Day 10 was going to be a long day on the bus, as we were traveling from Venice all the way down to Rome. We departed Venice at 7:30am. My body was getting used to waking up early and going all day on less than sufficient sleep. We arrived at our hotel outside of Rome at around 2:30 and had an hour or so to get settled before we had to be back downstairs and ready to go. |
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I relished the idea of Rome, because for the first time on the trip, I would get to wear shorts. Considering only a week earlier I was wearing jeans, a coat, scarf, and wished I had gloves in London, this would be a wonderful change. I wanted to wear flip flops too, but considering the second half of our day would be spent on a walking tour of ancient Rome, I thought I'd better stick with sneakers. So after we unpacked (finally, we were going to stay in one place for more than a night!), I changed into shorts and a tank top, and went downstairs to catch our ride into town. |
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OK, so the ride wasn't what I expected. We all got on the Contiki bus, but it didn't drop us off in front of the Coliseum. Instead, it took us to a train station, where we bored a very nice above-ground commuter train. Then we switched trains and got on an older more run-down subway. |
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Thankfully the trip didn't take forever, though it seemed like it. As we exited the subway, it was quite cool to see the Coliseum out beyond the turnstiles. It felt like an eternity, but I was finally in the Eternal City! The Coliseum was massive (1), and I couldn't even view the whole thing at once until I was a reasonable distance away (4). Hans gave us around 20 minutes to wander around and possibly get our pictures taken with some gladiators. Instead I got some food from a street vendor. |
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Twenty minutes is plenty of time if you want to get a few pictures and move on, but not nearly enough time to go inside and see this massive structure from the inside. So most of us ended up hanging out (2), (3) for fifteen minutes before moving on to the next site. While we were waiting there, a man started to have a seizure, and most of us thought it was a horrible gypsy trick to pickpocket the tourists. When authorities ran over to help, I realized that a man really was in trouble. How sad that the fear of gypsies had jaded so many people. |
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Perhaps it was fitting that this happened at the Coliseum, as my dad had an encounter with gypsies at the Coliseum many years earlier: He was wandering around (inside), and noticed a gypsy boy creeping up to a Japanese group (with tons of expensive camera equipment). My dad wanted to stop this gypsy from stealing the expensive camera equipment, and started shouting a term he had heard in the East: "Stealy Boy!" He jumped up and down and flailed his arms trying to get the Japanese tourists' attention. Whether "stealy boy" was the right phrase or not, it certainly got the attention of most people in the Coliseum, and the gypsy boy ran off. The Japanese tourists were very grateful. |
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I loved that I found someone else that had the exact bag (11) that I had bought in Venice. I wanted very badly to ask how much she paid for hers, but the group was leaving the Pantheon area and I didn't want to get left behind. |
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We walked down a narrow street, past the best Gelato in the world (so Hans claimed), and into Piazza Navona. Hans pointed out the Four Rivers fountain, which was featured in Angels & Demons as the site of one cardinal's murder. |
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As Hans pointed out, due to the shallow fountain, it would be practically impossible to drown someone in this fountain. Sorry Dan Brown, but I'm not buying this death. (Note: I got around to reading Angels & Demons several months after the trip, and lots of other things weren't plausible either, but I guess you have to suspend disbelief to read something like The Da Vinci Code or Angels & Demons. |
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Back in reality, we got to check out the fountain up close. Here's Ryan and Mike with most of the fountain in the picture (12). I asked someone to take a picture of Mikki and I in front of it, and the picture was only of us, hardly any fountain was visible. I should have searched for an Asian tourist to get the picture right. You think I would have remembered after the fabulous pictures an Asian took of us in London. I guess I'll just have to settle for great pictures of my tour mates. No need in being extra narcissistic. |
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So after dinner we all met up back in Piazza Navona(14). For whatever reason I fell in love with this square. Very picturesque, lots of shopping and haggling, and all of the goods people had for sale: mini RC cars, purses, books, artwork, tripods, coin purses, t-shirts, aprons, etc., etc., etc. I know it sounds weird, but maybe I'm just such a gung-ho shopper I like informal bazaars like this. |
