Rome, Itay
March 2005
Click on picture for enlarged copy
We started our trip with our alarm going off at ......3am or something! We had booked parking at one of the airport car parks online the night before. You check your car in and then get taken by bus to the airport which is about a 10 minute drive away. We had thought we had left with enough time but true to us it turned out not to be enough time! We had to stand in a long queue freezing to death to check the car in and then, Murphy's Law, the bus left 2 minutes before we had got our bags out the car after check-in. So we had to wait another 15 minutes for the next bus. We arrived at the airport and sprinted to the check-in desk. Mel could find no Ryan Air check-in counters of course! So we ran to the last counter where 2 people were chatting. They politely informed us that boarding was closed...Lovely. But after the girl left, the guy agreed to check us in as his computer was still on! Sweet! He did quite sternly tell us though to run to the gate as the plane was boarding. For those of you that have Digital TV, there is a program called Airlines, we felt exactly like one of the people on that show!
We arrived in Rome at 10am, and from reading our book, we knew where to go. We headed outside to find the bus stop which would take us to the train station. Easy! Well we got to the bus stop where we discovered in Andrew's broken understanding of Italian that the machine to buy tickets was broken! After explaining this to a few other tourists, a group of young Brit's asked Andrew if he knew how to get to the train. So when the bus finally came and we had bought our tickets for us and our bag, we sat on it for a further 15 minutes while the bus driver had a smoke and a bit of socialising with the locals, we headed off with the Brit's on tow! On the bus we got chatting to an elderly British couple on holiday. We had a good laugh at the laid back Italian style! If only they knew what Cape Town was like! Hee, hee!
So we arrived at
the Station, bought more tickets, and then between the British couple and the
group and the single confused young Scottish girl, we headed across the
platforms to find ours and wait for the train! Oh how it is so easy to meet
people while traveling. One golden rule though, don't carry a camera around
your neck as this is very un-cool and nobody will talk to you. On the train
we finally got to see what Rome really looked like. On the first glimpse of the aqueducts
we started to get that familiar
flutter of excitement you get when exploring a new place! They were amazing.
So big and so old!
We headed for the
main train station in the middle of Town where we were to get a bus to
our hotel. Sounds easy. Outside there was just one big parking lot of
buses! We found our bus by walking up and down pavements looking at the
numbers on the poles. Our bus arrived only for us to discover we needed to buy
a ticket from the kiosk across the road. So Andrew ran and Mel waited, luckily
he made it back before the bus left. That social chat and smoking ritual seems
to be a trend amongst Italian bus drivers!
Little did we know
that something was happening in Rome that day and the buses were not following
there usual route. Joys! So counting the stops before we would get off just
went out the window!
And as our luck had to change sometime, the old Italian guy sitting next to Andrew looked over his shoulder at Andrew's map and offered to show us where to go. Awesome! The Nunnery where we stayed was beautiful. It was high on a hill so we had a stunning view. You can see it in the pictures. It was realy big, and very clean. There was only the basics in the room, no TV or mini-bar!!! 2 Separate very narrow single beds! The Nun scared us a bit though. She was short and old with glasses at the end of her nose which she peered at you with her big eyes! I don't think I ever had a teacher as strict as her at school ever! I left Andrew to deal with her whenever needed. He even struggled to charm the old duck! Never thought that would happen!
Once settled in we decided to hit the Town. We first went to the Parthenon and had lunch in a street cafe a little way away. We had had nothing to eat the whole day and it was after 2pm. After good old Italian pizza and cold Chianti we were ready to go and walk the streets. First stop was into a shirt shop where Andrew got himself a really nice pink shirt! Obviously he was going to have to make up for buying something for himself first! We just walked through all the narrow streets the rest of the afternoon, looking at all the buildings and coming across some truly stunning squares with fountains and stalls. We met up with Carey P, from London, for a drink later. She had also come, with a friend, to do some shopping and watch Britt run.
We headed back to the Nunnery just before 7pm where Mel crashed on the bed and caught 40 winks before going off to get a bite to eat. The scary Nun told us to go down the road to the Hotel there. They served the best pasta according to her! So off we went, nice and close I thought. Can't be that bad. It was a Hotel, but the dinning area was like a massive dinning hall filled with Italian families. We were shown to a small table at the back where mostly single people were sitting. Cool. Then we noticed that there was no menu. They just bring you food. Interesting. We started with bread then pasta cooked with a yummy tomato, veal and olive sauce. Next was a side salad, Swordfish and some or other vegetable cooked with a white sauce. It tasted a bit like liquorice. We stopped in at the bar for a night cappuccino and Amaretto. A perfect end. So up the road we stumbled, in time to make our 11pm curfew!
