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Europe Trip
Part V

 

 

Here's a quick Photoshopped layout of Rome in relation to where we stayed (the yellow circle labled "B&B" at the top).

This trip to Rome was my second.  My first was two years ago with in the month of February.  This time, in late May/early June, the weather was less rainy and temperature in the 60s and 70s instead of the 50s.  I think both are good times to visit, although there are probably a few more tourists in the Spring.

The morning of our eleventh day in Europe we got up around 8:30am and saw the inside of the Duomo (see Part IV) when it opened at ten.  Then we rushed back to the hotel, checked out, and made our way to the train station.  Our train was to depart at 11:53.  On the giant "train scoreboard" the word "Rit." and "35" was next to our train.  Uh oh.   Sure enough, I asked at the information desk and Rit. stood for Ritardo.  Our train was 35 minutes retarded.

The Florence train station was FULL of smokers.  Aimee and I sought refuge on one of the open-air train platforms which were for the most part empty of people until trains arrived.

The train ended up being at least an hour late, but we finally made it on- and at least we had the comfort from the beginning that we were on the correct train.  It was a relatively quick ride to the Rome Termini Station. After de-training we found Metro line A and headed all the way across town to the Lepanto stop and our Bed and Breakfast about eight blocks away.  

 The place where our B&B was supposed to be was a bit confusing, but we found the right doorbell button and clicked into the huge outer doors of the residency, making our way up an old-timey elevator to the fourth floor.

 

The entrance to our B&B- wide-angle lens making the door look even bigger

 

The old-timey elevator

 

Greeting us was a short, older Italian lady.  She was fully of energy and greeted us enthusiastically.  The only problem was that she spoke about as much English as we spoke Italian.  She showed us the room, which was very nice and spacious, and showed me how to lock and unlock her front door, how we should open and close the shutters, and where she would leave breakfast in the morning.  When we tried to ask questions or figure out what she was trying to say, she would just laugh.  At least she had a sense of humor, something the French didn't seem to have.

After showing us around, she just sort of disappeared.  According to the emails confirming our B&B we were supposed to PAY IN CASH the remaining balance IMMEDIATELY UPON ARRIVAL, but I guess she wasn't in a big hurry to collect the bill, even though we had it ready for her.

Side note on places to stay in Rome- looking for a good, inexpensive hotel in Rome is difficult without a direct word of mouth recommendation.  We found places to stay online for our nights in Paris, Nice, and Florence relatively easily.  Rome was another matter.  Either the hotels were too pricey or they had negative feedback about them on various travel sites- previous visitors warning of hotel managers trying to swindle you, in some cases pulling a switcheroo and asking you to change to a "sister hotel" because they are booked full.  So Aimee and I weren't sure what to do.  We didn't want pay through the nose to get a three star (and hopefully more reliable) hotel and we didn't want to stay near the "seedy" Termini area of the city.  After a bit of research online and in travel books at Barnes and Noble, I eventually I stumbled upon the Rome B&B Association page.  We read some of the feedback and decided to go for it.  Overall we were very happy with our experience.  Although our hostess didn't speak much English, everything else about the accomidations was great.  I'd recommend the B&B route in Rome.

After a quick rest we set out to explore.  Food was a high priority, but we stopped in a church mentioned in Angels and Demons while heading to the historic part of the city.  If you haven't read Angels and Demons yet and are paranoid about the slightest spoilers, don't read the next few lines- although they don't give too much away.

 

Santa Maria del Popolo

 

 

The church was the Santa Maria del Popolo and had this Bernini statue mentioned in the book... remember what the angel is pointing to?  It's index finger was actually broken off.  

 

 

In the Chigi chapel was also this "demon hole."

 

 

Okay no more spoilers.  Another thing: you don't have to go to museums to find famous works of art in Rome.  The Santa Maria Popolo held this Caravaggio in one of its chapels.

After the church we set out to find some food, since Aimee was starving.  We walked into the historic city for blocks and blocks, trying to find something for lunch.  This turned out to be a little more difficult to do in Rome than in Paris.  Paris had a much better variety of food, especially for vegetarians, as far as lunch goes.  You could always find a crepe stand or tomato and mozzarella sub sandwhich to munch on for a quick fix.  In Rome, it was mostly cold "pizza" with meat on it.  We finally settled on a place- Aimee got a cooked spinach and cheese sandwhich on white bread (which she said was "all flavorless") while I got a room temperature pizza-type thing.  We also picked up an orange gatorade drink.  The food and drink wasn't very fulfilling but it at least upped our blood sugar so we could make it a little longer until dinner.  For future lunches in Rome, we picked up some fruit, rolls or bread, and cheese at local markets.

