When in Rome...
We stopped for lunch the next day at an "auto grill." A road trip in the United States will never seem as glamorous after that experience! Auto grills are the Italian answer to American truck stops, only equipped with real cappuccino machines, and hot pasta specialties.
After filling up on "road food," Tony bravely navigated Roman traffic to drop us off at the Termini train station. We said arrivederci one last time, and headed to Hotel Selene Roma. The next day was the Anniversary of the Republic, so we quickly dropped off our luggage so that we could see as much as possible that wouldn't be open on the holiday.
After filling up on "road food," Tony bravely navigated Roman traffic to drop us off at the Termini train station. We said arrivederci one last time, and headed to Hotel Selene Roma. The next day was the Anniversary of the Republic, so we quickly dropped off our luggage so that we could see as much as possible that wouldn't be open on the holiday.
The Colossal Colosseum
A quick metro ride away, we decided our first destination had to be the Colosseum. Once again, Rick Steves' tips saved us a lot of time in line. We bought a Roma Pass, which helped us easily bypass the endless entrance line to Rome's most popular tourist sight. The Colosseum was our initiation into the paradox and allure of Roman life. As we were cautioned by our tour guide, Margaret, Rome can be exhausting on one's first visit, but becomes more enjoyable in subsequent trips. We were there in early June. It was hot, the streets were filled with perplexing traffic and offensive odors, yet the more I thought about Rome, the more obsessed I became with it. You walk along looking for pizza, and bam!, a two-thousand-year-old pillar suddenly rises across your path. You stand on a street corner, and you're probably standing above an ancient sight waiting to be uncovered by accident during construction. For someone who comes from a state like Oklahoma that's just barely over a hundred years old, such rich architectural history is truly fascinating.
We followed our tour of the Colosseum by heading across the street to the Forum. The Forum was like an outdoor museum of Roman ruins. We were there just before closing and walked the haunting grounds of emperors past with almost no one else around. We had dinner at a restaurant near our hotel.
The next day, we toured the National Museum, which was full of alabaster busts and statues of muscular Romans whose grace seemed to defy the hard stone of which they were made. I was struck by how much of the world was and is influenced by Roman innovation - the calendar, warfare, architecture - the list goes on. From there, we headed to Capitoline Hill. Like St. Mark's lion in Venice, Rome's mascot, Romulus & Remus suckling on the she-wolf, seemed to be everywhere. So, too, were the fountains, and we quickly learned the trick of putting our finger over the lower spout to make the water come out the top. We had lunch behind the Victor Emmanuel monument with stunning views of Trajan's Market and the rest of the city. After lunch, we did a daytime version of Rick's Night Walk Across Rome tour and watched young couples toss coins into the pool of the Trevi Fountain as we rested our feet. We took a gelato break near the pantheon and wound up at the Spanish steps, where, too tired to walk any further, we took our first taxi of the whole trip.
That evening, Margaret had arranged a dinner for our group at a restaurant near the Pantheon. The owners showered us with pasta, more pizza than we could finish, and bottomless carafes of wine. We recounted stories from our trip and from home. I couldn't have dreamed of a better group of people to travel with. Everyone was polite, happy, and had a good sense of humor.
The next day, we toured the National Museum, which was full of alabaster busts and statues of muscular Romans whose grace seemed to defy the hard stone of which they were made. I was struck by how much of the world was and is influenced by Roman innovation - the calendar, warfare, architecture - the list goes on. From there, we headed to Capitoline Hill. Like St. Mark's lion in Venice, Rome's mascot, Romulus & Remus suckling on the she-wolf, seemed to be everywhere. So, too, were the fountains, and we quickly learned the trick of putting our finger over the lower spout to make the water come out the top. We had lunch behind the Victor Emmanuel monument with stunning views of Trajan's Market and the rest of the city. After lunch, we did a daytime version of Rick's Night Walk Across Rome tour and watched young couples toss coins into the pool of the Trevi Fountain as we rested our feet. We took a gelato break near the pantheon and wound up at the Spanish steps, where, too tired to walk any further, we took our first taxi of the whole trip.
That evening, Margaret had arranged a dinner for our group at a restaurant near the Pantheon. The owners showered us with pasta, more pizza than we could finish, and bottomless carafes of wine. We recounted stories from our trip and from home. I couldn't have dreamed of a better group of people to travel with. Everyone was polite, happy, and had a good sense of humor.
