Going well so far

Europe » Italy » Lazio » Rome
April 1st 2008

Published: April 1st 2008

I know I'm falling behind on posting blogs, so here are a couple more (separated by day) to keep you up to date. More to follow...

March 29, 2008

We slept in kind of late today. When we close the shutters in the bedroom, it’s so dark that we can’t tell if it’s daylight or not. So, we somehow managed to sleep until about 1pm. We showered and then set off on our day. We went to a bar (in Italy the cafes are called bars if they also sell wine and sell cheaper food) a couple blocks from our apartment. I had an espresso and tramezzini with mozzarella, prociutto, fontina and mushrooms (it’s a small sandwich on sliced bread) and Lauren had a caffe latte with a croissant. It was pretty tasty. And we planned out what we wanted to do next.

We wanted to walk over to the Colosseum and while we were walking there, we saw a sign for the Church of San Pietro in Vincoli (St. Peter in Chains) where the chains that were used when St. Peter was arrested are housed, and also the statue of a horned Moses carved by Michelangelo. I still find it amazing even after seeing it so many times. After the church, we set out once again for the Colosseum. We walked around the one side of it, and then we walked around the entire outside of the Forum. It was closed by the time we got there, so we just saw it from above without paying to go in. That was fine for now. We’ll have plenty of time to go in.

From there we walked up the Capitoline Hill (one of the 7 hills of Ancient Rome) and we took a look out onto the Piazza designed by Michelangelo. We decided to go in the Musei Capitolini (Capitoline Museum) and bonus for us – it was free! Normally the ticket is 17.50 euro. There were so many amazing sculptures, paintings, and statues in there. The remains of the huge statue that once stood outside the Colosseum are here, along with paintings by Caravaggio, and an old chariot from the days of Ben Hur and the Circus Maximus…very cool. We spent about 3 hours in the museum, and we still didn’t see everything that was in there.

From the Capitoline we walked over past the Statue of Victor Emmanuel and then down the road to see the Colosseum lit up at night…it’s such an amazing sight. It was getting late and we were getting hungry at this point, so we decided to go to this little café we saw by the steps leading up to the St. Peter in Chains Church. Un buon’idea! We met Alvaro who was the little old man who spoke only Italian. We walked in wanting just a glass of wine and a Panini, and we left with two glasses of wine, a shot of amaretto, a shot that tasted like chocolate milk, a pizza, snacks (4 varieties) and the paninis we originally ordered. He only charged us for the Panini and the wine. He was so nice to us. We told him we liked the music he was playing, so he played it louder for us. He loved Sinatra, Dean Martin, Ella Fitzgerald and Glen Miller. It was such a good time, and the food was really good. It was the perfect way to top off our day.

March 30, 2008

We decided last night that we wanted to go to church this morning. We thought it would be nice to go to the noon mass at St. Peter in Chains church. Well, we had good intentions. Last night started daylight savings time, and the alarm didn’t go off, and the shutters made it seem like it was midnight. We woke up at 11:15…we were not making mass. So, instead we met our new roommate (his name is Dave – he is 44 and lives in San Francisco) and asked if he wanted to join us for the day.

Since we start school tomorrow morning, we thought it would be a good idea to do a trial run to figure out how to get to school. It wasn’t too bad…we walked slow, took the metro and made it to the school, door-to-door, in just 30 minutes. The school is on the other side of the Tiber River, a little northeast of the Vatican. It’s in a really nice neighborhood (I like it there much more than the shoddy neighborhood where we live) and there are cute cafes and restaurants very close.

Instead of just hopping on the Metro and heading back towards the apartment we decided to walk back. We took the bridge across the Tiber and headed in to Piazza del Popolo. We strolled down Via del Corso and did some window shopping. The street was closed to traffic and everyone just walked in the streets. It was so warm today. If I had to guess, I’d say it was close to 80 degrees. I can’t believe it’s March, and no jacket is needed and I’ve been wearing flip flops in the warm sunny weather.

From Via del Corso we went to Piazza di Spagna, then the Fountain of Trevi, then the Pantheon, and then on to Piazza Navona where we were serenaded by a man singing “O sole mio”. Basically, we did a daytime walk of everything we saw on the first night. But seeing everything in the day just gives a different perspective. We went in to the Pantheon today. In here is where Rafael is buried. It was once a temple to all the Roman gods, but now it’s a Catholic Church that is preserved by the Vatican. It’s said that this dome is the basis for every other dome that has been built since. It’s the most preserved building from the Roman empire, and it’s amazing that a structure built 2000 years ago is still standing. We also headed to Campo dei Fiori. Normally there is an outdoor market of flowers, fish, cheese, and produce in the morning. Today there was a Sicilian festival (I think today is Sicilian Liberation Day) full of the food and drink specialties from Sicily.

As the last stop of the day, we decided to check out the Bocca della Verita (The Mouth of Truth). If you’ve ever seen Roman Holiday then you would recognize this famous landmark. Of course we did the touristy thing and took pictures with our hands in it’s mouth. Our hands are all still intact, so we must not have done anything wrong.

After a long day of walking (5 hours worth without sitting once) we have retreated to our apartment. We’re resting now before we go out to grab some dinner, and then come home to prepare for our first day of school. Yay!

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