Rome
What's that excitement, that triumph? Why, it's our trip to Rome!
Rome was, in a word, awesome.
Actually, give me two words: awesome expensive. So pricey that we had to eat here every night:
The primo McDonald's in Italia. Which was much nicer than any McDonald's I've ever seen. It's got columns! And arches!
Okay, we weren't stuck eating there every night. But we did have our valentine's day dinner there. Us, and a surprising number of other cozy Roman couples. Why? Why does White Castle have a special V-day dinner?
For Valentine's Evening, we decided to take a romantic stroll on the Spanish Steps. We were not the only ones to do this, as the piazza and steps were full of loving couples. ( Except for this guy...)
As further proof that people are the same all around the world, the piazza and steps were full of men pushing roses on the couples.
Not just roses, mind you, but lucky roses, for the most beautiful of women. For, as you know, Valentine's Day is such an important day, and your woman deserves the best.
This is me, turning down one of them. Tim was in the process of taking my picture when this guy tried to make a sale. This was quite a stroke of luck, because I was remarking to Tim that I wanted to get a picture of one of them in action.
But all this happened on our last night in Rome. Tim and I arrived at the Rome airport on Monday afternoon, and had the pleasant experience of exchanging $30 USD for approximately 10 Euro. Lest you miss it, this is a harbinger for events to come.
Dragging our three pieces of luggage, we navigate the train and metro system, and try and use the map I printed off to find our hotel. During this trip, I learned that any tourist maps you're likely to find are crap. Half the streets aren't labeled on the map, and half of the intersections are missing a street sign. This is not a rare condition, but most places aren't overrun by foreign tourists standing at the street corner trying to figure out exactly where they are.
Oh, and the nuns! Never before have I seen so many nuns! Granted, this may not seem like a big deal (here I am looking in the direction of panache62 and chrysologus000) but I had to take some pictures of nuns.
"That's nice, Jennifer," you're probably thinking, "but no one else takes pictures of nuns, street pushers, and McDonalds' in Rome. What about the actual sights?"
Oh we saw tons of them! Our hotel was near Vatican City, between San Pietro and Castel Sant Angelo.
We woke up Tuesday and went to the Vatican Museums, where we saw lots of art, artifacts, and beautifully painted rooms.
I liked her, because her eyes were painted, which is rare to see. I sincerely doubt it's the original paint, and it doesn't seem like it's graffiti, but there it is.
The Vatican Museums mostly end in the Sistine Chapel. Technically there are several rooms and a hallway or two after it, but by then people have lost interest in non-famous art. Unfortunately, the Sistine Chapel was completely filled with people, and two guards who let it be known that no pictures should be taken. But it was pretty neat - Tim and I eventually found a seat and looked at the murals for a while. I didn't honestly know a whole lot about it (hello, I'm an engineer) but upon reading the guidebooks I am properly in awe.
These next two pictures are of St Peter's Basilica, so named because tradition says the relics of the Apostle Peter lay there.
Peter is underneath the big brown wooden arch there. You can't really see much without being 7 foot tall, but there's an ornate lower level there covering his grave.
And, a cute picture of Tim from the outside of St Peter's Basilica. There's this gigantic "square" (it's circular) outside it. I can only imagine what it looks like when it's full of worshipers!
This is the Castel Sant Angelo. Inside is a bit dark and dungeony, as it's quite old.
From Castel Sant Angelo's terrace, I was able to get some great shots of San Pietro and two bridges over to Tiber river.
Yes, we did see the Coliseum. It was pretty interesting to wander among the ruins, but it was pretty crowded.
We also visited the Roman Forum(s), but we got there after they had closed so we weren't able to walk around. Plus, it was very confusing because there were about 5 of them.
We drove past the Circus Maximus, which is where they would have had all the chariot races back in the day. What's left is a large oval in a big grassy field, but you can still see the imposing Roman palace next to it (the emperor gets the best seat!)
The next day we went to Ostia Antica, which is this ancient port town near Rome. It was pretty neat to walk around the ruins - I think this was Tim's favorite time, and I admit it was fun. It was a fairly large area that you could basically walk all over and explore at your own pace. Plus it wasn't very crowded so you could walk at your leisure.
This is one of the many mosaics that they still had intact. Doesn't it look like the Statue of Liberty?
Tim leaning against the base of the amphitheater.
And you know, Tim looking adorable.
Oh, and we went to the Pantheon! That place is so cool - probably one of my favorites. It's the best preserved of the really ancient structures in Rome, and the outside shows it. But inside, it's been made over into a church and it's got the beautiful marble and all that. But probably the best bit is the dome on top - it's a huge dome, biggest ever made from concrete into the 1960s or something like that and it's an amazing engineering feat! Oh, and it's got this hole in the middle that lets in light, but also just lets in rain in the middle of this gorgeous building, I don't know, I like it.
Oh, but at the Pantheon is where we first found out that they wouldn't serve us free water. Up to this point, we had paid 2-3 Euro ($3-$4.50) for soda pop at meals, but I wanted water, and all they can do is bring me a big liter bottle... for a steep price. But, what's vacation for but to spend obscene amounts of foreign currency?
The last day we walked part of the Via Appia Antica, the Queen of the Roads. It was one of the first of the "Roman Roads" to be built, and upon which Peter is said to have had a meeting with God (I think this is Catholic lore, as neither of us have ever heard of it). Also, the crucifixes from Spartacus were supposed to have been done along this road.
Regardless, it was a neat, old road.
Along it we passed the Circus of Massentius, which we didn't go see, but I took pictures of from the road. I'm not entirely sure what it was - I think a rich old guy's estate, but there is also a tomb in there.
Speaking of tombs, the tomb of Cecilia Metella was also along the Appian Way.
Across the street from the Cecilia's tomb (which was half priced due to St Valentine's Day, by the way) was this old ruin. I'm guessing it was a church?
We also saw some catacombs at San Sebastiano, but we couldn't take any pictures of them. It was hard to picture them back in the day, because it had been looted over the years, but one thing I took away from it was that people back then were short. Oh, the good old days!
It was near there that we had our nicest meal - across the street from the Catacombs was this little garden restaurant, with a waiter who actually didn't have a good command of English, and I had this intriguing noodle cheese dish that I thought was very tasty! Of course it was expensive, but it was a nice, elegant meal. Even had a cheese tray, mind you.
On the way back from the Appian Way, we were waiting for a bus, and Tim pulled out his yo-yo.
Isn't he cute?
Of course we went to the Trevi fountain. We didn't toss any coins in, because frankly Euros were too dear to waste on the fountain. But it's a beautiful place at night, and a neat place for people watching.
And I leave you with this: DECVMANVS MAXIMVS
Loosely translated to "Go to Rome, but Bring a Lot of Money".
