ROMA
Ciao,
We had wanted to go to Rome for as long as we can remember. We wanted a glimpse of ancient history that we learned about from the time we were small. We wanted to see Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel painting and the Pieta. The Circus Maximus, Roman Forum, Pantheon, and of course the Colosseum were high on our list. A tour of Italy would be nice, but first we just wanted to spend about a week in Rome. The rest could wait until a future visit.
When we talked with our friends and acquaintances who had been to Rome, and we read our various guide books, we were given much advice. One friend said that it is an overwhelming city because it has too many layers of history. Most friends told us to beware of being robbed. Each had a story to tell of having their backpack slashed, having their wallet stolen from their pocket, or being distracted by a woman who handed them their baby while she and a friend stole whatever they could. Other advice in common was that we should be careful of maniacal drivers and be careful crossing the street. It seemed that everyone had words of caution. But they were all people who wanted to return if they hadn't already done so.
In looking for a place to stay, we checked on the Internet and found a location that seemed extremely reasonable (about $55 US--although it is about $60 US now). It was quite a bit cheaper than anything else we could find and looked like it had everything we needed. We were brand new to this Internet stuff and wondered if we were taking our chances making arrangements this way. However, the owner/operator of the Villa Paola, Fabiana, seemed like a neat person when we began interacting with her on the web. She also seemed well organized, friendly and informative. We liked her almost immediately and it felt like she was our friend even before we arrived in Rome.
As we were flying to Rome from London we turned to ask our seatmate a simple question about tipping in Rome and hit the jackpot! It turns out that she was a Londoner who had lived in Rome for nine years and had a love affair with the city, while she was maddened by it at the same time. She gave us an impassioned overview of what to expect, tips on what to see, and generally entertained us. She told us that everyone in Italy cheats on their taxes because it is the only way to survive since the income tax is 45% across the board. She said that it is required by law to ask merchants for a receipt and for them to give one. Giving no receipt means the money will be pocketed and not reported to the tax authorities. She shared with us a time when she was caught and fined for not getting a receipt at a club where she had been. It seems as we remember it that the fine was about $100 US -- we do remember that it wasn't an insignificant amount. Primarily, she warned us that we should expect that we would be cheated in Italy because everyone does it. She said to count our change carefully and take no chances. She added that merchants in Rome tend to be very passive aggressive and independent when it comes to determining business hours and waiting on people. However, throughout her dialogue it was clear that she loves Rome with a passion and was looking forward to her business trip there.
We need to report here that we had no serious problems with theft or any other really bad experiences while in Rome, (or throughout our whole trip around the world), although one of our fellow travelers at the villa did report that he had his wallet stolen right after he got money from an ATM machine. We had a close call with two young women who tried to distract us to pick our pockets but who were unsuccessful in that endeavor. The next day we watched as the same two young women were arrested and hauled off in a police van.
An interesting side note is that we received "bad money" from an ATM machine located in a bank and we received the same kind of money from Thomas Cook prior to our departure from the US. We didn't know that it was bad until people refused to accept it, with no explanation other than it was no good. We asked people we knew what we should do. They said it was counterfeit. However, in time and with a bit of detective work, we were able to take our two 50,000 lira notes to the proper bank and get good money, after being dressed down a bit by the official at the bank (even though one of the bills came out of their own ATM machine!). It turns out that it was money that was out of circulation. During the confusion, as we communicated to a young Italian man what was going on, his response was, "That's the way it is done in Rome," with a slight smile that was supportive and chagrin in his voice.
Upon arriving in Rome, it was pouring rain and we were glad that we had made prior arrangements with Fabiana to be picked up at the airport. We were delighted to discover that she came herself to greet us -- something that we know she will not be able to do on a regular basis with her booming business. She drove us to the villa which is outside of Rome and at first we were a bit perplexed because we thought it would be a little closer to the center of things. Also we thought we could walk to the train station that is just a couple of miles from the villa but Fabiana indicated that it would not be safe for us to do that. She said that she would be transporting us back and forth to the train station according to our schedule and desires.
So Villa Paola became our home away from home for the five days that we would be able to spend exploring Rome.
We were shown to our room where we found the gorgeous bouquet of flowers pictured above. A nice welcome.
We had arranged in advance for a home cooked meal, prepared by Fabiana's mother and that really hit the spot. It was classical Italian fare with fettuccine as the main course, and we were introduced to baked whole artichokes as a side dish. Everything was delicious and it was a great way to be introduced to Rome cuisine.
The next morning we awoke to a beautiful sunshine-filled day with temperatures around 60 degrees. That was an omen of good weather for the rest of our time there. Each day we had comfortably cool weather in the morning and evening with the afternoons warm enough for short sleeves. Not bad for early spring. We didn't see rain again until we were on our way to the airport to travel to Spain. This was a pattern that we experienced throughout our entire trip. On the whole, we were blessed with good weather conditions. (London was the exception, as we will describe later on the London page.)
Fabiana drove us to the train station after making arrangements for the time she would pick us up. We had her phone number if we wanted to change our time of pick up.
At the train station we were intrigued by the graffiti painted trains. No two were alike, all equally colorful, and we continued to be curious about them as we rode back and forth when we traveled about fifteen minutes each way into the heart of Rome. We believe that they are painted by gang members who take pride in proclaiming their handiwork and claiming their territory.
One of the first things that we discovered is that Rome is much smaller than we imagined. We could walk to almost any place we wanted to visit. However, the public transportation is reasonable, accessible and easy to use when we didn't want to walk.
We did find out almost immediately that the guide books were accurate about the traffic-- scooters and cars all over the place. One of the first things we noticed was the size of the cars. They were small, especially one called a Smart Car which is small enough to fit into half a parking space. They are practical and economical to operative, but not cheap to buy we were told.
