What a treat! Friends from my Virginia book club traveled to Rome for this long weekend. I was lucky enough to be able to join them. I arrived the day before them, so explored a bit on my own, staking out some great restaurants, wine bars and souvenier shops (I shopped and ate...my two favorite things!). The next day, Carol, Mary, Vicki and Amy arrived, tired from traveling so far, but ready to hit the streets and do some serious sight seeing. We had four days and were planning on making the most of it. :-)
I hate to admit it, but the best part was that I had a day to myself. The gals had booked through travelocity or orbitz and got a great flight+hotel deal, so I just booked at their hotel and made my flight reservations. As it turned out, it was as expensive for me to fly to Rome from Cologne, Germany, plus stay for 5 days as it was for them to fly from the US plus hotel. Crazy! Anyway, we stayed at the Empire Palace Hotel. It was lovely, had an excellent breakfast (with awesome coffee!), very pleasant desk staff and was not too far from a train station. The only drawback was that my single room was about as big as a closet. I had to unpack my suitcase and stow it away in order to move about the room. Also, the sheets were like sandpaper. Perhaps their rationale is that after a day of walking Rome and drinking several glasses of wine, one might not notice the sheets. Hmmm. Perhaps we didn't put that to the test well enough.
My closet sized room
One example of what you can see when walking just about anywhere in Rome....If this were in the US, there would be barricades around it with signs and historical markers. I am sure Romans appreciate the history of their city, but they have assimilated modern life into the city and ruins, not around them.
I walked to the Fontana di Trevi ....after shopping, of course. I also found a great little wine shop/bar around the corner from the hotel. Great Prosecco (my favorite!).
After a day of travel delays, the gals from VA arrived. We walked to the Piazza di Spagna (Spanish Steps) and then along the Via Condotti where all the posh shops are. I guess one is likely to celebrity spot there, but no luck. Perhaps all the celebs had enough of Rome after Tom and Katie's wedding. :-). For dinner, we ate at Gusto Ristorante . We started by salivating over their appetizers and wine bar. We were seated rather quickly and had an awesome dinner. After dinner, we stopped into a gelatto place (Blue Ice) to sample REAL Italian ice. It was good, but we were too full to enjoy it.
Sunday, Carol, Mary and I went to mass a few blocks from our hotel at Santa Susanna, which is home of the American Catholic Church in Rome. While Bernini sculptures seem to be a dime a dozen here, we were awed by the Bernini scupltures inside. Our walk down Via XX Settembre was lovely, especially with the fruit laden orange trees lining both sides of the street. After mass, we met up with the other gals to take an open bus tour . Our plan was to take this tour, weather permitting. Given the weather didn't permit, we went ahead and braved the elements, and bypassed the line, by opting to travel in the OPEN portion. We were quite a sight w/ our umbrellas and raincoats atop this bus. It was actually a great way to travel and offered us the ability to stop, see what we wanted, and get back on. Our first stop was the Santa Maria de Cosmedin, a medieval church from the 6th century. Relics from Santa Valentine were there...as Carol, our ever level headed one of the bunch exclaimed while punching me, said "Tracy...it's a head...a real head." Well, it was a skull, anyway. Always morbidly curious, I was glad to have a partner in crime while looking at the relics. :-) We chose not to put our honesty to the test, and skipped the line to the Mouth of Truth.
From there, we walked across the river to the Trastevere area of Rome. On Sundays, the Porta Portese (a flea market, basically) is a must. We bought scarves, some silver jewelry and I bought a cute sweater and purse for Maryn. This place was crawling with folks and many of the locals kept warning us to watch our purses. I have to say, I believe it is a good thing to wear your backpack on your front while walking through there. Some shady folks were out and about.
After shopping at the market, we were all hungry, so we set out looking for a place to eat. While dodging the rain, we finally found a pizza place, Popi Popi Pizzeria Ristorante. Good, crispy pizza and great chianti. After lunch, we went to the Santa Maria in Trastevere. After, we caught the bus again and rode, in the rain again, back to Termini va Piazza del Campidoglio (which is now city hall). Lots to see along the way! Our group split up at this point, with Carol, Mary, and I choosing the gift shop over the museum (typical) and then we went to the Santa Maria degli Angeli (Baths of Diocletian) on Piazza della Repubblica. The church was designed around the baths by Michelangelo.
By the time we were done sightseeing, it was time to eat again. We ate at a nice restaurant around the corner from our hotel, La Lampada. We finished the evening in our rooms, sharing a bottle... or two :-)... of wine and catching up, reviewing our itinerary, etc.
Monday, February 19 - Vatican
I was so excited about this part of our trip. I have always wanted to see the Sistine Chapel and had read some about the restoration project. We decided it would be best to book an English tour through our hotel, as many who had traveled before us suggested. The biggest deal is that you bypass the line. Of course, you must endure the tour line, but it is a shorter wait than the general admission line. While our tour was informative, it was much quicker than we anticipated and we couldn't linger (which we all seem to enjoy!). That said, it was a good tour and well organized, but I was left wanting more. Next visit will include the catacombs, for sure.
