Time With Tandy

Inspirational author and speaker

Time With Tandy

Inspirational author and speaker

Country: Italy

  • The Vatican and More

    An early start this morning had us on our bus at 7:30 am. We were on the way to visit The Vatican.

    Once inside, it was hard to know where to look. The walls and ceilings all displayed various forms of art. There were tapestries, paintings, frescos and more. What a visual feast!

    Our cameras had to be put away before we entered the Sistine Chapel. It was breathtaking. The ceiling, done by Michelangelo was much more than the famous “Creation” which was in the centre. I was surprised that it was no larger than the other paintings. More surprising was how vivid the colours were. Centuries later, I had expected them to be faded.

    The upper walls were decorated with panels from many other painters. All were amazing and kept us captivated as we tried to take in as much as possible before our time inside was up.

    We had a few minutes to take pictures of the outside of the Vatican before having to be on our way.

    Back on the bus, we crossed the Tiber River, passed by the Castle of the Angels and then the Court of Judgement, which is so ornate the locals call it The Ugly Building!

    Enroute to Florence we passed by many fields of sunflowers. We were told that they are used for much more than decoration. Other than olive oil, sunflower oil is the only oil used here.

    The journey will continue with the next post.

  • Rome 2nd Day

    After breakfast we met with a local expert to take us on a walking tour through the more aristocratic areas of the city. We were given lots of history regarding the buildings and their occupants, We saw several embassies, one of which had the exterior designed my Michaelangeo.  

    The buildings and history were interesting but the fountains were our favourite part of the tour! It didn’t take us long to discover how much we loved fountains!

    Our next stop was the Colosseum. What an incredible structure to walk through! There is way too much history to write about here, so I’ll settle for one interesting tidbit.

    Most of the columns had holes in them. We were told this was from people chipping away at the marble to get to the iron bars inside that had held the blocks of stone together. These were then repurposed!

    We also saw the site where gladiators were trained. They were actors and fought many times, until the crowds started to recognize them. Most of the deaths witnessed by the spectators were false, but eventually each gladiator met his death in the arena.

    Our next tour was to catacombs. One of the nuns gave us a tour and explained the history. These corridors of burial sites cover 13 kms and over 2,000 were once buried there. When grave robbers started looking for treasure (there was none) buried with the bodies, it was decided to move the bones out of respect. Many of them are in the church we visited yesterday.

    It was interesting to see the various sizes of graves cut into the walls and to see pictographs above some. Unfortunately, I have no photos to show you. We were about six feet below ground and it was quite cool so despite my interest, it was nice to come out above ground into the warmth again.

  • Rome First Day

    After making sure my travel SIM card was working, Emily and I set off on foot to see some of the sights of Rome.

    A few blocks from our hotel we stopped and took a photo of the Opera House. Next, the open gates of the Art Gallery beckoned to us. We wandered around the grounds and took several photos. It was here we discovered how much we both loved fountains!

    We took our time, enjoyed the new sights and sounds and stopped at a produce stand for a fresh, juicy pick-me-up.

    After several twists and turns on the streets we turned a corner to see the spectacular Trevi Fountain before us. Immense crowd meant we couldn’t get as close as we would have liked, but we were able to get a few good photos.

    Next we did the short walk to the Spanish Steps. From the square to the church above was 173 stairs. I know because Emily counted them as we climbed each one! At the top we were rewarded with a beautiful church to wander through.

    After a brief rest back at the hotel, we walked a few blocks to Basilica S. Maria degli Angeli E Dei Martiri and entered their museum. We saw some incredible statues and artifacts. I was fascinated by the display of writing implements!

    Our tour officially started at 6 pm with an introduction. We were told not to expect things the way they are at home. For example, the hotel rooms would be much smaller. This made sense when we learned that despite the large population of Italy, the country itself would fit into Canada 52 times!


    Our tour group boarded a luxury bus and arrived at Basilica di Santa Prassede just as mass was ending. We walked silently through, admiring the beauty of the walls, altar and marble floors. Below the altar was a crypt containing bones of the martyrs which had been moved there from other burial sites. The church itself had a fascinating history. It was a former house, not easily seen from the road. When it was discovered the owner was a Christian, he was killed for his faith. His young daughters decided to make it their life mission to care for those martyred. Some of the mosaics depicted their duties.

    After dinner with our group, we went back to the hotel, tired but happy.