colosseum. They have a guest, Asakusa, a Japanese former student of Fumio. She works and goes to school in Paris and is in Rome for a couple of days. After a brief visit to the restroom, we all went downstairs and walked towards a restaurant owned by a friend of Fumio. It was a nice walk to the restaurant, it was already getting dark by this time and it was much cooler. We were talking with Lita and are pretty amazed that we’re here in Rome after all we’ve been through in the Philippines.
We got to the restaurant after a few minutes. The owner met us by the door. His family has been running the restaurant for 101 years!! Of course, when you’re in Rome… so Lita ordered all kinds of pasta dishes which of course are all good.
Dinner won’t be complete without dessert so we walked towards a nearby ice cream parlor. I think I gained back all the weight I’ve lost before we left the US! Donna and I have been cheating on our diet like crazy.
Lita called a cab for us to take us back to our hotel.
We had to have the front desk wake us up at 6 since we’ve missed the Sistine chapel a couple of times already and tomorrow will be our last chance to see it. We were advised to check out before we leave for the Sistine chapel in case we run late so we don’t get charged and extra $150 each.
After I downloaded my pictures for the day, I got some signal for my laptop but my laptop went low bat before I was able to check all of my eMail. When I moved my laptop into the bathroom to plug it into the outlet, the signal was gone – bummer!
Friday, July 27
We had breakfast bright and early. Donna and I took the bus ahead of Jun and Rose, who will take care of the hotel check out, so we can go on line for tickets early for the Sistine chapel. There were already a lot of people in line when we got there. We found out that they let guided tour groups in first. After about half an hour on line, here come Jun and Rose. But by this time there were already a lot of people behind us in line. We must have stood there close to two hours and we finally got inside for security and the 13 euro tickets. We had to go through the Vatican Museum first which is a maze of halls and rooms filled with marble statues, paintings and all kinds of Catholic Church antiquities. After about an hour of this, we got to the Sistine Chapel. It’s a lot smaller than I imagined but it has paintings from floor to ceiling. It was disappointing that picture taking was absolutely forbidden inside the chapel but it was still worth the experience.
We took the bus back to the hotel, had lunch, picked up our luggage and took a cab to the airport. Of course, our flight to Madrid got delayed for over three hours. We weren’t too worried since we had an overnight layover in Madrid anyway. I tried to look for a signal for my laptop in the terminal but to no avail. So I decided to just charge it, go to sleep on the floor and use it as my pillow. Now I can relate with homeless people. The terminal granite tile floor was bone chilling cold! I wouldn’t have fallen asleep if not for Donna covering me up with her sweater. She woke me up at around 6 in the morning saying the Spanair counter is accepting check-ins. After checking in, we had breakfast and waited by the gate for our 10 am flight to Jerez.
Robert picked us up and took us straight to Arcos de la Frontera, a frontier town in Cadiz. The hike uphill was back breaking and the heat in the middle of the day didn’t help. The view up top was well worth it, however. We stopped by a restaurant on the way down and went home afterwards.
They took a quick shower and crashed. I put it off and downloaded all my pictures and continued on my blog.
Sunday, July 29
Last night Robert and Mary had some guests from the base, Jeff and Erica. He’s a LCDR for the Navy and she works with Mary at the MWR. They dropped off their 5 year old girl Tatum with Mary because they’re going to a party and no kids are allowed. She’s a well behaved little girl and went to sleep when she got tired while every one stayed up to watch another episode of Pinoy Big Brother and Willie Revillame’s Wowowee on VHS.
Mary woke us up before 9 and when we got up Robert was almost finished cooking breakfast. Afterwards, they went on base to drop off Tatum and pick up the Dodge Durango that they borrowed from their friends so the six of us will fit.
We packed ourselves into the Durango, and then Robert drove us out to Sevilla. It took us about an hour to get there, just enough time to hear the 12 noon mass at the Cathedral. This is supposed to be the biggest Cathedral in Spain.
It was indeed huge. We were not allowed to take pictures during mass but I was able to take pictures of its outside features. After mass we walked towards the boardwalk and we took pictures of the Torre del Oro, a prehistoric watch tower by the river.
