Saturday, March 19, 2011

 Awake at 5:00am to catch #910 bus to Stazione Termini for our tour to Naples and Pompeii. The hour was especially difficult as I'd kept myself awake for all but a couple of hours coughing. Blasted cold. But we made it with time to spare for a breakfast at a little bar near the bus: sweet roll for each, espresso for me and latte (order a latte here and you get milk only, no coffee) for Tenar.

We settled ourselves on the bus and in about 2.5 hours were in Naples, where we had an hour guided tour given by Victorio, who could speak English, German, Spanish, and of course, Italian. We saw the outside of Castel Nuovo, as well as a large galleria covered with a glass dome, and the public square outside of what used to be a palace and is now a museum. All nice and interesting, and I must admit I was most taken by how the outside walls of the high-rise apartment buildings were undulating wih all the laundry drying in the breeze.






Mt. Vesuvius

We were carefully counted as we got back on the bus. Finding all present, we departed for Pompeii, on the other side of Mt. Vesuvius. 

We stopped outside the walls of Pompeii in the tourist-centric square containing a large hotel, street vendors and small shops where they sell cameos and local limomcello (liquor), coral and the usual tourist tacky souvenirs.





Giant Lemons





The first thing I noticed was a hanging string of enormous lemons, as big as grapefruit, or bigger. Perhaps these are the special lemons to make the limoncello?





Cameo carver (or was he just pretending?)



We were led on a short tour of the hotel shops containing the real deal in coral and cameos. The cameos were lovely, carved from shells.











This was followed by a three course lunch at the hotel.



Street in Pompeii



 Finally we were led into the excavated Pompeii. What a fascinating place. More than a place, a town. We saw remnants of homes, shops, bars, restaurants and whorehouses The population was 22,000 when the volcano erupted and they had three whorehouses. Seems excessive, but what do I know? Out of the population of 22,000, 2,000 were killed, buried in the ash of Vesuvius. Why did they not get out? I guess we'll never know, except for the poor dog who was chained to a post and forgotten. And interesting is that over the years more people died from lead poisoning than from the volcano. The pipes taking the water into the homes of the wealthy were made of lead. The common people who had to fetch their water from the fresh-water well were much healthier and lived to an older age. Ironic.



We were led back to the tourist section and encouraged to support the local economy. I bought a small bottle of lemomcella in a bottle I thought might make a nice bud vase when empty. Back on the bus, Tenar and I were anxious to get home. Five a.m. had been an awfully long time ago. We arrived back at Stazione Termini at about 8 p.m. and found a little place (1 counter, 2 tables) for a quick slice of pizza, then caught #910 bus back to our apartment. PJs, hot tea and bed. Good Night!















Friday, 18 March 2011

A sunny day! Even with that we got a late start, as I stayed in bed a little longer to baby my cold. I was watching a movie on the iPad, using my noise-canceling headphones so I wouldn't wake Tenar, when I noticed that the living room lights came on. I sat up, and there, peeking in the bedroom was a good-looking Italian man. Claudio had sent him with fresh towels. He explained that he had knocked. The headphones really work. I'll have to send an endorsement to Bose. We were both embarrassed, he for disturbing me, me for being caught in bed at 10:00 am.

Shortly after, Tenar and I began our day by going to what we now considered our market for fresh pasta for our dinner that night and down the street for fresh pizza for lunch right now. We happened by a shoe store, so were able to buy a pair of shoes for Tenar. A day in the rain let us know his old ones had lost any water-proofing they might have had. Putting them to dry on the radiator created an odor we didn't want repeated. Into the dumpster the old shoes went.

Tenar feeding Mr. Crippled Foot

After depositing our food at home, we caught the #52 bus for the ancient part of the city. We walked from the bus drop-off to The Spanish Steps. This is a great place to people-watch, if the only people you want to watch are the tourists or street vendors. Tenar was able to feed a few pigeons some of our left-over Italian bread. Lucky pigeons. This is also an area with some very high-end shops: Prada, Luis Vitton, Dior, Dolce & Gabana and one place I could afford, Sermoneta, where I bought a pair of very soft, cashmere-lined black leather gloves.





Roman Forum (Woman in front did not give her permission for the photo.  Forget you saw her.)



We then hopped on the metro red line, switched to the blue line at Stazione Termini, and got off at Formo Romano (the Roman Forum). There we saw a few more tons of marble in various levels of destruction. There was also a lot of green space in the neighboring section called the Platino on a hill between the Forum and the Colosseum. Even with all the tourists, I could imagine the Romans in the space, always of course in white robes with a circle of olive leaves perched on their heads.



Campo de' Fiori (just before the rain started)



We left the Forum to look for Campo de Fiori where I thought there would be a row of columns which the guidebook said formed some sort of optical illusion. We finally found Campo de Fiori, but no columns, no optical illusion. Turns out the optical illusion is a couple of piazzas south, but we couldn't find it. By that time there was one dark cloud in the city, and it was directly above us. The wind came up, the rain started, and again our map got soaking wet. Sigh. We saw a beautiful rainbow, and eventually the rain stopped, but we gave up on finding the optical illusion. It was dark! Putting the map away, we challenged ourselves to find the bus stop on our own, and we did! Tired in feet and mind, we took the #52 bus home for our dinner of pasta pillows with Ricotta and lemon, followed by an early bedtime.

