About 630 Central European Time I arose and popped the window shade to look out at the Rhone valley near Lyon, France. We kept on at 675 mph to pass over Lyon and later the French Alps. As we fell lower and could see more detail, we picked out the edge of the sea and the small villages. Looks like a great day.
Picture at right shows a seaport town (Civitevacchia) with cruise ships in the harbor.
Finally, the driver found us and took us to the vehicle and took us into the city and hotel, where we registered and headed for the room. Italian traffic is as crazy as it's said to be. There seems to be some sort of convention that we don't understand governing traffic; you don't hit anyone, but else it's who can bluff whom.
After a two-hour nap we were fit to hit the streets again, so we bought a two-day hop-on-hop-off (hoho) pass and headed out around town.
We saw all sorts of things, like the Coliseum, and the Palatine hill. D snapped a lot of pictures you can see by clicking here.
At the hotel's recommendation, we went out to eat at Amadeo, around the corner. Very good food, nice beer, good wine. Sat in the street tent and enjoyed just a lovely evening with warm but not hot breeze down the street. We chatted with the family next to us and took their picture for them. We'll have to go there again.
After dinner we returned to the room. I stayed awake to do these notes. D did iPhone stuff. We finally called it a day about 2130.
We slept through till 0722. Must have been really tired.
Down to breakfast. Very good buffet selection of items. Nice room, tables cleaned quickly after a guest's departure. Then back to the room. I have the laptop at the table on the terrace doing these notes.
We took a taxi to the meeting point with our guide outside the Coliseum. Her name was Esther, and we were the only two being guided. She had VIP access and O looked elderly so we used several of the "disabled" advantages.
We went into the Coliseum through one of the huge ground-level arches and around inside it to the entrance point for the rulers. we went inside to a great viewing point and took pictures. The picture at right shows part of the subterranean level plus parts of the four levels.
The structure was being carried away for use in building other structures until a later emperor stopped that. So you see a partially disassembled theatre, worn by the years.
Link to Pictures
We did much more of the Coliseum, then walked past Constantine's Arch (ca300AD) up the palisade to the top and the Arch of Titus. Continuing on the other side is the Sacred Road running down the valley of ruins of the Forum. Many palaces and temples were located here, only to be torn down for the materials to be used in new temples.
Palatine hill, partly shown at right is the source of the word Palace. Archeological work is being performed here trying still to figure out what was where and when.
We exited stage right from the Forum. Esther (great guide) helped us find a taxi which we took back to the hotel. At this point we had done three miles of slow walking or standing in 90* sun. So we put up our feet and rested for a couple hours.
Then we jumped up and walked to the Green Line hoho and did the circuit again. This time we got the front window seats so we could shoot out the front window, and see better.
We walked back to the hotel at the end of the circuit and rested for a bit again.
At 1830 or so we decided we were hungry. We selected Centro as near us with a good rep and walked there. We were seated and informed of the specials. We selected a bag of bread with oil & balsamic, a bottle of still water, and a bottle of good Chianti.
The bread was nice. Then D ordered an appetizer of meatball & fried cabbage. The meatball meat was shredded as opposed to chopped. She enjoyed that followed by a medium lasagna which was drier than last night's lasagna but she liked it more.
O had a fried cod with two seasonings on the plate, one red, one green. He never figured out what they were, but he liked it all. Then he had a traditional Roman dinner of pasta carbonara and tiny little nuts, very good.
During all this the wine went away and we decided to skip dessert. We walked back to the hotel. There, we asked the desk for a wakeup call at 0600, and for breakfast boxes (kitchen not open early). Thus, we can make our early tour meeting time of 0700 at the square near the Sistine Chapel.
That settled, we sat outside on the terrace. The sun had moved away and we had a nice breeze in which to compose these notes and review the day.
Soon to shower and bed for an early day tomorrow.
Up at 0600, at the desk at 0630. There, we found out Plan A had been made worthless due to a city-wide taxi strike. We had to go to Plan B - use Metro. We hiked to Metro at Termini (main RR station). Got on the right train with many others and arrived at Ottaviano stop, the closest to the meeting point. Hiked down the street to Piazza del Risorgimento (upper right corner) where we met out guide, Owita. She was born in Poland, lived in Sweden and now works here. Our group came together, about a dozen, all Americans from FL, WA, CA, & MN.