Then we went back to the underground parking to so we can drive to nearby Plaza del Espana. In the middle of the plaza was a huge fountain and there’s a huge semi circular building at the back that’s being used as a municipal building. Looking at the pictures of the fountain is sort of deceiving because it looks cool. Outside temperature at the time, however, was a sizzling 44C which is a mild 111F!
Afterwards we went back home to have lunch, change from our sweaty shirts and go to the bullfight at the Puerto de Sta. Maria bull ring.
Over the years I’ve changed the way I feel about animals in captivity that’s why I haven’t gone to a zoo in a long time and I really didn’t enjoy taking some friends to Sea World several years back. I just feel that these animals belong in the wild and not caged for people’s enjoyment. Along the same lines, I was not too enthused about watching a bullfight. Not wanting to be a wet blanket, I went.
Bullfighting is supposed to be big here in Spain and indeed it is, the way people flock to the arena to watch their celebrity matadors. I thought American football or even Ultimate Fighting Championship is a brutal and violent sport. Bullfighting is much worse since it always ends up with someone dying. But I guess there’s a cultural issue involved here.
Basically it starts with all the matadors in their full regalia going into the arena to sort of introduce themselves. Then the first bull is let loose and the matadors start playing around with him with their yellow and pink capes. Then a couple of guys will come out with their banderillas. These are basically long, barbed and decorated barbecue sticks which they in turn stick to the back of the bull. This of course will anger the bull a tad more. Then a couple of guys on horseback will come out. Their horses are blindfolded and armored. They each carry a long lance with them. One of the matadors will play around with the bull and in the process will try to get closer to one of the guys on the horse. Once the bull sees the horse, it charges and tries to gore the horse, hence the armor. Here is why the horse is blindfolded. It stays put so the guy with the lance can stick the spear to the bull’s shoulder, deep enough to draw a lot of blood but not enough to kill him yet. The bull is really enraged by this time. All the while the matadors still play around with him, tiring and wearing him out. Then the main matador comes out with his red cape and sword. This is one of them thin swords not unlike the ones they use in fencing. There’s a lot of posturing on the part of the matador which is supposed to look manly but comes out effeminate somehow. It’s like a morbid ballet between the matador and the bull because spectators know that ninety nine percent of the time; the bull gets killed in the end. Anyway, the matador will eventually stick the sword all the way into the middle of the shoulder blades of the bull piercing his heart I think but he’d still have enough fight left in him for a few more minutes. The matador gets another sword, this time to pierce the bull’s spine (or perhaps its brain?) and the bull drops dead. Then another guy will stick a knife into the head of the bull I guess to make sure he’s really dead. A team of three horses will come out into the arena and they will drag the dead bull by its horns to the cheer of the audience.
Six bulls died tonight, one matador got gored. We should know tomorrow what became of the gored matador. Mary was going to find out from someone who works for her and who lives by the bullfight arena.
I've seen my first and last bullfight. I've decided not to attach any of my bullfighting pictures here. Let me know if you're interested and I'll eMail you a couple.
Monday, July 30
Today was decided to be a rest day. Robert was a bit under the weather and Rose is feeling much worse with a sore throat and slight cough. People who were smoking next to us at the bullfight made Rose’s throat all the more scratchy. Since they still have one full day tomorrow, we put off the trip to Gibraltar. Jun and I just spent a couple of the evening hours walking and exploring the beaches in the area.
Tuesday, July 31
Mary woke us up before Robert dropped her off to work. We were almost ready by the time he got back. Then off we went on our way to Gibraltar. It took us about an hour and a half to get there.
Since Gibraltar is already a part of the UK, we had to take our passports with us which were inspected at the border. Robert parked on the Spanish side and we walked towards Gibraltar. Right after immigration is the tours information booth. We were told they were out of taxis to take us for the tour so we had to go downtown to get one. The thing with going downtown is it’s quite a ways to walk and the sun was already high up at this time so it’s fairly warm. Not as hot as when we were in Sevilla but it was still an effort. The other thing with walking towards downtown in Gibraltar, there’s a section of the runway on their airport that pedestrians had to cross. Below shot shows us on top of the Gibraltar rock with the runway behind us and Spain in the background.
We felt that we don’t walk fast enough and we don’t want to be in the news: Tourists in Gibraltar Run Over by an Airplane – film at 11!! So it’s the bus for us!
