Rome - October 30-November 3

k:
Rome is magnificent. It is big. It is bold. It is beautiful. Before going, I was under the impression that we would see the Colosseum, we would see Vatican City, and maybe a few other really key things and I'd be satisfied. Unfortunately we could only fit 3 days of Rome into our trip schedule, so this was our plan of attack for the city. There is just so much though. The Colosseum was great, Vatican was beautiful, but there is so much more to Rome. I was especially grateful to Rome for the sunshine, warm temperatures and beautiful vegetation it provided us. Every morning we left the house I felt like I was on vacation. The sky was always blue, the sun was always bright and the little road from our hotel to the train station was a beautiful and peaceful way to start each exciting day. Our hotel was just outside of Rome and it took a 6 or 7 minute walk then a 20 minute train ride every morning to get to the city, but it wasn't a chore. The street was lined with orange trees, lime trees, palm trees, an olive tree or two, cacti; it was just beautiful. Then the train ride went through wide open fields and little towns that were also a site to see.
Then you get into Rome. Oh boy, what a site. The Colosseum really is huge. It's incredible. The day we went inside though was almost a let down. The one we saw in Verona still has all the stands and seats, which I didn't realise that this one wouldn't. We learned from our audio guide (among many things) that after the gladiator and hunting games were ended, Colosseum kind of went to pot. It became a dumping ground for materials used in other building projects, and then eventually was taken apart and any reusable materials from it were taken and used other places. It was still cool to see though. Just imagine what it could have been if people had taken care of it though. 

Vatican City was also really nice to see. St Peter's Basilica really is beautiful. The saddest thing was that we got inside and took maybe one or two pictures and the battery symbol on our camera started to flash; the second battery of the day. So the pictures we do have are a bit of a rush, and not very good quality anyway because the lighting is so low in there. But in reality, at the best of times our camera couldn't quite have captured what we saw in real life. That was the pitty of our trip: so much of what we saw we just couldn't capture on film. I wish you were all there with us to see it so that my poor writing and the disadvantages of a camera lens weren't an issue. But anyway, I am grateful for what we did get to see. 

 

We were so grateful to be in Rome, in fact, that we extended our trip there. Only by the couple of hours of wiggle room that we had, but it was so worth it.
Original Plan: Get up early on the 3rd and catch a train to Pisa. Spend a couple of hours in Pisa just seeing the leaning tower and such. Then move on to Florence. 
New Plan: Spend another half day in Rome. See the tower for only 2 hours in the dark. Then make our way to Florence later at night. 
This plan was a success. With our extra 5 hours (9am-2pm on the 3rd), we saw the Vatican Museums (so worth it), and I think 3 other speed sites as well. 
We bought into one touristy souvenir in Rome. Two packages of 20 postcards each: one of Rome only, and one of all of Italy. They were 1euro each, and worth every penny. The Rome set is actually what guided our last couple of hours spent in this wonderful city. There were a couple of pictures that looked nice, so I mapped them out and we made it to 3 of the 4 that I liked. One of these was my favourite thing we saw in Rome. La Fontana di Trevi was so beautiful. I wish that it wasn't so covered in people trying to sell things, people getting in the way of pictures, and people begging for money, but that's what every place we saw in Italy was like so I was used to it by this point. Therefore still able to really enjoy looking at it. That Roman sun I was so grateful for eariler however, did not allow us to get a super great picture of the two of us in  front of the fountain, but I did get some really lovely ones of the building itself.

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I’m not a huge fan of the Italian restaurants. The waiters stand by the door or roam by their tables outside, and if you aren’t undetermined to get but them they’ll use all kinds of tactics to get you to stop and sit down or look at a menu. You might think, “This place looks nice and this waiter seems friendly and passionate; we might get some good service here.” Don’t be fooled typically the attention is only on the getting you seated and ordered, after that they’ve sold you and you become an attraction to entice other to come sit.

It’s been tricky to find a good restaurant. We’ve found some ok spots but they all seem over priced for average food. However, we did find one place that I would recommend everyone to go to. ‘Fabio’s’.  It’s a little sandwich place near the Vatican. Fa means to make and Bio means Organic. It was the best food yet that I’ve tasked in Italy, and it was only 4 Euros for a filling delightful lunch. I liked is so much that I insisted that we go back again. Katherine liked it enough that she seemed to be in favour of the idea. The second time back we stayed to eat and I ended up chatting with Fabio and Claudio for while. It was like catching up with old friend while they made another delicious sandwich.

I wasn’t impressed with the food in Rome but I was impressed with the sites. They were all so cool. Most were ruins. I was fascinated by how old the building and structures were and what it would have taken to build them back then. My favourite was the Vatican—beautiful architecture and art, and the place was so clean. Michael Angelo’s art work in the Vatican Museums and then inside the Sistine Chapel are incredible. Yep, I like Vatican cite a lot!

Our last day in Rome was the Vatican again, followed by a race to see all the other sites in Rome that we hadn’t the days before. You see, we missed lots from having to travel into Rome each  morning and then back out again to our hotel, and  our dang dirty clothes were begging to be sent through a washer, which we eventually caved to.

Laundry! It may be cheaper for us to purchase a washer and dryer than it is to do go to the mat each week. I think that I’ve decided my future profession. No, I’m not going to open a laundry mat, I’m going to become one of those accountants specialized in bankruptcy and open an office in Europe. In clear sight from a laundry mat big front window, my potential clients will read, “Spending the last of your life savings cleaning your clothes? Come file with us. We’ll clean your sleight before your clothes are dry.”

With the background knowledge on our experience with doing laundry in Europe (which is not positive if my illustration above was over your head), you can see why my new limit of what clothes smells pushes the line for what is publically acceptable. Yet, while my perception of dirty clothes has been adjusted to keep tension in my billfold, Katherine has not quite adjusted as much. She has adjusted and is very financially aware and careful, but I’m starting to see the value women place on being clean and having clean clothes. The need to do laundry kind of came up abruptly when I was thinking that we could go another week, and Katherine was thinking we’re coming up on recycling outfits for the third time. I also learned that it’s not ok to wear underwear for more than a day. I thought it was a luxury that we could only afford back home in Canada.