A few anecdotes from my most recent adventures
in Italy |
14.08.2001
- As soon as I arrive at the station I am greeted
by a friendly Chinese lady offering free tourist information and accommodation
booking. She books a hotel room for me which is only three blocks
from the main railway station, Roma Termini, and gives me a free
street map which is more use than the one which I bought
before leaving the UK. After finally figuring out how to enter the
building, I am pleasantly surprised by the room costing me only
L35,000 a night (a bargain!)
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15.08.2001 - After a surprisingly
cheap and particularly tasty shot of cappuccino, I head for the
Vatican. It's just after half past nine and already the heat is
stifling and the place is buzzing with tourists. I choose to avoid
the Vatican Museum as the queues are about two hours long and the
tour itself takes at least 5 hours! A nice recording of some plain chanting
inside St. Peters, if only it was live!
Once
down via del Conciliazione, Mussolini's grand 1929 state
boulevard, I cross the Tiber and head for Chiesa Nuovo on a quest
to find the final resting place of the Patron Saint of Rome, St.
Philip Neri.
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The stunning
facade and golden interior of Chiesa Nuovo |
The
holy grail itself! -
A saintly shrine with altar and casket
containing the relics. |
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16.08.2001
- Closer exploration around the vicinity of my hotel reveals
relics of the actual manger from Bethlehem, decoratively preserved
in
the Basillica Santa Maria Maggiore.
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The golden
casket containing the relics with Pius IV guarding them
meditatively! |
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Last updated on Wednesday
22nd Aug, 2001
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