Colorado Cruiser: Italy Day 1 Rome

We arrived in Rome early in the morning of May 3, 2009. We took the train from the airport to down town, then took a cab up to the Marriott hotel near the Borghese Park. The hotel is at the top of one of the seven hills of Rome, and we've come to dislike that fact.

Our room wasn't ready yet, so we checked our luggage and started our touring with a hike down the hill toward the Trevi fountain and other famous attractions. Because the Vatican and other religious sites are closed today, we plan on doing the ancient Roman sights.

It was a 1.5km walk down the hill to Trevi. The Trevi fountain does not disappoint. It is a beautiful work of art with elaborate water features. It also has crowds befitting its status, and it took us several minutes before we decided just to get pictures over the crowd rather than fighting out way in closer. We thought we would just come back later in the day and maybe the crowds would be thinner (don't we sound optimistic).

Next we walked over to the column of Marcus Aurelius. We didn't even know it existed, but there it was, so we stopped to get a picture. That would become an often repeated theme here in Rome. Turn a corner and *POOF* there's another ancient monument of some sort or another. It's getting to the point that we look in the book and say... aw, it's only 400 years old, not worth the time to see it. This column has been here since 193ad in the same square and on the same foundation.

Next stop was the Pantheon. The crowd was the first clue that we were getting close. There were people everywhere. We stopped as far away as we could to try to get pictures, but the surrounding buildings are actually so close that we couldn't get a picture that showed the dome from the outside. The Pantheon is famous for having a huge dome that is unsupported by any internal structure. It only has the outer walls to support it, and it was constructed about 126 AD. Besides the large Egyptian column and the Pantheon itself, the first thing that caught our eye was the bright colors worn by a couple of "Roman" centurions out front and the mobs of people trying to get pictures of them. But pictures aren't free. They want money to get a picture standing beside them. When we tried to go in, we discovered that church services were being performed inside, so we took pictures around the columns, then left, figuring we would come back later (when the crowds would be thinner ha ha).

Next we walked to the Piazza Navona. It is a large city square that is laid out similar to the Circus Maximum. The Circus Maximus is where chariot races were once run (think Ben Hur). But this square has doesn't have chariot races, only a few horse-drawn carriages, fountains, artists selling paintings, musicians playing for donations, and every inch of the border filled with outdoor restaurants. We took our obligatory photos of fountains, walked among the paintings, and listened to the music. It was a bit past noon, so we decided to get some lunch.

Since we were here, and there was food everywhere we went, we decided to eat in the Piazza Navona. Every time we walked past a place, someone stepped forward to offer us a menu and seating. The competition must be fierce and we could see the various wait staff watching each other, the customers, and comparing to see who they should approach. I'm not sure why we picked the place that we did, but we eventually picked one about half way down and on the shaded side of the Piazza. I don't know why people were stopping on the other side where they would be baked. It's only in the mid 70s, but with the sun beating on you it feels allot hotter.

Mike got some pumpkin soup and gnocchi (he'll correct me with his actual choice shortly; actually, it was gnocchi - Mike) and I got a pizza. The waitress asked if I'd like some garlic toast (actually, bruschette - Mike) as well and I said yes. Little did I know that it would be $12.00 garlic toast, and that gives you a hint as to how much the rest of the meal was. Mike tells me to chill out because he's doing pretty much all of the buying anyway, but I still flinch.

The meal was great. My garlic toast was toasted bruchetta with olive oil, and fresh tomatos. It was very simple but fantastically tasty. Mike said that the Italian idea of good food is very fresh ingredients served simply, and this was exactly that. The pizza was also great, but not a huge difference from a well done thin crust pizza at a good restaurant in the states. From the sounds Mike was making, his was also a great meal.

The people watching was another very fun thing during lunch. We had noted on our last vacation, that only Americans wear white tennis shoes. But that seems to have changed in recent years, or it's just Americans and Italians because we saw plenty of white tennis shoes in the crowds, but we didn't hear many loud boisterous Americans. We watched families from many nations, but no matter where they were from, the teenagers were dragging behind the rest of the family with the very typical "this is so boring and stupid" look on their faces. I heard one German father who absolutely HAD to be telling his son about how much the trip was costing and that he'd better straighten up, cheer up, and be grateful for what he was getting. The son had his cell phone in one hand and didn't stop texting through the whole speech, then shook his head as his dad walked on and continued texting. I almost peed my pants laughing.

