D hit the big 5-0 on Thursday, so I flew him off to Rome for a few days as a surprise. As ever, my timing was impeccable - Rome + Easter + new Pope = hundreds of thousands of people, all eager to see the new Papa Francesca. If they couldn't see him then they wanted to see just about anything that might be connected to him, the Vatican City or Rome - the queues for every attraction stretched for what seemed like miles.
Now I am not good in crowds - being unable to move forward or backwards and not being able to see an exit causes me to panic. The Sistine Chapel was stunningly beautiful, but absolutely jam packed with people, and seen at great speed since the security men waved everyone through, shouting alternately "Avanti" (which I took to mean "hurry along"), and "Ssssshhhh" (which didn't need translating). And in the Sistine Chapel, I panicked. Had to get out. And fast... We crawled under a rope to escape the crowd we were being carried along by and were halted by two more security guards who told us to get back in line. D took umbrage... a slight altercation ensued... they asked D if he had rules in his country... he replied yes, but not stupid ones... He mentioned that all they needed were HiViz jackets and their lives would be complete... they didn't understand... All a tad embarrassing, and watched by hundreds of tourists who were happy to stay in line...
We did manage to have a proper look inside the Pantheon having stumbled upon it quite literally on our first evening while looking for somewhere to eat (food always being uppermost on both our minds). That too was gorgeous and incredibly well preserved - a bit like you, I said to D...
Debbie x
Sounds Exciting ......., don't blame you for not liking the queues and lots of people not my idea of a great time either, such a shame because it just spoils the enjoyment. xx
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