have finished my third day in Rome. three days of intensive sightseeing, and my feet are killing me, my brain hurts, my eyes are sore, my skin is sunburnt... and i'm in love with this place.
i've been keeping daily notes of my activities. will copy & paste them below, so this entry will be a bit long. sorry for all the scrolling... i'll also try to paste some select photos into the blog. (and at some point, i'll get the rest of my photos posted on some online album somewhere...) so if you've got a moment, please let me know what you think! :)
Tuesday, September 18, 2007. 7:04 am. Vancouver International Airport, Gate C39.
Have successfully negotiated my way through check-in and security. Have just over an hour to kill before scheduled boarding begins (at 8:15 am). All boards so far have the flight “on time.” We’ll see.
The cab ride to the airport was quick & painless as well. Took just about twenty minutes to get here, given how light traffic was so early in the morning. Not complaining, however. I’d rather this, than have to deal with the stress of lateness or delays.
It’s still hard to believe I’m finally on my way. Weeks and weeks of planning are finally coming together. The strangeness is all.
I think once I’ve gotten on the plane to Rome, I’ll relax a bit more. But can picture myself ramping up again, simply with nerves and excitement. Am I really going to Rome? Am I really going to spend the next two weeks in Italy, and one week in France? Is this really happening to me?
Here I am. Go figure.
The sky is finally getting lighter. But the sky is still grey and overcast. I guess they’ll be getting rain and showers today. It was fairly cool this morning, too, when I left my apartment. I’m sure it’ll be pretty cold by the time I get back…
Is this really me?
Wednesday, September 19, 2007. 9:45 pm Rome time (1:26 pm Vancouver time). Yes Hotel, Room 607.
Yes, I think I can safely say that I’ve finally arrived in Rome. Even if parts of my brain still can’t believe it.
Finished my first full day here. Conclusions and impressions so far: hot, damn hot. And humid, to make it feel even hotter. And lots of tourists. And lots of traffic. And lots of mopeds. I’ve revised my earlier theory of who the potential survivors of a nuclear holocaust would be. I’ve decided now that cockroaches, bike couriers, AND moped drivers from Rome would survive the fallout to create a new race of armoured, reckless drivers negotiating the rubble of the post-apocalyptic world. You need to made of some kind of I don’t know what, in order to survive the traffic chaos of downtown Rome. Yow.
Ok, quick rundown of the day’s activities:
- Landed on time in Montreal. Managed to de-plane fairly quickly, and, following the gate signs, trotted over to my connecting flight in less than 10 minutes. (Dorval Airport is small, eh?) Good thing, too, since they had already started boarding at quarter to the top of the hour (the flight wasn’t scheduled to leave until half past). Trotted on board and settled in and finally breathed again.
- Eat. Doze. Eat more. Doze more. Stretch legs, bend legs. Repeat. Ugh. But at least I had two seats to stretch out on. The flight was only about three quarters full. Short boarding, short de-planing. Eight hour flight was mercifully cut short by a half hour. We landed early in Rome Fiumicino airport. Yay! Got through customs, grabbed my backpack right away.
- Followed the signs to the train station. Bought myself a one way ticket for the Leonardo Express at one of the self-serve kiosks (rather than wait in a twelve person deep line, ugh), took a picture of the train platform (see photo). Trained in to Termini Station.
- Wandered around aimlessly in the train station for a bit, before finally deciding to find my first hotel. Found it fairly easily (it was as if my instinct just took over—or maybe it was just the result of all those hours of studying my maps). Asked if my room was ready yet (no). Left my backpack in the luggage room, and took my daypack and decided to wander around.
- Went back to the train station, to see if I could find a hop-on/hop-off bus tour for a few hours. Bought the Ciao Roma pass for a day (19 euro), and a Roma Pass (20 euro). Ran to the first stop for the bus tour, at Chiese Maria Santa Maggiore. Paid the balance of the ticket, and hopped on. Climbed to top of bus & settled in.
- Bus tour around the city. Lasted about two hours. Took a few bad photos, took a couple of good ones. Decided that a lot of the sites are within easy walking distance, and decided to walk to some of them (e.g. Colosseum) on the days I’ve decided to visit them. Except for the Vatican. That’s a bit far.
