Rome

Wednesday, April 1, 1998

Got to Rome at 9pm. Bags didn't make it to the carousel until 9:40. Most frustrating : they didn't say why!

We almost got swindled by a pseudo taxi driver who wanted 150,000 Lira for a ride to Rome (about $80). Instead we got in a taxi line and paid 68,000 Lira to the Hotel Primavera in Rome. We were scared at first. The area looked scary and suspicious and the hotel is a scarcely marked building with a SCARY elevator.

Hotel Primavera (the sign is too small to see) - it did look scarier at night.

The clerk / owner showed us to our room on the 5th floor which was new but unfinished (loose wires and no decor) and smelled of stain and paint (we were the first people to stay on the new floor.) We dropped off our bags and went outside to wander (11 pm). We found we were just south of Piazza Navona.

Piazza Navona - three fountains (one with an Egyptian obelisk sticking up) in a large square

Thursday, April 2, 1998

We woke to banging and construction. We were the only ones on the fifth floor and they started working on the other rooms shortly before 8. We walked to Campo di Forio (old outdoor market) which was basically across the street. It was neat to see but not impressive compared to the market in Singapore. We found a bar / cafe and stood for 2 cappuccinos. Very good. Better than anything we had in the US. We passed a bakery and picked 2 spinach and ricotta pies for breakfast.

We started heading down the street and stopped for another couple cappuccinos. We were pleasantly located close to ancient Rome and came across Piazza Venezia first - huge monument with the grave to the unknown Italian soldier. We walked around the piazza and found ourselves overlooking the Roman Forum.

Keith siting on a fountain that is part of Piazza Venezia

Part of the Roman Forum

We bought a guidebook with overlays showing what used to be there and it helped visualize things. We spent a while in the Forum dodging tourist groups - Keith with the Frommer's walking guide and Jill with the book with the overlays. It was nice and awesome to see / feel what what was ancient Rome.

Jill siting on a column in the Roman Forum

We took a walk through Palantine Hill and got a great view of what is left of Circus Maximus - we vowed to watch Ben Hur to see it in action.

Jill in part of the Palantine Hill

From there we walk the short distance to the Colosseum and found a trattoria from Frommer's for lunch (Trattoria Da Pasqualino). It was excellent. We split a bottle of Chianti. Jill started with Minestrone and Keith with bruschetta with olive spread and then Rigatoni with cream sauce for Jill and veal for Keith. For dessert we split a lemon / vanilla gelato and had 2 espressos. Great lunch. We left slightly buzzed (this accounted for about 40 pictures of the Colosseum.)

We toured the Colosseum with an audio guide and had a good time imaging the battles and hunts there. It drizzled rain and was chilly but bearable.

The floor of the Colosseum

Jill in the Colosseum

Keith in the Colosseum

From there we took the metro to Termini(train station) to get tickets to Florence. We walked through Piazza Republica (another thing under renovation) and hopped another metro to Spagna, the Spanish Steps. The Spanish Steps were okay, but there weren't any flowers like there are during the summer, so it wasn't too exciting.

Keith in front of the Spanish Steps

We were pretty tired by this time, so we started back to the hotel. We passed by a piazza and mausoleum and the altar of something (it wasn't open.) We crashed for a mid-afternoon nap at the hotel.

Afternoon nap (with pizza and wine, of course)

We run into another American couple at the hotel who are being lectured on taking a 150,000 Lira cab ride from the airport! Keith haggles the room price a bit, we find out we will have to change rooms tomorrow because of a tour group and then we head out to dinner.

We choose a place in the guidebook - La Campana. This place is serious Italian. We wonder about the mafia connections of the other guests, while trying to translate the handwritten menu. With the help of the waiter, a partial English menu and our language guide, we finally order. We split a plate of Antipasto Misto (mixed anti-pasta.) First course is Penne Arrabiata for Jill and Risotto verde "aux erbe" (with spinach and herbs) for Keith. We try to make a dent but fail miserably. I forgot to mention that before our afternoon nap, we picked up a bottle of Chianti and killed 2/3 of it before dinner. During dinner, we work on a one liter carafe of the house Chianti. Main course is chicken coquettes and zucchini fries for Jill and abbiachio al forno con patate (roast baby lamb with potatoes, garlic and rosemary) for Keith. Two espressos for dessert, Jill says "scusi" to herself in a mirror, and we're done.

