St. Peter's Square, the Pantheon and Food
Well, Sunday morning and we are leaving Rome today. I am a little bummed but at least we are flying back to Vienna which is still an awesome city. It's not like we are heading back to Kabul. And if I have insulted anybody from Kabul, apologies... I am sure it is lovely in the Spring. Yesterday was much better than the day before because the Husband wasn't keeling over. We woke up around 7:30, had breakfast and then decided to walk to the Vatican. Our lazy asses have taken taxis the last couple of days so it was nice to get out and walk. When we with our private guide Claudia, we asked her how long it would take to get to certain places:
Us: So from our hotel to the Vatican?
Her: It's a walk.
Us: From the Isola to our hotel?
Her: It's a walk.
Us: From Travestere to the Spanish steps?
Her: It's a walk.
We never found out what "It's a walk" meant so I was a little nervous that the walk to the Vatican would kill us dead. And you know what? It didn't. It was the loveliest of routes through Garibaldi park which overlooks the whole city, past the priest college and then up the street leading to St. Peter's square. We arrived at 8:45 and I was all sorts of bouncy. Again, you see these landmarks on the TV but when you see them finally in real life, it is surreal. There was already a crowd forming and the Husband and I had decided not to check out the museum and the cathedral. Heathen boorish tourists are we! We were still pretty wrecked from the tour the day before so we didn't feel too bad about missing SUCH AN INCREDIBLE PLACE! We walked around the square, noted the Swiss Gaurds' fancy clothes and then took a seat and watched the line grow and grow and grow.
We drank water (NO MORE HEAT STROKE FOR US) and then decided to cross the Tiber (what a kick, writing that) and headed to the Pantheon. Now, as I mentioned before, Map Master G. (a.k.a. the Husband's honorary title while on holidays) has been temporarily demoted. He lead us on a path of crap and I ended up hangry. He blames the craptastic map but I have my doubts. We stumbled across Piazza Navona. I would like to take full credit for finding that landmark. I spied a sign in the distance saying Piazza Navona with a small arrow pointing left. The Husband couldn't believe I saw that from so far away and I shrugged and said "I thought it said PIZZA." We quickly wandered around the square and it was getting hawt. We made our way to the Pantheon and BAM I was entranced. It truly is spectacular! And boy am I glad I read Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. Totally added to the experience. I'm not proud. By 11 we were ready to go back to the hotel for some pool time.
It was already pretty crowded at the hotel pool. One American mom was there with her two young kids and it made me miss the Kid like crazy. And made me realized that I often feel out-mommed by other moms but that is a whole other blog post. At 1 I suggested we hit the restaurant I went to alone... all by myself...just me... the night before (me? A Martyr? Why yes!). It was empty and the chef came over to take our orders. I ordered the truffle carbonara and it was OUT OF THIS WORLD! We waddled back to the pool and did some laps (read: floated around on a pool noodle). In the afternoon we went back to the room to watch Psych in Italian and to enjoy the air conditioning. At 7 we walked down to the bus station (I know! First time! We are just like regular people! Heh.) and actually took the bus into town. One thing about public buses in Rome... yeah, it's like being on the set of Speed but faster and no Keanu.
We made our way to the Jewish Ghetto because I figured that would be a good place to have dinner... a little parmesan with your guilt? I ordered a pizza and the Husband ordered fried artichokes and grilled turkey breast. At one point a bee made his way over and I was sure he was interested in our wine but I was wrong. No, this bee was a meat eater. He went for the Husband's turkey breast like me to a tub of Ben and Jerry's. I have never seen a bee nom nom nom something and with such gusto and at one point I wanted to shield him from the world and say "Show some self respect, man! Do what I do. Stand in a dark kitchen and go to town. Not here in front of everybody!" The Husband tried to gently nudge the bee away. I think he was worried the bee would explode...or perhaps finish his turkey. Man, Italian bees. The hell, guys?
After dinner I grabbed some gelato and it was AMAHZING. Chocolate, hazelnut and pistacchio and if I had three corgi dogs, so would name them that. We walked in the hot summer night, stopped at an enoteca for some wine to go and then took a taxi up to the Garibaldi park to overlook the city at night. This was the Husband's suggestion and when he mentioned it at dinner I was like "Really? Kind of seems like it would be creepy at night and a place where serial killers hang out to kill idiot tourists." to which he responded "But, there are street lights!" Logic? Not sure.
