Rome

We had no trouble getting to Rome airport, but finding the rental car return was another story. We had to drive around the loop three times before we caught all the tiny signs that led us to the place we were looking for. Then it was a train to connect with the subway and on to the stop near our lodging. Walking from the subway was its own adventure, but after several mad dashes across traffic, we made it to the 14th century monastery where we stayed for four nights.

Our subway stop was only one away from the Colosseum and so right in the heart of things, but the first thing we needed to do was laundry. Yes, even on vacation, the details must be attended to. Unfortunately, we couldn't find anyone who could tell us where we might find a laundromat. Rather than spend the whole afternoon and evening wandering in search of one, I did laundry by hand in our bathroom, using our shampoo. Not ideal, but it worked.


With our clothing hung up to dry we headed off to start our tour of Rome, going from the Spanish Steps -

- to the Piazza Navona (where, of course, Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers was being refurbished, making picture-taking difficult) -


- and on to see the Trevi Fountain by night.


When we returned to the monastery, we were greeted with a homeless drunk who was sleeping in front of the gate. Not knowing what else to do, we rang the bell and one of the brothers came out and, with some effort, got the guy to move so we could get in.

Our first full day in Rome was dedicated to its ancient history. We even discovered a few new things on our own, but more on that later. We went down to the Circo Massimo station and rode up to the Colosseum. The weather was crappy again and we even debated returning to the room to wait it out. But we mustered our spirit of adventure and forged on. Good thing too, because the weather started clearing shortly after that.

To avoid the long lines at the Colosseum, we bought a joint ticket at Palatine hill and toured that first. This is where we made our great discovery when saw a familiar looking building through the trees and realized it was the Monastery where we were staying.



It was literally across the street from Palatine Hill and just down the road from the Colosseum. Needless to say we had a good laugh about our roundabout travels and made sure to use the Colosseum station as our starting point from then on. And so we wandered the area, enjoying the remnants of palaces built over the centuries by Roman rulers -


- frescoes from the house of Augustus Cesar -


- the remains of some of the earliest Roman huts, a museum of artifacts from the Palatine Hill -


- and views over the Roman Forum.

Our tickets also included admission to the Forum, so we headed on in from Palatine Hill and wandered the ruins of temples and other buildings dating back more than 2000 years.


Even though some are now little more than groups of fallen stones, it was still impressive.


That said, it wasn't until the end of our stay in Rome that we realized that there was more than one forum in Rome.

We had another one of our picnic lunches of cheese, olives, wine, and cured meat in a little park overlooking the Vittorio Emmanuel monument (called the wedding cake or typewriter by the locals).

And so it was with satisfied stomachs that we made our way back down to see the Colosseum, which is absolutely everything it's cracked up to be.


They've even restored some of the flooring that would have covered the underground workings of the stadium to help visualize what it would have looked like.


It really is amazing that something so complex was built so long ago. After the Colosseum, I learned how to use Rome's water fountains. If you plug the faucet with your finger, there is a hole in the top that squirts water out. Nifty!

In the evening, we made our way to Piazza del Popolo to see the eponymous church there - one of the most beautiful of our trip.



We also saw a lot more use of skeletons and skulls as decor.



A practice that seemed to increase as we traveled south.

Above the piazza, we discovered a nice park with a beautiful view of the city and lots of trees and fountains. I still laugh every time I see that picture when I think of the caption Stephanie gave this one: "I lost my arm!"



At any rate, the park was a great place to watch the sunset and the dome of St. Peter's Basilica before dinner.



The rest of the night was mostly taken up by our cannoli mission. When Stephanie got a craving for one (most days), we made sure we found them. In the process, I also got some good shots of ancient Rome by night.



The next day we headed out of town along the ancient road called The Appia Antica.



When it turned out there wasn't actually that much to see, we took a bus back into the city and just spent the day wandering. We came across the Mouth of Truth, which is supposed to bite your hand off if you lie while your hand is in it's mouth.



