Rome kept us super busy and we had spotty internet connection so here is our belated post.
We arrived in Rome Monday afternoon and set out to explore right away. Family friend Sam Foster gave us a list of tips with restaurants and city advice for all of Italy and he had a lot to say about Rome. We followed his directions to a hole-in-the-wall deli that turned out to be closed. When we decided to head to the city center instead we realized that we were so far out of the way that we weren’t even on our map! After asking several semi-helpful Romans we found our way back to civilization. We eventually settled for pizza and a Coke in a little square that turned out to be delicious. That afternoon we stopped by the Trevi Fountain and visited the Spanish Steps that night.
On day two we decided the only way to really do Rome would be to take a walking tour. We found one with a student discount that took us to the Piazza Navona, Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, the Roman Forum, and the Coliseum. Talk about history! Unfortunately our guide was awkward and pretentious so we didn’t get as much out of the tour as we had hoped. Still, it was a great way to visit many of Rome’s historical sites.
That evening we decided to do a pub crawl, hoping to meet more people to hang out with while in Rome. We met some girls from Argentina who helped us practice our Spanish, and Andrew saved a Finnish girl’s birthday (ask him for details!). Overall, a good night- would have been a great night but see “Moment of Misery” below.
Wednesday was a lazy day. We left the hotel without a plan and eventually found some ruins that we had heard a lot about. Hundreds of years ago there was a rat infestation in Rome so the emperor ordered 1,000 cats to be brought into the city as pest control. Now there are colonies of stray cats who live in many of the ancient ruins. The most populated one is the Area Sacra di Largo Argentina where about 100 cats have settled. They are all fixed, vaccinated, and fed by volunteer organizations in Rome. Allyson was in cat heaven! When we’d had enough of the cats we walked over to the Vatican City and made reservations for the following day to go to the Vatican Museum. The man in the tourism office told us that if we made reservations for 8am the next morning we would get to enjoy the museum with very little company. That night we made our way back to what had become our favorite hang out, Piazza Navona, where we had dinner and watched the street performers.
Thursday was our last full day and we dedicated it to the Vatican. Allyson started reading Angels and Demons and was loving being in the places she was reading about. The tourism had been right about the 8am reservations- the regular ticket office doesn’t open until 9am so we had an hour to wander the empty halls of the Vatican museum. We headed straight for the Sistine Chapel where we sat and admired it with just 5 other people. It was magical! One of our best decisions this trip. We rented audio guides and spent the next three hours looking at the rest of the Vatican’s enormous collection. The audio guide tour took us back to the Sistine Chapel, which at that point was packed shoulder to shoulder with sweaty tourists. We ended in St. Peter’s Basilica and after admiring the amazing architecture we say down on one of the few pews and read our Kindles for a bit. So fun!
We had hoped for an early bedtime because we had to get up at 6:45 the next morning to get to the airport to fly to Madrid. No such luck. When we were packing, Andrew discovered that his iPhone was missing so we tore apart our bags and the room looking for it. When we were satisfied that it was not in the room we realized that it must have been stolen out of our backpack while on our walking tour a few days before. Andrew called our travel insurance company to ask about coverage and found out that we would have to get the serial number for the phone from Apple and then file a police report with the Rome Police. At midnight, after many frantic phone calls and emails we set out for the police station. Allyson was less than enthusiastic. The first police station we found informed us that they were busy dealing with some prostitutes they had arrested and could not file our report. They directed us to another station, 10 blocks away. In the end we were able to file the report and walk away with a signed and stamp document, but didn’t get back to the hotel until 2am. Let’s just hope things work out with the insurance company!
Travel Blunder: On our first day in Rome we had the option of buying a 3-day metro pass for 11 euros. Andrew was convinced it would be a good investment because Rome looks huge on a map. Our feet can attest: we never used the pass again.
Moment of Misery: While we were on the pub crawl we were hanging out with different groups. As the night wound to a end, Andrew wandered out of the basement bar to look for Allyson on the street outside. Right when he stepped onto the top step he was met with a open palm to the face. He had be forcefully slapped by an angry man. The bouncer held the man back because it seemed as if he wanted to fight some more. Meanwhile, Andrew was standing dumbfounded with a hurt cheek on the top step. As Andrew inched by the bouncer the man was let down into the bar. Everyone outside had seen the entire situation go down. The tourists were shocked and angry while the bouncer and some of the locals seemed unaffected. Due to the fact that this was the first time Andrew had ever been truly hit before in public he decided to ask the bouncer why the man was still let into the club. The bouncer simply responded, “He’s a VIP.” After some further inquiries, Andrew and discovered the he had been slapped by the Roman Chief of Police. That wouldn’t fly in the US. We are still a little unclear on the situation.
Small World #1: In Sorrento we met a nice German couple staying at our campground bit didn’t get to talk much with them. At the Vatican Museum on Thursday amidst the midday crowds we found the Germans again!
Small World #2: When we were looking online at a bar crawl to do in Rome we found a program that looked fun. It had pictures of each night so we looked at the album from the previous week. All of a sudden Allyson was speechless as she pointed to a girl in one of the pictures… it was one of her Kappa sisters from Davis!
We only had a few hours in Madrid and we didn’t do too much. Allyson needed a nap after our late night yesterday so we really only made it out for dinner. Tomorrow morning we head back to the airport so Andrew can fly back to San Francisco and Allyson can meet up with her group for Granada.
