Roma
01.04.2005My days in Rome (18, 24-27 December) were spent in a few blitzkrieg tourist expeditions, and relaxing around cafés or puttering about the house. Rome certainly had its charm (despite the grey skies & sticky rain), but it's not a city I could live in. My biggest impression of Rome was frenzied chaos & grime. And, then, you suddenly walk into a stirring Renaissance church or gaze at two-thousand-year-old remnants of the glory that was Rome.
One Day
Set down at Rome's Ciampino Airport at night, to be greeted by a most amusing airport bus "shuttle". First, I learned that (unlike Londoners), Romans rush about disorderly. The airplane's passengers rushed to two awaiting buses that'd take us to the arrival terminal. We packed into the buses like sardines, waiting several minutes for them to move forward. After a 40 meter trip, the doors opened, and we made our way to the arrivals gate. Welcome to Rome, Miguel.
Eventually, Claudio (Kathira's beau) arrived to pick me up. Then a quick trip out to my cousin's apartment in Tomba di Nerone, followed by a brief dinner, and off to bed.
Saturday, we headed out the door early in the morning, w/ a stop at the corner tabaccheria for capuccinos & Roman metro transit tickets. In reality, one could travel much of the bus/tram routes (not so sure about the subway) for free — risking a €50 fine if a "controller" came on board to check for validated tickets. Why? Transit tickets operate on a pre-paid, self-validating system. There was one day (25 December) when most things were closed, so I risked it & rode the buses/trams all day for free.
A whirlwind tour of piazzas, and monuments, and palaces, and fountains. We took a pause to gaze down on the Roman Forum from the Capitoline Hill. The birthplace of republican government. Where Cicero spoke in the Roman Senate. And where Julius Caesar was murdered. From this site, Simón Bolívar vowed (two centuries ago) to never rest until Latin America was free of Spanish rule.
Lunch near Piazza Navona at Pastarito, an Italian restaurant chain. Then a brief shopping excursion for new winter coats for our trip north through Florence & Lombardy. I'd foolishly gone out w/o my heavy Alpha parka, which made the decision to buy a jacket at Oviesse easier than it otherwise would've.
A stop at Roma Termini for Trenitalia tickets to Florence. Then, home. The next morning we left for Florence.
The Train Back To Rome
The train from Voghera to Rome was quite an experience. We caught up w/ the Milano-Roma night train in Bologna. By now it was near midnight, yet the boarding platform was crowded w/ a motley mix of Nigerians, Gypsies, East Europeans, and Latin Americans. All carrying quite large pieces of luggage, all crushing to board an over-packed train.
The train arrived already full. Kathira & I begged a Gypsie family to open a wagon's doors to let us in, to find a little corner to curl up into. Any thought of us finding our sleeping cabin had, by now, disappeared. All along the station platform it was the same. I joked that I wasn't aware we'd been magically transported onto an Indian train. But it was obvious what the deal was. W/ a train so crowded, the day before Christmas, that no "controller" would come to check for tickets — none did. This, quite obviously, is how illegal immigrants travel in Italy.
Somehow, I managed to get a few hours sleep. Frequently interrupted, however, by the most insane part of the experience. The cabin "service" continued to operate. Somehow, the two Trenitalia workers selling soda, beer, and panini made their way — thrice! — from one end of the train to the other selling their wares, stepping around, over, and on the passengers crowded in the aisles & spaces between train cars.
Back In Rome
We spent most of the morning of 24 December, recovering from our train adventure, collapsed in our beds back at Kathira's apartment, waking up only in the evening for Christmas Eve dinner.
Graciously accepted the invitation by dom Federico's family to join them for their small, family Christmas Eve dinner. Kathira rents a room in their house. Grey-haired dom Federico was a most pleasant host, putting up w/ my stammered Italian, sometimes dusting off his own rusty (but good) English.
I heeded Kathira's advice, and didn't head out for Christmas Eve at the Vatican. It was cold, and a several-hours-long midnight mass in the rain, coming off my lingering flu, wouldn't be much fun beyond the novelty factor. Plus. There'd be no public transportation that night, or the next morning. And Kathira does not live w/in walking distance of St. Peter's.
But. I'm glad. It was nice to spend a quite evening at home w/ a nice family. And since I'd been staying at their house, it was actually the first time we "met" for conversation together. We ate a simple tortellini dish, then a champagne toast at midnight (the moment tradition dictates the celebration of baby Jesus' birth).
The next morning, we slept in, before heading out for another sight-seeing blitz through Rome's historic district.
But. First. A stop at Roma Termini to try exchanging my train tickets. Because I'd suddenly realized that my second ticket was Milano-Barcellona, not Milano-Barcelona. The double "L" is important; because that makes it a village in Southern Italy, not the gem of Catalunya. I wasn't able to get a quick refund from Trenitalia (it's a year wait for an 80% refund). And there were no more seats to Barcelona. So. Alitalia it was. €340. Ouch. Almost as much as my flight to/from Europe.
Problem (expensively) fixed, we headed out to see the sights. Starting w/ the area around Piazza Spagna & the famous "Spanish Steps". Took a break for lunch, before hitting the Pantheon (which, to the chagrin of dozens of umbrella-toting tourists, was closed). Then towards the Piazza del Popolo and its twin churches — we entered Santa Maria in Montesanto (the one on the left) to the sound of a bagpipe mass. Then past Largo Argentino, a set of ancient Roman ruins housing the city's cat sanctuary. And back again past the ridiculously over-sized Monument a Vittorio Emanuele II (the first king of united Italy), the Roman Forum, and the Colosseum. Before ending up at Giolitti, near Piazza Navona.
That night we were invited to dinner w/ K8's aunt/uncle, who lived near the Pantheon. A nice break from struggling to speak Italian, and Kathira got to practice her English (which is quite good). Together, of course, her & I spoke Spanish. It was a nice, relaxing dinner, w/ plum pudding (excitedly served by K8's French aunt, no less), and friendly chit-chat.
A walk along the Tiber at night, then a taxi back home to a pleasant surprise. W/o me asking, my laundry was washed & hung to dry.
Spent the next morning at the Vatican (an upcoming post). But we lunched at a little hole-in-the-wall ristorante, La Medusa (74 Via Capellini), that offered delicious four-course lunch specials for €13.
Kathira then dragged me on a long series of bus/tram rides out to the "original" Vatican. Totally worth it. Outside downtown Rome, along the Apian Way (where parts of the Roman aqueduct still stand), is Basilica di San Giovanni, the first papal seat. Built by Emperor Constantine, it's still Rome's official cathedral (w/ the Pope as bishop). And impressive historical monument. Even if it's now a side-show to St. Peter's.
Back to downtown Rome, to catch Ocean's Twelve at Piazza della Repubblica's Warner Village. I think I understood most of the movie, even if not all the dialogue.
Slept in my last day in Rome, before heading out to Roma Termini. A bit of shopping at the terminal's mall & outside. Then on a bus to Fiumicino Airport, to catch my flight to Barcelona.
Posted by Miguel at 07:26 PM