Rome, Pretty Much Love at First Sight!

The Roman Forum

Okay, so, after a long and tiring, though interesting. train (and ferry) ride from Palermo to Rome, followed by a very short taxi ride from the Rome rail station to our centrally located hotel, we were THERE; Roma/Rome, one of the greatest, and most ancient, cities on the European continent!   Yet I have to admit my expectations were, somewhat disturbingly in hindsight, modest.  I, and Elaine too, I believe, had read various travel reviews about the City; how it was dirty, pickpockets everywhere (hold on to your purse or wallet!); generally mixed reviews overall.  BUT I have to also say right now, with no apologies to all naysayers before us, we simply LOVED this Great City from the get-go!

Along the Hop on Hop Off Bus Tour

First of all, though our hotel room wasn’t anything special, it was conveniently tucked in along a narrow street in the heart of the city; and there was life everywhere around it; on the street below (that we could see from our window) and from our forays out the next morning.  For starters, it was a short walk down vibrantly alive sidewalks, on a Sunday, to the nearest stop for our now familiar On/Off City Bus Tour. And soon we were off, riding through this great City.  First thing we noticed was that ancient ruins were “Everywhere”,  as were the sidewalk cafes that we’d grown accustomed to looking for and frequenting throughout our European tour. 

I hadn’t really expected this “Ruins” thing, thinking beforehand (narrowly and stupidly as it turned out) that all those ancient ruins were off in one corner of the City, leaving the rest to poverty, pickpockets and general debauchery.  Okay, this is more than a little hyperbole.  But, to repeat, we had little to go on, and we feared the worst; though our fears were happily unfounded!  Anyhow, back to the Bus Tour, where, as in other cities during our European tour, we circled this City completely before getting off the bus near the Colosseum. 

Just your average Roman view, sidewalk cafe, cobblestoned street, and... oh.. the Colossum at the end of the street!

 From very early on in my childhood, when I watched the movie, “Ben Hur”, and the chariot races that took place in this great gathering place for Ancient Romans, the Colosseum was in my psyche.  And here we were, along with literally hundreds of other Sunday afternoon visitors waiting to get in.  But there were TOO many dang tourists for our taste; so we decided to postpone our Colosseum visit to the next day while retiring to the nearest restaurant for lunch. 

Here, I was introduced to the Roman “Pinsa”.   It looked remarkably like any old pizza on the menu; but our waiter politely informed us that this was NOT pizza, at least in the American sense.  He offered few additional details, but the menu description, and some later Googling (what would we do without the good old Google Search?) revealed that this was a pizza type pie of origins close to, if not originating in, Rome.  All those good toppings were baked on a crisp flat bread base.  And the end result, was, well, simply delicious.  This was definitely several cuts above your average Domino's offering!!

A Pepperoni "Pinsa"... can't get much better than this!

We soon re-boarded the next Hop-on-Hop-off Bus that came by and worked our way over to the other part of the inner city, namely the neighborhoods around Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps.  First came the “Steps”, a great gathering place for Roman tourists and locals alike, much akin to our visit earlier on this European tour to the Basilica Sacre’ Couer high on a hilltop overlooking Paris.  From there we kind of wandered aimlessly down various roads in an upscale shopping district, finally stumbling on to the World Famous Trevi Fountain.  It was worth the wandering; though we didn’t have occasion to drop any valuable coins (we were near the end of our European tour, thus few coins to spare) into the fountain waters. 

Spanish Steps

Okay, this was close to one full day in Rome, and it  seemed like forever; as we worked our way back, most of the way on foot, to our hotel.  It turns out that Central Rome was not that big after all, since we walked more than halfway across it in our first full day there. 

Trevi Fountain

On the next day, a Monday, we had two big unconquered goals in mind, namely the Colosseum, and also the Vatican.  Colosseum was up first, a drop-off early to manageable admission lines. And so there we were in one of the most famous ancient ruins of all time. And it was truly magnificent.  Ours was an “admission only, self-guided” tour; and I think that that was the best kind really.  We were able to view at our own pleasure and timetable.  We learned, along the way, that what was still standing on this day was only about 1/3 the size of the original structure! 

Inside the Colosseum!

Catacombs - Where Slaves were held before meeting the Lions!

The catacombs on the floor of the Colosseum were particularly interesting to me.  It was here, in ancient times, that the slaves were gathered, to be ultimately offered up to hungry, preying lions (yes, this really happened, all apparently for the enjoyment of the gathered free patrons…. Can’t remember all the gory details from the long-ago Ben Hur movie). And, of course, based on my long ago viewing of Ben Hur, they had chariot races here as well!  Given the vastness of this Colosseum, I could visually imagine such! 

Through a portal in the Colosseum, a view of nearby Palatine Hill

River Tiber, with Vatican Dome visible in background

From there it was on to the Tiber River on the other end of town and a tour of Vatican City.  I have to say right now that the Vatican was a distinct disappointment; not because of what was offered behind the walls of the Vatican; but more so because of the extreme hassle one had to endure to catch a brief glimpse of the grandeur behind the Vatican walls.  It was like a cattle herd, marching 7 or 8 wide down through a museum presentation of Vatican wonders.  If you dared stop for a pic you were subject to jostling and such.  Mostly it wasn’t worth the effort to even stop!    We couldn’t (literally) get outta there fast enough, since the “cattle herd” wound through endless corridors, with a brief stopover at the promised Sistine Chapel (impressive, but NO PICTURES allowed inside the Chapel) before we were dumped out into precious daylight!   

Inside the Vatican - Better not stop, lest you get trampled!

What rescued this part of the day, really, was Sandro, the apparent head waiter at Panico Ristorante Pizzeria, which was conveniently situated near a bridge leading over the Tiber river to the Vatican. We had lunched there before walking down to the Vatican that day. Sandro was a classic showman, and draw, for any and all, including ourselves.  So much so, that, on our return from our somewhat conflicted Vatican tour several hours later, we stopped again at Panico Ristorante; and re-visited Sandro and Company for our dinner.  It had been quite a couple days; and we still had one more to go!

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Sandro holds court at the Panico Ristorante & Pizzeria

This was IT, A Tuesday, our last full day in Europe after a wonderful month on this Continent!  And we still had some unfinished business; specifically visits to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill.  These, along with the nearby Colosseum, are the essence of ancient Rome really.  And our last full day in Europe was full of discovery!  From near the top of the gradual climb up to Palatine Hill, we viewed an ancient oval where horses were exercised centuries ago. 

A Field and Track for walking horses, Palatine Hill

City View from Palatine Hill

Another view of the Roman Forum

 Soon enough we were gathered around the narrow cobblestoned streets of our inner-city hotel, and we walked a short distance to a delicious lunch. I had “unadorned” raw oysters for the first time ever (absolutely cold & raw)… DELICIOUS!...   We also talked with a couple at lunch who used to live in Washington DC; he had worked in the National Health Institute.   Now, though their stateside home is in NYC, they rent an apartment in Rome for about 3 months a year, near where we were staying.  Humm… wheels were already spinning in our heads, given how much we loved Rome at that point… something to check out in the future maybe.

We never got tired of this kind of setting, narrow cobblestoned lane, streetside cafe, perfect!

Arrividerci, Roma, we probably will be back someday….maybe for an extended stay!