Neither of us got so much as a hangnail, so I guess we're good. For lunch we found a farmers market and got some homemade spicy salami, fresh cheese, and basil, which we at in a park by the river. We went to see the ancient pyramid of Cestius -


- before heading back over towards the river.

There, our wanderings took us to the Campo di Fiori where we discovered the best bakery ever - we actually ended up going back there for the next two days just to sample more of their goods (and yes, they had cannolis). Nearby, at dinner, we were puzzled by the English menu which listed a pizza with "man" as one of the toppings. When we inquired our waitress asked is in a serious manner which part we'd like, hand, foot... It took us a minute to realize she was joking. After the sun set, we crossed the Tiber to see the Castel Sant Angelo and St. Peter's square by night before turning in.

Our fourth day in Rome was mainly dedicated to Vatican City.

For this we hired a tour company both to avoid the long lines and to hear more about what we were seeing. It was well worth it given the super long lines and lack of any information at any of the sites. Our tour through the Vatican museums was quite a whirlwind, but understandably so as you could spend weeks there and not see everything.

- It boggles the mind. Of course, the highlight of the tour was the Sistine Chapel.

Unlike the rest of the Vatican, photos of any kind are not allowed in there. Our guide explained that depending on the day, the guards may or may not be strict about enforcing it and that there are often many people taking pictures. Of course, on our day, the guards were being rather strict. That didn't stop a lot of people, and I didn't let it stop me - that may have been a once-in-a-lifetime chance. I think they came out rather well considering I had to be covert.

Our guide then took us through the underground passage where a large number of popes are buried, including John Paul II, which surprised us. We even got to see the part where St. Peter is said to be, although we didn't get to go in, of course.

Then we had a tour of St. Peter's Bascilica itself.

St. Peter's is unbelievably huge and my best efforts couldn't do it justice in photos.

One neat thing is this shot of the lettering around the base of the dome. If you look just above it, you can see people who paid extra to go up there. You'll notice that the letters are taller than the people.

The other neat thing is that all of the paintings in the church are actually very fine mosiacs, using tens of thousands of colors of tiny tiles.

Even in person you can't tell unless you get very close.

That evening we went to Trastevere neighborhood across the river for an "authentic" Roman meal. We had an odd experience for dinner, with most places citing the 7:30 opening rule. But one place had a good deal on wine and was offering pizza, so we thought we'd have a pizza as a snack along with our wine while we waited for dinner time.

The waitress who let us in got increasingly rude, however, as more customers came in and eventually started sending people away. Then she refused to let us see a menu and gave us our bill. The upside was that we met a very nice Canadian couple at the same restaurant and ended up spending a very nice dinner with them at another restaurant, where the food - and service - was excellent.

Our last day was pretty much a free-for-all and we started with San Giovanni in Laterno, which was the church of the popes for centuries before St. Peter's was built.

It's amazing how in Rome, everything has been built over several times, but here and there you can always see the old layers peeking through here and there.

At this point I should mention that I had been having problems with my allergies since before we left Tajikistan and in Rome they really kicked up. By this point they had become really unbearable so we stopped at a pharmacy and got some medicine that actually worked. It was such an odd experience to be somewhere where you can just buy medicine and it's safe and effective.

Then we stopped by our favorite bakery one last time -

- on our way to the Pantheon.

Aside from being half covered in scaffolding, it was a bit disappointing to learn it had been converted to a church. The architecture was still impressive, but it was hard to picture it as a Roman temple, and the information inside said precious little about that.

On our way back across town, we said goodbye to the Trevi Fountain -

- and, for our last trick, we discovered the other forums of Rome, including the Imperial Forum -

- which as I mentioned earlier, are different from the Roman Forum. By then it was time to head back to the monastery to get our bags and headed off to catch our train to Naples.

