Rome

We spent four nights in Rome.

Getting There
We took a three-hour late-morning bus from Siena. There are several transportation hubs in Rome, but our bus station was on the outer edge of the city center. Since it was raining when we got there and we didn’t have the best information about what bus to take to our hotel, we opted for a taxi. Our packs are getting increasingly heavy as our trip progresses and we’ve learned that paying a few more duckets to have a stress-free arrival is worth it. Wandering around trying to find our hotel in an unfamiliar place with the pack on is what causes blisters and grumpiness. ☺

Accommodations
We stayed in Hotel Smeraldo in the Campo de' Fiori neighborhood, a great location that put us within walking distance of nearly everything we wanted to see in Rome. We had anticipated that Rome would be a chaotic, traffic-clogged mess, but it really does have an urban village feel that led to good foot-powered exploring.

Sights / Activities
On our first afternoon we visited the Parthenon. Unfortunately they were going restoration work on the outside so we didn’t get the full view. On the inside is a dome with a hole in the middle (skylight) and the burial places of Raphael (Renaissance artist) and Italy’s first two kings. This dome was Europe’s biggest until the Renaissance and the Pantheon is the only ancient building in Rome that has been continuously used since its construction.

rainy first outing in Rome

Piazza Navona

Keith, fountain, Parthenon

altar at the Parthenon

looking up inside the Parthenon

On the second day we explored ancient Rome. We started with a slight detour to the Victor Emmanuel Monument. This oversize monument is over-the-top, with many baroque statues and a grand set of staircases, columns, and pedestals. It features the largest equestrian statue in the world of one of Italy’s kings (43 feet long) — Victor’s mustache is as long as Megan is tall. Keith liked the set of 14 statues above the center columns — each statue represents a region of Italy. The purpose of the monument was to help corral regionalism into a national identity.

Victor Emmanuel Monument

tomb of the unknown soldier

over the top monument

interesting sculptures about desired Italian virtues

biggest dude on a horse statue anywhere (VE, hero of Italy)

statues above columns represent the regions of Italy

We took an elevator to the top of the monument and got a great view of the city. We could look down on ancient parts of the city and further out, we could see St Peter’s Basilica.

view of the colosseum, forum, and Palatine hill from top of the VE monument

cool view from the top of the monument

us overlooking Rome

Via del Corso

St Peters in the distance

bird and the Roman forum

Megan and the colosseum

After our view gave us the lay of the land, we ventured toward the Colosseum. We had bought a Roma Pass, which allows you free entry and the right to skip the line to your first two sights and discounts thereafter. We happily used our Roma Pass to skip the line at the Colosseum, which would have easily taken two-plus hours to get through. Outside the Colosseum there were tons of people offering tours and men dressed as Gladiators ripping off tourists for a picture. We heard one guy charge a lady 20 euros for one picture!

The two-thousand-year-old Colosseum is massive — especially from the outside. We had an audio tour on our iPod that helped us understand what we were looking at. The Colosseum could accommodate 50,000 fans and was topped with an enormous canvas awning that could be hoisted across to provide shade. A day of carnage would begin with animals fighting each other, women fighting each other and other odd, carnival-type spectacles, such as a one legged man and a midget fighting. The grand finale would be trained men, gladiators, fighting each other or animals to the death. During the grand opening week something like 9,000 animals and 2,000 men were killed. Part of the floor has been reconstructed to give a sense of the original floor, as well as the passageways underneath it where animals and props were held and put into place with elevators and pullies.

Megan and the colosseum

notice the three types of columns

inside the colosseum looking down

Megan allows the defeated to live

view of floor in colosseum

looking up at the mid level seats

view of the Arch of Constantine from inside the colosseum

Romans posing for pictures and ripping off tourists

Keith and the arch of constantine

The Forum was filled with temples and political structures. We visited the site of Julius Caesar’s cremation (center of forum), the House of the Vestal Virgins and the Senate House. Constantine’s Basilica served as the House of Justice. The big arches in the basilica are only one-third of what the original building looked like. When Christianity became legal, this basilica’s structure of a central hall and two side halls is what they modeled churches after (the inside of traditional temples were designed only for the priests to enter and thus too small for the masses).

