Still, my hesitance booking as late as two days in advance of departure looks foolish at this point.
So, Rome really does not need an introduction. And I'm not writing one!
Getting there was half the fun. The four of us (Me, Bobby, Eric, and Meg) left from Sol at 6:45 taking the train and metro to the airport for our 9:45 flight. For entertainment for this first commute, we had the collective antics of Bobby and Eric while Meg and myself made sure everyone was in order. Topics ranged from how tired everyone was to how good the oranges were that Bobby and Eric provided for a snack.
Our preferred airline for the journey was Ryanair. Initially, the idea of flying Ryanair made me nervous. I, like many, have heard the horror stories of their customer service and ridiculous random fees for the most stupid things. Most concerning is the main reason they can fly everyone so cheaply: they only put the minimum fuel per person on the plane. As a pilot, this concerned me, because flying with extra fuel is usually a good thing. It's also the reason that they claim so many on-time flights: air traffic controllers are smart enough to land Ryanair first or have them land on fumes.
At the airport, we aimlessly wandered around, lost, looking for the Ryanair desk to do a passport check. For non-EU members, this is required. Security was next. Similar to the US, shoes off, laptops/computers/ipads separate, and jackets separate. The quart sized bag rule was not enforced. However, when my bag was searched separately and my large toothpaste removed, I forgot the three oz rule was still in effect. So, now I was flying to Rome toothpaste-less.
After browsing the duty-free shops and eating at a cafeteria (Sunny-D and cream filled doughnuts for the win!), we found the gate and lined up with everyone else. Ryanair only boards by general admission. So, you need to line up with another hundred or so people.
Departing on time, the flight was very uneventful as we all tried to get some sleep before landing in Rome.
Arriving at the Rome Ciampino Airport, we took a bus to the central train station of Rome: Roma Termini. It truly is the transportation hub of the city. Everything converges here. Lucky for us, our hostel was only a few blocks away. Checking in, my three friends checked in before me and managed to get the same room together. With that room filled, I was placed in another room with random occupants. Turned out not to be that bad. My roommates in the eight bed, one full bath room were from Brazil, Costa Rica, two Canadians, South Korea, and a female who checked out the next day and who I only saw once.
With a fair portion of the afternoon still intact, we went exploring on foot. Our general destination was the most definitive sight in Rome: The Colosseum. Along the way, we took in some other sights we just noticed along the way. Basically, there were many things we saw along the trip that we still don't know really what they are. They just looked cool!
I find the streets of Rome very comfortable. While not in a grid system, the major streets are very wide, similar to major streets in large U.S. cities. The buildings are never taller than around 10 stories, similar to Madrid and other Spanish cities. So, if you combine Spain and the United States you get Rome.
Approaching the Colosseum, if finally hit me I was in Rome. We took several photos, walking around toward the Forum and the tourists entrance At this time, with the sun setting, the shadows of the old facade showed the age of a building. It just might be one of the oldest buildings I have ever seen. While it was closed for visiting inside, we considered skipping an interior tour on the advice of some mutual friends that the interior is less interesting than the exterior.
 |
| Do you REALLY need me to tell you what this is! |
We walked in and around the forum (at least the parts not closed by gates). This led us to a dead end at some small church. Of course, it was very pretty.
The next stop was the Trevi Fountain. Initially, I had no clue what this place was. There were so many people there. Apparently, the tradition is to throw a penny with your right hand over your left shoulder while looking away from the fountain for good luck. Without pennies (which are even more useless in Europe where most items are rounded by 5 cents), we would have to return. While there, we got our first gelato of the trip at Blue Ice. Perhaps a little biased by the moment, but it was delicious.
 |
| Trevi Fountain... with Gelato! |
Finally, we visited the Spanish Steps. Simply, I could not tell what was Spanish about them (look how much I know about them). We rested on the steps for some time and looked toward the city lights with the black night sky backdrop. Here, I detour briefly to complain about some unwanted visitors. Even in Madrid, there are a number of street vendors selling the same products: mouth whistles, squishey novelty balls, and guys who walk around launching LED spinners into the air. Even in the most famous places in Madrid (Sol, Plaza Mayor...) you can at most find 5 of these vendors. And they keep their space too. In Rome, they are everywhere; at least thee times as many per location! At the steps, these vendors had their usual array but with laser pointers you could use to blind goalkeeper's eyes with from a distance. And they don't care about keeping their distance either. Several walked up to us on the steps, greeting us in Italian and English. I told one to go away, in Spanish, and he started cursing me (probably) in some other language. The funniest scene was at the Vatican. Inside the Vatican city, there are no vendors. Outside, they line up against the walls along the major streets. After some time, you can notice a pattern: squishey ball vendor, key chain vendor, post card vendor, mouth whistle vendor... on and on and on. You almost wonder how one profits with such a high density of competitors!
 |
| Spanish Steps |
Anyway, dinner that evening consisted of free pizza supplied by the hostel in their bar. When I say pizza, I really mean soggy bread covered sparingly in tomato sauce with a mushroom or two. Still, it was free. After that, we decided to go local by having a glass of win at a local wine bar. The service there was interesting; we probably looked stupid pretending we knew something about wine and the waiters gave us some unusual looks. Still, we ended up spiting two bottles, one red and one white, and talking about random topics.
 |
| Il Vittoriano, which we passed on the way to the Vatican |
Saturday was the busy day. We departed, on foot, to the Vatican City. Along the way, we took pictures of more interesting buildings and found a Kebab place so Eric and Bobby could eat breakfast (which they missed at the hostel). On the recommendation of the hostel, we found a tour guide company and arranged a tour. Best thing to accompany the beginning of the tour: Gelato!