After eating our "lunch" on some large marble steps of a church, we continued into the city.  

 

 

Here's Aimee in front of the Pantheon.  It was built about 100 B.C. as a temple to "all gods."  In time the Catholic church pretty much took it over and made it their own.

 

 

I love the Pantheon not only because it's magnificent to look at, but it's also free to enter.  Inside we checked out Rapheal's tomb (also mentioned in Angels and Demons).

 

 

Here's a view of the Pantheon behind one of Rome's plethora of fountains.

One nice thing about walking about in Rome is that for the most part in the historic part of the city we could walk in the streets.  I read that Rome is working on letting less and less cars into the historic center, and it seemed to me that there was less car-dodging going on than when I visited in February 2002.

After some walking around we came back to the B&B for some R&R.  When dinner time came around we headed out, not sure where to eat.  We found one placed that looked very promising but it had a 40 minute wait.  We ended up choosing Hosteria Al 31.  I had vegatable h'ors d'ouerve and fettuccini with mushrooms.  The veggies had once been cooked, possibly during World War II, but were now served cold (I assume on purpose).  Had they been warm (like I was imagining they would be) they probably would have been good.  As they were, I had to choke them down.  The fettuccini and mushrooms was a letdown as well- the pasta was far too buttery and the mushrooms were some type that I was less familiar with and tasted like wet shoelaces.  Probably a good thing that I didn't take a picture of this meal.

After dinner we walked to the Spanish Steps and hung out there for a while.  After the steps we took in the Pantheon at night:

 

 

Although we didn't do it the first night, our favorite thing in Rome was getting ice cream (gelato) at Giolitti after dinner and sitting in front of the Pantheon.

 

 

Here's a picture of St. Peter's at night, walking back to the B&B.

The next morning we woke up at 8:30 to have croissants, cappuccino and hot milk waiting for us outside our door.  

We made our way to St. Peter's, a short 10-15 minute walk from our B&B.

 

 

Aimee in the square...

 

 

Near the obelisk lies in the ground another piece mentioned in Angels and Demons.  I thought it was a little deceptive in the book, because the way I remember reading about it it sounded like there was only one of these figures, when there are actually many circling the obelisk.

 

 

A picture of Aimee in the basillica, amid the hustle and bustle of all the other tourists...

 

 

...at least the church is putting their money to good use: shiny things!

 

 

Here is one of the Swiss Guards that protect the Vatican and the Pope.  The uniforms are said to be designed by Michelangelo.  Boy, that is one crazy dude!

 

 

We saw these two signs walking back.  The first one says "Hotel Doge  4 Piano 4 Floor," the second one says "Hotel Firenze  1 Piano 1 Floor."  What we interpreted was that the Hotel Firenze came along, had a floor and a piano and thought they were pretty hot stuff until Hotel Doge came to town with four pianos and four floors.  A little while later we figured out that "piano" means floor.  

 

 

 

We went exploring around the city to check out this Bernini fountain next to the Bernini hotel, both mentioned in A&D.

 

 

We swung by the Trevi fountain, which you can never get tired of admiring.

 

 

The great thing about Rome is that it has so many sights- the Spanish Steps, the fountains, the ruins, the churches, the Pantheon- that you can check out for free and keep coming back to or just walking by day-to-day.

 

 

Here's another fountain in Piazza Navona.  When we were in the Piazza some street musicians started playing "Brazil," which I got a kick out of since I really like the movie.

 

 

Before dinner we stopped in an Internet Cafe and checked our email.  It was a bit better deal than the Paris cyber cafes- we paid by the minute and it was fairly reasonable.  The Italian keyboards are QWERTY as well.

 

 

Dinner the second night was much better than the first.  The Ristorante was called La Scaletta, just north of the Pantheon.  Aimee got a bruscetta and green salad.  I got a mixed salad and we both got artichoke pizzas.  It was very good.  We ended up going back to the restaurant the last night in Rome, despite them overcharging us 1€ our first time there.  I suspect it was an innocent mistake, and they were very nice about correcting it.  

 

 

 

On the way back to our B&B we saw where Brian Fellows shops.

Stay tuned for the next and hopefully last update on our trip to Europe... it'll have a few pictures, a few puns, a few stories, and, oh, let's say, a puppy.

 

 

 

 

copyright 2003 andy langager