Written by: Amy sitting on her bed in Madrid
I wanted to give a quick (haha, as this is the longest entry I have ever done) summary of what we did and saw in Rome before I completely forget. The photo's will have to be added another time because wifi is just not that great here.
First, our hotel was in a great place--central to everything we wanted to do and had a metro stop just a couple of blocks away. Rome was loud, but once we shut the window to the fifth floor room, you couldn't hear a thing. The hotel--Domus Livia--had a continental breakfast which was not as good as it could have been. But, we supplemented it the second day with some foodstuffs we scored at a local market and that worked. They call this type of hotel a boutique hotel. It only had a handful of rooms and the reception desk was only open from 8 am to 1 and from 4 to 7 or 8 pm. While these hours seemed weird to us, they are similar to what we found was the norm in Rome.
Eating in Rome was an experience. They have a totally different view of dining than I do. They savor every meal to the point where dinner can take up to 3 hours. Now, I'm not one for sitting around doing ANYTHING for 3 hours--I don't have the mental stamina. But, waiting on food is just not my thing. Also, they bring out the dishes when each dish are finished. As a result, 2 of us were given food first and then 45 minutes later the other 2 of us were served. It happened every time at every sit down restaurant we went. This was torturous for me! I did not come to Rome to eat. I came to see things and do things. Ker rather enjoyed this style of eating. He likes to take his time and leisurely enjoy his food. Unlike me, he actually likes food. So, I tried very hard the first couple of days to be patient and go with the flow. But, by the end of the second day, I was done taking hours out of my day to eat. I just wanted my food to all come at the same time so we could move on to the next thing. Also, everything was super expensive and you had to pay for tap water. This all sounds like I'm complaining...maybe I am. But, since it's my blog...you can handle it. Right?
As far as the language--yes, it's a barrier. Not as bad as in Paris because a lot of people learn English in Rome, but trying to get something ordered takes some patience and a bit of an adventurous spirit. At some point, you try your best to choose something and just hope for the best when you have no idea what it is you just ordered.
Now down to the nitty gritty. On day one, we got up in the wee hours of the morning (4:30 am), got to the airport, boarded our plane to Rome at 6:30am. There was some issues with out luggage--the bags Ker had purchased as carry-ons were 5 cm too tall--but, the flight attendants sorted it out. (This comes back later to haunt us, by the way). Now, you wouldn't think that this was a big deal, but we are flying Ryanair where you have to pay for luggage so everyone brings a carry on. However, the plane isn't physically capable of storing that many carry ons in the cabin. They can only hold 90 carry ons of a 150 person plane. Since having space is such an issue, having luggage that has to be put horizontally in the overhead bins is a bigger deal than if were on another carrier. But, after some hateful stares from other passengers, it got sorted out.
Once we landed in Rome at 10:30 am, we hopped on a bus that took us the one of the main bus/train/metro terminals in Rome--Termini. We walked from Termini to our hotel, and checked in. By this time, we were HUNGRY. So, we asked for a lunch recommendation. We ended up down the block a little and had the best food of our entire Rome experience. I had a gigantic bowl of minestrone soup which was so savory, it was to die for! Abby had...wait for it...pizza, Colleen had salmon and Ker had a calzone. Everything was super yummy and set us up for our fun day ahead.
After lunch, we headed off to see Palazzo Valentini. This museum came recommended as a place teens would enjoy so we wanted to set the kids up right. It took a little walking to find the place as we were not completely oriented to how Rome is set up. But, after a little more walking, we finally found it. On the way, we saw some pretty incredible fountains, sculptures and monuments. This just whet my appetite so when we finally found the museum, we were stoked. We got our tickets for a later tour so we took the opportunity to grab some gellato and see the Trevi Fountain. Unfortunately, the fountain is under some construction and there is no water. But, it was impressive none-the-less.
Once we viewed the Trevi, we had just enough time to head back to the Pallazo Valentini Museum. The museum was AWESOME!!! They were doing some renovations on a government building and found a mostly complete ancient Roman house during their excavation. This domus (home) was likely owned by a very wealthy family is the first century AD. When you descend into the museum, you are looking at all the features of the house from above on a plexi-glass floor. At first, this is very weird because you think you are going to fall through the see-through floor, but the guided tour complete with special lighting just sweeps you up into the archaeological finds. I totally recommend this to anyone going to Rome.
