Conquering Rome in 3 Days

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After a train to Rome, we went to the tourist information counter to buy Roma Passes - this card pretty much lets you travel on all the public transportation in Rome for 3 days and includes entry into two sites. We knew that we planned on going to at least two sites and that we would need public transportation, so we knew this would be a good buy. We were supposed to validate this card and show it to get on the bus, but we were never asked for it on any transportation. We walked on and off buses and trolleys as we pleased all weekend.


We took a bus to our hotel, which was more like an apartment that we rented. On the bus, we could not figure out how to use our new Roma Passes, but no one seemed to care. Our apartment was a Coliseum- themed room. They painted the walls to look like you were inside the Coliseum. I am surprised we found the place, getting around in Rome is confusing. The neighborhood was described to us as “an up and coming urban Bucktown-type” where “all the locals like to go” and “off the tourist path”. This translated to Bingo saloons, graffiti, and money exchanges. We felt a little like the Griswolds after ending up in East St. Louis. We felt lucky that we live in a city, as this area would give rural folks culture shock.


After we settled in and relaxed a bit from all our traveling, we walked to a pizza place for dinner, after all, Rome is where pizza originated. We went to a place in the neighborhood based on a recommendation. Since the original pizza was the margarita pizza, Gigi had to try it. Chris though it tasted like the pizza he remembered from the roller skating rink as a child. It was pretty much a cheese pizza, and pretty much disappointing.


Saturday morning, we took a train to Vatican City. After some confusion at the train station, and almost buying tickets at a convenient store, we realized that our Roma Passes would work for the train. Once on the train, we found ourselves once again confused how to use our Roma Passes, it was here that we started to realize that nobody seems to pay for public transportation, and no one seems to check. Gigi got excited at the train station because we found graffiti at train stop that read “ViVi GiGi”.


Chris bought reserved tickets online to the Vatican Museum, so we were able to stand in the shorter line - this was a great idea and a big time saver. The line was 100 people long compared to the non reservation line of over 1000. Not such a great idea was the couple who tried to sneak in around us at the door telling the guards that they were with us! We went through the various art collections at the Vatican museum and then went to see Sistine chapel. We followed the dozens of signs to the Sistine Chapel. You walk through all these rooms expecting to see it…finally you do and the guards make sure you don’t take any pictures to remember it. It was fun to just sit there and watch people get in trouble for trying to sneak a picture. A few people were kicked out.


Thanks to a Rick Steves trick we didn’t have to wait in the line of thousands at St. Peter’s Basilica. Our guidebook told us to take a door out of the back of the Sistine Chapel to skip the line, the sign on the door said it was for tour groups, but we pretended not to see it and followed the path to the basilica. The Basilica was huge! There were mosaic frescoes, dead popes, and boastful markings to show that other cathedrals are tiny in comparison to this largest church in the world. Parts of the basilica were roped off as if they were about to have a Saturday service, later we found out that Mina Suvari, a celebrity, got married there the next day.


We ate lunch at a guidebook-recommended spot. Gigi still didn’t get the pizza she wanted, this time it was pizza bread with cold arugula, cold cherry tomatoes, and cold buffalo mozzarella on top. Chris’ pizza had canned mushrooms and they didn’t seem to bother fully draining the mushrooms. Chris said it was the first time he was able to drink his pizza. He ended up “wringing it out” on the sidewalk.
We went to a castle, using our Roma Pass for free entry, and then it down-poured. We called it a day a decided to go back to our hotel.


In the morning, Gigi got up, closed the bathroom door and screamed at the top of her lungs. Being in the big city, she came way too close into contact with a very lively cockroach. Her screams probably woke up the entire apartment building. After repeated attempts to persuade the cockroach to stay in the door jamb using hand soap and threats, Chris killed it later that day. He left it outside the door as a message for future cockroaches (or for the hoteliers?)


The next day walked to many sites throughout Rome including the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain. On our way to a piazza, Chris saw a huge sausage and we had to take a picture. Chris thought it was the sausage that lost the sausage race at the Coliseum.


There are many street performers at the different sites in Rome, they are all people acting as frozen statues that move to surprise you. For some reason the most frequent statue we saw was the Statue of Liberty: maybe for all the American tourists?


We saw a bunch of weddings at various churches as we walked around, remembering our wedding a year ago around this time. And of course, we bumped into the Brazilians with whom we shared dinner with in Chianti! They hugged us like we were old friends. I guess that’s as close as we came to making good friends on this trip.


After walking up the Spanish steps we had a view of street vendors. Chris captured two men doing the string trick: one man quickly ties a string to your finger, within seconds braids you a bracelet, ties it to your wrist, and then demands a couple Euros for the trouble. They were not too happy when they realized we had videotaped them in the act so one man flicked us off and then began to chase after us. Gigi felt like we were in a Jason Bourne movie for a few minutes there. Chris’ video is up on Youtube already.


In Rome, no one wants to let you use the water closet (bathroom). We had to find one first (there are not many) and then you have to have exact change to pay for it. We tried to buy a water to make change, but the clerk did not let us, we had to go through many stores until we found someone who would let us buy something to make change. Gigi was ready to buy a pair of underwear to make change because she didn’t think she was going to make it.


We saw and climbed an enormous white marble monument …we are still not sure what it is for or why it was built, but it is beautiful. It is even featured on the Italian version of the 5 Euro bill, but we still have no clue what or who it was for.


At the Coliseum we pondered on how similar the structure is to modern arenas. I guess we miss the Cubs. The Coliseum is just like Wrigley Field without the bimbos from the north suburbs and the drunk frat guys. Also, the home team occasionally won at the Coliseum. We made our way through Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum and saw the place where Julius Caesar’s body was cremated. Chris had to remind Gigi that Caesar was stabbed by Brutus, not Bruno.


We treated ourselves to a well-deserved happy hour drink at a bar/café on a piazza and watched the street performers and the gypsies. There were three girls who did a tap dance routine. Gigi and Becky would have danced better.


We had our last dinner in Italy at Sabatino’s (thanks to a friend’s recommendation). This was the best meal we had in Rome. We enjoyed a bottle of Prosecco, a mixed appetizer plate, seafood pasta, and really yummy grilled eggplant with mozzarella. We watched fire dancers perform, and a funny old lady dance, and drunks pass out in the piazza.


Many of the hotels have digital LCD tvs, but the only channel we often are able to get in English is BBC World News. Apparently, BBC World News has 6 news stories a week that they repeat over and over. Also, every ten minutes there is a commercial for Turkish Airlines. It wasn’t long into the trip that we would sing this in our head over and over. We turned the jingle into our secret knock.


The next morning we made it to the airport and then to Athens. We were glad to fly Easyjet (which was nothing like its name, due to the fact we were on a bus on the tarmac for 30 minutes awaiting a scramble to get a seat with its open seating policies) and not “Turkish Airlines”, even though “they are Globally Yours.” Great, now the jingle’s back in our heads.

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Comments

[mom and dad]

We read your blog and we laughed until we cried-we miss you! What an amazing trip and story writing- we love your photos and so glad Chris is a good cockroach killer-can't wait for the pictures Do you think you will see the Portguese couple at Wrigley?

[Ken]

Homeward Bound
Glad you were able to get a flight out to Canada. See you soon. What an exciting trip! K&M

[aunt mary schieffer]

Vatican
Thanks for the postcard!! Aunt Carol & I were in Rome at all of these same places (well except for Sabatini's), so it was a great "trip down memory lane"!!