Arch of Titus

Basilica of Constantine--Hall of Justice

temple of Antoninus Pius--now a church

megan and the temple

ruins in the abstract

once a proud temple

frescoes in the Senate building

view of the forum from the hill

view from hill 2

view from hill 3

the hall of justice and template for many churches

courtyard of the vestal virgins

We signed up with Through Eternity tours to explore Palatine Hill. We had a great guide from South Africa. She was really into rugby and was excited to watch the 14-nation rugby final after the tour was over. She had a tendency to refer to men as “bastards,” as in “they could marry you off at 12-year-old and that bastard could leave you whenever he wanted.” She also had some great comments about the various popes. Some were pious, while some partied and collected great art. It was pretty funny. Palatine Hill overlooks the Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Circus Maximus (location of chariot races). The Hill includes the huts of Romulus and Remus (founders of Rome), and the palaces of the emperors (later inhabited by Popes). Megan especially enjoys guided tours for all the little tidbits of information you don’t find is written summaries or audio guides.

another view of the colosseum, from the hill

excavation of a revolving dining room

once this foundation supported a palace

designs in underground passage

once there was a fountain here

cool tree 2

vines in the ruins

marching on/perspective

circus maximus (this is where much of the games happened)

On Sunday we got up early and went to the Vatican. We enjoyed being there early before the crowds. We went through security and entered St. Peter’s Basilica. It was the most awe-inspiring building we’ve seen on the trip. It’s the largest church in the world. Michelangelo designed the dome and Megan’s favorite sculpture: The Pietà (a pietà is a work that represents Mary with the body of Christ taken down from the cross.) St. Peter was crucified here and is buried in the crypt below the church. We both liked Bernini’s starburst dove window and his seven-story bronze canopy over St. Peter’s tomb. Despite the massive size of the church, it was designed and actually feels quite cozy (e.g. the seven-story bronze canopy minimizes the height of the dome).

We attended the 9 am mass and had a great experience. It was in Italian, and Megan thought she might have understood more of the mass in Latin, but couldn’t be sure. The area around the main altar was only open to though attending mass—not “for visiting.” Two protocols that are different from what we’ve experienced in the States: they walk the collection bag (black bag with brass top with a slit in it) through each aisle, rather than passing it. The second was that when it was time for communion, everyone just stands up and walks to the front—they don’t line up by pew. (Actually, this may be indicative of a broader phenomenon – Italians just don’t seem to queue. Whenever there is an opportunity for a line, they just all kind of rush to the front together.)

obelisk and basilica

door with St Peter and St Paul

inside of St Peters

holy water basin at St Peters

the dome

dome 3

the bronze canopy, 7 stories high

Vatican guards

us in St Peters Square

St Peters Square

St Peter

Megan in the square

top of the Sistine Chapel

walking away from St Peters

After mass we got a snack and then hung out in St. Peter’s Square. At noon the Pope gave a blessing from his apartment. Neither of us are very big fans of this Pope or of church politics, but he had a surprisingly pleasant, soothing voice. The blessing was about 20 minutes long, one portion of which he gave in at least five different languages. In English, he requested prayers for a trip to Crete and for a summit to improve relations between Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths. Some people held up banners, hoping to get his attention, and different sections cheered when he gave a shout-out in a certain language or about a certain place.

the apartment of the pope

getting ready for the pope

the Pope appears ...

the Pope addressing the crowd

One afternoon we toured the Galleria Borghese. Reservations are mandatory for this privately owned museum. They only allow a certain number of people in every two hours — which helps with crowd control. Our favorite pieces in the gallery were Bernini sculptures, especially Apollo Chasing Daphne. Keith isn’t a huge fan of Baroque painting in general, but the sculptures are great (unfortunately, you aren’t allowed to take pictures inside the gallery). The collection was amassed over time by a very powerful cardinal, who was appointed to his position by virtue that he was the nephew of the pope at the time. In those days, the popes and cardinals weren’t necessarily the most devout, but just well connected and politically powerful. This cardinal used his influence and even threats to get pieces he desired for the collection. He especially liked nude pieces.

