ITALY: Part 1

Are you ready for this? This post has turned into a monster, so I am splitting it up into separate parts. Here is Part 1, covering the beginning of planning through our stay in Rome.

Let's start at the beginning...

Before I met Matt, I was not well-traveled. Until I was seventeen, I had never been east of Utah, north of Oregon, or south/west of California. That was my world. After getting engaged and married, Matt and I experienced more of America than I ever thought I'd be able to see (or live in) in just a few short years. It has been wonderful.

But, aside from the States, I had a wish list of international vacations, in prioritized order. The number one place I had wanted to visit, ever since the morning of my first Humanities class in college, was Italy. ITALY. Specifically Florence, Rome, and Venice. Matt has known that for more than seven years, and has worked hard to be able to take me there.

Last Christmas, my dear husband surprised me with my dream vacation. He had arranged everything -- the flights, hotels, trains, travel dates, childcare. He even got a travel package with the exact cities I would have chosen, for just the right amount of time. Not at the height of tourist season, but warm enough to enjoy being outside. Close to our anniversary. It was perfect.

I spent many many hours researching about Italy in the weeks leading up to our trip. I borrowed books from the library, got tips from friends who had made the trip before me, took basic Italian lessons on my computer, dug up my old Humanities text book from college to review, and bought the ultimate Italy guide book by Rick Steves, which I will recommend to everyone. He has books for different vacations in all kinds of places and he is extremely detailed, helpful, and well-organized. If you take a big trip like this, you will be happy you read one of his books first.

So basically, I did a lot of prep to make sure we wouldn't have to spend time figuring stuff out once we got there. I brushed up on my art history. I planned out each day of our trip, just in case we felt like following a schedule and maximizing each hour. It was so helpful to be prepared so we weren't backtracking around the city, so we knew what sites were close to each other, when they were open, how much they cost. Almost every restaurant was chosen after reviewing it in the guide book first. Before arriving in each city, I knew about train schedules and bus routes. I had studied maps of each city so we wouldn't get too lost.

In writing this, it sounds like a lot of work to prepare, but I would never call it WORK. This stuff was SO MUCH FUN for me. I loved learning more about my favorite things and my favorite places. And once we got there, I felt like I knew enough to be able to lead Matt around semi-confidently, making the most of our trip. Playing "tour guide" was my little way of thanking him for getting us there.

Okay, enough. Let's get to the good stuff!

Days 1-2

Travel lesson #1: Never let go of your passports.

We woke up really early to drive the 2.5 hours to the Detroit airport. Matt's mom flew in a few days before to stay with the boys during our trip. We caught our flight to Dulles (DC) for a long layover. We spent a few hours wandering through different terminals, killing time, looking for good food (found Five Guys Burgers and Fries...mmm). When it came time to board our direct flight to Rome, the unthinkable happened.

We could not find our passports. Anywhere. 

We had used them to check in in Detroit, so we knew they weren't at home. We took apart every bag in our search, retraced our steps throughout the huge airport, but had no luck. This happened to be the exact day that Continental and United Airlines merged, so every employee was running around like chickens with their heads cut off, unfamiliar with the new computer system, not wanting to work together (unionized vs. non-unionized workers), and sending us away to different desks every time we tried to get some urgent help. When the clock showed that we definitely missed our flight, Matt had to keep me from bursting into tears, while I had to keep him from throwing punches at ridiculously unhelpful airport personnel.

We went to six different desks before finally finding a couple of really nice airline employees who took time to actually help us. They located our last plane and had someone check our seat back pockets for the passports, called security at the Detroit airport, checked with lost and found, made a bunch of long phone calls on our behalf, and told us how to get the embassy in DC if we needed to get new emergency passports the next morning. They were SO helpful. Eventually, we learned that someone in Detroit had found our passports there. They must have fell out of my bag going through security and we had gone hours and hours without realizing they were missing. Ugggggh.

The next step was to put our passports on a plane heading to Dulles so they could get to us. Which they did, exactly three minutes before we supposed to board the last flight of the night that left for Europe. Matt picked up our passports from the flight attendant and raced through the huge airport to our gate so we could catch the plane to Germany, where we'd have another long layover before flying to Rome. It was such a long, stressful, agonizing day.