This was a weekday and there shouldn’t be too big of a crowd here. Wrong! Unfortunately, there were a couple of huge cruise ships that pulled into the harbor. Gibraltar is not a big place and five to six thousand people visiting it at one time is a little too much for it to handle. It took us around half an hour walking around before we were able to hail a mini van to give us a tour to the peak of The Rock.
Our driver Tony spoke good English and he charged us 25 euros each. The view on the top was awesome. It would have been much better if it was a little clearer. We could barely see the tip of Africa. The trip was still worth it, however. We had lunch at Burger King (yes, corporate America is all over Europe!), bought a few souvenirs then took the bus back to the border and went home.
We got back in time enough for Robert to drop us off at work and pick up Mary from work right afterwards. When they arrived, dinner was prepared and a few minutes later we all went out to the take a walk on the beach, this being Rose and Jun’s last night here in Spain. They fly back home early tomorrow.
Wednesday, Aug 1
We were woken up by rustling of feet this morning . I realized Jun and Rose are getting ready to leave to get to the airport. I got up and quickly dressed up and so did Donna. It was still dark out at 5:30 am. Robert suggested for me to drive but I told him I’ll do it when Emy and Nido and family arrive this Sunday. It took us only a few minutes to get to the airport. Robert dropped us off at the curb and we went towards the check in counter. There were already a lot of people in line. When they finished they only had enough time to go through security and board so we said our goodbyes. It was nice that we had the chance to be with them on this leg of our trip. After all, Donna and I wouldn’t have had the chance to go to Tenerife of the Canary Islands if not for Rose and Jun. They were great company there as well as when we were in Rome.
We’ll be kicking back for the next couple of days until Imelda, Dan and family arrive this Saturday and Emy and Nido the day after. As soon as Robert drop off Mary for work, we’ll probably go to the Gypsy market and pick up a couple of things. This is their swap meet over here and it’s only open on Wednesdays. Hopefully we’ll be able to get our base pass by Friday so I can go on line and post this blog which is turning out to be a novel!
But I’m getting ahead of myself here a bit. Please be warned that I haven’t gone on line for a looooong time. So be ready to spend a lot of time on this post because it’s almost a couple weeks worth.
Tuesday, July 24
We got picked up by our cabbie Abraham from our time share hotel Club Plaza at Puerto de la Cruz in Tenerife, Canary Islands, at around 7 pm. We got to the north airport (Rodeo) and we found out that most departing flights have been cancelled due to bad weather. The monitors showed that our flight will be delayed for about an hour – enough time for them to bus us to the south airport (Sofia) so we can catch our flight there to Madrid. When we got there, the flight got delayed for 3 more hours and we didn’t fly out till about 1:45 am. We got to the Madrid airport after a couple of hours and we waited there for our layover to Jerez for a morning flight at 8:30. After about an hour on air, Robert picked us up from the Jerez airport. He told us Mary called in sick that day due to a cold.
When we got to the house, he prepared lunch of chicken adobo and some much missed rice. Everyone was just happy to be back for a bit and relax. I did a couple of loads of laundry while I charged my laptop and downloaded my digital pictures at the same time. I finished Mina’s Cold Eyes and started A Mighty Heart. Mina did a great job on her first foray into writing. Cold Eyes had a couple of pretty cool twists. Once some typos are ignored it’s a page turner towards the middle of the book and an interesting read. I then started A Mighty Heart, about journalist Danny Pearl’s abduction in Pakistan written by his wife Mariane. I figured I’ll need a book for our 2 Madrid layovers to and from Rome. I also made sure to borrow Robert’s electrical outlet adaptor so I can use and charge my laptop in the hotel and airport terminals.
When I got tired from reading, I took a little nap. Robert roused everyone from our nap for an early dinner and dropped us off back at Jerez at 4 for our 7:15 pm flight to Madrid on our way to Rome.
Our stay at the Madrid airport was pretty uneventful, well except for one incident. Donna suggested for Jun and Rose to go out and take the subway to check out downtown Madrid. Donna and I stayed to watch out luggage. When they came back around midnight, they told us the story of how Jun almost got his pocket picked on their way to the subway. There were three suspicious looking guys who were getting too close to Jun. One of the guys dropped something on the floor which enabled them to back Jun to a corner but when he noticed something fishy is going on, he elbowed one of the guys and they quickly walked away.
