Roma & Ruins

Uhh, time to put the map away, I think I found the colosseo.
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DAY 1: SORRENTO TO ROMA

Another trip on the Circumvesuviana, a quick change in Napoli, and a fairly long train ride, we arrive in Roma.  Exhausted from our adventure thus far, we opted for a taxi from the train station to our hotel.  Smart move as it turns out.  Although we were used to walking everywhere, our bags were now loaded down with souvenirs including the liquid variety in glass bottles.  We quickly checked into Hotel in Parione, dropped our bags, and were out the door for more sightseeing.

Colosseo interior.
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We were bound for the Colosseo and the forum.  We were scouring our map with our heads down trying to find our way, when we glanced up and saw it at the end of the street.  We quickly put the map away feeling a bit silly.  I knew it was big as the name implies, but I had no idea how big.  To this day we have no idea what was going on, but there was a street festival atmosphere, and the road leading up to the colosseo was closed to vehicles.  All of the sights as it turned out had free admission that day also.

In the forum
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Inside the colosseo, we try to imagine the bloody spectacles that took place inside and cannot.  We peer down into the areas that were once covered by the floor of the colosseo and are in awe at engineering that they had.  Elevators to make wild beasts suddenly appear through the floor.  We are overwhelmed.

Although, I am by no stretch of the imagination a city person, I love Roma.  To be walking down the street surrounded by ruins is simply amazing.  I loved spending time in the Forum, just trying to imagine (with my little 'Rome then & now' book) what life must have been like all of those years ago.

The arch of Constantine.
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We made our way back to the hotel to shower and change for dinner.  We found a restaurant very close by.  Surprised that we did not want to sit outside amongst the tightly packed patrons, they gave us a beautiful table far in the back inside.  Sticking to our plan of local specialties,  the meal (& wine) did not disappoint.  We had fried zuccini blossoms stuffed with cheese (YUMMY), and some other fantastic food, but those were my favorite.  The longer we were there, and the more authentic Roman food we ate, the better the waiter liked us.  He came to see that we were not the typical tourists in for a quick bite in a hurry, but we took our time and enjoyed the whole procession of food.

V. Emmanuele II monument.
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Now 11 p.m and stuffed to the gills we went for a stroll to burn off some of the dinner.  Campo dei fiori was still bustling. At this time of day though it is filled with patrons of the restaurants rather than the flower merchants that you find early in the morning.  We headed back to our tiny yet perfectly formed room at the Hotel in Parione for some well deserved sleep.

DAY 2: VATICAN, MONUMENTS, & A COUPLE OF COLDS

The next morning we awoke to find that we both had come down with colds in the night.  I usually never get colds, but being rundown, and in crowds constantly, I am not surprised.  We felt very fortunate for the timing of these colds though.  It was our last day in Europe and we were heading home the next day.  We had reservations to do a couple of tours, but decided that a trip to the farmacia and to the Vatican would be enough for the day.

St. Peter's Basilica.
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Armed with throat lozenges and kleenex we walked over to Vatican City.  We took our places in the 2 hour line that snaked it's way around several corners.  I actually wouldn't have known that it took 2 hours except that I knew when we arrived and it was 2 hours later when we entered the museum.  The line is continually moving so that it seems not to take very long.

The Vatican Museum is a wonderfully interesting place.  It is so nice that you are able to take non-flash photagraphy throughout (except in the Sistine Chapel).  I loved how the artifacts & collections are arranged chronologically beginning with Egyptian.  We spent about 3 hours here, and enjoyed every moment.

Obelisk in St. Peter's square.
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We now set forth to explore as much of the city as we could not feeling quite up to par.  We made a perfuntory stop at the Fontana di Trevi for wishes and photos.  It was so crowded though that we quickly left.  We made it to the Piazza di Spagna and initially thought it was just as busy as where we had come.  We ventured up the Spanish Steps to the top, and found a quiet refuge in the sun.  Here we sat and watched the other people around us.  There was even a couple there having their wedding photos taken on the steps.  Rejuvinated by our short break we set off towards the Pantheon & the nearby coffee bar Tazza Oro.  The architecture, especially interior, of the pantheon is really amazing.  Plus that has to be one of the best skylights anywhere.

Part of 'the long walk' in the Vatican Museum.
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We made our way slowly back to our hotel to get ready for dinner.  We ate at a small restaurant in the corner of quiet Piazza Farnese not far from our hotel.  The zucchini blossoms were on the menu again, so of course I had to have them.  They were prepared slightly different this time but were equally as good as the previous ones.  Slowly we ate and visited and ate some more.  By now we had learned to order your meal as you go.  We are so accustomed to ordering our entire meals at the beginning here in Canada that it took us a while to catch on to this ingenius concept.  If your still hungry order more, if your full stop there and you're not stuck with a bunch of food that you cannot finish.  No tartufo (the special Roman gelato dessert, not the funghis) on the menu for dessert, we set off in search of a gelateria that did have it.  Not as easy a task as one might think.  I believe we went to 3 or 4 before we found one that had it.

The famous spiral staircase in the Vatican Museum.
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We wandered the streets of Roma and ate gelato.  The perfect end to the perfect trip.

We got everything packed and ready for our early departure the next morning and hit the sack.