On Sunday, we went to the Borghese Gallery at our scheduled time (the Gallery has strict time reservations and regulations to control crowds). We weren't allowed to take photographs, which wasn't a problem because a photo could never capture how smoothly Daphne's fingers turned into delicate leaves in Bernini's Apollo & Daphne. Afterwords, we lunched on paninis in the Borghese gardens as we watched families cruise by on bicycles.
From there, we returned to the Pantheon - another of Rome's many stunning feats of architecture. A pagan temple turned Catholic church, the building's opening at the apex of its domed ceiling let in a stream of warm Roman sunlight. It's a feature we've seen repeated in buildings, from Washington DC to at home in Tulsa. We briefly slipped into the Santa Maria Sopra Minerva Basilica to catch a glimpse of the Michelangelo statue beside its altar. On our way back the hotel, we stopped at an open-air cat sanctuary, where homeless kitties roamed over collapsed columns - the sight where Julius Caesar was stabbed by Brutus.
From there, we returned to the Pantheon - another of Rome's many stunning feats of architecture. A pagan temple turned Catholic church, the building's opening at the apex of its domed ceiling let in a stream of warm Roman sunlight. It's a feature we've seen repeated in buildings, from Washington DC to at home in Tulsa. We briefly slipped into the Santa Maria Sopra Minerva Basilica to catch a glimpse of the Michelangelo statue beside its altar. On our way back the hotel, we stopped at an open-air cat sanctuary, where homeless kitties roamed over collapsed columns - the sight where Julius Caesar was stabbed by Brutus.
That evening, we checked into our new hotel, The Beehive, which was recommended by a friend. Its colorful rooms, friendly multi-lingual staff, and quiet courtyard provided a true oasis from the bustling streets of Rome. We shared a bathroom with the other guests on our floor, but it was very clean and we never had to wait to use it. We had a mosaic tile sink in our room, and large windows. Another great thing about The Beehive is their complimentary book of recommended Roman restaurants and sights. For dinner, we selected Hosteria Isodoro, where we sampled an assaggio - plate after plate of small pasta dishes - which we washed down with a carafe of 7-euro red wine. At the register, the owner had a rack of earrings she made in her spare time and she gave me a convincing sales pitch in her lovely accented English. I bought a pair for my mom. As we walked back to The Beehive, we passed the Colosseum, glowing in the darkness.
The next day, we had a fabulous eggs and toast breakfast at The Beehive's vegetarian cafe before heading out to the Vatican. We had made reservations before leaving for our trip, and there was no line when we picked up our tickets at the Vatican Museum. The museum's collection is vast! We saw everything from Egyptian mummies to hundreds of marble busts from Imperial Rome. There were rooms of intricately woven tapestries that looked like paintings, and a long hallway of maps (we easily identified fish-shaped Venice in one of them). In the end, I think we'd seen so much art already, we could have gone straight to the main attraction: the Raphael rooms and Sistine Chapel.
The next day, we had a fabulous eggs and toast breakfast at The Beehive's vegetarian cafe before heading out to the Vatican. We had made reservations before leaving for our trip, and there was no line when we picked up our tickets at the Vatican Museum. The museum's collection is vast! We saw everything from Egyptian mummies to hundreds of marble busts from Imperial Rome. There were rooms of intricately woven tapestries that looked like paintings, and a long hallway of maps (we easily identified fish-shaped Venice in one of them). In the end, I think we'd seen so much art already, we could have gone straight to the main attraction: the Raphael rooms and Sistine Chapel.
I thought of Raphael mixing his paints and climbing scaffolding to create his depictions of powerful popes and pondering philosophers. Traffic moved at a snail pace, but eventually spilled into the Chapel. Rick's audio tour streaming from our earbuds helped us understand the frescoes we were craning our necks to see and drowned out the constant "sssshhhh!"s coming from guards trying to calm the crowd. I don't know if there's ever a time of year or day when it would possible to avoid being trampled, but I would love to return, lay flat on my back and just stare at the ceiling for an hour. Even though the frescoes were hundreds of feet above, and our focus kept being interrupted by the shrill exclamation, "Signore, no fotografia!," I couldn't take my eyes off Adam's fingers reaching for God's. After countless times of seeing that image in books and satirized on souvenir t-shirts, it was still a mesmerizing and powerful experience to have a firsthand glimpse of the famous frescoe.