 |
| Approaching the Vatican |
The tour guide Roberto, had a teenage sense of humor that was hilarious. He made jokes about other tour guides (they must all know each other), the 'political activities' of famous Italian politicians, and how to properly annoy the street vendors.
 |
| St. Peter's Square and Basilica |
The first stop (beyond some comments about the outer walls of the city) was the St. Peter's Square. There, we admired the facade of the basilica, the Pope residence, the outside of the Sistine Chapel, and the decorative columns of the square. He told us about a famous brick on the ground in the shape of a broken heart. You can touch it and make a wish for good luck.
 |
| At the focal point, you only see one of the columns in each row. |
Next, we visited the museum, which allowed us entry to the actual Vatican City. The museum is the most visited in the world for good reason. The first tour stop was the Vatican Gardens. Looking only briefly at the extensive gardens, I almost wish we had more time; the Vatican gardens are some of the most beautiful in the world.
 |
| Part of the Vatican Gardens |
Entering the interior museum, the galleries are filled with old statues from roman times and after. The history in these artworks is hard to comprehend. The two most famous rooms of the museum are the tapestry room and the map room. The map room is the most decorative, in my opinion, with an extensive ornate ceiling. Bypassing some smaller rooms, we made our way directly to the most famous room of the Vatican: the Sistine Chapel. The small-ish chapel was filled with people. Due to respect, a few police officers were trying to enforce the no talking policy in the chapel. No photos were allowed. There are two reasons for this: 1: even I would not take pictures of the chapel just out of respect, 2: the Sistine Chapel is copyrighted. Yes, one of the most holy landmarks is copyrighted to a Japanese media company which paid for the restoration of the chapel a decade ago. You could say even religion has its price.
 |
| Map Room |
 |
| If this proves I was there... |
 |
| Basilica |
 |
| Tomb of Pope John Paul II |
 |
| It's big. Like, REALLY big. |
Taking the metro back to the hostel, we prepared ourselves for a better dinner than last night. Walking to one restaurant, we were told it was full, though we were certain some tables were free. Finding plan B, we ate at a nice restaurant. For dinner, I had a delicious truffle pasta and split a tiramisu with Megan.
Sunday, being the final full day, was the most memorable.
Though a little late departing in the morning, our first stop was the Via Sannio street market, one of the largest street markets in the world. Taking a bus there, we allowed ourselves less than an hour with time budgeted for a return visit to the Vatican.
The market, while one of the longest in the world, is nothing special: a lot of vendors selling a lot of cheap goods. My lone purchase of the day was a fake Roma Soccer Club jersey and scarf for 15 eur. I talked the guy down from 17 eur by just staring at the two items long enough.
Making the length of the market, we soon found ourselves running to catch a bus back toward the Vatican. Why? Every Sunday at noon, the Pope blesses the public gathered in St. Peter's square. Walking in the Via della Conciliazione (the main street to the Vatican, closed to traffic for the occasion), we could see a large crowd gathered in the square. Assuming our positions just outside of the square, still with a view of the papal residence from where he would speak, we noticed the crowd only grow larger behind us.
Just after the noon bells, the Pope appeared and began his 25 minute blessing. Begining in Latin (I believe), he read a different blessing in Latin, English, Spanish, Polish, German, and Italian. Well spoken for someone of his age! We learned later that such a large crowd, estimated at over 50,000, is uncommon for a usual weekly blessing. Though I initially believed some of the large banners among the crowd were intended for political purposes, some of them were actually well wishes and thank yous to the Pope.
 |
| Lookin' good Pope! |
 |
| Over 50,000 people... |
 |
| Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere with some rather holy lighting |
Hungry at this point, we were tempted into buying some more gelato before arriving at, probably, the best Italian restaurant we found our whole trip. With extensive pasta dishes for around 5 eur, a cheap wine list with names even we recognized and heated outdoor seating, we had to eat there. With Meg and Eric's journey to eat authentic gnocchi in Italy, their minds were already made up after finding it on the menu. Ordering the same, we collectively dined on wine, bruschetta, gnocchi, and espresso for our late afternoon meal.
Continuing our walk, our final 'must see' destination was the Pantheon. The experience of the actual building (though rather impressive) was less amusing than our subsequent journey: trying to find the one gelato store a friend of mine recommended Recommending "La Palma" gelato store, my Italian friend in the United States only specified its location saying 'it's near the pantheon.' With multiple streets intersecting at the building, we split up into groups and searched multiple streets, to no avail. With Bobby channeling his inner 'gelato'-sense, we proceeded randomly down some streets until arriving at the Italian parliament Near there, we found the official team store for the Roma Soccer Club. Not wanting to disappoint my friends (using my knowledge of this gelato place as my claim to fame for the trip), I knew someone in the Roma store would speak English After inquiring about a Roma jersey for the American player Michael Bradley, I asked if he knew about this place. To our surprise, he did know and gave us directions.
 |
| Pantheon |
Finally arriving at said gelato store, we were greeted with too many flavors to count. For myself, a combination of Grapefruit, Chocolate Orange, and Chocolate Chili Pepper provided a unique contrast.
Feeling good, I did actually return to the Roma store to buy the jersey. It was a good price, in my opinion.
With Meg having exchanged for some pennies at the hostel, we were finally able to return to the Trevi fountain, again in the night time, and make our wishes. The fountain capped off an eventful day that concluded with an uneventful dinner at another random Italian restaurant. The food was ok at best, but ordering lasagna in Italy was one item I wanted to check off my list.
 |
| La Palma... with Gelato! |
Chocolate Truffle
Nutella
Pistachio
Cookies and Cream
Mango
Chocolate
Chili Chocolate
Orange Chocolate
Cherry Vanilla
Viva Italia!
 |
| I probably own this... |
No comments:
Post a Comment