Click here to continue to Naples: http://theroadmoretraveled-nicksblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/naples.html

Other cities:

Venice: http://theroadmoretraveled-nicksblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/venice.html
Cinque Terre: http://theroadmoretraveled-nicksblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/cinque-terre.html
Pisa: http://theroadmoretraveled-nicksblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/pisa.html
Florence: http://theroadmoretraveled-nicksblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/florence.html
Tuscany: http://theroadmoretraveled-nicksblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/tuscany.html
Sicily: http://theroadmoretraveled-nicksblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/sicily.html

Pictures:

Part 1

Italy 2010 JPGS

1-151: Venice
152-224: Cinque Terre
225-286: Pisa
287-384: Florence
385-606: Tuscany (Gropina, Siena, Massa Maritima, Chiusure, Montepulciano)
607-960: Rome










Part 2

Italy 2010Part 2 JPGS

962-1040: Pompei
1041-1054: Naples
1055-1106: Capri
1107-1129: Naples
1130-1168: Amalfi Coast
1169-1186: Naples
1187-1233: Sicily (From Catania to Puntalazzo)
1234-1282: Sicily (Mt.Etna and Puntalazzo)
1293-1354: Sicily (Enna and Agrigento)
1355-1391: Sicily (Catania)

Naples

When Stephanie said she wanted to go to Naples, (that's where my father-in-law's family is from), I agreed, but was skeptical and a little nervous. Everything I read about it said that it was not such a nice place, maybe even dangerous. Our first few minutes there bore that out. As we walked from the train station to our hotel. Bicycle gangs, prostitutes, and a transvestite who was very convincing below the neck (except when he spoke), were out in force to welcome us to Naples.

Fortunately, our room was very nice and when we awoke the next morning, we saw a different side of Naples. Actually, in time, we felt that it was the closest place we'd been to New York City outside of the U.S. Naples has that same vibrant, buzzing, gritty, and sometimes seedy feeling as the Big Apple. Now, it's no Manhattan, (maybe Queens), but it still had some charm.

We didn't see much of Naples itself that morning, but headed straight for the train station and our day in Pompei. Pompei is really a neat place to visit, because you really can really see how one second it was a bustling city and the next, deserted. They even have some of the plaster casts from the bodies of victims who were buried there, which adds a note of realism.



And from the forum, you could just make out Mt. Vesuvius in the background, which gives an idea of what the locals might have seen when the volcano erupted.



Among the highlights were a temple to the Egyptian goddess Isis (very ancient) -


the amphitheater -



and the House of Mysteries, which is known for it's frescoes depicting what appear to be strange religious rites.

We couldn't stay in Pompei too late because we had opening night opera tickets at the famous opera, La Vedova Allegra. We got all gussied up at our hotel and then headed out to see some of the nicer side of Naples, like the Castel Nuovo, and the church of Francisco di Paola, and then sit for a fancy dinner.




Alas, we were thwarted again by the 7:30 rule and after a lengthy search, we decided to eat at a chain called "Buffalo Brothers". Amazingly, it turned out to be one of the best meals we had the whole trip. Everything was made with buffalo meat or buffalo cheese. And on our appetizer platter there was a huge ball of fresh buffalo mozzarella that may be the best cheese I will ever eat. You never can tell.

Well satisfied from dinner, we walked over to the theater only to find that there was a strike. It later turned out that due to proposed cuts in funding for the arts, all shows were striking on opening night. At the time we didn't know that and we were skeptical when the manager assured us that the show would go on the following night and that our tickets would be honored. Heavily disappointed, we walked back to our hotel, stopping only to catch a night shot of the duomo, which was near our hotel.

The next day dawned bright and sunny for our trip to the island of Capri.

In addition to treacherous bus rides and hiking some rugged trails to the sea -

- we took a chair lift to the summit of Mt. Solarno for some spectacular views.

Capri, which is known for being pricey, had a nice little surprise for us in the back alleys. We found a hidden restaurant with great prices, excellent food and wine, and we lucked out and got a the only table with a view over the island. What luck!

After lunch we hiked down to the Arco Naturale -

- and then down a steep set of stairs to a cave where the rulers of ancient Rome sometimes conducted mystical rituals -

- before hiking along a trail with breathtaking views around the island -

- to catch a boat back to the mainland where we hoped to see an opera.