Meanwhile, Donna started a conversation with a young student from Denmark on his way home to Cordova, Spain. We also found three Filipino girls and Donna noticed they’re not very talkative and she sensed that perhaps they’re TNT’s. I plugged in my laptop and I got some signal. I checked my eMail and replied to one from Sister Lita.
Wednesday, July 25
At around 8:30 in the morning we left Madrid for Rome. As soon as I sat down on the plane, I was out like a light and didn’t wake up until I felt the A340 tires touched down at Fiumicino airport in Rome at almost 11.
Rome was stiflingly hot and humid!
We asked around and we were told that taking the train to our hotel could cost up to 12 euros each and if we take a cab it may just cost us the same. So we decided to go out of the terminal and take a cab. We showed him the address of our hotel and it took him about 45 minutes to get us there. He charged us 50 euros for the trip.
We checked in at Hotel Diplomatic in Rome. It’s a three star hotel for $150 per night. The room was not too spacey but it’s clean with an averaged sized LG flat screen TV with cable but mostly Italian shows. The bathroom was pretty big though – typical European style with bidet and floor to ceiling marble tiles and counter tops.
One thing I noticed about Italian toilets - the tank is hidden behind the wall and there are two flushing mechanisms, 1 for number one, another for number two.
I didn’t get any signal for my laptop but I was able to download pictures from my memory stick.
We called Lita from our room and we caught her on her first day at work from her trip to the Philippines. She said she was busy that day but we got a dinner date with her and Fumio the next day. After a quick shower and a short nap, we went out to have a late lunch then asked for directions and walked towards St. Peter’s square to visit the Basilica. On the way, tourists are all over walking around like us. One can tell the way they once in a while glance at their maps on one hand, looking lost and confused with their backpacks, cameras and clutching a water bottle on the other hand.
We encountered a fairly long line at St. Peter’s square, first stop of which was for a couple of guards checking for dress code and the second one is the standard airport x-ray/metal detector. Shorts, mini skirts, tank tops and muscle shorts are not allowed.
Once inside, the first thing that comes into mind is the building’s immense size and opulence. I found myself apologizing for its excess and I had to mention my feelings to Jun but he says that glory to God is enough justification to build something like this. It’s supposed to be the biggest in the world. There are literally thousands of priceless relics, antiquities, and various works of art – paintings, sculptures, frescoes and murals.
Bottom left picture shows Donna paying homage to the statue of St. Peter.
Bottom right picture is a four-poster structure which underneath is supposed to be the tomb of St. Peter, I believe.
Sorry, this is the best I can do for La Pieta. We cannot get any closer and my camera doesn't work well with low lighting.
After spending a couple of hours there, Jun and I went walking around to find where the Sistine Chapel was located; while Rose and Donna went souvenir shopping. After asking around a couple of times, we found out where it was but we were told it’s closed for the day. We figured we’ll hit it with the tour the next day. Lita suggested for us to take the hop-on-hop-off tour bus to make the most of our day. We turned around and looked for the shoppers. When they finished (for the day) we started walking back with Jun referring to our area map.
Since we hardly had any sleep from the night before at the Madrid airport, Jun and Rose decided to go to bed early. But Donna and I woke up around 11 pm feeling hungry so we went downstairs and ordered a pizza from the restaurant we had lunch earlier. Their thin crust smoked salmon pizza was to die for.
Thursday, July 26
All of us woke up early and hit the hotel’s complimentary breakfast. It was pretty decent; cold cuts, rolls, various Danish and croissants, cereal and milk, juice, yogurt, coffee and hot chocolate. Donna and I ordered the hot chocolate which was so thick it’s like drinking some hot dark chocolate bars.
When we went back up to the room after breakfast, Lita called wanting to know how we’re doing and confirmed our dinner date. We were supposed to meet her at the train station in front of the Colosseum.
The front desk clerk gave us instructions on how to get some bus tickets to get to the main train station (called Termini) where we can get our tickets for the tour bus.
We found out there are quite a bit of Filipinos in Rome; working in souvenir shops, the clerk at the ice cream parlor, the waiter in one of the restaurants we had lunch in across the Vatican Museum, the couple in the bus, they’re everywhere, really. And they’re very helpful anytime we ask questions, directions, etc. But each and every one of them always reminds us to be wary of pickpockets and muggers. Through snippets of conversation we learn that most of them speak Italian, some have families living with them and some are not. But of course their common thread – leaving to find their better luck outside the Philippines.
