England

• London (6/9, 6/10, 6/24)

Italy

• Rome (6/11, 6/12)

• Capri (6/14)

• Sorrento (6/14)

• Pompeii (6/15)

• Assiss (6/15)

• San Marino (6/16)

• Venice (6/16, 6/17)

• Verona (6/18)

• Lugano (6/18)

• Como (6/19)

• Milan (6/19)

• Pisa (6/20)

• Florence (6/21)

• Siena (6/21)

• Rome (6/22, 6/23)

Thursday, 06/23

Last Day in Rome!!!

• After breakfast, or did I skip breakfast?, it was time to go to the Vatican to visit the Sistine Chapel.  So I took the 247 bus to the Cornelia metro stop then subway to Cipro.  It was then a 7-minute walk to the Vatican city wall where people were lining up to get in.  At this point, it was maybe around 8:15 AM.  It took me a little while to figure out that there were 2 lines: one for guided tour groups with reservations and a second for individuals and tour groups without prior reservations.

• After finding the right line, it was only a half an hour wait till I bought my ticket.  By 9AM, I was already wandering in the Vatican Museums which eventually led to Sistine Chapel.  Michelangelo laboured 4 years (1508-1512) over the 9 panels with scenes taken from Genesis.  I brought a pair of binoculars for the occasion and it was definitely worth it.  The Sistine Chapel is also where the conclave is held to elect a new pope.

• After Sistine Chapel, it was time for some final shopping, 2 gelati, lunch and more Rainier cherries.  Po and I had dinner at a local ristorante with risotto and penne w/ salmon.  Eccellente!

   

• Now my least favorite part: carry all my stuff, take the 246 bus, metro line A to Anagnina, then bus to Ciampino Airport.

Friday, 06/24

Leisurely Day in London

• After breakfast, I got a ride from the very nice people who run the B&B to London Gatwick Airport to take the Thamslink train into London.

• It was really hot and humid in London with the temperature of 30+ degrees C.

   

• Window shopping

  I got off the Bond St. tube station to walk around Oxford Street.  There is a huge Selfridges Dept. Store where Gucci, Prada and LV handbags were at least 40% off.  There's also a Marks & Spencer store nearby.  Ah, forgot to mention, I bought a pound of yummy Rainier cherries from the street vendor.

   

• Notting Hill

  It's an antique and fruits & vegetables market made even famous by the Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant movie.  Apparently, the best time to visit is on Saturdays when it's liveliest.

• Wimbledon

  I wish I had the foresight to buy the ticket ahead of time instead of trying my luck at the door.  After getting off the Southfields tube stop around 2:45 PM, it was a 5-minute walk to the queue where other people without tickets were lining up.

I figured since I didn't have anything else planned, I wanted to see if I could manage to get in.  The Honourary Stewards were quite helpful in answering people's questions.  At that point of the line, I was told that the wait would've been another 1.5 to 2 hrs.  Also, buying tickets on the day of the play was quite a complicated business.  First, I needed to get a queue card showing my position in the queue, then I got to wait however long to get to the ticket counter.  If I didn't have that queue card, I wouldn't have been able to buy the ticket at the ticket counter.  For complete details, click on the link.

 

So I waited for about 30 minutes with achy feet, contemplating whether it was worth my while to continue waiting.  The sky was gradually clouding over and since London weather is quite notorious, I decided that I should take off.

 

I made the long track via the Tube and train toward London Gatwick Airport where the B&B was located.  As I waited for the taxi to pick me up, it started raining.......... and it wouldn't stop for another 2 hrs.  I feel sorry for the people who waited, I really do.

 

Saturday, 06/25

• After breakfast, I got a ride to Gatwick.  Bought a bottle of Scotch Whisky while I was waiting.

• The flight was an hour late leaving London Gatwick.  Again, the SkyService flight was completely full and the food was unusually bad.

• Then we were diverted to Montreal 'cause there were thunderstorms in Toronto and we apparently didn't have enough fuel if we needed to circle around the airport.  So we landed in Montreal for about 45 minutes (and no one was allowed off the aircraft) before we finally arrived in Toronto.