We walk by Trevi Fountain on the way home, throw in the three coins (this is a tradition from the movie "Three Coins in the Fountain" - I think), then visit Piazza Venezia and then call it a night and finish the bottle of Chianti at the hotel! The pictures at Trevi Fountain should be interesting - Jill drunk lying on her back on the ground trying to get a good angle upwards at Keith and the fountain. (Surprisingly enough, these photos didn't turn out too well.)

Piazza Venezia at night (the brightest thing in Rome)

Friday, April 3, 1998

Wake up again to banging and construction and then moved down to the first floor. We're glad not to be with the huge tour group that just arrived to unfinished rooms. Out for a sticky croissant breakfast and cappuccinos at Cafe Columbia off of Piazza Navona. Then we head off walking to the Vatican. We'd barely started out when we realized how bad our bodies hurt from the previous day's walk. We went "Singapore speed" (locals in Singapore walk very slow) to the Vatican and had a great view of San Pietro (St. Peter's Square). Part of the basilica (church) was covered in scaffolding - more renovation in Rome! We could see the pope's door though. We read about St. Peter's in Frommer's and then set off to see St. Peter's Basilica.

St. Peter's Square and Basilica

Inside St. Peter's

Michelangelo's Pieta in St. Peter's (with a nun looking on)

Tired and hungry, we found a lunch tavern a few streets over and settled in. 1/2 liter of house red does amazing things for tired feet. We had bruschetta. Jill had ravioli (okay, but too much pasta) and Keith had veal marsala. We finished with Formaggio Misto (mixed cheese plate). We set off for the Vatican museum entrance with a stop in a little shop for a pretty little bottle of Grappa (as a souvenir). Museum entrance was a quite a walk again from the square. We get to the Sistine Chapel, you have to go through the museum for 15,000 Lira ($8). They also had audio guides her but we didn't want to spend hours so went without them.

The Swiss guards at the Vatican

There are four walking tours you can take ranging from 1 1/2 to 5 hours. We went through pretty quickly trying to get to the Sistine Chapel. Jill thought it was catholic bribery to make you go all the way through the museum to see the chapel! Frommer's helped with their description and explanation of Michelangelo's work. The Sistine Chapel was supposed to be silent, but there was much talking which was a little disruptive. We spent a while there craning our necks to see the ceiling and looking at the last judgment on the wall that was painted 20 years after the ceiling (1/2 was under more scaffolding, though.) After the Vatican, we took a taxi and headed to the hotel for a nap.

Afternoon nap, again with wine and pizza

And more wine. And a slice of spinach-ricotta calzone (yum). We wait around as long as we can and then head to the restaurant for dinner - this time to al Fontanone in Trastevere (across the river from the hotel, but still close.) We get there when it opens and are the only people there for awhile. Gradually tourists fill in the room we're in - some even have the same guidebook. We have a plate of mixed antipasta, Jill has cannelloni (okay, but cheap, grisly meat) and Keith has Pasta Amatraciana (red sauce with ham). We both have the veal alla romana (with prosciutto in a wine sauce.) Jill goes for the tiramisu and Keith gets the fresh wild strawberries in lemon juice and sugar. We also split a 1/2 carafe of white wine and then 1/2 carafe of red with the main course. We notice that the restaurant is divided into 2 sections: tourists and locals - a popular thing for restaurants to do. We impress the guy as tourists who can eat/drink and he brings us Vin Santo (sacred wine - sweet dessert wine) for free. Pretty good. We make a comment about the 2 sections of the restaurant and the guy laughs about it. We head back to the hotel, Keith finishes the bottle of wine from earlier and takes a crack at the journal.

al Fontanone - this looks like almost every restaurant we ate at in Italy

Saturday, April 4, 1998

We get up a little late, but have plenty of time. We taxi to the train station, have a couple of cappuccinos, a croissant and half a sandwich and then board the train.

The EuroStar train - very nice and fairly fast as well

We're a little confused for a bit and then finally figure out our reserved seats and car. The seats are extremely comfortable and we're across from an American couple - another man who stays home while his wife works.

Keith on the train

The ride is very pretty - we see several small towns and countryside covered with farms and grape vines.