When in Rome

Saturday we got up early to being the four or so hour drive to Rome. As we were getting ready we were treated to an amazing rainbow over and into the sea. It was the first time I have actually seen where a rainbow ends…we didn’t go out into the sea to see if there was a pot of gold though!

We got to the top of the hill in Cinque Terre just as it started to hail. What could be more dangerous than driving along a winding seaside road at night in the fog…possibly driving through said road in the hail. Good thing it didn’t last very long! We stopped in La Spezia to get some breakfast and of course Renee and I had more focaccia. Renee stuck to focaccia di Recco but I opted for focaccia with chocolate chips covered in sugar and was very happy with my choice. The drive was pretty easy and Bob took his turn behind the wheel and was very excited to put into practice years of playing pole position! We arrived in Rome and I am not sure any words can describe the chaos that is driving through the city. After stopping to buy a map (we had somehow gotten off the path of the google directions) we figured out where we were and where we needed to be. We were very lucky that we didn’t need to go into the city center where the streets are even more curvy and crazy. Instead, our hotel was close to St. Peter’s where the streets seemed relatively straight. Besides the streets being crazy curvy, there are usually no lines in the road to tell you if you are in a lane and they are about four lanes wide so people are basically just criss crossing everywhere. Not only are the drivers crazy but I think every person on a motor scooter had a death wish…at least they had helmets on. We arrived at our hotel and parked in a yellow spot. I wasn’t sure what yellow meant but I knew blue was good and blue was right behind us so it couldn’t be that bad. We asked the man at the hotel and he said it meant handicap but since it was Saturday we should be fine as long as we moved it when we got back (did I mention there was a Caribinari…similar to police…station half a block away). We didn’t have much choice as it was three and the last entry to the Vatican Museum is at four and it is closed on Sunday so off we sprinted to the Museum. We had no problem getting in and viewing the extensive art collection of the Church. Of course we ended our visit with the Sistine Chapel (sorry you can't take pictures in the chapel) and it was actually bigger than I remembered it. It is truly an amazing work of art.

Vatican Museum Pictures

Upon our exit we grabbed some piadine (it was the first time we had eaten since breakfast and there was a good chance I was going to hurt someone if I didn’t get food…although eating during the day was almost an after thought the entire trip we were always so crazy) and Renee had her first gelato before we headed to St. Peter’s.

Holy Doors

Ancient Egyption Obelisk from the thirteenth centruy BC

The first time we went to St. Peter’s Stacey and I somehow found a free tour and since I didn’t see anyone offering those this time we decided to get the audio guides. We went through the metal detectors and past the Swiss Guards in the crazy jester looking uniforms. I hope they have something more than the giant hatchet thing they hold while protecting the entrance to what I believe is the living quarters. I will be honest I don’t think that is going to stop today’s crazy people unless of course the guards are trained to use the hatchet to deflect bullets!

I don’t think there are any words to describe walking into St. Peter’s. It took my breath away the first time and the same thing happened the second time.

View as you walk in. On the floor there are markings to indicate the lenght of other churches around the world are in comparison to St. Peter's.

Inside the church

The church is so large, the history is so old, and the significance so great it is overwhelming. We listened to our audio guides as we made our way around the church continually in awe of the architecture, sculptures, paintings, and history. We left our tour, returned our audio guides and maps for fear of being thrown in jail (ok fine it was only a fine), and walked back to our hotel to decide where to go for dinner.

St. Peter's at night

Castle Sant'Angelo at night

Bridges over the Tiber River

As we were truly exhausted from the hike the day before and sprinting around Rome, we decided to walk to a place close by for dinner. We were lucky enough to find a place around the corner, Vito’s, that had excellent food…again my pasta did not disappoint! It was a small restaurant (as most in Italy are) and there were only two other tables around us…both filled with fans very intensely watching the Juve-Inter game on the television. Renee and Bob got a small taste of how much Italians love soccer! We had some good news was on the way back to our hotel as we noticed that the scooter that had parked in front of us had moved so we pulled the car up and were now only 2/3 in the yellow! We headed up stairs for our nighttime tradition. Around 11:45 Renee noticed a loud noise outside the hotel (our room faced the street our car was parked on) similar to a tow truck. Bob jumped up and looked outside (forgetting the window was closed and hitting his head) to see a garbage truck picking up the garbage! Phew, no tow truck…although a bit odd that at 11:45 on a Saturday the garbage was being picked up.

Sunday we decided to walk to Piazza Popolo and then take the metro down to the south end of the city and walk back up seeing the many sites. We picked up some sandwiches and focaccia from a corner store and began our journey. Bob had his first experience on public transportation (I mean who doesn’t have their first time on a subway in Rome?).

Piazza di Popolo

Piazza di Popolo

We got off the metro at the ruins to a heavy downpour and ducked into a café to have a something to drink and a snack while we waited out the rain. After about ten minutes we decided that it wasn’t going to stop, in fact it got heavier, so Renee and I took my trusty umbrella with the daisies and headed out to buy Bob an umbrella from the street vendors selling them at the top of the metro stairs. We decided Bob looked good in pink (well, really that Rachel would love a pink umbrella from Rome) so five euros later we were in business. We walked around the ancient ruins and had lunch outside near the Coliseum but protected from the rain.

Bob admires the ruins with his new pink umbrella

Roman ruins with the Colosseum in the background

More Roman ruins

Santa Maria Maggiore (one of the four major basilicas of Rome)

As I pealed off my jacket and sat down I realized I had never been soaked by the rain more in my life. Now most of the time there are hand dryers in Italy but not of course on the day I needed one! We had a great lunch (more pasta for me) and tried to come up with a plan of attack. We thought about going back to the hotel to change but decided that we didn’t have much time left in Rome and also that it was probably going to let up soon so continued our journey. We stopped for ponchos (thanks for the birthday gift Robbins’ family) which as lame as they looked were amazing as they were warm and actually kept the rain off my pants from my knees to my waist (which was currently soaking wet).

Roman ponchos (they actually said Rome on them)

We walked to more churches, fountains (of course the Trevi which we threw some coins in to ensure our return), and piazzas as we made our way back to St. Peter’s so we could visit the tombs as they were closed when we were there on Saturday.

Trevi Fountain

It was very interesting to see the different sculpting on each tomb and how some were very detailed and some were not. There was a large crowd, many flowers, a few candles and a security guard in front of the tomb of Pope John Paul II. His tomb was a very simple marble stone. We headed out for our walk back to the hotel to change into dry clothes for dinner. On our way we passed Castle Sant’Angelo and Renee noticed the sign that indicated it was open…and free because it was cultural week! We hiked up to the top (our day would not be complete with steps) and had an amazing panoramic view of the city. Although the castle was built around 400 AD it has been outfitted with modern conveniences…like a Bar! It was a perfect spot to have birthday drinks and Renee may have had the best hot chocolate ever!

Birthday drinks at the castle

View of St. Peter's from the castle

We went back to the hotel and changed into dry clothes before our walk to the Spanish Steps.

It was a nice night (it had finally stopped raining) so we had a great walk around part of Rome on our way to dinner. It was so nice to have friends in town for my birthday!

Birthday Dinner