Operation Cycle Tuscany: Day 11 -- Veni, Vidi, Vici

“I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.” ― Mary Anne Radmacher

We've had a very full day in Roma!  Jeanne told us as we began the trip that she had booked a private Segway tour of Rome for this morning!  With some trepidation, we went to the Segway office, met Marcello, our tour leader, and did some "training."  If you've ever been in Rome, by car, cab, or on foot, you know that you're taking your life in your hands each time you venture out. ( In addition, you might be aware of the fact that the billionaire owner of Segway drove his vehicle off a cliff, to his death).  But we are four travelers who just spent a week riding up and down the hills of Tuscany! I'm here on the other side of the adventure, telling you we did it!

The experience was really fun, and the Segways surprisingly intuitive and easy to use.  We were able to (despite our aching backs, sore knees, and ruined feet) go up and down hills with ease, and go all over Rome.  Marcello kept us away from sites with more car traffic (e.g. the Vatican, the Spanish Steps), and took us to many other fascinating places (the Colosseum, a view into the Forum from the hill, Michelangelo's Piazza del Campidoglio -- pictured above).  He was very informative and interesting, and we had a really great time.  I highly recommend this mode of travel.

We went directly from our Segway tour to our private Vatican tour (the 4 of us, plus Abby and her dad, Ken, who were on the bike trip with us).  The tour was arranged by VBT (the cycling company), and had its high points and its low points.  The high points involved the fact that our tour leader, Frank, is one of 15 official Vatican tour leaders so he knows the ins and outs, the best times and worst, the things to see and the things we could skip.  We jumped lines, went through secret passages to private entrances, and skipped a lot of the crowds.  We went through the museum first, and then on to the Sistine Chapel.  Finally, Frank dropped us off at St. Peter's Basilica, to look around on our own.    We could never have gotten through as quickly and efficiently without Frank, and could not have seen all that we did.  However, the low point was also Frank.  As a tour leader, he left a lot to be desired.  Rather than caring what we wanted to see, or giving us actual information about the Vatican, the pieces we were seeing, or the history of the place, he gave us a political/philosophical lecture about the history of Rome (with very little about the Vatican itself), U.S. politics, and other irrelevant subjects (Monica Lewinsky?).  He also seemed to take some pride in proving that he is brilliant and we are stupid.  The entire tour consisted of exchanges like: "Was da Vinci an artist or a scientist?"  "Both."  "No.  You're wrong.  Even though he developed the first bicycle, no one could figure out how to use it for 300 years."  or, "Is this piece Aristotelian or Platonion?"  Answer: (it doesn't matter.  Whichever we answered we were wrong).  Or, "Who is the center of focus in this painting?"  "Jesus."  "No.  You're wrong. The center of focus is really Mary."  This went on and on for 3 hours.  After about an hour, his voice just sounded like, "Wah, wah, wah, wah."  None of us answered his questions, and he never had time for any of ours.  Pretty long 3 hours.

Tour leader Frank, aka Dr. Bore-ass

I have to add one more (negative) bit of commentary about the tour.  Call me old fashioned, but it seems to me that when one enters the Sistene Chapel (which clearly states the dress code restrictions - no shorts or sleeveless tops--, the "no photo" requirement, and the Silence required instructions), one might expect people respectfully dressed, quiet, and not taking pictures.  It's very aggravating to see people dressed unbelievably inappropriately, talking in full voice (and then hearing the shushing), and taking flash pictures!  It was very disturbing and frustrating, but one more good thing about Frank and his influence was that he instructed us to sit in the back and wait until they closed the doors for the evening (we went in, deliberately, in the last group of the night, through a secret passage!), and until most of the regular tours left.  Then, when the Chapel was practically empty, we were able to sit quietly at the back and really take in the beauty.  It should be that way always.

We walked back from the Vatican -- a nice walk because the evening was cooler, and the streets were much less crowded -- and had another delicious meal.  We all ordered different pastas, and split and switched.  Yummy.

Back to the hotel for some much needed rest!