Thursday, March 17. More Rain!

St. Peter's Square.  Do the umbrellas outnumer the columns?  I think so!

My oil of oregano has failed me. I woke up with a scratchy throat that moved into definitely sore by afternoon, with swollen membranes and glands by nightfall. A Roman cold. Ugh. Nevertheless, out we went, into a day that started with a little sun, then turned into a blustery, turn-your-umbrella-inside-out-heavy-rain day.

To be inside as much as possible, we made this a St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican day. St. Peter's was first, and we headed headed right for the Cupola, ready to climb to the top. For 7€, one could take the elevator part way and climb only 320 steps. For 5€, one could forgo the elevator and walk up all 521 steps. If the cost had been the other way around, we still would have climbed the 521 steps. What would the fun be otherwise? A couple of hundred steps up and we were inside the dome, looking down at the magnificent floor of the Basilica, and the tiny little people milling about. We then took the remaining 320 steps up around the dome (still inside and no longer able to see the inside of the dome) and out onto the small lookout up at the top in the open air. The views were breath-taking. Even though cold and rainy, it was worth it. We climbed back down and toured the inside that we had seen from above. The multiple-colored marble was everywhere, as well as many statues, carvings, mosaics, alters and St. Peter's tomb. A favorite sculpture of mine since I was young was The Pieta by Michaelangelo. I finally found it in a back corner, quite beautiful and behind a bullet-proof cell of glass. How sad.

We then went into the Vatican Museum with it's ornate ceilings, marbled floors and statues. Not feeling that well, I probably did Tenar a disservice in not lingering longer with all that the Vatican has to offer, and my main goal was to get to Michaelangelo's "Creation of Adam" in the Sistine Chapel, and then away from the crowds. I had thought the chapel would be small and round with the painting covering the entire ceiling. Instead the room was rectangular, quite large, with the Creation painting, though dead center, one of many, all painted by Michaelangelo. The four years it took him to finish the ceiling now makes more sense.

After the Vatican, it was our thought to descend the stairs to the Tiber River and walk along to Trastevere, a small, quaint 'happening' neighborhood south of the Vatican and west of the river. Where two days before there was a walking path, it was now flooded! That's how much rain we've had! We took the upper route to Travestere, and it is indeed charming, with narrow cobbled streets and many restaurants and shops. We found another highly recommended geletaria and ordered what was become our usual, a small serving of two flavors. I had a pinion nut (not my favorite) and a custard called Santa Capala, I think, that was good. I'm finding that the names don't matter that much, because except for the basics, they seldom repeat from one geletaria to the next. Now that desert was over, we felt inclined to have dinner, so stopped at a local restorante, offering pasta for 5€. My recommendation: if a pasta dish costs only 5€, don't eat it. Splurge on the homemade pasta like we had the night before, or buy it fresh at the market and cook it at home.

After dinner we headed back across the river for a couple of miles and came across the Pantheon from the back. It's round! The front portico gave me the impression that the building was square or rectangular. What a surprise to see it from this angle. We stumbled on a tea shop directly in back of the Pantheon. They were out of chamomile, but recommended a tea with Roobios (?), Arancia (orange), and Eucalipto for my sore throat, as well as some spicy Ginger candy. I'll let you know how that works out. We again caught the 52 bus at San Sylvestre Square. We were safely transported home where aspirin, tea and bed awaited me.

Wednesday. It's Raining. Really Raining!

Getting a little more adjusted to the time difference. I think I woke up at 9:30 this morning. It had been pouring rain when we went to sleep and was still pouring in the morning. After a light breakfast of an egg and fruit, we decided to go to the colosseum, thinking there would be fewer tourists on such a wet day. Again onto the 910 bus to Stazione Termini. After a brief detour to the ticket office to reserve a tour for Pompeii for later in the week, we found the metro. It took a bit of questioning to get ourselves on the track going the correct direction, but we made it. Two stops later on the blue line toward Laurentine, and we were at the "Colesseo." We were right about the crowds: we got in with no waiting. The colosseum is as impressive as I've been told. Even without the marble coverings and with obvious deterioration, it is beautiful. It seems much more elegant than it's history of bloody games and death would imply.

From the top level I spied a restaurant across the street. We'd thoroughly explored every level and were soaked to the skin, despite our raincoats and umbrellas, so we made that our next stop: Bar Reatorante Martini at Piazza del Colosseo 3. We had an antipasti followed by homemade ravioli in a butter and sage sauce for Tenar, and gnocchi in a 4-cheese sauce for me. Absolutely divine. Small bottle of wine for me, a Sprite for Tenar. For desert it was cheesecake for Tenar and dark chocolate for me. I asked if there was access to WiFi in the neighborhood and they gave me the password to theirs (how nice), so be both were able to get caught up on our blogs. We had been sitting there for quite sometime, so I asked if it was okay. The waiter said we could stay until 1 am if we liked, then brought me a lemomcella after dinner apertif and Tenar a handful of candies, compliments of the house. I love Italy! We did only stay a few hours and left at 7:30 before the heavy dinner crowd came in.