We needed to be very alert when crossing the street and when we were tired or distracted it was more difficult to do so. Also, the sidewalks were bustling and narrow, and it was sometimes difficult to find room to walk or keep from being pushed aside as we walked along. Also it seemed that everyone had a cell phone attached to their ears as they hurriedly walked down the street or suddenly stopped right in right of us. We are happy to report no mishaps.
We were struck by how fit people seemed, how smartly dressed they were, and how elegant their shoes were. We think that tourists must have been the only people wearing sneakers!
We also were struck by the number of people we saw in uniform -- policemen, guards, military, whatever -- we never saw so many people in uniform in a single place before. And all of them were spiffy looking with some uniforms quite showy and others colorful. We never did figure out who was who. One person told us that there were so many police and military present because of the Golden Jubilee of the Catholic Church.
Using the maps that Fabiana supplied us and the carefully given instructions and suggestions that she provided, it was no problem to quickly find all the things we wanted to see. In the first day, alone, we walked past the Borghese Palace and Gardens, through Poppolo Square, and past the Pantheon (pictured above), the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, the Victor Emmanuel monument, the Italian Parliament, the Roman Forum and the Colosseum, among other treasures of history.
We soon learned that all roads lead to the Colosseum and tears were in our eyes when we saw it for the first time. We would return to it over and over in the time we had in the city and we wanted to linger to try to get some sense of the antiquity, the events that occurred there and the vastness of the place.
The place is huge, much bigger than we imagined from all the pictures we had seen. This view of the inside gives you a better idea of the size of it. If you look very carefully in the archway at the back of the photo you can see the people.
The only drawback with the Colosseum was the tacky gladiators lingering outside. They have come a long way from the days they fought to the death to making a living by posing for pictures with tourists!
The second night in Rome, we were invited to go to dinner with Fabiana and Francesco to their favorite restaurant. Since we really wanted to see Rome through the eyes of Romans and not so much as tourists, we were honored to have the opportunity to go with this special couple whose families have lived in Rome for many generations. The experience that evening became the highlight of our whole stay in the area.
We wanted to learn about them and their experiences of their birthplace and its heritage and about their daily lives. We were surprised to hear that they had no more love of history or appreciation of their heritage when they were students growing up in Rome than we had of our history when we were young! That has all changed now of course and we found them to be worthy tour guides.
First we went to the restaurant where Fabiana introduced us to Italian food as eaten by Italians in a restaurant that is not frequented by tourists. It was great food, great company and a thoroughly enjoyable time.
Afterwards, we had a moonlight tour of the city, including a view from the top Palatine Hill, overlooking the Roman Forum and much of Rome. It was a magical night that will remain our favorite memory of Rome. As usual it is the interaction with people that make the biggest impact on us in our travels. Now when we think of Rome we will always think of Fabiana and Francesco with fondness and thanks.
In the days that followed we were excited to see the Circus Maximus and could imagine the chariot races that were held there. (Fabiana later asked us if we had seen "Ben Hur" as she has never seen it. We filled her in on what Charleton Heston has been doing since then!) We walked along the Appian Way with images in our minds of the all the ancient famous people who had come to or left Rome via the same route.
We walked to the top of Palatine hill where the first house in Rome was purportedly built by Romulus in 753 BC and where we encountered this delightful group of students who were weaving flowers into their friend's hair in the manner of the ancient Romans. We watched the excavations of the Roman Forum and walked among the ruins where Caesar was murdered on the Ides of March and where the center of government was during the heyday of the Roman Empire.
We also visited the Castle St. Angelo built near the Tiber river in 135 AD as a pleasure palace for the Renaissance popes . It included an escape tunnel in case the pope needed to make a quick getaway. The Ponte St. Angelo bridge, also built in 135 AD, is complete with original sculptures by Bernini.
We visited the Vatican museums and St. Peters' Basilica on separate days as each has much too much to see in one day. In fact, The Vatican museum itself could take a month to see in order to fully appreciate all of its unique treasures. But, as everyone else, we of course were most anxious to see the Sistine Chapel.
So we worked our way there past gorgeous painted ceilings, heavy baroque wall hangings and artwork beyond imagination, taking in as much as we could. By the time we got to see the Sistine Chapel we were a bit surprised that we actually liked some of the other ceilings better! Still it is awe-inspiring. A humorous thing happened while we were there which detracted from the experience. About every 5 minutes an announcement was made over a loud speaker that there needed to be silence in the room. Things would get quiet for about 30 seconds, after which the noise level would again increase. We were amused to hear two young women close to us discussing in conversational tones the relative merits of Hard Rock Cafes around the world. They obviously weren't very interested in viewing the ceiling. None of the surrounding goings-on, however, ruined the experience for us as we gazed and tried to capture a mental image to hang onto for a long time.
Visiting St. Peter's was another example of not being able to take it in in one day. It dominates the landscape and beckons to one from a long distance. We took photos from every angle as we approached it from different directions. Of course the biggest draw there was "The Pieta" and we wanted to make certain we would be able to see it. We wish we could have captured it better in film but again we have the mental image that we will keep with us.
We toured the catacombs at St Peters' but were disappointed that we didn't have the time to visit the more highly recommended catacombs of San Callisto. But then -- as we are fond of saying, "Next time."
There were many other things we didn't get to see, including the Borghese Palace and Museum which were most highly placed on our friend's list and the lists of some other fellow travelers. However, we got to see many of the "must see" places and when we went to the Trevi Fountain
we threw a coin in the fountain to guarantee that we would return to Rome to see even more of what it has to offer.
Arrivederci, friends. Hope you follow us as we travel to Spain next, on our way around the world.
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