The Jewish Ghetto...Catacombs...

Yesterday we headed off to the Jewish Ghetto;food display at one of the restaurants we passed there. On our way we passed another archeological dig called Portico di Ottavia. (I'll go back to the Ghetto, as we did not get into the Synagogue or the Museum.) Then we were on to the Isola Tiberina, in the middle of the Tiber, which really houses only a church, which was closed and a hospital. We had a gelato on our way, and decided to go to one of the five catacombs in Rome. Once again, getting there was much of the fun-or frustration-depending on how we looked at it! The catacombs are all a bit off the “beaten” track transportation-wise. (One lady told Dayle it took them two hours to get there, which made us feel a little better!) They are all off the Appian Way, which I remembered from Latin(!!), along with “All of Gallia is divided into four parts.” We did finally get to the correct bus to take us to our destination. (Thanks, Michelin!)
How do you decide which Catacomb you want to see? Each guidebook gives them a different spin….Luck or chance took us to St. Calixtus Catacombs, which the guidebook says is “the first official Christian cemetery; our guide said it was the oldest in Rome. No matter….over 12 miles of underground tunnels connect half a million tombs. We were some 40 feet underground, and it was a very delightful 15*C. Some 3rd C. Popes and St. Cecilia had been buried there, but have since been moved. A very interesting tour we all agreed!
We came back for a quick change, and then Dayle and Mallory(GRAZIE!) took me out for my “birthday” dinner, in honor of why I’m on this trip AFTER all! We went to Hostaria del Moro da Tony in Trastevere which we just happened upon. It turns out that it is #46on the Trip Advisor rating out of 1910 restaurants in Rome! I had a really delicious Chicken Parm, since I’ve had no chicken since I’ve been here; I know it doesn’t sound too creative, but it was GREAT! For dessert I had another favorite, crème caramel, and that was the first time I’ve had it since I arrived. (I wish I could say the same for gelato, which seems to call me as I walk by….)
We were out early this morning, as Dayle and Mallory’s flight was at 10:55. We caught the bus about 7:30 to the Termini Station, and they headed off to the airport. We said good byes, and I had to check some connection info for future trips. I also bought a Roma Pass, which for 25 euros, gives me free admission to two sights and 40% off other places on the list in a three day period. I did run into McDonald’s for coffee and a blueberry muffin (for shame-maybe less fat grams than a croissant!).
Then I went to the John Keats’ House, right next to the bottom of the Spanish steps, so now I have walked down three times. (I think it is the equivalent of six or seven stories.) Keats, the”Young English Poet”, died of consumption/tuberculosis at 25, in this bedroom.
I came back to my now quiet digs at Piazza Franchesco Cucchi 3 about 1. Rosa, the cleaning lady is supposed to come on Tuesdays, but again she is a “no-show”. I did a wash, as running the European washing machine is now "a piece or cake"; clothes dry on a drying rack on the porch off the kitchen. In the Roman heat they dry in no time!
So now I’m doing what I’d do if visiting friends had just left…figuring out what I will do next! What else do I want to see or see again? Where else will I go? Rita, another Couch Surfing “friend” who lives near the Vatican, has invited me to come to lunch tomorrow, so that is on the calendar for tomorrow.

Borghesi Gallery plus............