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Since Hans insisted the best Gelato was nearby, we all bought some on our way to the Trevi fountain. As we walked down yet another street I saw something that changed my opinion of Mini Coopers forever. I thought the (new) Minis were tiny, but not until I saw one parked next to a SmartCar (15). Look how huge the Mini is in comparison to the SmartCar! |
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We walked through a ritzy open-to-the-elements mall (16) which was really pretty, and kind of reminded me of the Forum at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. Once again, those designers in Vegas are doing things right. |
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Finally we arrived at the Trevi Fountain (17). Hans warned us not to accept any flowers unless we were willing to pay €3 for it. Those flower people will follow you around like a SCUD missile. One followed me around trying to shove a flower in my hand for 30 seconds (it felt like an eternity). It started to get a little breezy, so I decided I would buy a pashmina (as Mikki had just done at a reputable store for €15), but I was going to spend no more than €3. I succeeded in haggling down from €10 to €3, but the thin pashmina I got was smelly and had what I think was a blood stain on it. Ewww! That was €3 wasted. I wondered if I could buy some Febreze in Rome. |
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The tradition of the Trevi fountain is to make a wish as you throw coins over your shoulder and into the fountain (18), the wish usually being for a safe return to Rome soon. For such a small square, the place was packed. We didn't stay here too long because it was getting dark, and we still had not seen the Spanish Steps. |
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Down a couple more streets and we arrived at the Spanish Steps. At the base of the Steps is a fountain (19) which I thought was really cool. Because it was getting dark out, I couldn't get a good picture of it. If only I could keep the camera steady long enough to get a good shot, I would be thrilled. On our way to the Spanish Steps I even saw someone selling tripods on a sheet and thought it was a great idea, but then told myself it wasn't necessary. Curse myself for spending €3 on a smelly, bloody pashmina, but refusing to spend €10 on a mini tripod. |
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So even if the pictures don't do the place justice, the Spanish Steps (20) really are pretty. One guy (homeless? gypsy?) was essentially bathing in the fountain. Yikes, don't drink that water. There's not a whole to do at the Spanish Steps, so off we went to catch our tram back to the hotel. |
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On our way we ran into the tail end of a big police celebration. The Italian Polizia were celebrating their 125th anniversary. Naturally we wanted to join in the celebration. They tossed loads of hats out, and everyone in our group that wanted one got one (21). Hans got three or four. I think it is a universal truth that police departments use domestic cars. So while American police officers have Fords and GM cars, the Italian polizia drive Lamborghinis (22). Well, we saw two Lamborghinis as police cars, so they probably don't all drive Lamborghinis, but damn, that's a good incentive to be a cop. |
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We made it to the tram stop where we boarded a tram that took us to a tram station where we crammed onto the last tram that would take us back to our hotel. I talked to Alana about real estate in the Washington DC area the whole way back, and you'd think we were on the DC Metro, not some tram in Italy. After we got back, I changed into more comfortable clothes, hit the hotel bar to hang out with Hans, Reuben, and the rest of the hotel bar regulars. No drinks for me though. We had to get up bright and early to hit the Vatican the next morning. |
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| Day 11 • Monday, May 16, 2005 • Rome, Italy |
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After the Vatican, Mikki and I went to a nearby restaurant to change into more comfortable clothes (it was too hot for jeans) and get some lunch. The restaurant was chaotic and confusing. After being rushed to make our selections, we were seated at a table, and then a Brazilian couple was seated across from us. They were on a tour of Rome also, and it was cool to meet people that also loved to travel. Their English was decent, so communicating wasn't impossible. I wish Americans were required to learn a foreign language in school. I guess it doesn't seem necessary when everyone else learns English. |
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Our first stop was the St. Angel Castle (featured in A&D) (23). We basically bought some postcards at a cart as we walked by. Also available at the carts were tons of souvenirs with the new Pope's picture. Pope John Paul II had died only a month earlier, and Pope Benedict XVI had only been elected Pope weeks prior to our arrival in Rome. Those Catholic vendors don't waste any time do they? |