After our gallery tour we strolled through the Borghese Gardens. It’s a large shady park that’s great for people watching. From there we explored Rome by foot — connecting several prominent squares including Piazza del Popolo, the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona, and Campo de’Fiori. While at the Trevi Fountain we tossed two coins over backwards over our shoulders to ensure a future return to Rome — we hope it works! These areas were a great place to people watch, window shop and sit in cafes.

bike carts in the park

perhaps that will be us when we are older

Keith looks respledent in his touring gear, next to the lion

Piazza del Popolo

looking down Via del Corso

Megan on the lion 3

The Spanish Steps

Trevi Fountain

Trevi Fountain 3

us at Trevi Fountain

nighttime at Trevi Fountain

Bruno, Sith Lord, burnt alive here

Keith in the fountain at Piazza Navona

statue man

street performer

Megan and invisible man

lots of church supplies in Rome

On our last full day in Rome we returned to Vatican City to see the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel. We had an early reservation so what we sacrificed in sleep was made up for by getting in before the crowd and having an opportunity to take in the Sistine Chapel without being packed in there with the crowd. The museum had some notable sculptures and a neat corridor of old maps, but for Keith at least, this visit was really about seeing the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo painted the ceiling earlier in life, and returned to do the Last Judgment, and it’s very interesting to see how his style and perspective on life changed in the meantime (it got darker and more pessimistic). Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures in the Sistine Chapel.

Vatican museum

the line at the Vatican museum, good thing we have reservations

egyptian sculpture

Roman copy of Greek sculpture

lion doing his thing

royal purple tomb

medieval tapestry

unhappy camper

Mosiac floor

Food
The food in Rome — especially the dinners — was some of the best in Italy. Our hotel offered a nothing-to-brag-about buffet breakfast — enough to get you started for the day, but you’ll be hungry an hour or two later. This is fairly standard at the European hotels we experienced and we are looking forward to returning home to American breakfast. We usually took care of lunch by grabbing a pizza or sandwich at a café or standing at the bar at the snack bar. It's fun to order pizza by weight — basically they carve out a portion of a giant square pizza, heat it up, and hand it over to you.

To select a restaurant for dinner, we used a combination of our guidebook and tripadvisor.com. The first night we chose Hostaria Castanza (which always makes us think of George from Seinfield). It was a small place on a back alley in our neighborhood. They’ve turned the alley in front of their restaurant into charming outdoor seating. We lucked out with the last table outside (we didn’t have a reservation). We had a great appetizer of lightly breaded and fried seasonal vegetables. Keith had penne pasta with black truffle (truffles season is April-June in Italy), sausage and cream sauce while Megan had the homemade spinach ravioli (pasta of the day). We’ve become very good at sharing our meals while on this trip. Since so many things look good on the menu we each select something that sounds good to the other person and then switch plates halfway through.

Hostaria Constanza (yum)

On the second night we dined at a very romantic spot called Osteria del Pegno. It was located on a back alley off of Piazza Navona. Candlelight and very softly lit chandeliers lighted the entire place. Wine bottles lined its walls. For the first time since we’ve been in Europe, Megan ate a proper salad. Usually when you order a green salad you get a bowl of lettuce (often iceberg) and that’s it. Here Megan got a spinach salad with mushrooms, Parmesan cheese, and walnuts. She devoured it. For his antipasto, Keith ordered potatoes baked with garlic and rosemary (one of the best potato dishes Keith has ever eaten). For our primo piatto, Keith ate fresh homemade pasta with fresh porcini mushrooms (in season), garlic, parsley and olive oil. The house wine, an IGT Nobili di Trinacria from Sicily, was excellent. For dessert we enjoyed a scrumptious tris di cioccolata, a mousse cake with three different types of chocolate layered with caramel. To our surprise, after dessert, our waiter brought us a complimentary digestif: a glass of Limoncello and biscotti, which is a traditional after-dinner drink in Italy. The Limoncello was very strong and Megan was only able to drink it by dipping her biscotti a bite at a time into the drink (a common thing to do). This place was extremely affordable — less than what you would pay at the Olive Garden and 10 times better food, wine, atmosphere and service. We wished Olympia had a restaurant like this. The closest we have is Trinacria (little Sicilian place in downtown), but it still pales in comparison.

bottles of wine in Osteria del Pegno

On our last night we wanted to stay close to home — so we ate at Trattoria Moderna right outside our hotel (had good trip advisor reviews). It’s a small place with only about 10 tables outside. It seemed to be mostly Italians eating there—though we did have some rather picky Brits at the table next to ours. We enjoyed the food here as well, and the street entertainment made it memorable. First, the food — we had a unique appetizer here that was a “tower” of vegetables and ricotta cheese. The “tower” consisted of zucchini, mint and tomatoes mixed with ricotta cheese, dabbled with sautéed eggplant. It was delicious. So we continued along that path by eating yummy “black rice” — risotto with truffle sauce, accompanied by asparagus, shrimp and tomatoes. Megan’s spinach ravioli in a butter, Parmesan and garlic sauce was good.