All in all, it worked out okay. We got to Rome Monday night, about ten hours later than we would have. This means we missed the whole day of sight-seeing, but honestly we were so ready to have a real night of sleep after 32 hours of travel that we were happy to just get to the hotel and finally relax.

Day 3

First Day in Rome

We woke up and grabbed free breakfast at the hotel. By "breakfast" I mean juice and rolls with an assortment of butter and jam. We had a charming little walk along back streets, down a big hill, through a park, and then suddenly out of nowhere, we saw it...

The Colosseum. What is amazing about Rome is all the ancient art, much much older than the Renaissance art in Florence. We're talking BC in many cases, and AD 80 for the Colosseum. It is breathtaking to see these enormous, calm, ancient, ornate buildings rise up in the middle of noisy streets and busy sidewalks filled with people from all over the globe. It's like worlds colliding across time.

I felt very still in the Colosseum, considering the things that happened and the lives that ended there. It's hard to imagine a world where people killed each other for sport. Matt felt like a gladiator in there, and requested this silhouette picture in one of the doorways.

Next we passed the Arch of Constantine, which marks the battle that led to the legalization of Christianity, a major turning point in history. We toured the Roman Forum (with the help of my guide book), which was the civic center of ancient Rome. It's like a neighborhood of ancient temples, basilicas, arches, and government meeting houses, all in ruins. The Temple of Saturn blew us away when we learned it was built in 497 BC. That is so old! And part of it is still standing!

We saw the spot where Julius Caesar's body was burned after his assassination, where people still come to leave fresh flowers in his honor. Before leaving the Forum, we hiked up Palatine Hill, where all the emperors used to build their palaces within view of the Circus Maximus. 

Here's a picture of me standing in the House of the Vestal Virgins, who tended the sacred flame in the Temple of Vesta. These virgins served 30-year terms, starting before age ten. If they abstained through the end, they were given huge dowries and allowed to marry. If not, they were strapped to a funeral car, paraded through the streets, taken to a crypt, given a loaf and a lamp, and buried alive. Maybe I shouldn't be smiling here...

Then it was time to head toward the Vatican to catch our museum reservations. We walked up to a metro stop and found the Church of Saint-Peter-in-Chains on our way. This church displays the chains that held St. Peter, and the famous Moses statue carved by Michelangelo.

We made it to the neighborhood of the Vatican a little early and stopped to eat lunch. It took too long to get our food, so we grabbed it and ran, trying to hoover our weird, not-so-great salads while speed-walking up the big hill and around the wall to the museum. (The Vatican is actually considered its own city/country, so there's a huge wall surrounding it.) Don't worry, we made it.

The Vatican Museum was amazing and endless. Highlights for me were the Egyptian mummies, the Laocoon, Raphael's School of Athens, and of course the Sistine Chapel. Most museums don't let you take pictures, so sorry for the lack thereof.

Next we walked back around the long city walls to St. Peter's Basilica. The square is massive. I should've taken more pictures while we were standing in line to enter the basilica, but it was a little rainy. Once inside...it was so enormous that it was hard to believe we were actually inside. Amazing. I only wish we would've stayed longer and come on a warm sunny day to see what it would look like in that lighting. 

We admired Bernini's seven story bronze canopy (made from bronze taken from the coffered ceiling of the Pantheon), which sat directly over St. Peter's tomb. We saw Michelangelo's Pieta, one of my favorite sculptures ever, behind its thick bullet proof glass. I wish I wish I wish they would let people get closer to Michelangelo's work. Well maybe not everyone, but definitely me. If you haven't seen this sculpture, look it up and stare at it for a while. It's a spiritual experience.

That spiral ramp/staircase was in the Vatican Museum. It was crazy long, and they had a bunch of funny signs cautioning people not to fall down the stairs. I took a picture for Josh.

On our way back toward the center of Rome, we tried withdrawing more cash and realized that both of Matt's debit cards were expired (great timing), and mine were back at the hotel. Good thing we had just enough left for dinner and gelato. I was the sugar mama money bags for the rest of the trip, and I quite liked that. :)

Anyway...on the way back, we walked by Castel Sant'Angelo and a handful of beautiful bridges along the river. We saw the Ara Pacis (Arch of Peace) through the museum windows, because we're classy like that and don't pay to enter unless we have to. We ate dinner at a nice yummy place called Gabriello's, and stumbled upon a film set in the back streets while waiting for the restaurant to open. 

