Had a suuuuper early start today – to be in Rome by 10.30 we had to leave Siena at 6.30am! After no breaky we had Mc Donald’s in Florence, then our connecting train to Rome. Rome was HOOOT. Far too hot. We are staying a short walk from the Rome train station, so we dropped off our luggage then set out for the day. Today was Roman Forum and Colosseum day, and another trip back to school with thoughts of Trajan’s Column, Arch of Titus etc etc running through my head. Walking around, I didn’t get a very welcoming feeling from Rome. I seemed to be on a whole new level of paranoid; we had been warned of the pick pocketers here but there were also a lot more beggars and hawkers here trying to weasel every last cents out of you. For example, there was a guy outside the Roman Forum area with 3 extremely tame budgies on his shoulder, and with every passer by he would transfer them onto their shoulders, or hat, or head. It was quite a sight, so a photo or two would usually be taken, and then the guy tries to charge you 5 euros! All the scabbers and beggars here really start to irritate me, it just gets really annoying and frustrating and makes the city a lot less beautiful. The Roman Forum was impressive and large and old, but the sun was scorching and frying my brain. It was cool to see the Arch of Titus, the Arch of Constantine, and Trajan’s Column. Colosseum was up next, which was pretty surreal. I don’t really know what else to say about it, but it was very impressive, and crazy to think of what went on there when it was in use. It was only mid afternoon when we finished up around the area, but it was so hot we decided to go back before meeting ASH. After a wrong turn though we ended up walking in the wrong direction for about half an hour! We did find a delicious pizza place on the way (if you look really hard, you can find pizza cafés which serve you by the weight, not precut slices – these are normally the best! There are a few around) so we had a scrumptious late lunch. We did end up taxiing back though as we ended up on a road that was completely off our map! At 6.30 we met Ash as planned, outside the Furla shop at the bottom left of the Spanish stairs. Crazy cool!!! Walked around the shopping/eating district with her then chose a cheap spot for dinner. It was so exciting to see her, after so long, and before another a MASSIVELY long time again as she will be on exchange! We had nutella crepes for dessert then went to meet up with her fam. The walk home was a bit creepy but I’ve got it in my head today to trust no one in Rome… it’s probably not that bad I have just been over paranoid! Our room has gone from bad to worse… the air con leaks and floods the bathroom floor, the shower hasn’t been cleaned from the last person (WTF) the safe doesn’t work, the wifi doesn’t work… went to bed a wee bit grumpyz.
Day 30, 29-07
Had a crappy but free breakfast, and then headed into town. Today’s agenda – Trevi fountain, Pantheon, walk around, Spanish steps. The fountain was a grand sight but very busy already. We threw our three pennies in – one to return to Rome (although not sure if I’ll be returning anytime soon), two for love, and three for something else which slips my mind, so we said for safe travels. We then walked our way to the Pantheon – highly anticipated by both me and Nush. It was also very surreal and of such beautiful proportions – the oculus is like 9m in diameter and the whole dome shape is a superimposed sphere inside a cube. The oculus is open air as it always has been so when it rains the whole building floods. I can only imagine how wonderful such an event would be. We walked to Piazza Navona, then around the little streets and alleyways in that area. It was very beautiful and quiet, hardly any people and quite a world away from the tourist attractions. In our stumblings we came across Pizza ZAZA – SUCH an epic find! Like the pizza yesterday, it was weigh by the slice. I finally fulfilled my salmon cravings and got a small slice of salmon, broccoli and mozzarella, a small slice of tomato, pesto and parmesan, and an arancini croquette. It was deeeelicious. I highly recommend you find Piazza S. Eustachio to the left of the Pantheon and find ZAZA now. In a full and hot state we walked all the way home without the Spanish steps and had a much needed nap. Dinner was a great satisfaction to my Asian food cravings. To be honest, you won’t find a single good Chinese restaurant in the whole of Europe (Jap is different). Through Spain and now Italy, Chinese food is rare and expensive, and between pretty bad to pretty average. On the upside, I need it so much that I don’t really mind, and enjoy it anyway! Tonight was a similar experience. Tomorrow will be Chinese dinner take 2.