Anyway, we got our 19 euro tour tickets and we were told the first stop is a few minutes walk away – the Sta. Maria Majori cathedral. This is also a big church but it’s small after seeing the Basilica.
There are a total of 14 stops on the tour but we decided to stop only on the major ones since we obviously won’t have enough time to go through all of them. Next stop on our itinerary was number 3, the Colosseum. It’s so amazing to finally be on this place after so many years of always seeing it in the movies, on postcards, etc. We stood in line for security and tickets (11 euro) along with tourists from all over the world. We stayed for about an hour checking the place out and of course taking hundreds of pictures. I’m reminded of a scene in the movie Enter the Dragon where Bruce Lee had a final confrontation against Chuck Norris shot on the Colosseum. Jun and I walked all around it but the heat was so oppressive, Rose and Donna decided to sit it out and wait for us in the shade.
Sistine Chapel was number 7. By the time we got there it was already past three. Guess what – we struck out for the 2nd time, it’s closed! We had lunch and went on to our next stop, number 11, the Trevi Fountain. The famous scene in that old movie with the theme song Three Coins in the Fountain was shot here. After asking for directions three or four times, we finally found it tucked in an intersection of narrow streets. The Rome of today was built around the pre historic sites of the old Rome. Thus, one sees pretty much a tour site every other block or so. The Trevi fountain was just a marvel to see. It would be nice if there’s some semblance of control over all the vendors around the area.
Once we got our fill of the fountain, we tried to figure out how to get to our meeting place with Lita. First, I tried to get some bus tickets for us to go to the Colosseum train station. I was told that we didn’t need to take the bus since it’s a walking distance (10 to 15 min or so) from our location. So, walk we did. People here have a tendency to underestimate time and distance. After a little over half an hour, we finally saw a glimpse of the Colosseum!
I crossed the street towards the train station while every one sat it out. A few minutes later, a Japanese gentleman approached and said, “Rey?” What are the chances of a Japanese guy addressing me by name in the middle of Rome? I had to assume he’s Fumio, Lita’s husband. I fetched the rest of the group and Fumio led us into the subway, up to a couple of set of escalators and then we saw Lita waiting. She basically just got back from work. The two of them took us to their place, a 5th story apartment literally overlooking the Colosseum. They have a guest, Asakusa, a Japanese former student of Fumio. She works and goes to school in Paris and is in Rome for a couple of days. After a brief visit to the restroom, we all went downstairs and walked towards a restaurant owned by a friend of Fumio. It was a nice walk to the restaurant, it was already getting dark by this time and it was much cooler. We were talking with Lita and are pretty amazed that we’re here in Rome after all we’ve been through in the Philippines.
We got to the restaurant after a few minutes. The owner met us by the door. His family has been running the restaurant for 101 years!! Of course, when you’re in Rome… so Lita ordered all kinds of pasta dishes which of course are all good.
Dinner won’t be complete without dessert so we walked towards a nearby ice cream parlor. I think I gained back all the weight I’ve lost before we left the US! Donna and I have been cheating on our diet like crazy.
Lita called a cab for us to take us back to our hotel.
We had to have the front desk wake us up at 6 since we’ve missed the Sistine chapel a couple of times already and tomorrow will be our last chance to see it. We were advised to check out before we leave for the Sistine chapel in case we run late so we don’t get charged and extra $150 each.
After I downloaded my pictures for the day, I got some signal for my laptop but my laptop went low bat before I was able to check all of my eMail. When I moved my laptop into the bathroom to plug it into the outlet, the signal was gone – bummer!
Friday, July 27
We had breakfast bright and early. Donna and I took the bus ahead of Jun and Rose, who will take care of the hotel check out, so we can go on line for tickets early for the Sistine chapel. There were already a lot of people in line when we got there. We found out that they let guided tour groups in first. After about half an hour on line, here come Jun and Rose. But by this time there were already a lot of people behind us in line. We must have stood there close to two hours and we finally got inside for security and the 13 euro tickets. We had to go through the Vatican Museum first which is a maze of halls and rooms filled with marble statues, paintings and all kinds of Catholic Church antiquities. After about an hour of this, we got to the Sistine Chapel. It’s a lot smaller than I imagined but it has paintings from floor to ceiling. It was disappointing that picture taking was absolutely forbidden inside the chapel but it was still worth the experience.