Yesterday we got tickets to the Borghesi Gallery, as they only allow 350 people in during each two hour period. Michelin says you should spend a day there: there is much to see there besides the Gallery,and I hope to return before I leave. Seeing some of the paintings and sculptures always helps to make a city/culture come together for me, and this was the case here.(It was raining when we left, so I headed off in my LLBean yellow slicker; luckily I did not need it for long.) There is so much history here in Rome and Italy that it is hard to keep it straight…the various feuds, such as between Bernini and Borremini, add to the intrigue. There were some significant sculptures that I especially enjoyed. Afterwards, we walked back to the Piazza de Populo, and we had lunch at Canova-more salads with shared pizza, and Pinot Grigio. We came back to the apartment to regroup and figure out how to get to Trastevere, a “trendy” area popular with the tourists, where we wanted to have dinner. Getting there, as always, was half the fun, since this was our first trip there! We took bus #44 which dropped us at the Trastevere Train Station. (I’d been there early on when I was having my computer charging crisis.) We finally got over to Tram #8 to get us right to where to we wanted to go. However, in the course of figuring this out (several inquiries, of course!), we crossed the street only to return to our original point. We passed a lady in her 60’s, and I guess she didn’t like the way I looked at her, because she spit at me in the face! “What was that about?” I wondered. (Mallory thought it was because she thought I was an American.) I couldn’t wait to wash my face and my glasses; what a NASTY FEELING! Luckily we passed one of the hundreds of fountains all over Rome, so I could wash off my face and glasses to get “cleaned up”!
We found a great, cute little restaurant for dinner, 76 via della Lungaretta. I had delicious pesto lasagna and salad; we have had some wonderful salads! I liked this place so much I wrote a review for it on www.Trip Advisor.
Today Dayle plotted our course so we saw where Berloscone lives (La Quirnale) and travelled that area. We walked down the Spanish steps for the second day in a row, and found another great restaurant Dolci e Doni, where Mallory and I split a cheeseburger and a salad.First thought,we stopped at the Trevi Fountain so I could throw in my coins!:)) I totally indulged my dessert side with this lemoncake.(Picture!) We came home for an R&R break; then we took a short walk in the park before we came home for another awesome salad supper. Today is Ferroagusto, an Italian holiday that seems to be only to be a holiday to party. Shops still seemed to be open, but some were closed, but it is, of course still August, so many are still closed.
Dayle and Mallory leave Tuesday AM, so tomorrow will be our last shot at seeing what they have missed!Buona notte!:))
PS. Ben heads back to RI next Wednesday; he and Mallory went for a gellato yesterday.:))

Positano Coast and Pompeii

Yesterday was a BIG DAY, as we waited outside our building at 6:45 for the driver to pick us up. The third tour we had chosen with VIATOURS was a thirteen hour trip down the Amalfi Coast which included a two hour tour of Pompeii with five other travelers in an air-conditioned Mercedes van.
Ben had told us it was a 2.5+ hour trip down there, and he was right. We stopped for a quick coffee and “breakfast” en route, but the whole trip was very quiet as everyone slept. It was an interesting site with countryside and the mountains and finally passing Mt. Vesuvius. This is still an active volcano, which they monitor very carefully. It last erupted in 1944, but they did do one evacuation after that, but an eruption didn’t come, so they are more careful now. They do encourage people to move away from the area with some financial reward. In 1995 they made Vesuvius a national park; people can drive to within 660 feet and then climb the trails that are there.
We drove along the-as expected-lovely Amalfi Coast, a series of little coves whose beaches were packed “chair to chair” with sun-worshippers. The road itself was very narrow, so a most challenging drive for the driver. Several times they held up the traffic to let vehicles coming from the other direction pass. I, for one, held my breath on more than one passing car, but our trip was without incidence. We got out in Amalfi(pic.!) for a half-hour walk around. It is lovely, but one church and mostly shops. We continued north along the coast and stopped in Positano (pic. 2) for a good salad lunch on the water.
An hour later-and another short nap-we were at Pompeii(pic. 3) for our two hour tour with Gaitano, who proudly told us of this CNN appearance and his thirty-three years of experience as a guide. It was an excellent tour, and since I never had taken world history, MOST informative. I think that seeing Pompeii would be really a great learning experience for a younger person to help put all the history into perspective. (That is, of course, from the non-history student!)
We got back home by 8:45, and by 9 we were devouring a quick Sunday night supper of scrambled eggs and improvised salad.
Today we met Ben to go to the beach at Ostia, but first we had to run to the bakery for bread and the corner market to find some things for sandwiches. Luckily there is a good little fruit and vegetable store across the way.
Our weather has been PERFECT so far. Unfortunately our one beach day promised to be cloudy with chance of PM showers...The forecast was accurate! While we had some good hour + without rain, it did come, but it was a fun day in spite of it! 5 euro to rent a chair, and we were good!

The Pantheon and Our new Friends.......