Owita hiked us along the Vatican wall to the Vatican Museum group entry point (upper center), where we waited for opening during which she gave a lot of history of the Vatican. For instance, it only became a separate country in 1929. She gave a great deal of information on Michelangelo, the famous sculptor, architect and painter, along with history of his dealings with Popes. She gave us a sheet, double-sided on photo paper, that shows the famous paintings done in the Sistine Chapel and in St Peter's Basilica. I'll attempt to scan it and attach it here.
When we were admitted we received decent radio earpieces and were lead to the Vatican Museums up several flights. We looked out over a square and the dome of the Basilica for a good photo op. Then we walked up and down galleries of the museum, looking at the fantastic sculptures received over the years. We walked through the Raphael gallery, with many paintings by him. We kept going through galleries, the last of which showed tremendous tapestries picturing the life of Christ from birth to ascension.
O-Photos
There is a covered passage from the Sistine Chapel to a side entry of the Basilica of St Peter, which we used (it has been under renovation). The Basilica is in every way spectacular. Factoid: the Statue of Liberty would fit in the dome area. There are 561 steps to the highest place you can reach in the dome, but you can take an elevator to skip the first 320. There is a four-poster canopy over the Papal altar at the transepts that is 90 feet high. Many popes are buried in the crypt below the altar, and St Peter's grave is under the crypt. This church is not the first one on the site. It was built during a period of the 16th and 17th centuries. The obelisk in the center of Piazza St Peter was shipped to Rome from Egypt and erected there in the year 37, thus it was there when St Peter was alive.
The sculpture of Mary holding the dead Jesus was near our entry. Owita told the story that some person said that Michelangelo wasn't talented enough to have done it, so he got a hammer and chisel and added the words "done by Michelangelo" to it. We wandered around behind Owita as she described what we were seeing. It's impossible to relay what she told us.
We pulled ourselves together, walked across St Peter's "square" and out of our newest country. We stopped at Cafe Risorgimento to sit and have a drink, then added sandwiches. Sitting under shade with a breeze watching hordes of visitors making their way into the place gave us a visceral sense of satisfaction in having done something right in doing the tour early.
We stumbled the four blocks to Ottaviano Metro station, Termini, and walked the four blocks to the hotel. There, we collapsed. The early rising, the anxiety of plans going awry, the hiking in the heat and the standing really showed us that we are not in condition any more.
So we loafed until dinner. For that we walked back to Amadeo; it was good two nights ago so why not again?
D had chianti, lasagna, and lamb chop. O had a beer, pasta, and chicken breast with honey, mustard, and rosemary breading. The nice waitress came around again and chatted when she could - they were busier tonight.
Back to the hotel and to rest (and do some of the notes). Also worked up the expenditures.
Slept well, had a nice breakfast buffet. Then we decided we'd do something in the morning while it's still cool because it's to be hot this afternoon and the next several days due to a front coming up from Africa.
D wanted to look at the Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, only two blocks down the street. So we did. It's another huge place with a canopied altar at the center and numerous altars off to the sides. It is in this church the current pope wishes to be buried. We roamed and looked and eventually reached the bookstore which had nothing D wanted in English.
I had wanted to explore the train station we'll use Saturday to go to Bologna. It's not far, so we went there while dodging automobiles that want to maim you. Which brings up the taxi strike - it's supposed to go for 48 hours, so tomorrow we might have taxis again. Or not, since this is Italy.
The station Rome Termini is the largest in Italy handling 900 trains a day. People everywhere on the upper level. The lower level is full of shops and access to the Metro lines. We looked to where our train might be found - and saw the departures board showing track 10. We went there and found restricted access to the tracks themselves. We asked an attendant how to get through the gates; she examined our e-mail and said that would do, just show it. We also found the Freccia Lounge; since we're using their service we asked if we are entitled to use the lounge and were told "no" it's reserved for our Executive Class. Ok.
Now we wanted a bookstore so we found Borri books. Huge thing. English-language books are in the upper level, over in a corner. But we did find two books we wanted and a couple for the grandsons.
Now it was approaching noon and getting hot outside. We headed toward the hotel, knowing there was a snack bar (left) on the way. We stopped there and had canoli and drinks, and did some people-watching. Then we headed for the hotel to cower inside until cooler.
Then it came time to eat. We were told by a waitress last night the difference between a trattoria and a ristorante. The latter is more gentlemanly, more elevated, more aloof. The trattoria is your neighborhood bar but in food - friendly, down-to-earth, chat with the waiter, etc.
