A Memorable Week in Italy – 6 Senior Citizens Savouring the Best of the Tourist’s Paradise!

It was in June-July 2019 that my husband Dr. B V Adkoli and I, along with a group of friends went on a short tour to Europe. The special thing about this group of six friends is that all of us are senior citizens.

We are an enthusiastic lot, and travel buffs with a passionate interest in the history and culture of different countries. However, we do not like to go on the so-called ‘conducted tours’. Being digital savvy, we arranged the tour entirely on our own, using the services of MakeMyTrip and the like.

Though we visited several countries in the course of our tour, ‘the jewel in the crown’ of our travel was surely Italy. We spent a week there and toured through Venice, Florence, Rome and the Vatican City. So fascinating was the tour that we felt as though we were in a different world for that week! It was as though we went back two thousand years to witness the glory and the grandeur of the Roman Empire. We soaked ourselves in the marvellous creations of the Renaissance artists. We were captivated by the sheer vibrancy of the country! Moreover, of course, we took time off to feast on pasta, pizza, Italian wine and gelato!

A Gondola Ride (Venice)

Going to Venice and not riding the Gondola would be like going to Agra and not seeing the Taj Mahal! In addition, the Gondoliers are very special people who keep you entertained with not only a description of the monuments and the marvellous architecture as seen from the canals, but they may even sing a song or two! The beautiful song ‘Do Lafzon ki hai Dil ki kahaani’ from our own Bollywood hit ‘The Great Gambler’ starring Big Bachchan and Zeenat Aman, was also shot on a Gondola in Venice!

The Grand Canal (Venice)

Locally called ‘Canal Grande’, this one is the ‘Mother of all Venice Canals’, the Highway among the waterways of Venice. We can feel its majestic presence when we sail through it.

Florence Cathedral and the Leaning Tower of Pisa

You have to see the ‘Lean’ of the Leaning Tower of Pisa to believe it. The astonishing thing is that the ‘Lean’ does not look odd. It looks so graceful! However, one must not miss spending a good amount of time checking out the ‘Duomo di Pisa’, the Pisa Cathedral nearby. It is an exquisite monument of immense architectural beauty with intricate carvings. It is here that one can see the famed chandelier that is said to be the inspiration behind Galileo’s famous ‘Law of the Pendulum Motion’.

Michelangelo’s The Deposition (Florence)

In the Opera del Duomo of Florence we saw the historic but one of the lesser-known classic creations of Michelangelo. It is said to be his penultimate creation, which he carved in his late seventies. It is said that this statue, also called as ‘The Florentine Pieta’, was intended by Michelangelo to be placed on his own tomb. Nevertheless, the Master was not happy with his work and it is believed that he destroyed a part of the statue. One will be surprised to notice that a leg of Jesus is missing in the beautiful statue!

The Colosseum (Rome)

This massive Amphitheatre, built around the 1^st century AD, could seat more than 50,000 spectators during those days. It takes one back to the heydays of the Roman Empire. Standing in the midst of the colossal structure, one can almost hear the crowds cheering and mocking the fighters. Though much of it is in ruins, with 74 lakh (7.4 million) visitors in 2018, the Colosseum remains an unmissable icon of the ancient Rome. The ruins of the Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum nearby, remind one of the glory of the Roman Empire, just as the ruins of Hampi remind us of the glory of the Vijayanagara Empire in India.

Spanish Steps (Rome)

We were fascinated to spend a summer evening on the famed Spanish Steps, where the ‘journalist’ Gregory Peck and the ‘princess’ Audrey Hepburn enjoyed some ice cream in the unforgettable Hollywood movie ‘Roman Holiday’.

Fountain of the Four Rivers at Piazza Navona (Rome)

We were so glad to discover that our sacred river Ganga was considered holy centuries ago in the West too. We saw that Ganga has a pride of place and is represented prominently in the world-famous Renaissance period Fountain ‘Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi’ (Fountain of the Four Rivers) at the Piazza Navona in Rome.

Tourists at the Trevi Fountain (Rome)

Another popular hangout for tourists, the Trevi Fountain, is famous for the legend that if you toss a coin into the fountain with your back to the Fountain, you are assured of a return trip to the Eternal City of Rome.

The Victor Emmanuel II National Monument (Rome)

A distinctive landmark in Rome, the enormous monument in white marble was built as a tribute to Victor Emmanuel II, the first King of Italy, who united the country.

The Crowded Corridor of the Vatican Museums

A long lineage of Popes have built a series of museums which form the entrance to the Sistine Chapel and then on to the sacred St. Peter’s Basilica. The museums house paintings, frescos and tapestries from many periods of the Italian or Christian history. The corridors of the museums are richly covered with marvellous paintings. Going through these corridors itself is an out of the world experience.

Michelangelo’s Pietà in St. Peter’s Basilica (Vatican City)

We bowed in reverence at the St. Peter’s Basilica, a monument as massive as it is artistic. It was a heart touching experience to see Michelangelo’s masterpiece ‘Pieta’, which depicts the body of Jesus in the lap of his mother, Mary, after the Crucifixion.  

St. Peter’s Square (Vatican City)

The heat of the summer afternoon did not prevent us from enjoying the expanse of St. Peter’s Square, which is thronged by the faithful whenever the Pope holds masses there. On special occasions, it is known to hold up to 300,000 people.

What a dream come true was this Italian holiday for us! Nevertheless, fast-forward just six months, to early 2020, a virus measuring less than a nanometre is ravaging across the world. It has shattered every country and Italy was one of the earliest ones to bear the brunt. The canals of Venice may have dolphins swimming in them now, but they must be missing the tourists from all over the world. The monuments of Rome must be gazing emptily in deathly silence.

I hope that the situation will start limping back to normalcy and the cities of Italy will be thronging again with tourists soon. Our thoughts and prayers go to all the affected ones across the world, and we must salute all the ‘Corona Warriors’ fighting from the front to defeat this invisible enemy.

So, that was a wonderful tour of the paradise, but now recollected in deep melancholy, yet with tons of hope! How much more poignant can a travel get?