It's amazing how much of an appetite you can work up just by looking at art! We were famished and had a late lunch at a nearby restaurant on Rick's list. I saw pizza with uovo, and had to get it (I'm weirdly obsessed with food that has an egg on top). We then made a trek to find a gelato restaurant recommended by our hotel, Gelateria dei Gracchi, which uses all natural and local ingredients. I had Gran Marnier chocolate with risotto and honey. Once we'd gotten our gelato fix, we headed back to the Vatican to see St. Peter's Basilica.
The scale of St. Peter's is hard to comprehend. Its ceiling is so vast, it seems there must have been a divine hand in its creation. The sun was at just the right position to shine through the stained glass dove behind the altar and bathe the chancel in its warm rays. Likely a result of my Unitarian upbringing, I never really understood the human need to worship in a dark, stained glass building; but being in St. Peters was a holy experience in itself. I was reminded of how travel can open your mind, provide new perspectives, and change the way you see yourself and others in the world.
It's amazing how much of an appetite you can work up just by looking at art! We were famished and had a late lunch at a nearby restaurant on Rick's list. I saw pizza with uovo, and had to get it (I'm weirdly obsessed with food that has an egg on top). We then made a trek to find a gelato restaurant recommended by our hotel, Gelateria dei Gracchi, which uses all natural and local ingredients. I had Gran Marnier chocolate with risotto and honey. Once we'd gotten our gelato fix, we headed back to the Vatican to see St. Peter's Basilica.
The scale of St. Peter's is hard to comprehend. Its ceiling is so vast, it seems there must have been a divine hand in its creation. The sun was at just the right position to shine through the stained glass dove behind the altar and bathe the chancel in its warm rays. Likely a result of my Unitarian upbringing, I never really understood the human need to worship in a dark, stained glass building; but being in St. Peters was a holy experience in itself. I was reminded of how travel can open your mind, provide new perspectives, and change the way you see yourself and others in the world.
Near the entrance to the Basilica stood Michelangelo's Pieta. Despite being covered by bulletproof glass (the consequence of some lunatic trying to take a hammer to the work several years ago), it was a moving masterpiece: a mother's love for her son - and perhaps God's love for humanity - epitomized in stone. Although pictures were allowed, I didn't attempt a single shot. No image can do justice to the actual experience of standing in front of one of the greatest works of art in the Western world. What's more, if I took a photo, I felt that I would somehow be intruding on Mary's private moment with Jesus. It wasn't as if Michelangelo made the figures seem realistic, rather that he conveyed human emotion so stunningly and simply that it was palpable.
As we exited St. Peter's Basilica, an American tourist said something that made one of the stoic Swiss guards crack a smile. It was a moment that made me feel oddly patriotic. Yet, I felt a twinge of sadness standing on the edge of the square - our last night in Europe was approaching. For dinner, we selected another venue from The Beehive's guide: Meid in Nepols. While we waited to order, we watched an employee rotate pizzas in the wood-burning oven. I chose a pizza with ricotta-stuffed crust. The only toppings were red sauce, cheese, and fresh basil. Maybe my growing nostalgia was partially to blame, but it was without a doubt the best meal I'd eaten in Italy. The ingredients were so fresh and the dough so flavorful! What a wonderful parting gift. Caio! Next: Conclusion.
As we exited St. Peter's Basilica, an American tourist said something that made one of the stoic Swiss guards crack a smile. It was a moment that made me feel oddly patriotic. Yet, I felt a twinge of sadness standing on the edge of the square - our last night in Europe was approaching. For dinner, we selected another venue from The Beehive's guide: Meid in Nepols. While we waited to order, we watched an employee rotate pizzas in the wood-burning oven. I chose a pizza with ricotta-stuffed crust. The only toppings were red sauce, cheese, and fresh basil. Maybe my growing nostalgia was partially to blame, but it was without a doubt the best meal I'd eaten in Italy. The ingredients were so fresh and the dough so flavorful! What a wonderful parting gift. Caio! Next: Conclusion.