When the taxi pulled up, I realized that we would not be murdered because half of Rome was there. People of every age group filled up the panoramic views, toddlers hanging out on top of a wall, mopeds and cars crammed together in the parking lot. INSANITY! We perched on the wall and shared some wine and noted how vibrant it was at 10 in the evening and how the kids were all wide awake and happy. And it was oh so very loud. Not very romantic. But hey, at least our throats weren't cut? We strolled back to the hotel and promptly passed out. It was a great day in Rome; history, chlorine, truffles and gelato. Pretty damn perfect. Perfecto!
Us: So from our hotel to the Vatican?
Her: It's a walk.
Us: From the Isola to our hotel?
Her: It's a walk.
Us: From Travestere to the Spanish steps?
Her: It's a walk.
We never found out what "It's a walk" meant so I was a little nervous that the walk to the Vatican would kill us dead. And you know what? It didn't. It was the loveliest of routes through Garibaldi park which overlooks the whole city, past the priest college and then up the street leading to St. Peter's square. We arrived at 8:45 and I was all sorts of bouncy. Again, you see these landmarks on the TV but when you see them finally in real life, it is surreal. There was already a crowd forming and the Husband and I had decided not to check out the museum and the cathedral. Heathen boorish tourists are we! We were still pretty wrecked from the tour the day before so we didn't feel too bad about missing SUCH AN INCREDIBLE PLACE! We walked around the square, noted the Swiss Gaurds' fancy clothes and then took a seat and watched the line grow and grow and grow.
 |
| Nope. |
We drank water (NO MORE HEAT STROKE FOR US) and then decided to cross the Tiber (what a kick, writing that) and headed to the Pantheon. Now, as I mentioned before, Map Master G. (a.k.a. the Husband's honorary title while on holidays) has been temporarily demoted. He lead us on a path of crap and I ended up hangry. He blames the craptastic map but I have my doubts. We stumbled across Piazza Navona. I would like to take full credit for finding that landmark. I spied a sign in the distance saying Piazza Navona with a small arrow pointing left. The Husband couldn't believe I saw that from so far away and I shrugged and said "I thought it said PIZZA." We quickly wandered around the square and it was getting hawt. We made our way to the Pantheon and BAM I was entranced. It truly is spectacular! And boy am I glad I read Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. Totally added to the experience. I'm not proud. By 11 we were ready to go back to the hotel for some pool time.
It was already pretty crowded at the hotel pool. One American mom was there with her two young kids and it made me miss the Kid like crazy. And made me realized that I often feel out-mommed by other moms but that is a whole other blog post. At 1 I suggested we hit the restaurant I went to alone... all by myself...just me... the night before (me? A Martyr? Why yes!). It was empty and the chef came over to take our orders. I ordered the truffle carbonara and it was OUT OF THIS WORLD! We waddled back to the pool and did some laps (read: floated around on a pool noodle). In the afternoon we went back to the room to watch Psych in Italian and to enjoy the air conditioning. At 7 we walked down to the bus station (I know! First time! We are just like regular people! Heh.) and actually took the bus into town. One thing about public buses in Rome... yeah, it's like being on the set of Speed but faster and no Keanu.
We made our way to the Jewish Ghetto because I figured that would be a good place to have dinner... a little parmesan with your guilt? I ordered a pizza and the Husband ordered fried artichokes and grilled turkey breast. At one point a bee made his way over and I was sure he was interested in our wine but I was wrong. No, this bee was a meat eater. He went for the Husband's turkey breast like me to a tub of Ben and Jerry's. I have never seen a bee nom nom nom something and with such gusto and at one point I wanted to shield him from the world and say "Show some self respect, man! Do what I do. Stand in a dark kitchen and go to town. Not here in front of everybody!" The Husband tried to gently nudge the bee away. I think he was worried the bee would explode...or perhaps finish his turkey. Man, Italian bees. The hell, guys?
After dinner I grabbed some gelato and it was AMAHZING. Chocolate, hazelnut and pistacchio and if I had three corgi dogs, so would name them that. We walked in the hot summer night, stopped at an enoteca for some wine to go and then took a taxi up to the Garibaldi park to overlook the city at night. This was the Husband's suggestion and when he mentioned it at dinner I was like "Really? Kind of seems like it would be creepy at night and a place where serial killers hang out to kill idiot tourists." to which he responded "But, there are street lights!" Logic? Not sure.
When the taxi pulled up, I realized that we would not be murdered because half of Rome was there. People of every age group filled up the panoramic views, toddlers hanging out on top of a wall, mopeds and cars crammed together in the parking lot. INSANITY! We perched on the wall and shared some wine and noted how vibrant it was at 10 in the evening and how the kids were all wide awake and happy. And it was oh so very loud. Not very romantic. But hey, at least our throats weren't cut? We strolled back to the hotel and promptly passed out. It was a great day in Rome; history, chlorine, truffles and gelato. Pretty damn perfect. Perfecto!
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