Advertisement
Just spent my first full day in Rome, and despite all my fears to the contrary, I had a great time! SO much walking, but as long as I can stand up tomorrow, it was worth it.
I was able to wash clothes last night, took a good 3 hours of my time but it did happen. One thing though—when people give directions in this city, it seems they always (ie the 3 times I’ve asked) underestimate the amount of time it takes to get from point A to point B by a great deal. I’d like to see anyone walk from Termini station to my hostel in the 10 minutes they promised. Heck, they can run for all I care, it wouldn’t happen. Ergo why washing took so long. But it’s okay, I had some great gelato and pasta with egg, bacon and parmesan (something Carbonara), and got to watch something about the next Pussy Doll at the laundromat (seems an obsession here, it was plying again at the place I ate dinner the next day).
Rome is the very definition of a “walking city.” I saw almost everything in the city within one day (save only the
stuff at or near the Vatican, which I guess it technically a different city anyways). I’ll try to upload a map of my route if I can, but the internet at this hostel is Cro-Magnon. I started the day at the Santa Maria Maggiore, trying to find something called New Europe Tours (which was suggested by the Canadian girls the day before), with zero success. No big deal, as I usually prefer to guide myself anyways. I then walked from there to the Colosseo (which I believe we spell as the Coliseum, note that I’m copying names off a map I used as I trace my path, so be warned some names might not make sense ). There I began a good one-and-a-half hour wait outside, even though I joined a tour for an extra 10 euro that saved me the 90 minute wait for tickets. The tour guide was great, and had some pretty “interesting” ideas about how the world worked, but in the end kind of a waste as we never left the entrance during his tour due to SO MUCH RAIN. After he stopped talking, I went ahead anyways and saw the inside, which was as
good as I had hoped. The tour then moved on to the Palantine Hill with a different tour guide (who was also good), and I didn’t expect to see so much from the same place. I never realized just how densely packed Rome was with classical ruins. See the pics for what I mean.
I wandered the forum under the hill for a while, during which there was a TORRENTIAL DOWNpour that made things interesting. Luckily I had my Broken Umbrella™, so it went fine. Also, so many people here spoke English and therefore could take my picture for me. I think that’s because most of them were also tourists, but still
From there it was the set of the Campidolgio, Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II (the most awesomely extravagant thing ever by the way), Colonna Traiana and Mercati Traianei, which were also very concentradely impressive. A bit of soul-searching, gelato-eating, worst-proscuitto-sandwich-ever-gnawing and heel-rubbing later, and I decided I would take advantage of the ludicrous amount of time I had left in the day to tread over to the Pantheon. Glad I did, as it was likely the most awesome part of the trip. It’s absolutely incredible
how well-preserved the place is, even if it’s a preservation of architecture and art and not materials. The place seemed to be set up to still use for services, which I imagine are also incredible.
I then walked from there all the way back down to the Circus Maximus, which I had geniusly missed before. On the way, I made it a point to cross the river Tevere and visit the Isola, an island in the middle of the city. The island was meh, but the river was cool and some huge procession of cars escorting someone who must have been very important held up traffic for a good 15 minutes. In Rome, as I imagine in all of Italy, people seem to think that more cars honking their horns for longer = faster traffic. It’s rather amusing, actually. The Circus was great, as it’s actually a park in good use. Soccer gaming, dog walking, juggling practicing, you know, the usual.
After that It was dinner and back to the hostel. Unfortunately, I tried and again FILED to find the metro stop at Circus Maximus back to the station. Fortunately, a Bavarian group I asked for help both
spoke great English and were headed to the same place, so it all worked out The Rome subway is just about the cleanest I have ever seen outside of Los Angeles, but it’s also the most CROWDED I’ve ever seen outside maybe some in Japan. No pickpocketing occurred though, so it’s okay. I ate dinner at a place that thinks toppings should never be mixed, evar (see pic), and then headed back to the hostel. I met the same Indian couple I followed all of the way here from Greece looking for a restaurant right next to my hostel, which solidified my opinion that it’s a small world, and then immediately started writing this entry.
Tomorrow, I’m going to try to get to the Vatican museums as early as possible (7am baby!) with the possibility of heading out to Pisa that same day, as by that point I’ll have nearly exhausted the sightseeing in Rome and I really want to find a better hostel. Here’s hoping the 10 minutes they give me on the ‘net allows me to upload this entry, my pictures AND find a hostel in Pisa and Florence.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.095s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 10; qc: 53; dbt: 0.0578s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb