As if one day in Rome was not enough, my sister and I wisely planned to spend three
full days and nights in the city. After the first day of getting oriented to the city and seeing a ton of the sights in one swoop, we decided to hit the big boys; that's right Ancient Rome.
To start things off, we ventured over to the train station to reserve some seats on the trains we planned on taking over the trip. Italy does have high speed trains that run across the country, but the trains require reservations and a train from Rome to Venice is incredibly popular, especially on a Friday, the day we were planning on traveling. So, thanks to my wise and wonderful sister, we booked these tickets in advance.
Let's take this time to talk about queueing in Italy. First off, the concept of a line in Europe is a little difficult to come by. While some areas are more orderly than others, all of Eu
rope struggles a bit with the concept of lining up, giving people personal space, and t
hen taking their turn waiting for the next associate. Thankfully, the line in the train station was probably the most organized, but the fact remained that it took far too long to wait in a line to book some tickets. This would become a common occurance during our trip.
However, we were lucky enough to get some help from Sergio, probably the most friendly Italian we met for most of the trip. He helped us book our tickets and we were on our way. In the bottom part of the train station is the metro. The metro in Rome is challenging. I learned in one of my handy books that the metro in Rome was difficult to construct for all the ancient ruins and old catacombs that exist. Therefore, the metro doesn't always go where you want it to go.
I'll also make a quick comment on the transport hubs in Europe. You'll notice that the previous paragraph talked about how the train station and metro are all in one spot. The previous day we rode the train from the airport to this same station where we found a taxi to our hotel, though we could have taken the bus if necessary. And Italy's transport system isn't all th
at great. All I'm saying, is that we should really think about finding ways to centralize our transport systems to allow more intermodal transport here in the States.
Anyway, my sister and I hopped on the metro and emerged in Ancient Rome. Ancient Rome was probably my favorite part of the city. I mean, think about Rome for a second. What comes to mind? Right. The Colosseum. Okay, and gelato, but really here, the Colosseum and a bunch of ancient columns and the Forum and all that stuff. Needless to saw, the awesome structures that make up Ancient Rome make it easily the coolest part of the city for me. I think it harkens back to the fact that everything in Europe is more than likely older than anything in America, but these structures are even older than that. I mean, these structures are parts of one of the first major civilizations. Rome used to be the center of it all, all roads lead to Rome, Rome IS the Eternal City!
Our plan for the day was to start in the Ancient part, Capitoline Hill, grab a bite to eat, and then fill out the afternoon with the Colosseum. So, that's exactly what we did. We started by tromping around the exterior walls trying to find the entrance to the hill and finally discovered a gigantic line of people waiting to enter. We dutifully stood in line, baking in the heat, avoiding gypsies and street salesman. We were even able to poke a little fun at a particularly bad fake limp that a gypsy had on the street and witness an attempted theft of genuine, fake hats. After standing in the intense heat for quite some time and arriving near the entrance to the area, we overheard a woman from Ancient Rome tell others that those with a Roma Pass did not need to wait in line, they simple used a separate line. Thankfully, we had purchased said pass and jumped at the chance. Unfortunately, we heard that very late in the standing of the line and achieved a new level of sweat previously unknown (though moderate compared to later parts of the trip.)
At any rate, we ventured inside Ancient Rome and strolled around finding great vantage points of the Colosseum, ancient ruins, and imagining Rome as it was in its day. We overheard a few tours here and there to pick up tidbits, but mainly explored all that Ancient Rome had to offer. I think for me, the most interesting thing of Ancient Rome is that so much has been preserved. It is easy to imagine a bustling city center at what was essentially the center of the world. The temples must have been incredibly impressive, as their remains are still impressive today.
We spent a few hours exploring Ancient Rome, grabbed a quick bite at a local place, consisting of Calzone and a Foccacia sandwich, and proceeded to the Colosseum to take in Rome's most famous landmark. This time, we were keen on the Roma Pass and happily walked past the incredible line of people to the interior of the Colosseum.