OKAY!! Another busy way of navigating ourselves around Rome! First stop was the Pantheon, then to Plaza Navona, Sant' Agnese in Agone, a Borromini creation, and on to the Campo di fiori. The Pantheon, which is where Raphael is buried, was first a temple and now a church. The walls below the dome are 19’ thick. ANOTHER TRULY INCREDIBLE BUILDING here in Rome! We walked over to the Piazza Navona, which Eyewitness says is the “loveliest square” (HOW can they say?) in Rome. (I’m loving them ALL!) We headed over to the Campo di fiori for lunch, where we found a restaurant that had at LEAST fifteen salad choices-each one better than the next!
At 4PM, we were due to meet Giulia, a woman I had connected with on www.couchsurfing.org. This took us to the Metro and a part of the city we had not yet seen. She and her son Giovanni met us at the metro stop in Eur, which is a part of Rome which is fairly new and all developed as Mussolini had ordered it. So we drove around and saw some of this area, and then we stopped for drinks at a delightful outside ice cream/gelato café, called Giolitti. (Giovanni, an only child, is probably 40ish,and doesn’t work; we couldn’t learn what he might have done for work. Giulia retired in May from what sounded like a fairly high level job in the government.) There was a small man-made “lake” right there where there is only boating, no swimming. We stopped at another amazing church, called St. Paul’s Basicilica (One of the seven basicilas open during the Jubillee.) They offered to give us a ride back to our apartment, but there was a misunderstanding, as to where we really lived. So it got a little stressful as mother and son were going backand forth. WHO KNEW? At they were both most gracious and fine, but….
Giovanni , who was driving, really didn’t know where to take us, so Giulia ended up navigating….Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I had NO idea what they were saying…it didn’t sound too sweet
We needed to get home to meet Ben(remember him from the gelato place? Thx, MC!) for dinner at the Sicilian restaurant place just up the street at eight. We all got ready in a quick fifteen minutes and were off for a tasty dinner. He is a most interesting guy….He asked us if we wanted to go to Ostia, which is THE beach scene nearest to Rome. Who knows what it will be like, but we’ll be meeting him at 10AM on Friday to take the train there. Tomorrow we are off to our all day trip to the Amalfi Coast, so I’m off. Ciao!:)) PS. Rome is really growing on me; it is a truly amazing city!!!

And thenwe saw the Vatican!

I'm really psyched that in two days,I have seen two places of such huge significnce to the world...BOTH the Colosseum AND the Vatican.We walked down the hill from the apartment maybe two miles...great views of the city and the Roman countryside. We got there very early, as our tour was due to start at at 1PM. We wandered around the area outside the Vatican and then found a place to have our gelato lunch. (Neither Dayle nor Mallory had yet had any!) Well, it was VERY hot,so we opted for a place where we could sit with a bit of shade and a fan that almost hit our whole table.Ah,little did we know!!!!!! We didnt'd ask (OOPS!!!) the price,so when I went to tpaythebill,it was 37 euros. I ALMOST had a heart attack when I went to pay the bill,as our three gelatos were 37 euro!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is mine! I'm off gelatos for a while!
Today's tour was really excellent; Jeannette, our guide was really very good. (She has $93,000 in debt for her Art History training.) The tour indcluded the museum,the Sistine Chapel (Michaelanglo's TRULY amzaing painting on the Sistine Chapel; and St. Peter's Church, TRULY fscinating to see and learn about! Mallory took a ton of pictures,as I was "on break" today from taking many pictures!

