I have never travelled for extended periods on my own. I was scared, to tell the truth. But then again, you should do things you're afraid of so there are less things to fear in the future. I was constantly catching myself avoiding things I was afraid of, and I got into the habit of marching myself straight back to whatever it was (like the big train station in Rome). So on July 10th, I rolled out to the sandpit early in the morning with my suitcase to meet the taxi. I flew out at 9am, and by noon was landing in Heathrow for a couple hours' layover. Man alive! That is one busy airport. Tons of people, and the airport security there are just as persnickety as those in Philly. Another flight, and around 10pm I landed in Rome. It took forever to get my bags, and when I went through security the guys just waved me through. They were quite engrossed in their cappucino and cell phones to really care who was walking through that late at night. At this point I was really quite glad that I had read up about the taxis, because no sooner did I walk out into the arrivals hall than some guy came up and tried to get me to ride in his taxi promising a "special price". No thanks, man. I'll take the legal cabs with the meters. Easy enough, and again thankful that I had thought to print out my hotel's address so I could show the cab driver.
That night went a bit topsy turvy when I was checking in because I found that I had "misplaced" my passport. No big deal, I thought, since I had a copy and it was bound to be in my bag somewhere. Um, yeah. No. It wasn't. Anywhere. I damn near fainted. The kind man who worked the 24 hour reception then began to call each cab company to see if a passport was found. Just as I was getting ready to cry, a bunch of girls came in asking if anyone had lost a passport. They had found it in the street in front of the hotel. It had fallen out of my pocket when I got out of the taxi. I thanked everyone profusely, and went back to my room promising myself that my passport would never be more than a few inches away ever again. Sheesh.
The next day, I had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel. The Hotel Colors is just that, very colorful. Nice location, clean, air conditioned; I highly recommend it. After breakfast, I meandered down to St. Peter's. I really had no plans. I left the day open, going where I felt like it. The walls around St. Peter's are very high and very long, so I just followed the crowds. The square isn't as big as people think. I actually thought it much smaller than I expected. Bernini's statues surround it, looking down on the square and the fountains. The obelisk stands in the center like a monumental "You are HERE" sign. It was at that moment, looking around St. Peter's in the early morning sun, that I said to myself "Holy cow, Eea, you're in ROME!" That thought alone was mind altering.
I wandered around St. Peter's for a bit, then jumped one of the open top buses for a tour. I wanted to get a lay of the land. The buses run all over Rome, so as I rode I made note of the places I wanted to go back to. I knew I would see most of the key sites on the tours I had booked, so I really just wanted to see what else was out there. I spotted some places, and was having a good old time listening to the audio tour. When I got off, I realized how hot it actually was. I had been on the bus for almost two hours, and had darn near roasted alive. I was dehydrated and downed a bottle of Gatorade like it was going out of style. I was sweating so much that my clothes were drenched. I dragged myself back to the hotel, stopping to grab a panino sandwich and drink on the way. I took a shower and had lunch, then took a short nap. When I went out again, I made sure to grab a water bottle.
A word about water: It's everywhere in Rome. Some of those old Roman aqueducts are still in use. Water from the Alps flows down and straight through Rome. You can drink it straight from the tap, and it flows through most of the fountains in Rome. There are fountains everywhere, some just metal faucets sticking up out of the ground while others are decorative marble. It flows constantly, clear and cold. I didn't buy bottled water once while in Rome. The fountain water was clean and tasted good.
We passed under an aqueduct.
The next day I took a train out to the Colisseum for my first tour. Even at 8am, there was a line forming outside. By 8:30 when my tour started, there was at least two hundred people in line. July is a busy month for tourism in Rome, but May and June are the busiest. I can't even imagine that, because it already seemed like Rome was swimming in tourists. The bonus of a tour is that the tickets are pre-booked; we glided past the long lines, got our reserved tickets, and walked right into the Colisseum. BTW, there are penises scratched in at every entrance. Because there were brothels at every entrance. The biggest penis was at...guess who..the emperor's entrance. Tried to get a pic, but it was too dark.
It really was ingenious. Who you were determined where you went in and where you sat. The place filled and emptied very efficiently. The holes are still there that held the poles for the complicated awning that shaded the seats. A few sets of stairs are still intact. Since most of the floor is gone, you can see the labyrinth of rooms underneath where gladiators and animals were put on elevators and raised to the arena floor. A few years ago, some of the floor of the arena was restored so people could see what it must have looked like. They are not sure how often the Colisseum was used, perhaps a few times a year for celebrations. After the Empire fell, much of the marble and iron was taken and used for other buildings. Some medieval houses were even built into the large archways. There is still one there.
