Friday, November 16, 2007
Rome
Ahhh...Rome...the eternal city. What a magnificent place! Jason and I had another incredible weekend adventure in this Italian wonderland. Read on and enjoy the pictures!
traveling through Stanstead on Ryan air was another adventure - had to pay to check on bags and also pay to physically check in at the airport - so much for a cheap flight :) Once in Rome, we hopped in a cab and asked the driver to take us to a place where we could eat - nowhere in particular, just somewhere good. He dropped us in the middle of nowhere and with skeptical looks, we went into a local pizza shop. there, we ate delicious handmade pizza while all around us Italians gabbed away, no English anywhere, and we almost got kicked out because we dared to ask if we could pay with a credit card. A fun and "charming" way to start the weekend
Saturday we spent the day walking through the city visiting the Forum and the Coliseum. We took many pictures as the sun was shining and the sky was bright blue. Jason was most impressed with the Coliseum and we commented how similar it was to stadiums today - special "boxes" for the upper class, "locker rooms" underneath for competitors to get ready and tunnels to escort the victors through at the end of the match. We found a lovely Christmas shop and I treated myself to an ornament and a piece to a nativity scene, while J added to his magnet collection. We then made our way past other ruins and cathedrals, down side streets and alleyways to the Trevi Fountain - always spectacular and the Pantheon. Dinner at the Piazza Navona at an outdoor cafe (the food actually was relatively disappointing there, especially in comparison to the pizza the night before). We drank lots of red wine and then traversed the streets of Rome on our own pub crawl, chatting with many friendly Italians everywhere we went
Sunday we spent most of the day touring Vatican City and went to mass in the Vatican itself. Although the service was in Latin, we still enjoyed it and knew when to stand, kneel, etc. We visited the Vatican bookshop and post office, and I bought a little something special for Julie's new little girl - my new Goddaughter!! It is really a magnificent place and you can spend days just getting lost in its museums and side chapel's etc. In the evening we walked through the main shopping area and poked our head into a few of the nice stores - Gucci, Ferragamo, etc. Dinner split between a small place by the Spanish Steps and at a local place near the Trevi fountain.
Monday we rented a scooter and buzzed around town like real Italians. We were zipping in between cars and buses and even going the wrong way down one way streets - quite an adventure. We bought a beautiful Italian statue of the Roman God Atlas but neglected to think about how we would carry him home (had to persuade the ticket agent at the airport to let us check the luggage even though it was over the weight limit!) The weather again was perfect on Monday and it was fun to see the city again this time covering lots of ground on a scooter.
The magic of Rome to me is in the way the old mixes with the new. There are cars buzzing everywhere and people heading to and from work, and yet you look up and there are glorious ruins and statues, roman city walls, race tracks where chariots used to run and marble columns still standing. AND - there is much left to discover and explore - incredible. I would highly recommend it to anyone.
traveling through Stanstead on Ryan air was another adventure - had to pay to check on bags and also pay to physically check in at the airport - so much for a cheap flight :) Once in Rome, we hopped in a cab and asked the driver to take us to a place where we could eat - nowhere in particular, just somewhere good. He dropped us in the middle of nowhere and with skeptical looks, we went into a local pizza shop. there, we ate delicious handmade pizza while all around us Italians gabbed away, no English anywhere, and we almost got kicked out because we dared to ask if we could pay with a credit card. A fun and "charming" way to start the weekend
Saturday we spent the day walking through the city visiting the Forum and the Coliseum. We took many pictures as the sun was shining and the sky was bright blue. Jason was most impressed with the Coliseum and we commented how similar it was to stadiums today - special "boxes" for the upper class, "locker rooms" underneath for competitors to get ready and tunnels to escort the victors through at the end of the match. We found a lovely Christmas shop and I treated myself to an ornament and a piece to a nativity scene, while J added to his magnet collection. We then made our way past other ruins and cathedrals, down side streets and alleyways to the Trevi Fountain - always spectacular and the Pantheon. Dinner at the Piazza Navona at an outdoor cafe (the food actually was relatively disappointing there, especially in comparison to the pizza the night before). We drank lots of red wine and then traversed the streets of Rome on our own pub crawl, chatting with many friendly Italians everywhere we went
Sunday we spent most of the day touring Vatican City and went to mass in the Vatican itself. Although the service was in Latin, we still enjoyed it and knew when to stand, kneel, etc. We visited the Vatican bookshop and post office, and I bought a little something special for Julie's new little girl - my new Goddaughter!! It is really a magnificent place and you can spend days just getting lost in its museums and side chapel's etc. In the evening we walked through the main shopping area and poked our head into a few of the nice stores - Gucci, Ferragamo, etc. Dinner split between a small place by the Spanish Steps and at a local place near the Trevi fountain.
Monday we rented a scooter and buzzed around town like real Italians. We were zipping in between cars and buses and even going the wrong way down one way streets - quite an adventure. We bought a beautiful Italian statue of the Roman God Atlas but neglected to think about how we would carry him home (had to persuade the ticket agent at the airport to let us check the luggage even though it was over the weight limit!) The weather again was perfect on Monday and it was fun to see the city again this time covering lots of ground on a scooter.
The magic of Rome to me is in the way the old mixes with the new. There are cars buzzing everywhere and people heading to and from work, and yet you look up and there are glorious ruins and statues, roman city walls, race tracks where chariots used to run and marble columns still standing. AND - there is much left to discover and explore - incredible. I would highly recommend it to anyone.
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