We decided to celebrate our 10th anniversary by going to Italy! It was difficult to figure out timing because I was worried about leaving my parents for an extended trip, but I decided that October would be a good time - not just because it gave me more time to figure out how to handle their care, but also because I'd read that crowds in Italy were not quite as heavy during this month. Cheryl Elmore met with us in January and we settled on a schedule - Rome, then Florence, and then the Naples area. Thankfully, she booked all the air and train travel for us because Jacob and the Hunters spent a day trying to navigate all of that for their trip, so I was glad to not have to worry about that. And as it turned out, both my parents and Randall and I moved right before October so somehow the timing worked out well.
We drove to Atlanta on Saturday, October 4, after packing all of our Europe essentials and clothes. We left our car at the Parking Spot and got to the gate in what felt like record time. It was not bad at all to get checked in internationally. When we got on the plane, I ended up taking the middle seat even though it wasn't mine, and the lady who had it said "it's fine, I like the aisle anyway" in an Italian accent. We were on our way for our great Italian adventure. I wish I could say that I slept, but it may have been an hour of sleep only; but I listened to podcasts, read a book (Dorothy Sayers), and watched a movie called "Nonnas." Randall slept longer than I did but not more than a couple of hours. We landed at 7 AM in Rome! The air felt different! But the customs process was easy and we were able to make our way to the driver without any trouble.
Our first interaction with an Italian went fine, and we realized that they all spoke English pretty well, although I had to concentrate. "Grazie," "buongiorno," "buona sera," and "scusi" became part of my native language. Our driver took us to our hotel, the Hotel Duca d'Alba, but we had no Euros for a tip. Still, we put our luggage away, and walked out of our hotel and immediately saw the Colosseum. Wow! It was a great central location. We decided to walk through the central part of Rome and passed the Trevi Fountain. Again, wow! So beautiful yet so many people. I decided to pull out the Rick Steves guided tour. He took us first to the Campo de' Fiori to start with where we saw a statue of Giordano Bruno who'd been burned alive for heresy. But we also sat down to eat at 11 - we were drawn in by a guy outside, which is a common practice in Rome. I wanted to try a pizza, but it was so disappointing! Too much cheese and soggy. And Randall asked if they had "tap to pay" which the waiter interpreted as "Tip?" so that required a bit of translation. After we ate, Rick walked us through "Palazzos," "Piazzas," the Pantheon, getting coffee at Tazza D'Oro, back to Trevi, and finally to the Spanish Steps. We were exhausted at the end! We went back to the hotel to get checked in and lay down for a bit. After being up all night before, I had to rest. But we got up after an hour and decided to go to Benso 215 close by on Via Cavour. It was SO much better than lunch. We were seated downstairs, and Randall got spaghetti and meatballs, while I got the Rigatoni Alla'matriciana with red house wine. We had tiramisu for dessert, and I was happy. We slept well that night.
The second day dawned bright and early - we had a trip to the Colosseum planned with a guided tour. I ran all over trying to identify the meeting point; it seemed like all other tours had guides there early, but ours was right before our meeting time of 9 AM. But finally she came and she took us around the area and told us the poor of Rome stayed close by and were on the top floors of the surrounding buildings, and even washed clothes with urine to bleach them. She then took us to Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum, where I imagined all of the ancients, including Paul, having philosophy debates. Finally, we went to the Colosseum - another group joining us - but it was a crush. Our guide said it seemed like there were a lot of school tours that day. In my opinion, there were a lot of adult tours, actually. We had time to walk inside and see the arena where so many people - including Christians - were killed or mauled by animals. The wooden floor had deteriorated and you could see the tunnels below. There was an "elevator" for the animals, sample stadium seating where wealthy people sat, and open standing areas at the top for the poorer people. I wonder what they would think of all of us touring and seeing this place? After the Colosseum, we found somewhere to get Euros and then walked to an area close by where there were many restaurants. Another guy drew us in. But their tendency is to seat you, take your order, and ignore you until you were ready for more food or a check. Here, I had cacio d' pepe, and Randall had chicken alfredo. I ate every bit of it, it was so simple and good. We were also learning that they charge for "still water" and some places had a cover charge. So we often opted instead for wine and coke - which required ice, of course. After lunch, I took Randall to Mamertine Prison where supposedly Paul and Peter were imprisoned. The audio tour didn't work, and the room downstairs was confining but a bit underwhelming. We walked more past the Musei Capitolini and the Piazza del Campidoglio, and then the Ascensori Panoramici. We finally stopped again for gelato! I had the pistachio and Randall had strawberry (fragolo) and vanilla. It was delicious. Randall spied a restaurant next door, so we ended up going back there for dinner - it was called Ai Tre Scalini. We sat at the bar for a bit, and I had an aperol spritz. It was so good and fun to watch the bartender and the dishwashers. It seemed as if many Asian Indians worked in the dishwasher role in Rome. We were able to sit outside, but I do not even remember what I had to eat here!