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I wish I could tell you more about the Castle and the nearby bridge (24) but without a tour guide telling us about the landmarks, where to go and what to do, we were completely lost. We decided to take a bus over to the Spanish Steps to see them in the daytime, but also because there is an American Express office nearby, where Mikki could cash some of her traveler's cheques. As we quickly learned, getting around in Italy where we didn't speak Italian and most of the locals didn't speak English was quite challenging. |
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We got on what we thought was the right bus for the Spanish Steps. When the bus started passing homes on a regular basis I knew we weren't in the heart of the city anymore. Uh oh, I didn't want to be in the Roman suburbs. We got off the bus and then hailed a cab to take us back to Ancient Rome. Our cabbie dropped us off near the Spanish Steps (though we didn't see them). Finally I recognized the area where the Polizia celebration had taken place the night before and knew we were close. Americans like big stuff (big roomy SUVs, big single family homes, etc.), whereas Europeans have smaller versions of everything (SmartCars are a prime example). I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me when I saw this teeny tiny bus carting people around (25). |
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So, we made our way back to the Spanish Steps (26), ooh, ahh, very pretty, now get us to that AMEX Office to get some cash. We wasted at least an hour waiting to exchange Mikki's traveler's cheques into Euros, so if you don't want to waste time in a foreign city at a bank, don't bring traveler's cheques. They aren't worth it with ATMs on every corner. |
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Finally with cash in hand, we went to the nice shopping area nearby. We wandered into Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Burberry, stuff like that, and then decided to stop wasting our time looking at stuff we couldn't afford. It was time to do some shopping! I wanted to get Dan an Italian dress shirt and tie, but Italian shirts aren't made for tall guys. When I asked one salesperson if they had shirts that were 36-37" long, they thought I was crazy. I was lucky if I could find a shirt that was 34" long (or whatever the metric equivalent would be). We went into a women's clothing store, where the shopping experience is very different from in the States. The "entire" store was like window shopping. If you saw something you liked hanging on the wall (behind glass, so no touching), you would point it out to a saleswoman, and she would go get your size for you. |
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Once I agreed to buy the item in question, a whole new world opened up. I was invited into the back room where the saleswoman became my personal shopper. There was at least ten times as much stuff back here as was on display out front. She offered all sorts of outfits that she thought would look good on me. I ended up buying two tops and a jacket, which I was eager to wear as soon as possible. |
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After a long afternoon of shopping (27), we went back to Piazza Navona to experience it in all its glory: artwork (28), food (29), designer knock-off purses (30), belts, watches, and pashminas (31). Forget Hans's warnings, we were going to have a front-row seat for all this people-watching. The restaurant we chose was outstanding, the food amazing, and the waiter's recommendation for wine was one of the best I've ever had (a sweet red sparkling wine, Chambord and champagne I think). After dinner we got right into the bazaar and started haggling for all the goods we had been eyeing during dinner. I bought some gifts for friends back home, and finally bought a mini tripod. You'll probably notice that all my pictures for the second half of the trip are way better. Mikki haggled and bought three more Louis Vuitton purses of varying sizes. The last thing I saw was a painting that I wanted, but at €125 it was too much for me. The guy offered it to me for €100 if I paid cash, but I walked away hoping he would drop the price. He didn't, and I took that as a sign that I didn't need it...at least I should find out how much money I had left before blowing €125 on artwork. |
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We decided to find an Internet Café and see how our finances were doing. We finally found one and to our horror discovered that we were essentially broke. I called my bank to transfer money to my Cash Passport card, but that didn't work, so I was going to have to buy everything on the rest of my trip with my Visa check card. Naturally I brought the card that I don't know the PIN number for, so getting cash wasn't an option. Ugh, three more cities (one of which being Paris), and I was cash-broke. Shit. We took a cab back to the hotel before we were tempted to buy anything else. I guess I wasn't going back to buy that painting after all. |
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