After the Colisseum, we went to the Roman Forum. We took a look at the Arch of Constantine, and wandered through old Roman houses, walking on old Roman roads. The Arch of Septimus Severus (not Snape) surprised me. I hadn't known there was another arch like Constantine's. There is also a temple that they are restoring. The columns are huge, and it still has it's original door. We had quite a good talk about how back then, the way to be remembered was to build something big that would last forever. Amazingly enough, a lot of this stuff is still around and the men who commissioned and designed them are indeed remembered.
We went on to see the church of St. Ignacio. It's not a hugely visited church, so thankfully there were no crowds. The frescoes have been there since the 15th century. Our guide explained how rich families would ensure their family's place in heaven by paying for a chapel inside a church and would hire the best painters and sculptors to decorate it. It was also a bit of a contest to see who could have the prettiest chapel. Their family members would often be depicted on the walls, and later buried in the chapel of the church in the floor. Years ago, due to health concerns, the bodies were all moved to cemeteries outside the city. There's no one left buried in the chapels. We moved on to the Trevi fountain, which was absolutely packed with people trying to toss coins in. The superstition is that if you throw a coin in over your shoulder, you are guaranteed to return to Rome some day. Yeah, I didn't feel like fighting the crowds on that one. It is a rather impressive fountain, though. From the Trevi fountain, we went to the Pantheon. The Pantheon is not as big as I thought it would be, but is still rather impressive. There is a statue of Perseus holding Medusa's head out front. Inside, there is a basilica lined with Christian statues. There previously were statues of Roman gods, but these were long since removed. The guide made a point here: If the Christians found a use for an old monument or building, it was saved and if not it was recycled. The Pantheon survived because the Christians turned it into a church. Pure and simple. The dome of the basilica is open to the sky. When it rains, the water comes straight in. There are holes in the floor for it to drain into. Genius. We ended our tour at the Bridge of Santo Spirito in front of Castel Angelo. The bridge is lined with angels sculpted by Bernini. The castle used to be a stronghold of the Pope, and there is indeed a passage connecting it to the Vatican. The Pope still keeps apartments there.
I was so tired by that point, and yet the day wasn't over. There was still another tour that afternoon of the Vatican. I had met a very nice Chinese couple, so we went and found a pizza place for lunch. For food, the farther you get away from the main tourist areas, the better. Rome suffers from a glut of tourism, so the food near the sites is expensive and crappy. Your best bet is to head away from the tourists and down a side street where you will always find a pizzeria, trattoria, or ristorante. The pizza in Rome is a thin crust, and kind of chewy. Fresh mozzarella, sauce, and basil made it one of the best margherita pizzas I have ever had. We meandered down a bit farther and found a gelato place. The way to pick the best gelato is pretty simple, I've been told. Look at the pistachio. If it's bright green, it's mass marketed commercial stuff. If it's a nice olive color, then it's probably good quality. The other way is to look at the containers. There are tons of gelato places, and many of them have the gelato piled high in metal trays with attractive fruits on top. If it's above the tray, it's commercial. If it's in a metal container with a lid, it's homemade. Both of these tips have led me to good gelato :) I really do like the fragola (strawberry) and cioccolato fondente (dark chocolate).
I was so hot by the time we reached the Vatican. I was baking in my skull. It was over a hundred degrees and the humidity was at eighty percent. We had to race up the hill and through crowds to get to our meeting point across from the Musei Vaticano. Cripes. We did have to wait a little bit in the reserve line to get in, and no, most of it wasn't air conditioned. The Vatican has one of the most impressive art collections in the world. They even have Nero's bathtub, which is a gigantic red stone basin in which he was bathed with oils. The Romans didn't bathe in water, they just sat in it to relax. We saw the statue of Apollo which Michelangelo studied before he made the David. We saw huge tapestries commissioned by Raphael to be made from a series of his paintings. A couple hundred years ago, one of the Popes commissioned the army to go out and survey the land to make accurate topographical maps and measure the land. It was done with the most basic of tools, but is almost as accurate as a topographical map today. I was trying so hard to pay attention to our guide. He was a theologian, of all things. He had a doctorate from LaSalle, and being a theologian had an interesting perspective on the art work from a political point of view. But I was baking from the humidity. I thought I was going to faint at one point. I was seeing stars, I felt woozy, but was determined not to be the American that fainted in the Vatican that day. After the Vatican Museum, we went into St. Peter's. They happened to be having mass, and the sound traveled into every corner of the building. I saw Michelangelo's Pieta, hidden behind six inches of bulletproof glass. Because, believe it or not, some years ago some crackpot did take a shot at it. There is indeed a great sadness in her face, but also a look of acceptance. It's amazing to see such emotion conveyed in marble. Near the main basilica, there was a really creepy looking chapel with a winged skeleton whom I can only interpret as death. There was also what looked to be like a saint entombed in glass (too dark, couldn't get a picture). The size of the church itself is awe-inspiring, with huge columns and frescoes. You're literally standing inside a piece of Catholic history.
