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As per usual I have lots to fill y'all in on. Maybe I will be a better blogger and become more frequent? This will depend on
1. My wifi
2. My time
3. The people I meet...in order to write stories, I have to make them! So...I can't be antisocial :p
Always busy doing something and usually fall into bed around midnight and am up and 'attem at 8 or so! I really enjoy reading your comments - so keep em up! :)
(2$ We caught our three hour train to Rome from La Spezia. We were exhausted from hiking the Cinque Terre earlier that day, so when we found our hostel (thanks again to Jordan's navigation skillz!), we were both out as soon as we hit the pillows.
(3) After a much-deserved sleep-in, we beat the cobblestone to find the Colosseum. A magnificent structure! I can only imagine it in its former glory. We felt pretty clever accepting a tour randomly sold there...25€ seemed pretty steep, but we got to skip the 3 hour lineup. Admission would have cost 13€, plus cost of an audio guide. We had a guided tour. Worth it! I love walking past the huge lineup! Woohoo!
I can only imagine it in all it's glory - pretty gruesome though - to think about Gladiators fighting in there - they didn't live easy lives. After they won about 15 battles they were granted their freedom. And their helmets were 15 pounds. Talk about a crick in the neck. In places there was evidence of the past grandeur - marble covered pillars, exquisite carvings and etchings...and seats for 50,000 people! There are holes dug into the walls everywhere by farmers and merchants scavenging for metal.
Our tour included a skip-the-line complimentary tour of Palatine Hill, which would have cost 12€ - so for once with one of those tour things you don't get scammed. Sweet! It was the Imperial Palace of Romulus, a work of art! It's fun to use your imagination going through all the ruins, but I'm sure we can't even conjure its magnificence! I got burnt...we were outside all day! But not too bad - however, sunscreen and aftersun are very expensive here!
Around every corner there is something cool to see. We got to the point where we were saying, "Hmmm, that looks important, maybe we should take a picture!?". Trevi Fountain is beautiful, don't get me wrong, but as Jordan says, "if I wanted to be hassled to buy something, I would have gone to Mexico!". The economy is so-so here and there are all these people selling dollar store value things on the side of the street or shoving roses in my face, telling me Jordan would buy. All around the fountain it is busy! Of course, the sculpturing and attention to detail in it are lovely! Nearby we got Gelatto (of course) and convinced them to give us 6 flavors! We are keeping a running total of all the ones we try - do far Jordan loves Zuppa Inglese and I love Bilberry. We decided we needed to get a beer to drink as we strolled down the street...no big deal (nbg); Peroni and Birra Moretti - and walked past the police with it.
A cool thing about Roma and other cities in Italia are Spigots - fountains all over the city you can fill up your water bottle at! Also, did I mention wine is cheaper than water anywhere you go? And they charge you for tap water, so you might as well have vino!
(4) We went to Vatican State for opening. Boy, was that a mistake. I think you probably need to get there 3 hours before opening. Jordan convinced me to do another line-skipping tour, which, again, was worth it. I cannot believe the Vatican is its own country! It had a population of under 1,000 (bombarded by 20,000 tourists a day - yuck. Being around hordes of other tourists makes me grumpy. Especially because the majority are lacking in the manners department. I have taken up a new hobby for these times when I get grumpish - taking inconspicuous, funny pictures of other people. Mainly Asians - they have the best photo taking poses because they are perfectionists about their photos. It always cheers me up. Stay tuned for my 'Tourist Creeping' album on Facebook!). Waiting for the tour, we went to the Spanish Steps. Everything in the Vatican is beautiful. Our tour was very informative - we learned a lot about Michelangelo and Raphael, who were both incredible artists. We Went through the Raphael Rooms and the Hall of Maps to the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel in 4 years (1508-12). If it's spectacular now, i can't even imagine how vivid the colours were 500 years ago! He became crippled from painting above his head. I loved learning about each image he painted in there- from Creation to the Final Judgement, with Bible Stories intermingled - David and Goliath, The Temptation of Eve, and the Last Supper, etc. In the mix are four self-portraits. He even put a set of donkey ears on a guy in Hell in the Final Judgement, who he painted as someone he didn't like! Figures in sculptures and paintings are often naked=purity. I guess if you think back to Adam and Eve, this makes sense. Something I did notice in the Vatican is all the sculptures had their man parts removed and most of the paintings had a leaf covering them. After Michelangelo passed, someone was hired to cover them up. People are really disrespectful inside. You aren't allowed to talk or take pictures. Tourists...sheesh.
St. Peter's Basilica was also astounding - here, we saw more of Michelangelo's sculptures, including Cappa Della Pieta - the famous Mary holding Jesus. We were there for Evensong, able to hear the angelic voices fill the Basilica. We were in the Vatican for 6 hours!
After, we stumbled upon Giolitti - it had a billion flavors! I was losing my mind because there were too many options! The absolute BEST Gelatto yet. And apparently the best in Roma!
Then we went on a pub crawl and got cool shirts. And met lots of Americans.
(5) We found the Pantheon, which was cool. And in a random square. You just kind of stumble upon it. We tried to find a market but failed. So we explored a little more and caught our train to Pompeii. The cobblestone in Roma killed my shoes!
All in all, a good review of Roma! It's not even high season yet and it was crazy busy - I would advise against going there July-August!
Some other foods we've tried and liked:
Spaghetti alla carbonera
Pizza bruchuito funghi
Spaghetti palmadoro
Gelatto: Pistachio, Mint chocolate,
Raspberry (Fragola), Strawberry,
Bilberry, Rocky road, Cherry (amarena), Tiramisu, Hazelnut (noccolocia), Pistachio di bronte, Kinder, Pinolata, Coconut, lemon,
Fragolina di maremma
Ciao! Stay tuned for Pompeii, Florence, Venice and Verona! Xx
- comments
Linda P Well you've missed the brandings around here but I think you've done SO much better;)
Poppa Ken Very happy for you, living your dream, gaining so much knowledge, having a blast, love your blogs ,you do a great job writing keep it up , love Popa and Gramma. p.s going to your home today for Fathers Day
auntie char FINALLY! i think i speak for all when i say your musings have been sorely missed; can't wait for more...
dizzysparkles Thanks everyone! I love getting your comments! :)