So we went to a trattoria tonight. The comparison is spot on. The waiter pulled us into the place insisting it would be more comfortable than sitting in the street. He told us he worked in Fort Lauderdale for a couple of years. He provided water and menus. He would not take a wine order until he heard what we were going to eat. D decided on mussels-and-clams appetizer and ossobucco for the main. I told him I was thinking of tortellini, but he said I would be happier with a house-made pasta carbonara, and i gave up on that. I wanted saltimbocca for the main & he approved. Then he laid down a wine list and ran his finger down it, asking if a Chianti would be good. We said yes & he walked his finger to a Chianti Classico, then said we would like much more a local one for a few euro more. We took his suggestion, a Val Di Suga Rosso di Montalcino. He poured the sample and it turned out to be really good, smooth, and with good tastes. He poured and brought bread. We ate the first dishes - D demolished her shellfish & I did well on the pasta with bacon & ham. The mains came and we did well with them, my only quibble being the veal was a little tough but that happens. He nearly insisted on dessert, so we split a tiramisu.
During the mains & dessert two couples came in and sat. D overheard one guy say "don't take anything the waiter suggests" and ordered the wine he wanted both white and red. The person said the food wasn't very good the last time they were here. Then he found a bug in his water and made a big fuss about that. D heard what they said when he asked them where they were from. They replied Michigan but I missed all the above facing away from them. D is giggling all the while at this group, their mannerisms and talking. Finally she whispered to me about the bug and the standoff with the waiter and asked what I thought. I told her they were probably from Michigan and close to Detroit. She choked. We paid cash and started to leave but D just had to mention that I came from Michigan and where were they from - answer Ann Arbor.
O-photos
So we walked back in the cooling evening and we'll settle in.
Hot. We arose, did breakfast, then headed for one (of four) buildings of the National Museum. We found it didn't open until 1100. The fountain of the Plaza della Republica is across from the entry so we took pictures. Decided to walk to Termini station shops, entered the Borri books (picture of one level at left) again but didn't find anything we wanted. We sat over Cokes in the upstairs lounge looking over the train sheds. Then back to the Museum.
We did two floors of the three in Palazzo Massimo alle Terme. As I have it a priest named Massimo started gathering articles of antiquity in the early 1800's. These two floors are devoted to sculptures, with a few ancient floor mosaics mounted on walls. Very impressive place, even if the A/C wasn't keeping up very well.
Since there's no good way to describe sculptures, I won't try.
Photos coming soon, O-Photos & D-Photos.
We returned to the hotel for a break in a cool room. After 1800 we went out to Amadeo (again) for dinner. Sat outside (again) and let ourselves be accosted by the street vendors. At appetizer time a huge throng of ladies, at least a dozen, came from different directions and went into the hugging greetings. They moved inside after a few moments so the tent returned to normal volume.
Our sea bass was done just right and the local white Frascotti was good with it. We returned to the hotel and began packing for tomorrow. D said we should put what we need for the two days in Bologna into the little rolling bag and put the rest into the larger bag - good idea.
Rome Summary: We did four of the big five tours skipping the other due to heat. We didn't hurt ourselves on the ragged sidewalks. We enjoyed the food in four establishments. Take the fixed-fare white taxi in from FCO. The buffet breakfast in the hotel was a definite plus. Taxi strikes are not nice. We learned how to not get run over. Stay out of the heat. Rome looks good from 10 feet above ground to the sky, but below that 10-foot mark it's pretty scummy. The Greenline HOHO bus was worth the money. Metro is ok.
So now it's past 2100 and things are slowing.
The Rome Termini railroad station will be our way out of Rome tomorrow. Our hotel its just off the pcture's lower right corner.
We took a taxi to the station to avoid dragging the luggage down the terrible sidewalks. Our Frecciorossa (Red Arrow) train departed at 1009, one minute early, for Florence, then Bologna. It continues to Milan.
The red arrow train runs on high-speed tracks while regional trains wander from town to town on the old tracks. Since high-speed rails can't have many or sharp curves, we ran through many tunnels. The country side looked dry. The wheat has been harvested. Corn is up. Quite a few vineyards. We scooted right along - at one point I saw the speed indicator showing 245 Km/H, about 153 mph.
Florence is a stub-end terminal not a through terminal. So we stopped in Florence, the driver went to the other end of the train, and we took off in that direction for Bologna. There's a tunnel approaching Bologna that runs directly into level -4 of the terminal. We had a hard time finding our way out due to poor signage. But we finally found the Taxi sign and followed it onto level -2 to the taxi, which went up and left the station on level -1.