Day 3 dawned bright, but we woke up a bit late for our 8 AM tour, so we took a taxi to the Vatican, thankfully I had a Freenow app that got us a good one, because the driver corrected me on the meeting location and took us to the right place. It was an interesting side street but clearly lots of people were there waiting for tours. Gabby was our guide, and frankly she was a fast talker and I had to concentrate even harder to know what she was saying. She navigated us through a lot of traffic and crowds to get into the Vatican museum. This place was overwhelming. So much art, gathered there by so many popes. No longer a practice because of cost, the popes would build more spaces and hire artists to create statues, sculptures, paintings, tapestries, even the architecture of the buildings themselves was a statement. I cannot say more than what my pictures contain, because it was too much to take in. We then walked to the Sistine Chapel and spent 10 minutes staring at it. It was meaningful to be in there and imagine Michelangelo doing it for four years, but it was 10 minutes of my life. Will I be forever impacted? No. But was the creation beautiful? Yes. It was crazy how many scenes were in the fresco. I studied as much as I could, distracted by people and policeman. This is what I should have studied beforehand: Link. After that, we were dropped off at St. Peter's Basilica and told to walk around on our own. Guess we didn't pay for the full tour! The best part there, in addition to the views in the church, was getting to see the Pieta. We left the area - where they seemed to be getting ready for the Pope's address the next day - and stopped by an All Brothers cafe close by. It broke the rules of having pictures on the menu, but it was much better pizza than what we had the first day! It was a Capriciossa pizza. We took a bus afterward to go to Trestevere using our Citymapper app. We walked the area and followed Rick Steves again by going to churches, walking the streets, and exploring a piazza there. I ended up shopping at a little store and got a dress which I wore to our dinner reservation at Taverna Trilussa. We met Kathy and Katie Poore! I was so excited to see a friendly face. Katie and I got carbonara, which we both declared was the best we would ever have in our lives. And we just had a chance to catch up and enjoy one another. The waitress was a bit snooty - she reacted visibly when we asked her to split checks - but clearly they can command the clientele they want, so what can you do? We took a taxi back to our hotel with Katie and Kathy and went to sleep after that long day.
The last day in Rome, we awoke with no tours planned for the day. However, we got a train to the Villa Borghese area to see if we could get last minute tickets. I stopped by a Ferrari shop and got a pic, too. Walking around, we kind of felt like we were in left field because we seemed to be walking on a street. We finally got to the Villa Borghese and after waiting 30 min, I realized tickets were not going to happen. We left after touring the gift shop and went to walk through town to the Spanish steps, where we ended up at the top. The views of the city were beautiful up there and we stayed for a few minutes looking down. We really just wanted to experience Rome that day so we just walked and looked around. We got a panini at Pane & Salame, along with a caprese appetizer, and then walked by the Pantheon again. To see it, rebuilt in the first century by Agrippa, it just causes you to reflect that the history of the world is vast and long. Yet, it's still a blink of the eye to the Lord. We then took a bus to the Jewish Ghetto area and followed one more Rick Steves tour. We saw where Jews in WWII were rounded up, but we didn't get to go in any of the museums which seemed to be closed. There were brass nameplates on the street with the names of Italian Jews who were sent to concentration camps. We also stopped at a grocery on a side street where Randall asked for seedless white grapes. The lady said, "Si!" and asked if we wanted "Bianca or Vera grapes?" Randall looked confused (which he told me later meant he wondered why she was asking after he told her), and I stepped in and asked for "bianca" and she bagged them up and sent us on our way. Unfortunately they were seeded but they were still delicious :) After this, we took a very crowded bus to the Palazzo Lateranense which is a beautiful building surrounded by people who wanted a tour - again, many nuns. But my real goal was to see the Scala Santa steps, which was across the street. Not too long of a line, but we both decided we would go on our knees up the wooden steps. These wooden steps encased marble steps that are rumored to be the steps Jesus took when he went to see Pontius Pilate. Quite moving, and prayerful. We were often delayed by some who seemed to pray on each step, but we got to the top and still felt reverent about the experience. We decided to walk back to our hotel - about a 30 minute walk - to avoid another crowded bus ride. After getting cleaned up and dressed, we went to a little restaurant we passed earlier, and Randall got salmon while I got a shrimp scampi. It wasn't the best I'd had, but it was still good.
The trip to Rome was filled with history, lots of pasta, and crowds, but it was a lovely place to visit and I loved it.