Back to the metro, then to the 910 bus and home to our little Paroili neighborhood. We were cold, we were wet, and we had had such a fun day!

Day 2 in Rome

I awoke at 5 am with the thought that I must now be acclimated to this time zone. At 6 am I fell back asleep and didn't awake until 11 am, at which time I forced myself to get up. So much for acclimation! After coffee and catching up on journals, we headed out into a warm, sunny day. First to the coffee bar across the street for an ezpresso and a spinach and mozzarella panini, then a hunt for bus #19. It turned out to be more of a trolley, running on electric cables. We got off near the Vatican and headed toward Castel Sant Angelo on the banks of the Tiver River. We explored every room, hall and stairway, looking for a way to the top to see amazing views of the city and the Vatican. Originally built as a mausoleum, it was converted to a papal fortress in the 6th century.

A Rome drinking fountain

Upon leaving, we headed across the Pont Sant Angelo to the Piazza Navona, laid out on the ruins of an arena built in AD 86. It now contains 3 fountains and is surrounded by shops and restaurants. We then headed to the Pantheon, stopping along the way for our 2nd gellato of the day. My first was an ordinary coffee flavor, however this time I remembered it is possible to get two flavors in one scoop. Choices: wine with cream and pure chocolate. Delicious! Tenar had tiramisu and a flavor I can't remember, but will recognize when I see it. That's the one I'll have next time. It turns out we found one of the best places for gelatto without knowing it: Gelaterio del Teatro. The Pantheon was impressive, and the square surrounding it busy, even at night. From the Pantheon we went to Trevi Fountain, again, extremely crowded. From Trevi we went on a hunt for the stop for bus #52. Claudio had marked these stops on the map, but they weren't always precise. Nevertheless, we found it, and again found the correct stop for our apartment. Another reason to be proud of ourselves. After a brief break at home, we headed to a neighborhood restaurant, Cuccia e Bomba. Tenar had spaghetti Carbonara and I had meatballs and wine. We both had tiramisu for dessert. I'm still getting used to Italian menus, so choices weren't imaginative, but so far I like the ravioli we cooked at home the first night better than the food at this restaurant. Sleep didn't come easily tonight. I must work harder to get on this time schedule!

Getting to Rome-March 13&14

 On the 13th we left Washington National at 2:45 p.m., layover at JFK! Then a 7 p.m. Flight to Rome. We looked longingly at the business class seats as we passed through. Well, I did. Tenar was busy being impressed by the size of the plane: two seats on each side with 3 in the middle and about as long as a football field. I think half of the passengers were Italian and they all seemed to know each other. The row directly behind me seemed to be a common gathering place, making for an impossible trip to the lavatory. The young man directly behind me was a long-legged giant who did his best to prevent me from reclining my seat, however after 4 hours, I felt the pressure release and I quickly pressed my button. Back I went. He wasn't happy. I think it was fair, however: 4 hours in his favor, 4 hours in mine. I envied Tenar and his small, twisty frame. He seemed to be sleeping well, first on a stranger's shoulder, then on mine, then with his legs pulled up and his body twisted like a pretzel. I had to wake him for both dinner and breakfast.



Outer entry to our apartment in Rome



On arrival at Leonardo da Vinci airport (Fuminicino) at 8:50a.m., we found the train station, successfully purchased tickets, got them stamped, boarded the train, found some seats, and were on our way into Rome. We got off at Stazione Termini and there was Claudio, looking for us with our name on a sign. We're renting an apartment from Claudio for the week: 7 nights for 400 Euro. Good deal. The apartment was designed by his architect wife as a home in the city for her. She never used it, so they decided to rent it to tourists. It's a lovely modern unit with a brick, rounded ceiling in a very old building. We unpacked, then explored the neighborhood, having our first slice of Italian pizza (they cut it with scissors!) and finding the local market. Hoping to stay awake, we then took a tour bus around the city. It almost worked. I had to keep prodding Tenar awake. Back in our neighborhood at 4:30, we looked for a restaurant for a nice pasta dinner, however the restaurants In our neighborhood didn't open until 8pm. I knew we could never stay awake that long, nor did we want to! We went to the local market and purchased what turned out to be the best ravioli I have ever had: homemade with spinach and ricotta. We adds a little olive oil, oregano and pepper. Absolutely delicious! And I was asleep by 7:15. Finally.

March 5, 2011

Lift-off minus 8 days! Lodging arrangements in place (almost) and packing is started. Lift-off minus 6 days until Tenar arrives in DC. We're both new to the adventure of Italy, and will be learning together. Very exciting!