- Got back to the starting point, then walked back to hotel. Room still not ready. Ok.
- Left hotel & decided to wander around the neighbourhood to orient myself. Found the Chiesa Maria degli Angeli. Wandered around and took a bunch of photos. Cool from the heat.
- Wandered around the business and government district. Saw lots of handsome Italian men in business suits, looking cool, calm, collected. How do they stay so cool looking in this sweltering heat?
- Found a cheap pizzeria around the corner from my hotel, across the street from the Termini Station. The man behind the counter spoke English. I guess a lot of them do in tourist-dense Rome. I almost laughed out loud. I haven’t had to speak any Italian yet. Just “si” and “grazie.”
- Sat under a tree on Via Cavour, across from Termini, and ate my pizza. An elderly Italian gentleman next to me greeted me warmly with a “ciao” and toasted my Coke with his beer. I laughed and toasted him back.
- Got back to hotel. Yes, room is ready. Finally!
More tomorrow.
Thursday, September 20, 2007. 8:30 pm Rome time (11:33 am Vancouver time). Yes Hotel, Room 607.
Wow. Pretty full day. Spent most of it standing and walking. But it was worth it I think. Because of one thing:
I visited the Vatican Museum. Wow.
Left the hotel early this morning. Had breakfast at the hotel—not bad. Had a good, strong coffee, a croissant with some ham and cheese, orange juice.
Went to the Termini Station. First major task of the day: ride the Metro for the first time. Eek. Actually, it wasn’t all that bad, once I finally figured out where the hell to go. Apparently, the first set of stairs I found (on the east side of the Cinquecentro Square in front of the station) wasn’t the best flight to take. Smelled bad, looked worse—a couple of scary looking fellows hunched in the corner. Couldn’t find the entrance to the Metro. So I wandered into the train station lower level proper, followed the crowds, and found the Metro lines A and B entrances that way. Whew. After figuring out the ticketing system (similar to the one they have in Japan, except you claim your punched ticket before entering the open clear plastic doors—in Japan, you would go through and claim the ticket once you’ve gone through. Kirk, take note, when you ride the trains in Japan! The machine will eat your ticket, but spit it back out on the other side. Well, at least the trains I rode in Sapporo worked that way…), I sorted out which track to take (lineA, to Battistini), and waited for the train. Easy peasy.
Got to Ottaviano Station and got off the train. Followed the crowds up and out. (“Uscita” is one of the first Italian words I’d learned today, along with the phrase, “Uscito lato destro,” which, I’m guessing, means, “Exit to the right side.” And, the matching phrase, “Uscito lato sinistro,” which means, “Exit to the left side.” If everyone in Rome spoke as slowly as the fellow who does the announcements on the train, and repeated their words as often, then I’d be able to learn Italian in no time.)
Walked down Ottaviano street to the road where the Vatican wall rose into the sky. Hooked a right and hoofed it up the hill. There was already a significant line when I arrived, just past 8am. And the line quickly grew behind me, too. So I waited. And waited, and waited. And got cold in the wind, and waited some more. And waited even more. Feet got sore, legs got sore. Still waited. Got word from some people around me that they weren’t letting the “regular” line in until after 10am. (Apparently, tour groups got to go in first.) Ugh.
But sure enough, shortly after 10am, the line started to move. Yay! Was through security and well on my way into the museum by 10:30am. Let the adventure begin…
- Took photos. No, wait, let me clarify that. Took LOTS of photos. Took so many photos that my batteries ran out. My last shot of the museum was the spiral staircase I took to exit. Whew.
- Wandered through hall after hall of endless statues, sculptures, and art. I was irritated equally by those who insisted on reading every single sign and listening to the recorded audio guides at every single piece of art, as well as those who simply drifted indifferently past these extraordinary pieces collected from antiquity through the Renaissance, as if they were nothing much to sniff at.
- I gawked with appropriate frequency, I think.
