Rome is kicking our butts. We arrived on Tuesday morning and it's now Thursday evening. Elizabeth got sick at the Vatican and threw up in a garbage bin outside a souvenir shop after we spent 145 Euros for a soso lunch. That sums it up. Ancient history, the Church, and things more expensive than expected for less than anticipated returns. But don't get me wrong, we've seen things we always wanted to see and we have had good experiences too. And honestly the wine you can get for a couple bucks is amazing. But this is an exhausting city. We saw Elizabeth's Aunt Erica while here and she says it's suffocating living with so much history. I completely understand. There's a little church down the street from the apartment we've rented. Just a little nondescript thing but the lowest level is pagan in origin, the nave is medieval and the ceiling is Rennaissance. If that's on a little side street you can imagine what the rest of the city is like. I'm on historiographical overload.
The place we are staying is a nice two bedroom apartment with a pull out sofa. It's a two minute walk to the Colisseum so it's a great location. And it's nice having a washing machine and a kitchen. It was pretty reasonable too. But like a lot of these things it's only got air conditioning in the two bedrooms. We open the doors and its not too bad. There's a terrific gelato place on the corner, a grocery around the block and several nice coffee shops.
I don't think there's any such thing as coffee to go here. At least I haven't seen it. Instead you order and are served in a nice little coffee cup your espresso or capucino and you drink it standing there. It's a nice little break in your morning. It costs more if you sit down at a table, even to wait. It's little things like that that leave you feeling a little bit ripped off constantly.
The food has been hit and miss. And it seems we can only feed our group of six for 100-150 Euros whether its lunch or dinner so the last two nights we've stayed in and had cold cuts sandwiches. We did have a wonderful meal at Elizabeth's aunts house and also had great pizza there including one with zucchini blossoms and anchovies that was surprisingly delicious. The gelato everywhere has been great. I like the fruit ones and the pistachio but the chocolatey ones have been popular with our crowd too.
Getting around took some getting used to and now that we're leaving of course we've gotten the hang of it! We blew a lot of money on cabs early on. They aren't that expensive but we always needed two. As an aside, you just round up if you want to tip the driver. But busses are the way to go. We bought the Roma Pass to get in the Colisseum, Palatine and Forum and it comes with free public transport for three days. Although I must say we were never asked for a ticket. You also have an option of buying minutes on busses. Not sure why they do it that way but they do. When a bus comes you just shove your way on. Romans don't believe in lines.
The Coliseum is as grand as I remembered from 26 years ago and they have a nice little open air museum on the second floor. They are doing construction on the Forum and they have terrible signage so we got a little turned around but we saw all we wanted to see, including the spot where Caesar was cremated. But it's so much to take in! Later in the day we went to Trevi fountain which was my second favorite sight we saw. It's so surprising to round a corner and suddenly see this huge refreshing fountain growing out of a building. We tossed our coins so we'll be back! We then walked down the street to the Spanish Steps where we were attacked by rose and souvenir wielding hawkers. We did have a fun meal not far from there though so it wasn't all bad.
We also went to the Vatican. We had arranged through the apartment owner to have a tour guide. The guide was an extra 180 Euros but she explained a lot to us and we skipped all the lines. Aside from the heat and crowds it was very interesting. The Sistene Chapel was as awe inspiring as I remembered but the murmuring crowds and the constant shushing and cries of "Silencio!" from the security staff take some of the luster off. St. Peter's too is awe inspiring but it's just too much to take in. Bigger isn't always better and I found it hard to feel God in that space.
Today though was my favorite day. We took the 85 bus from the Coliseum and got off and walked several blocks to the Pantheon. We met Erica there and had a quick coffee and then went inside. It was much less crowded, free and beautiful. It was my favorite site we've seen. The light coming through the open skylight is stunning. Erica told us that on Pentecost they drop roses from a helicopter through the hole. That must be magical.
Then we took a walk and strolled through the Campo de Fiore, a famous market. We got some nuts and enjoyed the sites. We then took a tiny bus back to Erica's where we had lunch. Afterwards we said our goodbyes and then walked to the Cola di Riezo to do some shopping. Conrad got some awesome Italian dress shoes. The girls found some clothes they liked and I got an Italian bicycling jersey. Apparently I'm a giant here because I was a 4XL here. I'm only an XL back home! Tonight we begged off meeting the rest of the family at Erica's. We'll take it easy and pack up. Tomorrow we leave for Florence and our Tuscan villa!
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