Global Moorings: Days 73-75 (May 18 - 20, 2013): Rome, Italy

The Quick Facts:

* Three days in Roma, our first stop in Europe
* Did all of the main sites – Roman Forum, Colosseum, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, Vatican, Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica, and more!
* Stayed at three different hostels since we booked last minute – Central Station Inn in Ciampino, Il Gong Guesthouse in Bologna, and Le Constellazion B&B in Bologna (Bologna is a section in Rome, near a metro stop…as opposed to the actual city in Northern Italy). All were nice – Il Gusto was the best value for the money.

The Good:

* The food! As those of you who have been to Italy know, it’s seriously good stuff.
* St. Peter’s Basilica I found to be especially moving and beautiful
* The Colosseum is awesome, although the Romans were some twisted people back in the day!
* Ristorante di Franco – just a little restaurant we found near our hostel at the Bologna metro stop. As you might expect, Franco was our host for the evening. Not only was he gracious and joyous (he seriously would sing and hum as he carved you some meat tableside or showed other people the fish he was going to cook for them), but he turned out some of the best food we had in Italy. It’s a little out of the way if you’re staying in the heart of Rome, but it’s close to the metro and was a great experience for us. 29 Via Stamira, ~5 minutes walk from Bologna metro stop

The Bad:

* Hmmm, amazing historical sites, endless amounts of Italian food, and gelato that will make you never want to eat ice cream again….what could be bad?

Few things in my life had I anticipated more than my arrival into Italy (my first time). As a mild nut for Italian food, hearing everyone else rave about the quality of the food in Italy has been hard to handle for so many years. Once we landed in Rome and made it to our hostel, our first lunch at a little café in the Ciampino area of Rome did not disappoint. Nor did the next three days. I think you get the point about the food (Andy was happy), so I’ll move on to the sites. We did a lot in our three days, so I will hit the things that I liked best rather than a chronology of events.

I’ll start with St. Peter’s Basilica. Its presence and beauty are immediately apparent when you first take hold of it, and are only cemented as you get closer and then actually inside.

Standing on the steps looking out onto the square, what a beautiful sky!

And the pope’s guards….can’t they find uniforms so I can take them more seriously?!?

Also in the area of St. Peter’s is the Musei Vaticani (the Vatican Museum) which includes the Sistine Chapel. Getting in is chaos. Here’s the line when we got there…

….which leads to this line when you turn the corner….

…which led to another line indoors. Basically, the whole experience is one big line, almost like a ride at Disney World, as you are shuttled on a one way trip through room after beautiful room of paintings, sculptures, and tapestries.

The pinnacle of the journey is, of course, the Sistine Chapel. And, of course, you can’t take pictures so this is all I got, including the line to make your way in!

The Colosseum is another one of those sites that, when you come upon it, immediately answers the question as to why it’s so touristy!

We went inside of course….the maze thing on the floor was actually underground back in the day, and was where they would keep all the animals and gladiators used in the games. This was covered by a wooden floor that contained a series of trap doors so all the animals, people, and props (yes, props) could be loaded onto the floor seemingly by magic.

We also hit the Pantheon, which I enjoyed because it’s an interesting piece of architecture – no visible arches to hold the thing up, and the diameter of the dome is equal to the height of the building. The hole in the dome you see is 9m across, to give you a sense of the size.