Early Sunday morning, Princess and I rose to the gentle knocking of our warm milk and croissants. After dressing and packing our bags full of goodies and sweets, we left the Sorrento Town suite for a short walk to the train station. From there we took the 1 hour train to Napoli and then boarded our train to Roma. Within 90 minutes, we had arrived at the final Italian city of this trip.
Our B&B was less than 5 blocks from the main train station, which meant that we didn't have time to begin sweating before we had arrived. Our room (one of two total) was still being cleaned when we arrived, but that didn't stop us from taking advantage of the espresso maker available in the lounge. I had my typical short coffee and Princess had her usual caffe latte. After a changing of the shoes and emptying of the backpack, we were off, off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Rome!
We began our three-day touristic walk by heading to the Piazza delle Quattro Fontane, the plaza of four fountains. All four sit on a corner of the intersection and face inward. I had seen the square two years ago on my visit to Rome, so I focused on the road ahead while Princess saw the sights. Down the street lay the Trinita dei Monti, the Trinity on the Hill, comprised of a church with dual bell towers and an Egyptian obelisk.
The Trinity sits high above the Piazza di Spagna, which can be reached by descending the famous Spanish Steps. I have yet to see the magnificent flowers that bloom in the summer along the sides of the steps; without them, the area appears as a major shopping district, almost always crowded with people.
From the Spanish Steps, Princess and I walked up the hill, passing in front the Villa Medici and briefly stepping into the massive heart-shaped garden that lies to the north of the city. It's very green and not as populated in winter by tourists as other places, so it is very calming. At the edge of the gardens there is a balcony, from which you can look to the west and south, across the Piazza del Popolo towards central Rome and the Vatican City. We descended into the Piazza and headed to a second Egyptian obelisk at the center of the square. Rome is full of domes and obelisks, the latter of which were all permanently borrowed from Egypt.
We learned in Sarzana that churches can only have domes if there is a bishop in town. Since Rome and the Vatican is the center of Christianity, there are dozens of domed churches spread across the city.
We took our fair share of snapshots from the piazza, and then headed south along the Tevere River.
At Ara Pacis we crossed the river, and then took the stairs down to a road just above the river. We walked along the river, all alone without any other tourists. At the Ponte Tevere, Princess took pictures of all the statues on the bridge. While taking a specialty photo that involved her laying face down on the pavement, her picture was snapped from above. In perfect harmony, but not being the wiser, she began to dance (while still lying down) to the tune that was playing on the street above. Unbeknownst to her, she had become quite the spectacle; had I not warned of her show, she would have continued long into the night. Instead, she laughed out loud like only Princess can, and then slowly got up and took a bow.
High above the river, a dark cloud of starlings had formed. It is always an amazing sight when they arrive in Napa...it is even more beautiful to watch them soar above Rome, all along the river. We watched them for a few minutes and then headed back up to street level and marveled at our location. We were in front of the Castell Sant'Angelo, the ancient home of Hadrian's Tomb, and the fabled living quarters of the demonic man that kills the bishops in Angels and Demons. It's a marvelous site, colored brown by the faded brick and stone, in the middle of a park, facing the Vatican City. We took pictures of it and the Vatican down the way and then continued along the river.
By now, evening had begun to fall and our clothes had slowly become not enough to keep us warm. We picked up a pair of hot pizzas at a Bangladeshi shop and then walked back towards our hotel. We stopped off at an art gallery, checking out a few local artists as well as some of the old favorites.
From there we continued on, turning at the Monumento di Vittorio Emanuele, the first king of Italy, and passing the Roman Forum on the way to the Colosseo. The Colosseo is a beautiful sight, especially at night, but isn't that exciting on the inside. I don't actually know this to be true, since I've never been inside, but a wise man once told me that all coliseums are the same on the inside.
After the Colosseo, Princess and I snuggled up with salami, pecorino, camembert and toast points and enjoyed an old favorite, Tron, before drifting off to sleep in our cozy bed.