Touring with Dayle and Mallory

Yesterday I met Dayle and Mallory at Termini, the train station. They had had a long flight from Salt Lake City by way of Detroit, but they were ready to go once they "checked in". Off we went-it was Sunday, so nothing much was open, but a friend had told me about Ristorante Scarpone, which is only .2 of a mile away! It was closing last night at 7:30 for their August holiday, so luckily we got there before then! It is the quintessential Italian restaurant favored by locals, and we were the only Americans there,which I always prefer! Our meals were good standard Italian fare.AND we ate outside under a vine-covered pergola! Afterwards we walked around the Villa Pamphili Park and came back to the apartment. A little more rest, and we took a bus back into the city to find a place for dinner. Now that the bus system is a known entity, it makes the whole city totally workable! The transportation system in Rome is not as user friendly as Paris or London or even Boston! The stops are all very well marked with lists of all the stops at each stop, but no where have I yet found a bus map that clearly details this.
This morning we went on the three hour tour of the Colosseum, Palatine,and the Roman Forum. Our guide Francesca was excellent, and the tour was very informative.
This was one of the times that I was glad I was on a tour, because we were able to get into each place without waiting in line. To see places like this with such an incredible history is more than amazing. We had lunch in the city,and we were all pretty HOT and tired, so we decided to come back home to regroup.
I did a wash; I'm glad to have that done, as the washing machine is different from what we are used to! A rest later, we took bus 44 into Piazza de Venezia to go to the Trevi Fountain and see the sunset on Spanish Steps.(While we waited for the bus-forever-some man with his daughter,son,and dog asked us if we needed help for the bus.It turned out he is from San Francisco; we were still there when they came back-much to our frustration-,and he told us how you can check where a particular bus is on your PDA, so Dayle now cn do this on her IPhone. Both sites were very crowded, but interesting to see. There was no way we could climb the Spanish Steps with all the tourists on them, but I'm glad I saw them! I have no idea what time you'd have to get there to climb the steps! On the way to those two sites, we passed by the Memorial to Vittoria Emmanuele, which I saw the other day. Now you can see how impressive it is! Tomorrow we have an afternoon tour of the Vatican.

Retracing my steps from yesteday

Well, by now I'm getting the bus system down. My first stop was at the Vodafone store where I picked up the piece of the adaptor that I had left behind. I thook a bus over to Termini, the main train station in Rome, to get a map of the bus routes. I felt like I should "see" something=go into something that makes Rome so special. We had passed many of these sights on the way to Termini, and we will actually take two half day tours in Rome next week.I had passed this most spectacular monument on the way, so I got off the bus to see what it was. Lifted right from the internet, "One of the imposing landmarks in Rome is the Monument to Victor Emanuel, II, built between 1885 and 1911 and dedicated to the memory of King Victor Emanuel, II of Savoia who achieved the unification of Italy in 1870 with Rome as its capital. Visitors climbing a broad flight of steps soon notice an imposing statue flanked by a two-man honor guard and highlighted by an eternal flame, kindled in memory of the Unknown Italian Soldier of World War I." There is also a museum there,but everything (except the sign to the restrooms) were in Italian, so I was out of luck.
Unfortunately this picture doesn't give any idea of how spectacular the monument really is.
I returned home and decided to take a walk in one of the nearby parks. This neighborhood reminds me of Brookline with far less shops. It is just so interesting to see the varied architecture everywhere-this little park included.
On my way home I continued to wander through the neighborhood; most of the shops are closed for the August holiday,including the great pizza shop. However, I stopped for a gelato (I have checked the calorie count!),and the only empty chair outside was at a table with two women-one in her late 80's perhaps, and the other,not her daughter as I first guessed, but her caretaker, in her late 40's. I asked if I could use the chair,and they motioned for me to sit with them. Well, a young man, Ben, sitting at a table nearby came up to me and asked where I was from. When I told him, I noted his Hardrock Cafe shirt was from Boston; he is going to be a senior at Kingston,RI, High in the fall.He has studied Italian for three years,so his Italian is excellent. The older woman even said so! She actually had spoken at Cambridge and Oxford years ago, but we couldn't get any details. She did speak some English with us.Ben has been here for three weeks working at a B&B with three more weeks before he goes home. He warned me that I should always carry my passpor, but he doubted I'd have any trouble. It turns out that several nights ago, he had been out very late and picked up by the police. With no identification on him, they hauled him off to the police station.Needless to say,he was BEYOND SCARED! Once he gave one of them 100 euros, they let him go! He asked me if there was anything I wanted to know how to say in Italian. "Where will you be when I do need your help?" I asked. I do have his phone number if the need arises!