Rome
My fourth visit to Rome, and our (that is, Dr. W and me together) first left us wanting to immediately schedule a return trip. In fact, in the week that we have been home, Dr. W admitted to researching villas in Tuscany.
Here are the highlights pics, and here is the full collection of pics.
Seven days in Rome: we wanted to do two things:
Our two bedroom apartment gave us a great home base, and a convenient way to drop off things in the afternoon, or just relax for an hour or two before dinner. I have fond memories of waking up in the morning and opening up the window shutters to bright sunshine, seeing locals on their way to work and the proprietors of the Chinese restaurant across the street (btw, jammed EVERY day. mostly with asian tourists. otherwise, lord knows why anyone would come to rome to eat chinese food) get started for the day.
We managed to sleep on the plane. I took 3mg of melatonin. I experimented with my dosage the week before we left, and found 3 mg two hours before I wanted to sleep did the trick. 5 mg was way too much, and taking it closer to bedtime did not seem to have any effect. I also was disciplined enough to NOT drink any alcohol on the flight from Cincinnati to Rome, and it seemed to help. So, we landed at 10:30, made it through customs pretty quickly, and found the driver (whom Italy Perfect had recommended to us), and managed to greet, introduce, and converse with him in Italian (thanks to Speak in a Week, which should really be called Speak in Six Weeks, but anyway, it worked). We got out to the car, and found ourselves surrounded by cops. Uhh. Uh-oh. Knowing some Italian came in handy because I could ask him what was going on. Turned out he was not supposed to park there. Not sure why it took 25 minutes to write a parking citation, but anyway, then we were on our way.
Driving into central Rome, passing the ancient city and the Vittoria Emmanuel II monument (the "wedding cake") delivers a memorable first glance. Also, I had shared with Dr. W my thesis that America's export to the world is pop culture (I amended this thesis to include consumer software, too). The first song on the Italian radio? "We are Young." You know you have a pop hit when it hooks people across cultures. Our driver was whistling the tune all the way to the Spanish Steps.
Thanks to Facebook, we actually met up with our former neighbors from Silver Spring, who happened to be finishing up their vacation in Rome. It was a little surreal to have espresso with Jill and Steven. The first day turned out to be our longest one of the week, slightly by design, because we had tickets to see Lazio play Inter Milan. It was the only day that week that offered a game.
Dr. W was a trouper about going--she enjoys soccer, but went really because it's my thing. I try to take in a game every time I go to Europe, and I actually dug up a Lazio banner from the last time I saw them play in Rome in 2001. I felt pretty cool have an old school banner to wave. Getting the tickets proved to be a nerve-wracking experience. I bought them online from Sports365, kind of like a European version of stub hub. In Italy, the tickets are actually assigned with the purchasers name on it, partially to prevent scalping, I guess, but mostly to reduce soccer hooliganism (or so I read). They sent me instructions to meet someone at Piazza Popollo outside of Burger King. Well, we ran a bit late, and we both wandered outside Burger King asking women if they were there to drop off tickets. 8:00 passes and no luck. Shit. Not only are we going to miss the game, but we just blew $80 a seat. Thankfully, I had the sense to turn on my cell phone (and had arranged for an international calling plan). The guy from Sports 365 called me almost immediately, and explained that the woman couldn't find me, but was still there. I described what I was wearing, and two minutes later, she found us. Tram # 2 took us to the Olympico Stadium, just in time to see the throngs of supporters parading down the street, singing Lazio songs, waving flags, and beating drums. I heard that Seattle does it right, but other than that, US soccer has no clue how to do a soccer a game.
We made it through the first half before jet lag and the cold (it was down into the 40s) overcame us. Dr. W looked miserable, and we a lot in front of us for the week, so I didn't mind leaving. Plus, Lazio was losing. I later found out that they came back and pulled off a 3-1 win. Bummer to miss that half, but it was totally the right call. As we went to sleep that night, I declined to set an alarm. I hate having alarms on vacation (given that Lark is a human alarm clock set to go off no later than 5 am every single day), and how late could we sleep? I congratulated myself on acclimating to the time zone in a single day.
Fourteen hours later, we woke up at 1pm. So much for the first morning's museums.
Now, given how much we did, I could fill up ten pages giving a day by day description of what we did. Instead, I'm going to highlight the sites we saw here, and then post separately about the food--it truly deserves its own post.
If I hadn't eaten at a roadside tratorria overlooking the Almafi coast, it would be hard to believe that places like Positano exist.
Seven days in Rome: we wanted to do two things:
- Get to know the city
- Not over-schedule ourselves
I'm proud to say that we did both things, and had a lot of fun along the way. This trip also represented a major milestone because it was our first without Lark--in fact, the first time we have ever left her since she was born. Check out my other blog for details, but suffice to stay, she had a great time with my parents in Cincinnati.
We rented an apartment near Piazza di Spagna that we found through a company called Italy Perfect. I can't remember exactly how we came across them--VRBO, I think. At any rate, I highly recommended them. Not only are their apartments excellent, and in fact, they exceed the expectations set on their website, i.e., the apartment was ever nicer than the pictures, but it is a very well-run company. Their website was intuitive and easy to use, for example, they had a folder with five downloadable PDFs to explain the logistics, recommend restaurants, etc. We especially enjoyed the restaurant recommendations--we hit several of those spots, and they were fantastic (more on the food later). I appreciated that they recommended all kinds of places--frugal, extravagant, and in the middle, in all neighborhoods.