I must say, the Colosseum is not what I was expecting. I guess you always think of the Colosseum as you see it in Gladiator with a huge arena and lots of seats. But, the Colosseum is full in the center with tiny hallways and no real stage area to view. It looks much like it does in pictures, but what pictures can't capture is the sheer size and age of the place. It really is gigantic even for today and is so old. The fact that at any given time you can find a place of shade inside the main area is a testament to how high the walls are and the Colosseum has lost a lot over the years! Mostly, however, the Colosseum is fun to sit and imagine the fights that took place and the thousands of people who visited to see them.
Overall, I was impressed by Ancient Rome and enjoyed that part of the visit. After we were thoroughly soaked with sweat and tired from the hot sun, we decided to rest up at the hotel room and freshen up for the evening. We managed to take a brief nap and then head out to the Spanish Steps near sunset. The Spanish Steps are so elegant and so fun to sit and watch people enjoy themselves and make a fool of themselves and a very photogenic place in general. They are incredibly impressive and despite the huge throngs of people present, still had available space to sit and enjoy.
We snagged some gelato and watched some people for a while before venturing onward to do some exploring of Rome at night.We took a few stops at some of our favorite places, Piazza Novana where we grabbed a drink and dessert before swinging through the Pantheon and Trevi Fountain. While we had visited all these places the day before, like most things that are worth seeing, the night adds a new dimension. The fountains at night are particularly impressive with their blue-green waters lit and the statues with strange dark crevasses and shadows along with eerie lights. The dancing water almost makes certain faces seem livelier. And of course, the Pantheon at night is beautiful and the surrounding piazza is filled with people enjoying a meal or a coffee while wasting the night away.
Our final day in Rome was our chance to do the last few things we wanted to do. We made it a point to see the Spanish Steps in the morning, try to look at an art gallery, and do Ancient Rome in the evening. We succeeded in seeing the Spanish Steps before too many tourists were out, with a nice cup of cappuccino with a view of the steps. Then we proceeded up the steps in attempts to see the Galleria Borghese, one of Rome's best collections.
Sadly, after walking through a gigantic park and having some quality conversation, we arrived at the Galleria to realize we needed a reservation to see anything. We trudged onward back through the park, found a few great views of the city from above, and ventured to a different gallery near the far part of town.
Our walk was hot and steamy, but we saw a few places we hadn't previously. We stumbled upon some additional ancient ruins and turned a corner to appear in Piazza Venezia, home of the great national building in Rome which is easily the most impressive building I've ever seen. The building is huge and all white marble. There are a huge set of steps leading up to the building and the building is flanked by two wings appropriately fixed with two winged horses on top. Off to the side, was a somewhat lesser (though still impressive) building where our museum was.
My sister and I are not major art people. Though we probably have a stronger sense of art than others, our knowledge of art is still miniscule. The museum we picked was a collection of statues and other relics. Our knowledge of this was even smaller. However, it was hot, we were tired, and there was something that resembled air conditioning in the building. Plus, with our Roma Pass it didn't cost any extra.
We spent a good chunk of time here, found some good views of the Roman Forum, and then ventured out to find a gelato store. After a bite of gelato we found a good piazza with a nice cafe and plopped down for some people watching. By this time the heat had sapped us
and we were a little tired of walking so we spent a good several hours people watching, enjoying cappuccinos, and plotting our next move.
Our adventure in Rome ended with a fantastic dinner of true Roman Pizza and wine, and a stroll down to Ancient Rome to watch the sunset and nab some night pictures of the ruins. Once again, the night adds something different to an already awesome place. The ruins were strategically lit in an incredibly eerie way, but in an incredibly beautiful way all at the same time. Of course the Colosseum was outstanding at night and we walked all around to find the best angle.
Opting not to try the metro at night (it was really sketch) we walked home to our hotel and called it a day. Overall, Rome was quite a great start to our trip. There were great things still to come, but the history and city life of Rome is uniquely Italy. It isn't often so many sights are packed into such a small area and it isn't often those sights are 2000 years old. I recently watched 'Roman Holiday' in honor of my trip and was impressed with how the sights still look much the way they did 50 years ago. The true strength of human ingenuity is displayed in Rome. But, as I said, Rome was only the beginning.
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