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Pope-ular spots in Italy

There is a lot to take in anytime you visit a new place that is marketed to have a variety of attractions.  And Italy is no different.  Depending on your taste and mood you might find a spot you absolutely fall in love with and just chill for a while.  Or you might want to feast all day on a buffet of sights and keep moving.

We are the latter category.  Why not taste a bit of everything and then decide if you want to visit again?  So we covered a lot of territory - 2,800 km in 14 days and hitting about 12 cities from top to bottom.

Most travel was on trains - the bullet train is called Frecciarossa reaching max sustained speed of 300 kph and then some with regional double decker trains that also do a good 150 kmph - India by comparison runs their fastest train at this speed.

There was also boat and bus and taxi travel in certain locales.

Here are some highlights -

Meeting the Pope - at the Vatican - Wed is a papal audience - you are one of 50,000 attendees crowding the St Peters Oval.


Then if you are lucky and it is not too hot and the lines to see the Sistine Chapel less than a mile long you might get to see the below -  Michelangelo Bunorotti's masterpiece ceiling frescoes



Followed by his amazing skill with the hammer and marble in the form of the Pieta at St. Peter's Cathedral next door


followed by a trip into Rome to see the other amazing architectural marvels - mostly a celebration of a higher being by beings that are clearly higher than many of us in terms of what their mind can envision; their eye can see and hands can do - be it Leonardo or Raphael or many others.

Pantheon


Above building is the Hadrian built temple of the gods from the second century  - literally hiding amidst 19th century condos.


Trevi fountain 


the above is a 18th century fountain that attracts tourists from all over - when we visited it was a warm 90 degrees with no wind.

Appears to be an extension of the building behind.

All these and more constitutes the grandeur of Rome which is one of many cities in Italy with remarkable history and artifacts that define our lives to this day.
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