Frequently at the outdoor restaurants, street entertainers will play for a while and then go around collecting tips. First an accordion player played the Godfather Theme. ☺ The second guy had a magic act. He kept the crowd engaged by continually chanting “Wanta” over and over again. We assumed it meant "watch this" or something in Italian. People at the restaurant really got into it and started chanting along with him — his tricks were very obvious (sawing through his arm and neck, pouring water out his ear, etc.) but funny. Even the local Italians were into it, and started to use his manner of speaking and saying "Wanta" as they called to the waiter. We all had a good time. One family had a cute little girl that we were looking at, and her dad had her do the quintessential Italian gesture of holding her first two fingers and thumb together and nodding it at us.

Snacks were essential for surviving the day since we were up early to go sightseeing and ate late dinners. We tried out a couple different Gelato places. None of the gelato was quite as good as in Florence. The people-watching was great though. Outside one gelato shop there was a little girl devouring her chocolate cone. It was all over her face and dress. She was so dang cute. After she was done, she tried to drag her dad back in the shop for more, but she stopped and stared and smiled at Megan for a while and then they moved on. Our other favorite snack was McDonald’s French fries (well, we ate them one time). Yes. That’s right. There are Mickey D’s everywhere in Rome. They even have directional signage on the road telling you how far you have to go to find one.

oldest gelato place in town

ordering gelato

Megan with her favorite

little girl and her gelato

loving her gelato

Cultural observations
We both enjoy the Italian pace of life. If we had to choose one city in Italy out of the two that we saw, it would be Rome over Florence. Both cities have great sightseeing, but Florence felt a little like Disneyland, while Rome offered a never-ending stream of little squares, big plazas, and great people watching. We had several great walks through Rome and just liked being there. As far as language goes, we used our small smattering of Italian for the basics, and got by just fine.

Rome is the city of water. The ancient aqueducts are still bringing in fresh water to the city, and there are fountains with good drinking water all over the city. We could easily fill up our water bottles and freshen up each day as we walked around.

water fountains flow all over Rome

tasty beverage

Keith gets a drink 1

Keith gets a drink 2

Keith gets a drink 3

Shopping
We did a bit of shopping here. Keith completed his Italian head look by buying sunglasses and an Italian-style hat. For two days, we kept walking by a great-looking hat shop that was never open, but finally on day three, we were able to experience the pleasure of being in a small hat boutique, with piles and piles of hats and even a hat size stretching machine.

Keith makes a hat purchase at Troncarelli

Transportation
We had expected a traffic-clogged, chaotic city, but Rome has many pedestrian-only lanes and squares and we enjoyed it much more than we expected. We walked all over and took a few taxis when we needed to be somewhere early in the morning or make our scheduled reservation. We never rode the Metro because it has only two lines that don’t really connect the different parts of the city center. We took a fairly standard bus ride from the Vatican City back to our neighborhood with our Roma Pass (the Roma Pass also gave us unlimited transit use but we didn’t take much advantage of that, only using it once.) There were bicycle rental stations here, as in Seville and Barcelona.

Action Megan wants to ride bikes!

We had our first running-through-the-station-to-catch-the-train experience in Rome. The airport is outside of town, and the cheapest option to get there is a train from the train station. We bought tickets for a train at the front of the station, but its platform was at the back of the station (platform 25) and it was scheduled to leave basically two minutes after we had bought the tickets. We ran through the station with our packs on, made it with about 30 seconds to spare.

We haven't mentioned Italian drivers in the blog yet, so here's a brief note. You'd expect the streets to be crazy, with all of the scooters, motorcycles and cars. And there are a lot of scooters, to be sure, and they dart in and out of traffic, pull to the front of the queue, etc. And cars only wait at cross-walks if the pedestrian strolls confidently out and looks the driver in the eye. Despite this, it worked for us and after a while we settled into it and it felt natural. Italians are actually very precise with their driving — we never saw any collisions or even any close calls, even with all of the whizzing and passing. It just comes down to knowing how big your vehicle is and how close you can get to another one without hitting it. It may be chaotic, but it's still precise in its application. Not sure if we are describing this adequately, but it amazing to watch the flow of people and vehicles throughout the city.

Where to Next?
Greece!