We arose the next morning and departed the B&B quite early (11:45) to begin our walking day around the city. Rain was on the horizon but not expected, so I wore my slicker and Princess her usual black overcoat. Within fifteen minutes it had begun to sprinkle and I was pleased that I had decided to wear the lightweight raincoat over the warm and heavy suede jacket. Princess, however, found out quite quickly that huddling up to me would not suffice. So, despite all the warnings and the known eventual outcome, we purchased an umbrella from one of the street-side vendors. We negotiated down to 4euros from 5, but we found out later in the day that we had the wool pulled over our eyes when others were selling theirs initially for 3euros. However, despite the presence of a tell-tale sidewalk umbrella, the other vendors continually push more onto you. I guess you can never have too many!
From our cozy locale we headed back down to the Colosseo to catch the daytime view, and after failing to be persaded into paying 20euros for a tour inside and of the Roman Palatine (I don't know what that is exactly), we continued past the Arc de Triomphe and down the Circo Massimo. This was the site of all the ancient horse and chariot races, the kind we have all seen Charles Heston racing around in, with people dying left and right and obvious cheating occurring at each turn. It no longer looks as magical as it might have, or as magical as the movies made it seem, and is now an open park with no past remnants whatsoever. On we went, up the street to the Garibaldi statue and then up onto one of the seven hills.
Princess found some of the not-so-local green parrots flying around, and then found a mangy kitty roaming around, in desperate need of both love and a home. We obviously couldn't take him with us, but gave him as much love as we had available before pressing on.
We continued up the hill, stopping at a park to overlook the city from the south. It's quite nice to see such a pretty city without so many tourists abound. Up and up, each step moving us closer to the Trastevere neighborhood. We peaked the hill and began our descent, nearly walking head first into some Italian soldiers with automatic weapons. They didn't seem to know how to use them, so we walked very slowly and cautiously around them.
There were a small group of people peering thru a keyhole, at who knows what. We walked over and waited our turn, and then saw the spectacle. There was a garden on the other side, with a direct view of St Peters Basilica through the garden and the keyhole. We marched on, down, down, down the hill. We finally reached the bottom and then crossed the Tevere onto the western front. Our stomachs were rumbling and Princess' bladder boiling over, so we scoured the landscape for a watering hole (so to speak).
I found a restaurant with its menu sign outside, but no real sign of life inside. The door said open and so we went inside. All the lights were out and I thought for a second we had walked into a surprise party. The owner ushered us in and we sat down, and a few minutes later we were bathed in warm artificial light. I ordered the lunch menu, consisting of gnocchi al pomodoro and a pork chop, and princess had spaghetti carbonara and some grilled veggies, and we shared a half liter of house red. This would end being our most expensive meal during our three day stay in Rome, despite Rome being my most expensive city on the trip two years ago. We solved the cost problem by making mini pasta and broth and heating up lentils. Two big meals cost us 15euros, including wine!
After lunch we continued through the neighborhood, running up 200 stairs (not a good idea when your belly is full) and heading off into the neighborhood of the ambassadors.
We found the homes of the Spanish, Irish and American ambassadors, but none of them were at home to invite us in. We passed a lovely fountain, almost as big, but just as pretty, as the Trevi fountain downtown, but with only 0.1% of the tourists (just us). There were more hills to climb, so we did, eventually turning around at another Garibaldi monument. (He was quite the famous guy) Since we had reached the top of this hill, and could only go down from there, we gave in and followed the herd. When we reached the river's edge, the starlings had just begun their awesome flight patterns, so we stopped to watch. Princess took some video and we joined the masses with our Oohs and Aahs.
I was finally able to pry Princess' eyes from the swarm, and then I led her up the street into the Argentina neighborhood. I stopped her at the Area Sacra, a giant square that lays two floors below street level. Inside the square are some ruins and about 350 cats. There is a cat sanctuary nestled in the corner and inside are about 50 young, old and injured cats of every variety. Most Italians don't believe in spaying and neutering their pets (must be a Catholic thing) and so there end up being thousands of feral animals roaming the streets, unwanted and ignored. I found the sanctuary on the last trip while out walking with my Kiwi friend Laura and we had spent over two hours inside. I led Princess inside and we went our separate ways (she went to the kittens; I hung out with the mature cats). Within two minutes of sitting down, I had six cats trying to get to know me. One cat was so bold as to immediately claim me as his property and began making my hands pet him. I tried to encourage another cat to join him on my lap, but he was too skittish and preferred to stare at me. With one hand I pet the black cat on my lap and with the other I pet a black and orange cat on the floor. I nearly started Cat War III with the spreading of the petting love, so I ventured over into kitten land.