When we got to the box office, they confirmed the show would go on and that there were seats available, but not the ones we had originally. The girl at the booth said the replacement tickets were just as good and we decided to go for it rather than take the refund. By that point we didn't really have time to go back to the hotel and change, so walked along the coast to the Castel d'Ovo for some great views of the bay of Naples and the city itself.

We managed to time dinner perfectly, arriving at a restaurant famous for being the birthplace of the margherita pizza right at 7:30. It really was wonderful pizza. Unfortunately, the late dinner time didn't leave us time to linger so we hurried over to the opera.

We felt under dressed at the opera, but those thoughts left our heads when we saw our seats. Instead of sitting on the 4th level on the far left, we were on the 2nd level, just to the right of the Royal Box seats. That put is in the best seats you could have outside of being the king or queen back in the day.

Sometimes things just work out. In this picture I took from down below, you can see Stephanie leaning out of our box in the pink shirt.

The theater was stunning and the opera was great.

On our last day in Naples, we took a bus down the Amalfi Coast to Amalfi itself. This, again, was easier said than done as it took well over an hour to figure out where to get bus tickets and where to catch the bus. Everyone had a different opinion, but after awhile, a common thread emerged and we made it. When visiting Amalfi, half the excitement is the journey itself as the roads switchback along cliffs high above the Mediterranean. The bus driver had to constantly honk to warn other drivers of our approach on the narrow roads and blind curves.

When we got there, we learned that there was only one more bus that would take us back to Naples in time to catch our ferry to Sicily, so we made the most of it, wandering around and taking in the sights.

We didn't even stop to eat, but bought some delicious pizza to eat on the bus.

The return trip took a different route, so we got to see all new scenery.

This time, our bus driver didn't honk as much, but he cursed a heck of a lot more - at least that's what it sounded like.

Since the windows were tinted, I had to keep the top of mine open to get pictures. It was a beautiful day anyway, but this woman behind us came and told us to close the window. we weren't willing to miss out on the pictures so we suggested she sit in front of us instead if she didn't like the breeze. She went back to her seat for awhile and then finally moved to the front, stopping to sarcastically say "Thanks a lot" on her way past. Oh well.

We made it back to Naples in time to get our bags and go visit the Duomo. This was also one of the nicer churches we saw.

It's the cathedral of San Gennaro, for whom I believe the festival in NYC's Little Italy is named. It was a great place to spend our last minutes in Naples before heading to the port to board our ferry to Sicily. From the ferry we got some last good views of the city. The boat seemed overrun with wild unchaperoned teenagers, (how old-mannish do I sound?), they were everywhere like an infestation - but by the time we at the dinner we brought with us and went to bed, things were reasonably quiet.

Click here to continue to Sicily: http://theroadmoretraveled-nicksblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/sicily.html

Other Cities:

Venice: http://theroadmoretraveled-nicksblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/venice.html
Cinque Terre: http://theroadmoretraveled-nicksblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/cinque-terre.html
Pisa: http://theroadmoretraveled-nicksblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/pisa.html
Florence: http://theroadmoretraveled-nicksblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/florence.html
Tuscany: http://theroadmoretraveled-nicksblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/tuscany.html
Rome: http://theroadmoretraveled-nicksblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/rome.html

Pictures:

Part 1

Italy 2010 JPGS

1-151: Venice
152-224: Cinque Terre
225-286: Pisa
287-384: Florence
385-606: Tuscany (Gropina, Siena, Massa Maritima, Chiusure, Montepulciano)
607-960: Rome


Part 2

Italy 2010Part 2 JPGS

962-1040: Pompei
1041-1054: Naples
1055-1106: Capri
1107-1129: Naples
1130-1168: Amalfi Coast
1169-1186: Naples
1187-1233: Sicily (From Catania to Puntalazzo)
1234-1282: Sicily (Mt.Etna and Puntalazzo)
1293-1354: Sicily (Enna and Agrigento)
1355-1391: Sicily (Catania)