After Palazzo Valentini, we headed off to pay homage to Dan Brown's Angels and Demons. We took the metro (which came with our Roma Pass) to Chiesa Santa Maria del Popolo. This impressive church featured the death of a cardinal that was associated with Earth. We saw the Bernini statue and the demon's hole in the Chigi Chapel. Totally nerded ourselves out here but it was so worth it. The outside of this church does not do it justice. But, once you go into the church, you just get wiped out with art that are in all of the little chapels that line the cruciform church.
By that time, we were wiped out. It was a long day for all of us. But, my back was still paining me and all the walking was taking its toll. We needed to get dinner and then go to bed so that is just what we did. This meant that we would not be seeing the Appia Antica. But, I hoped we could fit that in another day.
Day Two, we got up, ate our continental breakfast (croissants, croissants, croissants!) and headed off to do Ancient Rome. We started off in the Colosseum. We got out tickets and audioguides and headed off into the structure. Abby and I paired up and went on our merry way and Colleen and Ker headed another. The Colosseum really is very impressive. The engineering and other architecture just blew me away. This gigantic thing is 2000 years old and could possibly hold up to 70,000 people at a time. Just incredible. I had always heard that the early Christians were persecuted by the Romans and were killed like game in the "games" at the Colosseum. It turns out that this is not historically accurate. Even though there is a giant cross situated in the arena to stand as a memorial to all the fallen, there is no historical evidence to support the claims of persecution in this place. I found this very interesting.
Once we had our fill of the Colosseum, we hit the surrounding area which is filled with ancient Roman buildings. We went through what used to be Emperor's Palaces and what was left of the Roman Forums. Each place you put your eyes you are confronted with the remains of a civilization. Your imagination has to fill in much of what you see now as these structures are crumbling as fast as they can restore them. I wish there had been a walking tour of the remains since my imagination is just not up to the task of filling in the blanks. I hope to go home and find some documentary on this. But, we found that we can only see so much before we lose interest and what we see around us no longer has an impact. This lack of interest usually coincides with hunger and this was no exception. It was off to lunch we went.
Once we finished off lunch, we made our way to the Pantheon. Our experience in Paris had made us a little unsure how interesting this would be, but we had read about the Pantheon in Angels and Demons and just had to see it for ourselves. The exterior was nothing to shout at--it's old and showing some wear. But, then you walk inside and...bam! There is nothing worn out inside. There's color and light through the occulus. It hits the ceiling just so and lights up the massive space. The chapels were beautiful and full of priceless offerings from masters of the art world. Also, the Pantheon holds Raphael's tomb. So worth it.
By then we had seen as much as we could and needed some physical exhersion. Instead of going to one more church or museum, we headed off to the world's oldest road--the Appia Antica. This requires a metro transfer and a bus as what's left of this ancient road is not close to the city center. This makes sense as most of Rome is built on top of layers of building from the many centuries and whole civilizations. You have to go a little out of your way to find something that is preserved and not covered by progress. We made a tiny little mistake of getting off the bus way too early. This meant that the trek to the Appia was a little harrowing with two-way traffic, a walled off street and no sidewalks or shoulder of any kind. I know the cars weren't going 100 mph, but it sure felt like it. We'd gone maybe 2 miles when I just couldn't deal with it anymore. Abby was jumping out of her skin and it's just not worth getting hit by a car on the way to the world's oldest street. We spotted some old looking part of the street, got our picture there and proceeded to get more lost on the way to the nearest metro station which happened to be a long walk in the proceeding dusk. Once we were back in downtown, it was decided that we would have to hit the Spanish Steps. Which we did, but we didn't stay as is the custom. Instead, we climbed up them and I spotted another church. I went in and caught the tail end of mass. The Trinita Dei Monti is a small church by Rome's standards, but the mass was populated by nuns, acolytes and priests of all different Catholic denominations. I had stumbled on the place that the local clergy consider holy. It was pretty awesome to be able to shake hands with them as we offered peace to each other in so many different languages. It was quite a moment. The docent noticed I was looking intently around the church and paying scant attention to the rest of the mass and beckoned me to view the courtyard. But, I lost my nerve when he pointed up at the second story window that was glowing an eery red and said in halting English that something special was up there. I don't know if he meant it, but he scared the living daylight outta me (hey, I've watched my share of scary movies and I know the fool who goes towards the light in an empty courtyard dies) and I booked it back outside. Not my best moment. But, we made it and back to the hotel we went to cool off our hurting feet.
