ROMA!

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Grazie is probably my word of the day. I think that sadly that is really the only word I know the for sure meaning of here. But everyone we have talked with has been very helpful and spoken English, so we really lucked out not having time to really put into learning a new language…

Alright, let me tell you about our day. Well, I guess I’ll begin with our night. We were quite exhausted by the end of the night, which was actually good because I don’t know how well we would have slept on the train otherwise. But I definitely got a full 8 hours and then lazed around until we arrived in Rome. It was surprising to me that we made quite a few stops along the way. It was weird when I couldn’t decipher if we were moving or not and then we’d start moving again and I felt really silly. But you just got used to the rocking of the train.

It took us about an hour to figure out Rome’s metro station. We were able to check our luggage there, but then had to figure out which bus to take and how to get where we needed to. It’s a very interesting experience. It’s probably a little harder for us because we are so not used to any public transit. But, we eventually figured it out and then came to realize that a lot of the places we were going to were within walking distance. It’s also interesting how everything is so close, even if it’s like 15 minutes, it’s still pretty close together. Just another thing we’re not used to, being from the US.

So once we figured out how/where to go we were finally out and about. We headed to Campo dei Fiori. It is known for it’s marketplace, or farmer’s market. There were lots of vendors and the first one we stopped at had large containers of fruit. Boy do I love fruit so I was hooked! We each got a large cup of all the different types of fruit. Watermelon, Pineapple, Nectarines, Coconut, Jicama, and probably a few more that I’m missing, but it was delish! We just walked around and saw all different types of vendors. From meats to cheeses to fresh dried pasta…I was so wishing I could take it all home with me…We then found some dried candied fruit and the guy told us to try some. He asked me where I was from and then wanted me to try to figure out what I was eating…It ended up being dried candied tomato. I had no idea! I thought it was apricot and Sam thought it was a blood orange. Then he gave us candied carrot. That was very interesting too…I again had no idea. But it was fun trying to figure it out. And apparently dried candied ginger is spicy. We were just under a gram of fruit so he had me choose which to add and I said ginger and he told me to try it first…so I did and then decided to go with bananas instead…it was definitely different.

After Campo dei Fiori we walked around and then decided to head back to get our luggage and check into the hotel. We finally found the hotel and then entered our room. It’s a little small, but definitely nothing to complain about. We do have a shared bathroom but I don’t think the room that we’re sharing with has people in it, so it’s just a bathroom down the hallway, but we were happy to have a bed and a private room.

We then headed over to the Trevi Fountain. It was a pretty short walk from our hotel and was just gorgeous. The thought hit me when we arrived as to how amazing it would be to actually live here and have all this amazing architecture and fountains and history in your everyday life. I wonder if the Italians take it for granted or are annoyed by all the hype we travelers give to it. It was definitely jammed-packed with people, but it was still gorgeous none the less. We found a little pizza/sandwich shop to grab a small bite to eat. It was quite tasty even though it looked like it’d been sitting in it’s case for a while. I really enjoyed the salami and cheese sandwich. These Italians really know what good bread tastes like…really, I don’t think it would matter what was put in between the slices, the bread is that good!

We then wandered over to Campidioglio. We walked up some steep steps made by Michelangelo and then saw the great buildings at the top. From there we could look out over the ruins and see some really cool stuff. We’ll actually get to walk through the ruins tomorrow.

Then we made it to the Colosseum. It was pretty stunning right from the start. Pretty amazing, but really crazy how 2000 years will really do some damage. We then actually went into the Colosseum and enjoyed looking at the inside. It was nothing like I really expected, but you could imagine how amazing it once was. I overheard a tour guide say that all the women had to stand up on the very top rows while the men sat close to the stage. It would have been a sight to see in it’s day.

We then began to get really really tired. Our feet were achy and we just wanted to sit down. But we wanted to get to Palantine Hill. Unfortunately we just missed closing time. So then we decided to just head over to where we were going to have dinner. It took us a little while, probably felt longer than it was because our feet just didn’t want to walk anymore. But we made it.

It was down an alleyway just off of Piazza Navona. The ambiance was definitely not there at all, but it was good food for the price we paid. We didn’t really do dinner the Italian way though. We just ordered a pasta dish and chicken dish. It was pretty tasty but not as filling as we had hoped. We decided we were in the mood for some gelato, so afterwards we headed to a place that was pretty packed earlier on in the day. I got a chocolate and caramel crème – so yum! It was a dark chocolate, so a little overpowering by itself, but with the caramel, so good. He asked if I wanted whipped cream and I said yes…only to find out that it was basically just whipped cream with no sugar…not the kind I’m used to. Sam got a white chocolate/chocolate chip mix and that was quite yummy too.

We then walked around Piazza Navona. It was pretty cool to see everything lit up for the evening affair. Tons of restaurants lined the Piazza and they were all quite full. It looked like we would have had to pay an extra $15 or so to eat at one of these restaurants. We then headed back to our hotel because we have an early morning tomorrow.

It was so wonderful to take a shower! We were definitely deprived the last two days and with it being hot outside we definitely needed one. I think we both took much longer showers than usual, but it was quite relaxing. Well, we’re off to bed…a little hard it feels like, but hopefully we’ll sleep ok. We get a continental breakfast tomorrow, right outside our hallway, so that’s nice. We are looking forward to seeing the Vatican and such. I’ll write tomorrow and will hopefully get this posted tomorrow morning!! Wish me luck!