#FlashbackFriday - Rome, July 2010
*Note: I will periodically be doing #FlashbackFriday posts, covering trips from years prior to the existence of this website. Hope you enjoy my stories!
Things I am good at: Getting lost.
Things I am ALSO good at: Following a map.
These may seem mutually exclusive, but in Rome they definitely aren't. Rome's street map was designed by monkeys. Or possibly by a toddler throwing spaghetti at a sheet. The streets here just don't make any sense. They twist and turn and one block has one name and the next block another. Rome is quite obviously an ancient city, because it's ridiculously planned as many ancient cities seem to a modern audience. I proved this within 15 minutes of arrival at the train station (from the airport) by getting completely turned around on the way to my hotel.
To start from the beginning, a little advice: If you fly into Rome, and if you take the easy "Leonardo Express" train into town from the airport, you MUST validate your ticket in the little yellow machine. I learned this the hard way by proxy--the people sitting next to me on the train hadn't validated (I did) and ended up paying a 50€ fine. Oy. (*please note, this story is from 2010, the validation procedure or the fine amount may have changed. Always double-check for yourself.)
I planned to walk from the train station to my hotel--all of 1/2 a mile. Unfortunately, I can't always find my way out of a paper bag, so my short walk was almost doubled by lostness. Since it was also my first time in the Rome heat and I was wearing a backpack and dragging my little wheeled suitcase, I was red and dripping by the time I got there.
Despite my transit woes, I still believe in hitting the ground running. It’s the best way to fight jet lag, and the best way to start a new adventure.
Since Rome is built on a series of hills, walks are more like hikes. Therefore, I hiked up the hill to the Basilica of Saint Peter in Chains (San Pietro i Vicolo). No, I wasn't particularly interested in the chains that supposedly held St. Peter when he was a prisoner in both Rome and Jerusalem, but this church holds a piece of statuary that is famous around the world - Michaelangelo's Moses. This is the famous statue of Moses with horns, a mis-translation of the word for "rays," as Moses was said to be "radiating light" when he descended from Mt. Sinai with the Ten Commandments. Of course, this statue is also one of the reasons why, for hundreds of years, ignorant people thought that Jews had horns. The statue itself is beautiful, if confused.
I proceeded to the Colosseum and the Roman Forum for a history lesson. The Colosseum is a massive ruin. It's neat to walk around and get a sense for the scale and the absurdity of what happened there (gladiators, etc.), but I'm not sure I appreciated it fully. On the other hand, the Forum was fascinating. I started at the Arch of Titus, erected by Jewish slaves and celebrating the conquering of the Jews by the Romans. I'm very proud to let you all know that I spit on the Arch. Take that, Titus!
Walking through the forum is fascinating, particularly with a good explanation (I downloaded free Rick Steves audioguides for several locations). You hear about the emperors (caesars), and I've read Shakespeare's version of Julius Caesar, but it feels very fictional until you see the place where Julius was cremated (people still put flowers there). The scope of history in Rome is amazing, a great reminder of how young the US is, countrywise (okay, yes, technically Italy is only 140 years old, but that's just nitpicking).
In the evening I strolled down to the Trevi Fountain. Now, the Trevi Fountain is something everyone should see if they visit Rome. It should especially be seen at night, when it's beautifully lit up. However, anyone who's seen it in a movie, where the heroine wanders alone by the fountain and makes a wish as she throws her coin, has been lied to. It was a MOB SCENE. Absolutely packed. Fortunately, the crowd was very polite and was letting everyone take their turn by the rim. Yes, I threw my coin. Yes, I made a wish. No, I'm not telling you what it was.
Maybe it will show up in a later post…
