Rome - Day One and Two

Rome Day One

Before I begin, Deborah has been reminding me that I have not been including much in the blog about the food.  I’ll try to address that and must mention that we have really enjoyed the Pecorino cheese, special to Tuscany.  It is a delicious hard, white cheese aged like old cheddar at home.  It goes well with the Montepulciano’s Nobile wine and Montechino’s Brunello. 

Bye

Saturday was pretty much a travel day.  We had our last breakfast as a group of eight at the hotel and trundled down the cobble stone streets of the old city to the regional bus stop.  We all took a bus to Chiusi.  Thanks to Sam and Cheryl’s previous experience with the winding road we chose seats close to the front.  We were glad we did.  We said our good byes on apposing Chiusi railway platforms as we embarked in opposite directions only minutes apart.  Our trip to Rome’s Termini station was relaxed and we were joined in our compartment by a couple from south Surrey also headed to Rome to end their month long journey.  We were a little concerned about the Termini station.  Last year Cheryl’s brother had his valuables pick pocketed in the station.  I noticed locals stuffing money in their bras and pants.  We did the same.

We did well to get off the train and find the underground subway system.  We even found the right station to get off for the hotel.  That is where it got a little interesting.  With packs on our backs and the thermometer topping out at a very humid 30, we set off walking to the hotel following the GPS directions.  After walking for an hour, we arrived back at the railway station.  We had walked backward the length of two subway stops. Whether it was a GPS issue or operator error, we are not sure.  With only two of us travelling we are prepared to say it was the GPS.  After an earnest restart, we passed by the Trevi Fountain and arrived at our hotel located just four doors from the Pantheon.  Like Verona, the hotel sign was a 1” by 3.5” brass plate beside a 10’ by 6’ solid wood door.  It was very non descript and it took us a long time to find it even though the GPS said we were there.  Three heavily keyed doors later we were in the lobby.

The Dimora Degli Dei was built in 1879 and our room has a 20’ ceiling with exposed wood beams.  It is on the backside of the hotel and there isn’t a sound to be heard.

First night’s dinner was at the L’Antica Birreria Peroni, a Rick Steeves recommendation for fun, good food and yes, cheap.  It had a beer hall atmosphere and we dined on sautéed olive croquettes, tomato brochette, and rigatoni with sausage and cream sauce, and spinach ricotta ravioli.  We finished with salad (that’s the way it is done here), and enjoyed two liter sized Peroni beers, all for 30 Euros.

Rome is an intimidating city.  I cannot imagine driving here.  If the road has four clearly marked lanes, there will be six lanes of cars.  Clearly road rules are only guides that are ignored by everyone.  Traffic piazzas have no apparent rules.  Big is better and usually rules the confrontations but periodically you see someone on a bicycle or on foot, blissfully walking through the middle of it.  We stood gazing in amazement at the traffic in front of Capital Hill for over a half an hour watching near misses.  All the while we were there, two traffic cops stood chatting, smoking, and flirting with the female tourists.

No lines for Traffic - Chaos!

To be a driver is crazy, to be a pedestrian in truly heroic.  We think we have it figured out.  Crosswalk or not, (it makes no difference) you must launch yourself in front of a moving car; step determinedly, and aggressively if you are to have a chance.  Unless you leave the curb, cars are not going to slow down.  You must look the driver in the eye and step in front of the moving car.  If you are hesitant and stop part way through the crossing, the drivers take that as a sign of weakness and accelerates toward you, passing as close as they can, before whizzing by.  We were in a marked crosswalk after stepping in front of two nuns in a sedan.  The nuns with attitudes showed their displeasure for our impudent behaviour by leaning on the horn as we crossed.

Rome - Day Two

The Second Day looked promising while we had breakfast at the Scusate delle Ritardo on the piazza in front of the Pantheon.  It was sunny despite the weather forecast for rain.

After breakfast we wondered down the street and attended Gabriella and Alonzo’s wedding as uninvited guests at the St. Ignazio Church.  It was a long involved wedding but St. Ignazio is a registered tourist stop and the church itself was well worth the look, as well it was cool to be part of an authentic Rome experience.  The service included the playing of Santa Maria on the pipe organ and the music was well worth the wait.  We didn’t throw rice as the couple exited the church but we did applaud along with everyone else and the bride did wave the fifty assembled tourists across the street before they entered the matrimonial car.

After the wedding we joined the “Hop On Hop Off” tour bus.  We mostly just hopped on.  It began to rain and we were luck to secure two seats on the top, near the front, undercover.  We road the bus to every tourist site in the city and enjoyed the English audio explanation for all we saw.

Colosseum in the Rain.

Tiber River

The Vatican - St. Peter's Basilica.

Trevi Fountain

The rain really put a damper on the rest of the day and while it was still 23 degrees we decided to buy groceries at the nearby Mercado and spent the night in our room watching movies on the laptop.