The next morning, I hopped a train to Florence. I was lucky, the Gypsy who scammed me by pretending to be a nice guy leading me to my train only scammed me out of ten euros and was kind enough to put me on the right train. Note to self: never look confused when traveling alone. When I got to Florence, I got a bit of a shock when the hotel told me that they overbooked and transferred me to another hotel twenty minutes away with no air conditioning, no soap, no bottle of water even. Was a step up from a hostel. Well, one can cry about these things and let them ruin their trip or you can move on despite little setbacks. The bus stop was nearby and was just a short jaunt into the city center. I crossed the Ponte Vecchio and was amazed by all of the little jewelry shops. When they close, their storefronts close up like jewelry boxes. They aren't original, but that look has been kept from the 15th century. The Ponte Vecchio is the only bridge in Florence to have survived WWII. The others were all blown to smithereens. I quickly found my tour company's office and set off on a tour of the Uffizi Gallery. There were paintings there that I had only ever seen in art history books...and I was seeing them for real. Gentileschi, Raphael, Giotto, so many of the masters all in one place. With no air conditioning. So hard to concentrate when you're melting. After a brisk walk back to the tour office, I launched onto another tour to the Accademia Gallery to see The David by Michelangelo, one of the most reproduced images in history. It's so much bigger than you think it is. It was designed originally to be displayed from the top of the Duomo at the center of Florence, but it was instead put outside the public building. It's almost nine feet tall. David's hands and feet are massive. The whole piece was carved from one piece of flawed marble. Michelangelo wanted to show how good he was by producing a masterpiece from a piece of marble that two other sculptors had cut into but deemed unfit. I had seen the piece that Michelangelo had studied before making David, and could see the connections. Amazing. Simply amazing. Our lovely tour guide had also suggested a place to try granita, a kind of Italian shaved ice, so of course I had to try it as I walked back from the Accademia. Granita is like shaved ice, but a zillion times better. It is made from real fruit, I don't know how. There are real pieces of fruit in there, and it tastes like someone froze that fruit at its freshest, ground it up, and put it in a cup. I had plum and pink grapefruit, and it tasted like fresh fruit. I should have gotten a second cup. Instead, I headed over to a very nice cafe and ate in a slow and luxurious fashion, people watching and musing at the Gypsies fleecing the crowd with their beggars' cups. Bruschetta, prosecco, pasta, and cafe latte made such a lovely meal. Leisurely, very much enjoyed. And expensive. But gosh darn it, I was in Italy to see art...and to EAT GOOD FOOD! LOL
The next day, I hopped the bus to the city center once more and got a lovely pastry that I can't even name as I walked down the road to the tour office. Love those pasticcherias, full of baked goodness. I don't even know what most of it is, just look for what's yummy looking and say "Uno, per favore". That morning's tour took me around the city, looking at old medieval buildings dating back to the 12th to 15th centuries, and little holes in the sides of palatial buildings that one would pass a wine bottle through, get it filled, and passed back out. We need some of those! The winding streets are shaded and narrow, cobbled neatly and barely wide enough for cars to pass through. After the morning tour, I got a sandwich and some kind of apricot cookie for lunch and meandered over to the Palazzo Pitti. I wanted to see the Boboli gardens as they had been recommended to me by a friend who had been there. It was worth the nine euros to get in. The palace is gigantic, having been the home of the Medici family. The palace opens up to a large courtyard dominated by a Renaissance fountain. Behind the fountain are a pond, winding paths and steps leading up to a statue of Apollo. Once you hoof all the way up to the top of the garden, you can see all of Florence. The Medici's had the best view. To the right and left of the garden are grottoes, statues, and two guest houses. It was quite hot, but the view was worth it. I ate at a different cafe that evening, starting with bruschetta (again because I love it), and taglianelli with cubed ham, followed by caffe latte with a slice of millefioglie (sp?) which is layers of puff pastry with rich chocolate filling topped with powdered sugar and cocoa. Oh my god, it was lovely. More crowd watching, this time with the added bonus of watching a swaggering hot Italian man charm the knickers off two American girls who were just lapping it up. Ten euros says he was a gigolo, the way he was working those two with flamboyant flattery.