- The hall of statues was amazing. As was the hall with all the Greek and Roman figures and pieces of sculpture. But I kept thinking, how many examples of “a noble’s head” or “a warrior’s head” or “some random piece of siding” can you have, anyway? Apparently, hundreds aren’t enough. Need to get them all, huh. Ah those crazy popes.
- The Sistine Chapel was simply breathtaking. (Note, the photo I’ve attached is NOT the Sistine Chapel—no photos allowed in there. Despite all the signs, and the harsh whispered “shhhh”es from the guards, and the occasional loudspeaker announcements in Italian and English asking people not to take photos and to keep their voices down—the loudspeaker was supposed to drown them all out I guess?—some people still insisted on taking photos, and flash photos, too, which aren’t even discrete!) I sat there for a few minutes, just taking it all in. It’s hard to believe that Michelangelo spent all those years hanging upside down painting the ceiling. Just craning my neck to see all the frescos gave me a headache (not to mention neck ache and back ache). Yow.
- Missed (forgot, is more like it) the Pinacoteca, with paintings by da Vinci, Carravagio, et al. Damn. I guess there really won’t be a “next time,” so I’ll have to settle for picture books from the library later.
- In all, spent over three hours in the Vatican Museum (not including the two hours I spent waiting in line just to get in). Not bad, I think.
Then, because my feet were killing me, I took the Metro back to Termini, and hobbled back to the hotel. Washed my feet, cleaned up a bit, downloaded my pictures, changed the batteries in my camera, and decided to head back out to St. Peter’s to see if I could get in with a smaller afternoon crowd. Huh. Stupid thinking, I know. But what do I know?
Got to St. Peter’s, and yes, the line to get in was huge. Decided against it, given how late it was (after 3:30pm by the time I got back down there), so just snapped a bunch of pictures of the piazza. Then hobbled back to the metro on my still sore feet.
Got off at Spagna station, to see the Spanish Steps. The steps and fountain were a bit of a disappointment, to tell the truth, but seeing all the people there made up for it. It was wonderful seeing all the tourists and locals alike, just sitting and mingling and chatting and relaxing and sitting in the sun and sitting in the shade and just hanging out in the piazza. Cool. North America needs cool hang out places like that, where people are actually civilized, and no one acts like a drunken hooligan.
Climbed to the top of the steps and entered the church, Trinita dei Monti. Beautiful church—too bad my camera had to act up and be a party poop. Some of the pictures were blurry, because I couldn’t use flash, and my hands were shaking. Blah.
Walked next to the Trevi Fountain, to see it during the day. I was amazed by my sense of direction, and my memory from the night before. I recognized the streets and the landmarks on the way (for instance, Bernini’s fountain). Wandered through some of the lovely side streets along the way. The shops, the gelato vendors, the sidewalk cafes. Took a bunch of photos at the fountain, and sat my butt down to rest my sore feet for a few minutes.
Made the long trek back to the hotel. Along the way, walked along the via XX Settembre, and remembered that the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria was along here. Found the church, and snapped a bunch of photos (again, some of them were pretty lame because of the no flash, shaking hands syndrome). Done with frustrating myself with poor photos, I finally stumbled back to my room at the hotel. (here's one that actually turned out...)
Has it really been only two days? Feels like I’ve been here for much longer already.
Friday, September 21, 2007. 4:25 pm Rome time (7:25 am Vancouver time). Hotel Patria, Room 305.
Another busy day, but also a day full of mis-directions and running around in circles.
Had breakfast at the Yes Hotel at 7:30am, then dashed over to the Hotel Patria to find out what time their check-in was. Not til 2pm, but the front desk clerk promised me that if something came free in the next hour or two, I could have it. I thanked him and went on my way.
Wandered out to the street, not really knowing where I was heading. Next thing I know, I’m heading toward the general direction of the Pantheon, thinking I had lots of time to try to find it. And my feet were feeling good, and it was a fairly cool morning still, and I had a spring in my step. Ah, how quickly all that good feeling would dissipate…
Through sheer luck, and yes perhaps a bit of intuition and a pretty good general sense of direction, I managed to find the Pantheon. Almost stumbled upon it, to tell the truth. One moment, I was wandering through winding, narrow streets and alleys lined with cafes, shops, restaurants, back doors, and apartments—then suddenly, the Pantheon was there. Boom. Just like that. Big stone, man, big stone.