We took the bus back to the hotel, had lunch, picked up our luggage and took a cab to the airport. Of course, our flight to Madrid got delayed for over three hours. We weren’t too worried since we had an overnight layover in Madrid anyway. I tried to look for a signal for my laptop in the terminal but to no avail. So I decided to just charge it, go to sleep on the floor and use it as my pillow. Now I can relate with homeless people. The terminal granite tile floor was bone chilling cold! I wouldn’t have fallen asleep if not for Donna covering me up with her sweater. She woke me up at around 6 in the morning saying the Spanair counter is accepting check-ins. After checking in, we had breakfast and waited by the gate for our 10 am flight to Jerez.
Robert picked us up and took us straight to Arcos de la Frontera, a frontier town in Cadiz. The hike uphill was back breaking and the heat in the middle of the day didn’t help. The view up top was well worth it, however. We stopped by a restaurant on the way down and went home afterwards.
They took a quick shower and crashed. I put it off and downloaded all my pictures and continued on my blog.
Sunday, July 29
Last night Robert and Mary had some guests from the base, Jeff and Erica. He’s a LCDR for the Navy and she works with Mary at the MWR. They dropped off their 5 year old girl Tatum with Mary because they’re going to a party and no kids are allowed. She’s a well behaved little girl and went to sleep when she got tired while every one stayed up to watch another episode of Pinoy Big Brother and Willie Revillame’s Wowowee on VHS.
Mary woke us up before 9 and when we got up Robert was almost finished cooking breakfast. Afterwards, they went on base to drop off Tatum and pick up the Dodge Durango that they borrowed from their friends so the six of us will fit.
We packed ourselves into the Durango, and then Robert drove us out to Sevilla. It took us about an hour to get there, just enough time to hear the 12 noon mass at the Cathedral. This is supposed to be the biggest Cathedral in Spain.
It was indeed huge. We were not allowed to take pictures during mass but I was able to take pictures of its outside features. After mass we walked towards the boardwalk and we took pictures of the Torre del Oro, a prehistoric watch tower by the river.
Then we went back to the underground parking to so we can drive to nearby Plaza del Espana. In the middle of the plaza was a huge fountain and there’s a huge semi circular building at the back that’s being used as a municipal building. Looking at the pictures of the fountain is sort of deceiving because it looks cool. Outside temperature at the time, however, was a sizzling 44C which is a mild 111F!
Afterwards we went back home to have lunch, change from our sweaty shirts and go to the bullfight at the Puerto de Sta. Maria bull ring.
Over the years I’ve changed the way I feel about animals in captivity that’s why I haven’t gone to a zoo in a long time and I really didn’t enjoy taking some friends to Sea World several years back. I just feel that these animals belong in the wild and not caged for people’s enjoyment. Along the same lines, I was not too enthused about watching a bullfight. Not wanting to be a wet blanket, I went.
Bullfighting is supposed to be big here in Spain and indeed it is, the way people flock to the arena to watch their celebrity matadors. I thought American football or even Ultimate Fighting Championship is a brutal and violent sport. Bullfighting is much worse since it always ends up with someone dying. But I guess there’s a cultural issue involved here.
Basically it starts with all the matadors in their full regalia going into the arena to sort of introduce themselves. Then the first bull is let loose and the matadors start playing around with him with their yellow and pink capes. Then a couple of guys will come out with their banderillas. These are basically long, barbed and decorated barbecue sticks which they in turn stick to the back of the bull. This of course will anger the bull a tad more. Then a couple of guys on horseback will come out. Their horses are blindfolded and armored. They each carry a long lance with them. One of the matadors will play around with the bull and in the process will try to get closer to one of the guys on the horse. Once the bull sees the horse, it charges and tries to gore the horse, hence the armor. Here is why the horse is blindfolded. It stays put so the guy with the lance can stick the spear to the bull’s shoulder, deep enough to draw a lot of blood but not enough to kill him yet. The bull is really enraged by this time. All the while the matadors still play around with him, tiring and wearing him out. Then the main matador comes out with his red cape and sword. This is one of them thin swords not unlike the ones they use in fencing. There’s a lot of posturing on the part of the matador which is supposed to look manly but comes out effeminate somehow. It’s like a morbid ballet between the matador and the bull because spectators know that ninety nine percent of the time; the bull gets killed in the end. Anyway, the matador will eventually stick the sword all the way into the middle of the shoulder blades of the bull piercing his heart I think but he’d still have enough fight left in him for a few more minutes. The matador gets another sword, this time to pierce the bull’s spine (or perhaps its brain?) and the bull drops dead. Then another guy will stick a knife into the head of the bull I guess to make sure he’s really dead. A team of three horses will come out into the arena and they will drag the dead bull by its horns to the cheer of the audience.