After lunch we headed back up to the Pantheon. This time it was open for visitors so we went in and did the ooooohhh and aaaaaahhh thing. It really is incredible when you realize that they built it nearly 2,000 years ago AND it's still standing. We saw Raphael's tomb (for those watching Angels and Demons).

We hiked back up the hill passing Trevi fountain on our way. We went to our hotel to check into our room. They told us it would be ready in an hour and we'd given them almost 4. They tried to give us a room with a single bed, but a little boisterous American griping and we wound up with a nice suite for the same price. Mike's a better squeeky wheel than me.

After we got the room situated, we went back down the hill and caught the Metro to the Coliseum. It's 1 euro for 75 minutes on the metro. They check you pass as you enter, so you can enter and exit as much as you want for 75 minutes.

When we got to the Coliseum we were accosted by tour guides trying to get us to join tour groups. They kept promising that we would bypass 2 hours of lines by joining a tour group as well as seeing things that you normally don't get to see. We finally gave in and joined one and were told to sit in an area while the tour guide was taking a short break from his last tour. After 15 minutes, he came and started talking about the coloseum and the Roman life. He kept talking and I noted that more and more people kept showing up. Eventually we realized that the blather was just a stall while the other people convinced more people to join our group. After 30+ minutes we finally headed in. We went to the back of the line and waited just like everyone else. It was a security line and everyone had to go through it. Once inside however, we did bypass the line to buy tickets. But that line had only 10 people in it and took a few minutes. mean while we waited again while the rest of our group got through security. Once we were all in, we waited while our guide bought our tickets, then finally we made it into the Coloseum. By this time we were very tired of the lame jokes and sexual inuendo of our guide, asked for our tickets and ditched the group. Lesson learned!

We wandered the Coliseum for several hours looking at the architecture and reading the signs. It's amazing how much of a modern sports arena seems to be taken directly from the coloseum.

After the coloseum, we took our hard won tickets and went to see the Palatine Hills and the Roman Forum (think, Rome's Main Street, 2,000 years ago). The hill is where the emperor lived and was filled with private rooms, his own racing circus, and other emperor like luxuries. I could have wandered through the ruins for hours looking at the rooms, passages, stairs, and other unidentified marvels. Some sections have been restored, but others are just jumbled piles.

We eventually wound up down the hill at the Roman Forum. This was the main center of Rome, connecting the emperor's palace and the senate. Huge buildings along the forum have been turned into churches, but the large arches still remain. We sat and people watched a bit and took allot of photos, but it was the feeling of history that I enjoyed and tried to soak up.

We left the forum by climbing up to a square designed by Michelangelo. It had some very striking statues with allot of semetry all the way around. We walked down the hill to figure out what to do next and found ourselves in front of a Beautiful large building. We had no idea what it was. We found the name was Il Vittoriano. A Google search says it's a monument to the first king of United Italy. It gets nicknames like "The Typewriter" but we thought it looked pretty cool.

By this time it was getting towards dark and we were getting hungry. We started heading in the general direction of the hotel while reading some of the menus along the way. Eventually we found a spaghetti restaurant off the beaten path and sat down to fill our guts. I got a spaghetti with seafood and garlic dish, and Mike got a dish with hollow spaghetti and a spicy sauce (Buccatini ala Matricianna, actually - Mike). Mine was very good. They don't cook their noodles as soft as we do and it still had some toughness. It wasn't bad, just different.

After dinner we stopped by Trevi again (just can't seem to help going there if it's near). It was still just as packed if not more so.

Then rather than climbing the hill directly, we went over to the Spanish Steps. I'm not sure exactly why they are so famous, but they are. There was a large crowd around the fountain at the base, and even more just sitting on the steps and talking. We did a bit of people watching, then headed for our room and some well deserved rest.

Trevi Fountain (behind that huge crowd)