Most of the kittens are injured in one way or another, some of them being blind or missing an eye, or even missing their tail (not on purpose) or a hind leg. They are very cute and cuddly, though understandably unsure of new visitors. However, once they know you're safe, you become the next best scratching post. I lay out on the floor and soon had a tail-less Gingermurphy look-a-like on my lap. He wasn't much for petting, but did enjoy biting at my pockets. I swear I wasn't hiding liverwurst! Princess had found herself being attacked by the blind kitties, but she didn't mind and showered them with as much love as possible.
We were kicked out of the sanctuary for giving too much love to the kitties, so we took a lap around the ruins to try and find the 200+ that weren't inside. I think we found 3, and they were all by the entrance.
Across the way and up a few streets landed us in front of the Pantheon, the great domed church with a giant hole in its ceiling. We went inside and peered around, but the middle was blocked off because rain had fallen through the hole (the nerve!). We were quite pooped at this point, so we headed off to the store to purchase our first super inexpensive dinner, and then watched Family Guy on the computer at home.
Early the next morning (I really mean it this time!) we got up, enjoyed our ritual beverage, ColaCao, and took the metro off into crazy town. We went five stops on the red line and got off where they sell vaccinations for Anthrax (Cipro). Just a few hundred meters up the road, amid a dismal rain storm, began the line for the Musei Vaticani. Deep inside the left and right turns laid the most famous fart joke in the world: Pull my finger! There are actually seven or eight different museums inside the Vatican, but we went straight for the Sistine Chapel. There are lots of borrowed paintings and sculptures hung proudly on the walls, and at the end is a room so full of ceiling frescoes that it doesn't take long to get dizzy while craning your neck straight back. I took one look at the famous finger pull, snapped a cell phone pic like all the other secret paparazzi and then continued on. Princess found Rodin's famous Thinking Man statue, but I had to remind her that the real one is in Paris at the Rodin museum, and is a lot larger than 24 inches.
Outside the rain loomed, and we continued on to the front of St Peter's Square. We snapped a few pictures of the church and the obelisk in the center, took one look at the line to get in, and promptly did an about-face. Princess said she can go next time, so we hiked past the embassies to the Castell Sant'Angelo. We paid our entry fee and began the tour, instantly earning 30 cents back in lost money. The castle is quite large and is rumored to have an underground direct link to the Vatican...we couldn't find it, and frankly, didn't want to risk coming in contact with the pointy ends of the Swiss Guards' lances. There is an awesome view of the entire city on top of the Castell, but when the rain is whipping you in the face and you're already partially soaked, your desire to gaze out is severely diminished. We left the Castell and headed home, eager for a hot lunch and a nap before dinner.
We met my friend Flavio at the Campo de' Fiori for dinner, discussing the slow fails of Couchsurfing over the mixed seafood grill and Chianti. After dinner, Flavio took us over to a bar that lies in the ruins of an old Roman outdoor theater, where we enjoyed a digestif and some more conversation. Soon thereafter we walked home, packed our suitcases and turned in for the evening. The next morning started before the sun came up, but the breakfast lentils were amazing! Next stop, Merry Christmas!
At sunrise on our first morning in Chorafakia, Hollywood decided to get up before the sun and go for a run. He came back insane and jumped in the ice cold pool! How refreshing!
These confused little rhino beetles decided to go for early morning kamikazi swims in the pool...I couldn't take the carnage!
And I discovered a high-flying, mating pair of condors...(that's my best guess)
After just enough time for us to settle in, the Moms and Dads decided to stop in for a quick visit.
We stopped for an early dinner in Heraklion, and managed more than 1000 steps out on the jetty where we discovered a ship waiting for passengers...
The 'rents were good enough to bring a few bottles of wine with them; add the challenge of Pictionary, and you have an evening full of discussions on style, strategy and laughter!
Here's Marmalade! He adopted Hollywood and I for our stay, and made regular visits to make sure we were having a good time! He got lots of love!
Hollywood and I struck out to the south coast to check out the town of Hora Sfakia, and the castle that graces the beach. Hollywood also put in a couple hours behind the wheel of our standard rental - through a sleet/hail storm no less!
We also managed to creep - and take the plunge - into the beautiful Mediterranean at Stavros, with a little encouragement from Miss Kayleigh, of course. :]