Day Three began much in the same way as the previous day. But, today we had 5:30 pm tickets to the world renowned Borghese Gallery and Museum. But, first, we needed to book it to the Vatican so we could make our early appointment at the Vatican Museum. We pushed our way through buskers (selfie? selfie?) and got in what we thought was the line for the museum. Turns out we were in line to visit the Pope as he was giving an audience in St. Peter's Square that morning. I'm sure he's a nice guy, but I just wanted to see the paintings in the museum. We had to go back about 1/2 a mile to the entrance to the museum. There's a lot of...well...stuff at the Vatican Museum. It's put together in such a way that you just don't care after a while. They jumble it all together by type (all sculpture here, all tapestries there, etc) so you lose the significance of any individual piece. There were pagan statues right across from christian art but you weren't able to really synthesize it all because of its sheer quantity. Abby and I listened to the audioguide until we just didn't care anymore. About anything. Including going on. But, the Sistine Chapel kept calling our name. And, after we just closed off our senses and spread through room after room of priceless treasures, we found ourselves in one of the most awesome places on earth--the Sistine Chapel. There are no words for that place. Every square inch is a delight for the eyes. Abby turned the audioguide on again and we listened to every word that we could with an intensity that had been lacking in us until that moment. Even though you are in the room with so many others, it feels like you are there by yourself. The silence in the room (enforced by numerous docents), helps you feel like it's all you. We took a seat and just stared everywhere. Completely undone. I can not say enough about the art of this space. There just are not words. It's another place I'd like to learn more about as I'm sure the audioguide only just skimmed the surface of what is painted up on those walls.
But, Abby and I were done so we found a bench in the sun outside in one of the courtyards and plunked ourselves on it waiting for Ker and Colz to finish the tour. When we had reunited we made the trek back to St. Peter's Square and stood in a hot sweaty queue while someone did something (we'll just never know what was the hold up) then we moved to another hot and sweaty queue inside St. Peter's Square so we could go in and view St Peter's Basilica. It was a long wait and the church was truly amazing. It was massive and ornate and everything you expect from all the talent and riches the Catholic church can afford. It is a worthy seat of religious power and reflects it in every brushstroke and line. But, there's a part of me that was more awestruck by the Sistine Chapel even though you could fit 50 of them inside St. Peter's Basilica and it had no gold. But, St. Peter's is a must see for the art and power and sheer majesty of the place. I can not imagine going to mass there although I am told it happens. No, we did not see the Pope. And, I'm pretty sure that was a good thing for him and us.
Done with that, we were off to have some fun and play in the Villa Borghese. This park is not as big as Central Park in NY. But, we rented a surrey and tooled around in it for a while. Eventually my back just wasn't up to the challenge and I had Ker take the girls for a spin in the surrey while I warmed a sun drenched bench in the park and oogled at the many dogs. It is very much in times like these when I see dogs and their humans that I miss my dogs. It strikes me that I am no longer a dog owner. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not, but it does make me very sad to know that I will not be going home to my Maddie or my Riley. I just stare at other dogs and make their humans nervous instead (I really must have dognapper eyes). When we caught up with each other, Ker had returned the surrey and we still had some time so we walked lazily around the park hitting all the benches in the sun before we were back at the Borghese Museum cafe. The coffee there wasn't very good, but it was a place to sit before our tour.
The art in this museum was astounding. This building was built to house these works from the 1600 so these works were displayed to shine. And, they did. We saw sculpture from Bernini that looked like it could just get up and walk. We were completely blown away by it all. I could go on, but I'm boring even myself about now with all the works of art we've seen. The nice thing about the Borghese was that it only had a small art collection that was accessible to everyone who came in. It was not as overwhelming as the other places we had been but just as impressive.
That night we went back to the hotel, packed so we could catch an early flight to Barcelona.
That was Rome.
No comments:
Post a Comment