Our two bedroom apartment gave us a great home base, and a convenient way to drop off things in the afternoon, or just relax for an hour or two before dinner. I have fond memories of waking up in the morning and opening up the window shutters to bright sunshine, seeing locals on their way to work and the proprietors of the Chinese restaurant across the street (btw, jammed EVERY day. mostly with asian tourists. otherwise, lord knows why anyone would come to rome to eat chinese food) get started for the day.
We managed to sleep on the plane. I took 3mg of melatonin. I experimented with my dosage the week before we left, and found 3 mg two hours before I wanted to sleep did the trick. 5 mg was way too much, and taking it closer to bedtime did not seem to have any effect. I also was disciplined enough to NOT drink any alcohol on the flight from Cincinnati to Rome, and it seemed to help. So, we landed at 10:30, made it through customs pretty quickly, and found the driver (whom Italy Perfect had recommended to us), and managed to greet, introduce, and converse with him in Italian (thanks to Speak in a Week, which should really be called Speak in Six Weeks, but anyway, it worked). We got out to the car, and found ourselves surrounded by cops. Uhh. Uh-oh. Knowing some Italian came in handy because I could ask him what was going on. Turned out he was not supposed to park there. Not sure why it took 25 minutes to write a parking citation, but anyway, then we were on our way.
Driving into central Rome, passing the ancient city and the Vittoria Emmanuel II monument (the "wedding cake") delivers a memorable first glance. Also, I had shared with Dr. W my thesis that America's export to the world is pop culture (I amended this thesis to include consumer software, too). The first song on the Italian radio? "We are Young." You know you have a pop hit when it hooks people across cultures. Our driver was whistling the tune all the way to the Spanish Steps.
Thanks to Facebook, we actually met up with our former neighbors from Silver Spring, who happened to be finishing up their vacation in Rome. It was a little surreal to have espresso with Jill and Steven. The first day turned out to be our longest one of the week, slightly by design, because we had tickets to see Lazio play Inter Milan. It was the only day that week that offered a game.
Dr. W was a trouper about going--she enjoys soccer, but went really because it's my thing. I try to take in a game every time I go to Europe, and I actually dug up a Lazio banner from the last time I saw them play in Rome in 2001. I felt pretty cool have an old school banner to wave. Getting the tickets proved to be a nerve-wracking experience. I bought them online from Sports365, kind of like a European version of stub hub. In Italy, the tickets are actually assigned with the purchasers name on it, partially to prevent scalping, I guess, but mostly to reduce soccer hooliganism (or so I read). They sent me instructions to meet someone at Piazza Popollo outside of Burger King. Well, we ran a bit late, and we both wandered outside Burger King asking women if they were there to drop off tickets. 8:00 passes and no luck. Shit. Not only are we going to miss the game, but we just blew $80 a seat. Thankfully, I had the sense to turn on my cell phone (and had arranged for an international calling plan). The guy from Sports 365 called me almost immediately, and explained that the woman couldn't find me, but was still there. I described what I was wearing, and two minutes later, she found us. Tram # 2 took us to the Olympico Stadium, just in time to see the throngs of supporters parading down the street, singing Lazio songs, waving flags, and beating drums. I heard that Seattle does it right, but other than that, US soccer has no clue how to do a soccer a game.
We made it through the first half before jet lag and the cold (it was down into the 40s) overcame us. Dr. W looked miserable, and we a lot in front of us for the week, so I didn't mind leaving. Plus, Lazio was losing. I later found out that they came back and pulled off a 3-1 win. Bummer to miss that half, but it was totally the right call. As we went to sleep that night, I declined to set an alarm. I hate having alarms on vacation (given that Lark is a human alarm clock set to go off no later than 5 am every single day), and how late could we sleep? I congratulated myself on acclimating to the time zone in a single day.
Fourteen hours later, we woke up at 1pm. So much for the first morning's museums.
Now, given how much we did, I could fill up ten pages giving a day by day description of what we did. Instead, I'm going to highlight the sites we saw here, and then post separately about the food--it truly deserves its own post.
marcus aurelius outside the capitoline museum
romulus and remus and the she-wolf who raised them
an amazing piece of history: the Colosseum. Back then, known as the Flavian Ampitheater. Named for a status of Colossos, supposedly that had Nero's head on it, that used to stand nearby.
they have started re-building the floor, which is pretty cool
mi amore, with the vittoria emmannuel II monument behind here. aken from the rooftop of the capitoline museum.
the wedding cake. subtle architecture.
inside st. peter's basillica
the dome. amazing.
michaelangelo's stunning and then-controversial take on mary and jesus. it earned him accolades as well, and eventually, invitation to paint the ceiling of the sistine chapel.
st. peter. his foot has been smoothed out by tens of thousands of seekers rubbing the toes for good luck, and now it is off-limits.
I had waited almost 20 years to visit Pompeii--since taking four years of Latin in high school. Paulo, our tour guide, did put together a detailed, funny, introspective narrative for us. well worth the 200 eurors.
Inside a Pompeii apartment.
at the ancient forum. we bought the audio guide. BORING (the audio guide, not the Forum itself).
caesar kicked ass.
magnificent. that's neptune. not posideon.
since my first visit in 1998, flipping a coin into the Trevi Fountain has brought me back to rome three more times.
dr. w on the spanish steps. our hood (for the week).
that's the keats-shelley house on the right, where keats died. yes, there was a shout-out to dan simmons' hyperion cantos inside. made my week.
NO pizza beats roman pizza.
posted by Wintermute at 3:31 PM
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