I was a bit early, so wandered around some of the streets in the neighbourhood, before heading back to the Pantheon for its 8:30 am opening. Went inside and took several photos (some of which actually turned out for a change!), and took a few photos from outside as well.
Feeling smug and content, I thought my next task would be to find the Piazza Navona. I thought I could find it fairly easily; after all, it was about due west of the Pantheon. How difficult could that be?
Hah. More difficult than I thought. I ended up turned around and upside down and inside out, and somehow managed to get lost—emerged onto a main street facing the Castel Sant’Angelo, on the Tiber River! Yikes. Overshot the piazza by a looong shot. Had to turn around and backtrack. By this time, my feet were starting to hurt again, and I was getting cranky. Feeling completely disoriented, I decided that I would head back to Termini Station and my hotel, so I could check out of Yes Hotel and check into Hotel Patria.
Managed to finally walk all the way back by just after 10am. Finished packing the rest of my stuff, and checked out. Hoofed it with all my heavy gear to the Hotel Patria and checked in. (Thank goodness my room was ready. See the shot of the view from my hotel room. Too bad the photo can’t relay sound effects—this is definitely a much louder location than my previous hotel; I’m a short block away from a busy street, the via Nazionale, and there is constant sound of traffic, mopeds, sirens, honking horns.)
Cleaned up, then headed out again. Next stop: Colosseum. Walked to Termini metro station, and hopped on the metro out to Colosseo stop. Found a HUGE line up at the Colosseum, and decided against it. So I wandered up to the Palatine Hill (having read in several guide books that the line ups tend to be shorter there), bought my ticket after cueing up in a short line, and got inside the gates. Wandered around looking at all the ruins.
(Quick note on the metro out to Colosseo. I had to take the B line today (up til now, I’d been happily hopping on and off the A line between Termini and Ottaviano station, where I could easily access St. Peter’s and the Vatican Museum, as well as Spagna station for the Spanish Steps. The A line is fast, clean, comfortable, and easy to use.). I guess I know why they call it the B line. It’s definitely seen better days. The train cars are covered in spray painted graffiti. The windows are dirty and barred. The seats inside are hard, and the interior looks generally more exhausted. Some of the electronic signs work, some don’t. I think even the people on the train looked more tired than the ones I saw on the A line trains. Huh. Well, at least it got me where I needed to go.)
After wandering the grounds of the Palatine (and taking a bunch of photos), decided to wander through the Forum grounds. That was pretty cool—but pretty damn hot, too. Forgot to put on sunscreen this morning (duh), and have a bit of sunburn on my face and my upper chest, as well as my arms and the tops of my feet.
Finished wandering through the Forum, and decided I would try my luck at finding the Piazza Bocca de Verita (the Mouth of Truth). And truthfully—my luck had run out. By the time I finally found the place, I had backtracked twice, gotten stuck in a dead end street that ended with a wall (I could see the damn church from where I was standing, I just couldn’t find a quick way to get out there, short of jumping 12 or so feet and probably crushing my legs, if not worse, so I had to circle all the way around), and then overshot the right street, twice! (I blame it on sunstroke.)
Then I stupidly stood in line for almost 15 minutes to see this thing (for whatever reason, exhaustion, probably, I’ve fallen into dumb tourist mode—I see a line up, and I line up along with everyone else, not even questioning why I’m lining up, only following the dumb tourist flocking instinct of: “if everyone else is lining up, then it must be worth seeing, right?”), only to end up taking a rushed, blurry photo of it. Duh. And no, I won't post that one.
Feeling really stupid by this point, and tired, not to mention cranky, dehydrated, and sore-footed, I decided to walk to the closest metro station (Circo Massimo) and headed back to the hotel.
More tomorrow, pending recovery from dumb tourist syndrome.
yesterday was pretty mellow. after breakfast, headed back via metro to Ottaviano station, and St Peter's Basilica. got there just after 8am--no line up, yay! got through security and headed in.