Rome is such an amazing and vibrant city. Thousands of really friendly people. We kept on being warned about the dreaded pick-pockets but luckily we did not even spot one. People in Rome are also so so smart, wearing really fancy well co-coordinated clothes. Guy said that in Rome one does not simply wear designer clothes because one is label conscious, but rather to simply fit in with all the Italians - So true!
Britt and the rest of the gang had arrived rather late that night. One wonder of charm was that Andrew had convinced the nun to let the other travelers in way after the curfew. At about 01:30 Andrew called the nun in her room, she came down in her pajamas and unlocked the very secure front door. They went to bed and we decided to catch up over breakfast. They were all waiting for us at breakfast. After our scrumptious breakfast we headed out. Britt and her gang had to go and register for the marathon so Andrew, Mel and Britt's old school friend from SA, Kerry, decided to go and look at the Vatican and meet up with them later. Well the queue for the Museum and Sistine Chapel would have taken us a couple of hours so we decided just to go to the basilica of St Peters.
We climbed the stairs all the way to the top to the roof and dome. Mel's poor legs felt like jelly. Andrew had to walk at an angle as the dome is angled, obviously, and the stairs very narrow. The view from the top was amazing though. I couldn't believe had climbed so high. Tick that one off too as been-there-done-that. We walked along the river for a while and then sat in the sun with a few snacks, we reminded me of a group of seals! Britt and the rest finally arrived and we went and had lunch at a little Italian restaurant down one of the side streets. Somehow the pasta dishes are light... We all split up afterwards to go and do our own sight seeing. Although we stayed with Britt and Kerry and Guy. This only lasted about 10 minutes as we stepped into a store where Mel saw a black suite and we lost them. Oh, well. So we carried on our own and turned our day trip into a mini-shopping spree. Mel found 2 really nice suits for work. We had a nice browse in a kitchen shop and bought a few things for our kitchen.
Then Andrew had fun looking in all the designer clothing stores. It is completely beyond me why anyone would spend so much money on clothes. Andrew dreams of being able to shop in them one day! We all met up again later for drinks, including Carey P and her friend. They had been looking at fur and Carey's friend had bought a fur coat which she was very proudly wearing. We found a very interesting Mozzarella Bar where we had some wine and Mozzarella snacks! Andrew, Kerry and Mel stayed when everyone went home and had some dinner and cocktails. Afterwards we walked down all the streets and stopped in a few bars. It was all so lively. We made it back 5 minutes before curfew. Britt was frantically phoning us worried that we had forgotten. But a very cool cabbie got us there with enough time to take some pictures of Rome at night! Sunday morning was a bit of a expedition on its own.
Everyone had left early to start the marathon. Kerry and us were left to check out and take ours, Britt's and Guys bags to the next hotel. First hurdle: Nunnery only accepts cash. Run down road and up hill to draw cash. 2nd hurdle: No buses. 3rd hurdle: No taxi would take us as the roads were closed because of marathon. Eventually Andrew persuaded this sweet old female cabbie, in his tourist Italian, to take us as near as she could. After lengthy swearing matches with fellow drivers and a brief chat with the police, she managed to drop us near a train station. Cool, a few changes and we should be there. So off we went like a bunch of pack-mules. Guy has this designer bag that is near impossible to carry and very heavy. We were close to paying a couple on the train, who liked it, to take it from us! When we got to our first change we noticed a huge mass of people in front of us just standing still. Abandon that plan. So we headed out to look for a taxi. No such luck. Look at map, we could walk this. Off we go... 20 minutes later, and no wrong turns, just another hill, we arrived at our hotel. Yay! We dumped our bags and went to see if we could see Britt running. Our hotel was near a point which she should be passing soon. Success, after watching the runners for about 20 minutes along trotted a few familiar faces! It was awesome. We also cheered on a few other SA's running. You couldn't miss them in there SA flag printed t-shirts. It was amazing the way the runners faces lit up when they heard that familiar accent. Gave you goose bumps at times! We had an hour to get to the finish before we had calculated Britt would be there. It finished at the Coliseum. So off we headed. We got quite a good view. Britt looked so relaxed when she came in - very proud!.
We walked around the streets looking at how different everything looks at night. We found a pretty square/Piazza where we spent the evening having dinner and drinks.
Small restaurants where there is a short Italian lady who doesn't speak a word of English are awesome. You just want to take them home and keep them forever! Monday morning it was time to head back to London. This time we made it in plenty time.
Looks like the bike had one too many and came off second best!
So loved ones, until the next time
Love
Andrew & Mel