After dinner, we walked up the Spanish Steps and met up with Erica, one of my oldest friends from kindergarten, who is finishing up grad school in Rome. With Erica, we found our way to the Trevi Fountain, making sure to throw a couple coins in for good luck. I learned that those coins are collected daily to feed Rome's poor. Too bad we threw in two American pennies, which doesn't even equal the amount of the smallest coin they have in Europe. That'll help.

Next we went searching for a good gelato place and tried one called San Crispino. It was probably the most expensive, most unsatisfying dessert I've ever bought. We really tried to like it. I think we picked the exact wrong flavors, because after that we were seriously worried that we were freaks of nature and that our whole trip would be ruined because we apparently didn't like gelato. Luckily we tried a different place a couple nights later and fell in deep, passionate, eternal love for the stuff from then on. Phew! Trip saved!

We also stumbled upon the Pantheon that night. It was just sitting in the middle of a square surrounded by a bunch of restaurants and apartments, hidden away until you turned the right corner and then BAM! What a sight. It was beautifully lit at night, but not open, so we went back the next day. 

After a very long day of being on our feet, we took the bus back with Erica, who surprisingly lives only two blocks from where we were staying. It was so fun to see her!

Day 4

Last Day in Rome

After "breakfast", we started off walking through Trajan's Market and Forum, another area of ruins, including the famous Trajan's Column. We took some pictures in front of the Victor Emmanuel Monument, sitting in the square where Mussolini used to give his speeches. The Romans call this monument "the wedding cake" or "the dentures". It's newer for Rome, built in 1870 to honor Italy's first king, and locals don't like it. It has the largest equestrian statue in the world, the king's moustache being over five feet wide. It offers some nice views of the Forum and the city. Here is Matt wishing he could have a five-foot-wide moustache too.

We walked up Michelangelo's grand staircase to Capitol Hill, where we went through the Capitoline Museums. Highlights were the 13th century She-Wolf with little Romulus and Remus, Marcus Aurelius on horseback, a bunch of amazingly old, well-preserved letters/documents from all kinds of historical figures, and the massive broken chunks of Constantine that used to stand in his Basilica in the Forum. You can imagine how huge the basilica is just by figuring how tall this statue used to be when it was in one piece.

I hear you, She-Wolf. Some days you feel like you're suckling all day long and are never free to run!

By the way, there are approximately this many scooters/motorcycles everywhere you look in Rome. I had to stop and take this picture for Josh.

For lunch we stopped at a pizzeria on our way to the Pantheon. Of all the massive, ornate, ancient, beautiful buildings we saw on our trip, this was probably my favorite. So old and solid. So symmetrical. Such an incredible feat of engineering. It was built for people to worship from all religions (hence the name), and because of this accepting nature it was left untouched when barbarians sacked Rome. Matt and I were both kind of bothered that the Christians filled it with a bunch of their own statues, when it was made for non-specific religious purposes. Does that make sense? Even though we're Christians ourselves? Anyway, I could talk about the Pantheon for a while, so I won't. If you can, go there. And learn its history first. We listened to a free audiotour that we downloaded from Rick Steves before the trip, and that's the way to go with a lot of these sites.

Can you tell we got tired of taking normal pictures really fast?

From there, we walked up a lot of hills all the way to the Borghese Gallery to catch our reservations. I could have stayed and stared at Bernini's sculptures for much longer. Especially his David and his Apollo and Daphne. Really beautiful and lifelike and emotional. (Again, no pictures allowed. Sorry.)

We walked/bussed back south to Piazza Navona, where we saw some beautiful fountains lit up at night, and had a good dinner at Ciccia Bomba. I was too tired after that to walk around looking for Giolitti's famous gelateria, so we decided to take the bus home and try the gelato Erica recommended by our hotel. We got there too late, and it was closed. But remember, we weren't too disappointed because we still thought we didn't really like gelato. We were willing to give it another chance, but it wasn't urgent. (Wow, that almost sounds blasphemous to me now!)

And with that thought, I will leave you. I think that's already way more than enough for one post, so I'll save the rest for later.