Six bulls died tonight, one matador got gored. We should know tomorrow what became of the gored matador. Mary was going to find out from someone who works for her and who lives by the bullfight arena.
I've seen my first and last bullfight. I've decided not to attach any of my bullfighting pictures here. Let me know if you're interested and I'll eMail you a couple.
Monday, July 30
Today was decided to be a rest day. Robert was a bit under the weather and Rose is feeling much worse with a sore throat and slight cough. People who were smoking next to us at the bullfight made Rose’s throat all the more scratchy. Since they still have one full day tomorrow, we put off the trip to Gibraltar. Jun and I just spent a couple of the evening hours walking and exploring the beaches in the area.
Tuesday, July 31
Mary woke us up before Robert dropped her off to work. We were almost ready by the time he got back. Then off we went on our way to Gibraltar. It took us about an hour and a half to get there.
Since Gibraltar is already a part of the UK, we had to take our passports with us which were inspected at the border. Robert parked on the Spanish side and we walked towards Gibraltar. Right after immigration is the tours information booth. We were told they were out of taxis to take us for the tour so we had to go downtown to get one. The thing with going downtown is it’s quite a ways to walk and the sun was already high up at this time so it’s fairly warm. Not as hot as when we were in Sevilla but it was still an effort. The other thing with walking towards downtown in Gibraltar, there’s a section of the runway on their airport that pedestrians had to cross. Below shot shows us on top of the Gibraltar rock with the runway behind us and Spain in the background.
We felt that we don’t walk fast enough and we don’t want to be in the news: Tourists in Gibraltar Run Over by an Airplane – film at 11!! So it’s the bus for us!
This was a weekday and there shouldn’t be too big of a crowd here. Wrong! Unfortunately, there were a couple of huge cruise ships that pulled into the harbor. Gibraltar is not a big place and five to six thousand people visiting it at one time is a little too much for it to handle. It took us around half an hour walking around before we were able to hail a mini van to give us a tour to the peak of The Rock.
Our driver Tony spoke good English and he charged us 25 euros each. The view on the top was awesome. It would have been much better if it was a little clearer. We could barely see the tip of Africa. The trip was still worth it, however. We had lunch at Burger King (yes, corporate America is all over Europe!), bought a few souvenirs then took the bus back to the border and went home.
We got back in time enough for Robert to drop us off at work and pick up Mary from work right afterwards. When they arrived, dinner was prepared and a few minutes later we all went out to the take a walk on the beach, this being Rose and Jun’s last night here in Spain. They fly back home early tomorrow.
Wednesday, Aug 1
We were woken up by rustling of feet this morning . I realized Jun and Rose are getting ready to leave to get to the airport. I got up and quickly dressed up and so did Donna. It was still dark out at 5:30 am. Robert suggested for me to drive but I told him I’ll do it when Emy and Nido and family arrive this Sunday. It took us only a few minutes to get to the airport. Robert dropped us off at the curb and we went towards the check in counter. There were already a lot of people in line. When they finished they only had enough time to go through security and board so we said our goodbyes. It was nice that we had the chance to be with them on this leg of our trip. After all, Donna and I wouldn’t have had the chance to go to Tenerife of the Canary Islands if not for Rose and Jun. They were great company there as well as when we were in Rome.
We’ll be kicking back for the next couple of days until Imelda, Dan and family arrive this Saturday and Emy and Nido the day after. As soon as Robert drop off Mary for work, we’ll probably go to the Gypsy market and pick up a couple of things. This is their swap meet over here and it’s only open on Wednesdays. Hopefully we’ll be able to get our base pass by Friday so I can go on line and post this blog which is turning out to be a novel!
posted by reyjay @ 8:10 PM
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