Our group in front of St. Peter's Basilica in the center of Vatican Square. To the upper right, you can see the chimney where the smoke comes out when choosing a new pope.
As part of our tour, we walked through the ornately decorated halls of the Vatican Museum and into the Basilica. We touched the statue of St. Peter's foot and saw the Pieta from afar, as it is now surrounded with protective glass, and saw the body of Pope John XXIII (is it in poor taste to say how 'good' he looks?). I really cannot write anything that would do this place justice.
When we finished our tour, we walked toward our hotel past San Giovanni d. Fiorentini and had lunch at a little Panini place on Corso Vittorio Emanuelle. We wandered down Via dei Coronari where we found nifty shops including a glass shop, Kouki, where we all bought little trinkets. I bought two watercolors from an artist in Piazza Navona , and enjoyed exploring the wonderful alleyways in that area.
Then we finally made it to the Pantheon. I will say again how amazing it is that Rome is built around the ruins, statues and buildings we all hold in such esteem. First, the Pantheon is much smaller than I imagined. Second, it is just crammed in the square. I guess I had one of those 'you have to be there to appreciate it' moments while there. I was awestruck by the fact that so many figures I had read about in history walked the same floors, streets and grounds that we were walking on. I wish I had paid more attention in high school history!
After the Pantheon, we walked to the Trevi Fountain. It turned out to be about a mile from our hotel, much to my sore feet's happiness! We tossed our coins in the fountain for good luck...plus periodically the city cleans out the fountains and the proceeds go to the Italian Red Cross. As we had seen in some of the other more famous squares, street 'performers' were out and about. We took a few photos with them...for a price!
Before heading back to our hotel, I took the gals to the same souvenier shop I went to on my first day here, and we bought loads of Grappa, Lemonchella, herb salts and other goodies to take home to share.
Tuesday, February 20 - Ancient Rome
We started our day at the Cappuccin Crypt (Santa Maria della Immaculata Concezione) just around the corner from our hotel. My morbid curiosity initially kicked into high gear, but after about 15 minutes, I had enough. Bones, bones and more bones, decorating the walls, floors, cielings, etc. I bought postcards for the boys, as I thought they wouldn't believe it. I couldn't figure out the rationale of taking the bones of your peers and decorating with them.
Then we hit the train to head to the Forum, Colosseum and Palatine Hill. Nothing funny happened on the way to the forum, but we were lucky enough to find someone offering a tour of the Colosseum. Again, a lesson learned. Get a tour that includes the forum, too. Not complaining, tho, as the tour was great.
Had we known in advance, there is a way to get access to the underground portion of the Colosseum, where the lions and prisoners were kept before their battles, contests, or spectacles. That would have added an interesting element to the tour. Another item to add to my list for next time.
Had we known in advance, there is a way to get access to the underground portion of the Colosseum, where the lions and prisoners were kept before their battles, contests, or spectacles. That would have added an interesting element to the tour. Another item to add to my list for next time.
Like the Pantheon, the Colosseum is in the middle of the hussle and bussle of modern life, with a major road running around it. Our guide said that they cannot keep the exterior of this structure clean, for as soon as they are 'complete' they must begin again where they originally started. Glad I don't have that job! Of course, that sounds a bit like the laundry situation at my house!
After our Colosseum tour, we donned our raincoats and armed ourselves with our umbrellas to check out the Forum and Palatine Hill. It was a wet and, at times, slippery walk up, but so worth the view:
The colosseum through the trees
An aviary (according to Wikipedia, anyway)
So many things are in the Forum area, but it is difficult to piece it all together without the aid of a guide. It seems like some giant was playing Legos or Tinker Toys and swept everything about in frustration. My understanding is that even professionals who have a vast knowledge of this area are baffled at how everything pieces together. Chalk this up to one of the things I am comfortable with never knowing the answer to. :-)
After our rainy walk we grabbed lunch at Luizzi's, which was recommended by a friend. It turned out to be an awesome lunch. I had the Pasta al Arrabiatta and we all shared a bottle of the House Red. It was to DIE for!! I saw someone being served the leomon ice and had to order one for myself. It wasn't a mistake....the ice was served in a hollowed out, GIANT lemon and then frozen. So good! We were the last to leave the restaurant before they closed for their afternoon 'siesta.' Although, we didn't walk as much as we rolled out.
Our group split up again, with Mary, Carol and I heading to the San Clemente Church and catacombs just east of the Colosseum. This was a wonderful surprise and I would highly recommend this side trip to anyone going to Rome (although we all agreed the restrooms leave much to be desired).
The rest of our group went to the Museo Keats-Shelly (to the right of the base of the Spanish Steps) in keeping with our book club theme. They enjoyed it. After meeting at the Spanga Metro, we zipped back to the hotel where we had a quick, light, dinner (with wine, of course) at the hotel bar before packing up to fly home on Wednesday.
This trip was such a treat. Not only did I get a great 'friend fix,' but I was able to experience something I never dreamed I'd be able to. I left Rome with plans to visit again with my family.
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