I trotted out to Florence early the next morning for one of the best parts of my trip, a sojourn out to Tuscany for a winery tour and visits to medieval towns. Wow, it looks just like the post cards. Tall skinny pines, rolling hills topped with medieval towns, and fields of sunflowers. I met a rather awesome family of Aussies. They were such a pleasant bunch, very friendly. We got lucky at the winery. They had had a wedding the evening before and had popped open a few bottles of their best red, Brunello. They don't usually offer it for tasting, but they gave us glasses since it was open. I'm not a red fan, but it was smooth and velvety with a full flavor but not overly tangy. Excellent. We hopped over to San Gimmignano, with it's tall 11th century towers, and then to Montereggione with its population of 72. Montereggione used to be a lookout for the Florentines; if they came a-marching, someone from Montereggione would ride to Siena to warn them. Ah, the time of the city states. We ended in the winding streets of Siena, where we saw the piazza where the Palio horse race takes place every year. I took some pictures of the neighborhood heraldry, of which there are fourteen. Everyone is said to be quite loyal to where they grew up there. I wish I could have sat down with a glass of wine to take it in, but that's the down side to a tour. But I saw way more than I would have had I tried to do it all myself.
I went back to Rome for one more day of snooping. I ended up at the Da Vinci museum. I looked at his sketchbooks and just longed to be able to sit down with a cup of coffee and peruse them. Alas, I had to make due with just a few of them on display, open to interesting pages. The recreations of some of the things in his sketches were quite interesting, and again I was reminded of the man's genius and foresight. The self-propelled wagon guided by a rudder was amazing. His war machines were just...nasty. Like the one with the scythes attached to the wheels to basically chop men at the waist as it drove past. Yowza. I found his underwater breathing apparatus fantastic. It was like he looked into the future and saw what it should look like.
The next morning, I said goodbye to Italy and headed off to England. I was enthusiastically met by my friend from Dubai, the music teacher. She and her friend picked me up in Manchester, and then we took an unplanned trip into Wales. Yeah, we were yapping so much we totally were not paying attention to the road signs. Whoops.
England was refreshing. It was cool (think low 70's), green, and fresh. It was so nice to be out in the countryside after the dryness of Dubai and the hustle and bustle of Rome. Fields of green, old English farm houses, and country roads. That's what I loved. Rose bushes, and fresh lavender. Pots of colorful pansies hanging from pub window sills. Liverpool was neat as well. We meandered in to see the new Liverpool museum, literally a museum about Liverpool. Stuff about the Liverpudlians who had gone off to war, about the Beatles, and there was even a huge picture of Lister from Red Dwarf :) We perused the Albert Docks, visited the Tate Gallery, and had fresh crepes by the waterfront. We also enjoyed a fresh farmhouse lunch one day at a lavender farm. I don't know what I loved better, the smell of fresh lavender or the juicy slices of English ham and fried eggs with hot tea. We also went out to a nature preserve to watch for birds...who all took the day off. Still, it was a lovely walk. I swore, Ewoks were peeking out at us from behind fallen logs.
My friend and her mum were lovely hosts. I stayed on her mum's houseboat, which was often frequented by a pair of swans and their children as well as a host of ducks. The boat rocked ever so gently, so I slept rather well. I was taught how to make a proper cup of tea, or proper enough that it passed inspection. It's very important, I am told, to place the tea bag in first, add the hot water, but don't remove the tea bag before the milk is added. That way, if it's not the right color once the milk is added, then the tea bag can stay in a bit longer. Who knew?
It was really a marvelous summer. After England, I jetted home and tried to see as many people as I could in a short space of time. I found out that a month really isn't as long as I thought. I also found that we can fit way more people in that back area in Micheal's than I thought. I was thrilled to spend time with so many friends and family. I got some quality time with my cousins and nieces, as well as some good pictures which will be going on my wall in Dubai. I didn't get to see everyone or do everything that I wanted to, but I think I did pretty well :) Thank you all so much for spending time with me while I was home. It was so good to see everyone. Pennsic was marvelous this year, though a bit tiring. Who knew that one could actually over-party?! Wow. Underpaaaaaaaannnnttts!!! Flip cup for your soul! Woot! I think it was definitely one of the best Pennsics I have ever had.
I started to get a bit down a few days before I had to leave. Perhaps I had too good of a time at home. Still, I made the long trek back. Damn, why do people have to fly with small children? Can't they just ship them? Let's just say no one slept on the flight from Heathrow to Dubai, mkay? Sheesh. I've been back now for a week. Took a day or two to remember the controls in the Dubai car vs. the US car. Had to do some serious cleaning. The cat chewed holes in the lining of my chaise. Couldn't blame her, though, she'd been very lonely. There were pieces of my wall stickers everywhere, though I managed to salvage my "Release the Kraken" sticker ;) And just general dusting, cleaning, etc. I got back at 1am on Monday, was out at 9am with the new hires to take them shopping and drive them around. Jumped back in with both feet! That's the way. Going to make sure I have plans, things to look forward to. That will make the time to Christmas go faster :)
And the question hangs over my head: Do I stay or do I go now?
To be continued...