Day 31, 30-07
Today was an early start, after a quick breaky and mission finding the key, which luckily was found in my dirty washing bag… we headed towards the Vatican. We used the metro for the first time in Italy, which was a pleasant enough experience. The Vatican opens at 9am M-Sa; tours or prebooked tickets are suggested to save yourself queuing at the other end, but if you want to save a few dollars you can just turn up earlier in the day to get student prices, which is what we did. We arrived just after 9 and there was only about a half hour wait so that was all good. Watch out for all the liars and lame hawkers around trying to sell you last minute tours and shawls though! The Vatican museum was very large and impressive, filled with a lot of things I didn’t really expect, such as Egyptian mummy exhibitions. We saw a lot more sculptures and busts, and also a couple of mosaics we remembered from Classics which was pretty cool and funny. The Sistine chapel was also very unexpected, I actually had never seen photos of the inside (apart from the ceiling paintings) before, but it far defeated any sort of chapel like image in my mind. The room itself was very regular; a large rectangular room divided into two, and not much more, although it was impossible to see (and fully appreciate) everything as it was filled with visitors and security telling you to be quiet every few minutes. The beauty came from the artwork covering most visible surfaces – the famous frescos and paintings by Michelangelo. We walked around the other side of the Vatican City to see St. Peter’s Basilica and the famous Plaza. It was just like in the movies! I was so star struck by the massive circular colonnade that formed around the square. It was so hot though. After a wee bit of hilarious and ridiculous dress code kerfuffle, we were finally let in. The church was absolutely massive and highly decorated inside – I can never get over the amount of detail on ceilings especially that fill these buildings. By now however it was definitely time for lunch. We spent over 3 hours in the Vatican City which you think would be a good effort, but we hardly stopped for a second, so if you are any less ignorant than us or there on a not so hot day I would plan the better half of the day off for it. It was now our mission to get back to yogurt & fruit place and ZAZA from yesterday - two places we couldn’t give up on so easily. The walk took us back over the bridge to our side. And boy did they satisfy! The menu at ZAZA’s had changed slightly, today I got tomato base with mozzarella, pesto and parmesan, and mushroom, chives, crisp ham and mozzarella. Sooo good. The secret is apparently in their 60 hour rise dough! Full stomachs and super burny sun meant another taxi home which was well worth it. Sleep and movie later (I sense some sort of pattern?) we were ready for dinner! Last night after expensive Chinese dinner we spotted 2 other Chinese places on the way home, one cheaper and one super cheap. The more expensive cheaper place was chosen for a safer bet of food standards, but we ended up having the most hilariously rude run in there. It was 7pm, the restaurant was only slightly full and the inside seemed to be so messy, food scraps all over heaps of the tables. We asked for a table for two, the lady came out and says NO sorry we only take big groups here. After a bit of clarity for our own sake (what kind of restaurant only takes groups), she still meant what she meant, said no with no reason and told us to get out. On our way walking out there was blatently a couple eating on a table in the corner. Stupid bitch. So we ended up at the SUPER cheap Chinese/Phillipino restaurant number 3, which was just awesome! It was the most ridiculously cheap meal of our lives, probably about 2 x better than last night’s Chinese, yet we got 2 x as much food, and it was 2 x cheaper. That’s pretty epic if you ask me! The only dodgeyness experienced was that one of our dishes was chicken and veges on rice but we couldn’t tell if it was chicken or fish… It must be a local for lots of people too as by the end of our meal the place was scarily swarmed by Phillipino and Chinese people, and it was about the size of a bedroom. WAKAO! Can’t wait for tomorrow – REST DAY! Because we have nothing better to do in Rome and I still don’t like it thaaaat much. Annoying people, please get out of my life.
31-07
Today was day off! After a wee sleep in, we walked off to the Spanish steps again to start our day’s itinerary. Of course, it was very hot again. Via del Corso is a the main shopping street in Rome, and the few side streets off it are pretty dece too. There is a large range of high end fashion shops as well as larger chain stores (Zara on every corner etc), smaller boutiques and less known local brands. Lunch was our last time trip to the area behind Piazza Navona to the cute less touristy streets filled with yummy food places and cute vintage shops in the little lanes. For our last day, we defs had to ZAZA it, and Nush got her yoghurt con frutti which had also been a regular for the past few days. We should be considered regulars by now… the day went slowly but after a bit of shopping and stopping we made our way back to the hotel in the mid afternoon. For dinner tonight we went back to the area we got lost in on the first day – Via Merulana, back to the first day pizza place! We really like to stick to places don’t we… can’t remember if I mentioned it or not but we noticed on the first day, that as well as having amaze pizza (ZAZA is still BETTER) there was sooo much other yummy food on display – rustic homemade lasagne and pastas, risotto, amazing looking roast chicken, roasted veges and beef carpaccio and fish. So we went back to test out the waters. Such a fantastic deal – for 9 euro you got a massive plate of one pasta, meat and veges, so we shared that as well as some fab pizza. Back early tonight for our last night in Rome. It hasn’t been my favourite of places – the attractions are pretty spectacular and surreal, but the seediness makes it pretty hard to feel completely relaxed! I mean, in the walk to dinner tonight we saw a guy in his 20s begging in his underwear outside the train station with all his clothes hanging on the tree next to him. WTF? Also as a side note, traffic is crazy here… pedestrian crossings don’t mean a thing, you have to be brave enough to walk out onto a road of full speed incoming traffic and just hope that the cars will weave around you. Uhg!
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