Rome

Rome Pictures uploaded from the Hall's camera.

The morning began as we met with Manuela (Flavia's Mom). She took us to the bus stop to catch the bus to Rome. Manuela guided us to a parking lot with a small bus stop more like a city bus stop than the regional bus station I had envisioned. She told us to just sit under the tiny awning and wait for a bus and ask the driver if it was going to Rome. Our ticket said 9:00 a.m.,but it was well after 9:30 before a bus came that was headed to Rome. As we sit watching morning commuters catch their city bus we wondered if we had some how misunderstood the directions given in mostly Italian. However a nice charter bus finally arrived and the drive answered "si" when asked if he was headed to Rome.

If you are from the United States a bus ride conjures up a mental picture of a musty Grey Hound filled with people of questionable character. But when we climbed aboard for journey to the place where civilization was born I was amazed by our fellow travelers. Many looked as if they were headed to an important business meeting in Rome. We found our seats and roared out of Sienna.

Once in Rome we grab a cab from the bus station, but before leaving we snapped a picture of the station name so we could show a cab drive if we needed. The ride to the hotel was a little nerve racking as the cabbie kept consulting his pocket street index and map while we navigated our way through the maze of buildings and monuments that is know as the city of Rome. At one point the the cab turned down a street with barely enough room to open the doors on our cab. Our hotel was on the corner. I give our cab drive an A+++ for finding the door. No big neon sign or flags welcoming visitors, in fact the I began walking to the wrong door and the drive honked his horn and pointed me in the right direction.

The room was on the 2nd level and had a window that allowed Kimbra and I soak up the sounds and smells of this ancient city. We dropped our bags and headed off into the Italian concrete jungle. First on our hit list was the Pantheon, which stands for "Temple of all the God's". This majestic building is the oldest standing domed structure in Rome being built some time in the 7th century. The area outside was filled with tourist and street vendors doing a type of dance that was both uneasy and fascinating at the same time. Once inside we all stood in amazement as we gazed up at the incredible dome. I pulled out my ipod and found the Rick Steves audio tour I down loaded and handed an ear bud to our everyone in our party. It must have looked a little funny for Americans connected by a little white wire moving in sync around the crowed room.
But, we didn't mind as we were getting the history of the building and the artwork inside.

After completing the tour we moved onto our next target, Trevi Fountain. The Trevi Fountain is the largest — standing 25.9 meters (85 feet) high and 19.8 meters (65 feet) wide — and most ambitious of the Baroque fountains of Rome. It is located in the rione of Trevi. Navigating the confusing streets and alleyways of the Rome was half the adventure in visiting this great city. As we neared our destination we could hear the roar of water and of the crowds. We were not disappointed. The fountain spread out before us and as we thought about the meaning of its existence, we were again in awe.

Looking at our watch, we headed off to find the Colosseum. We needed to get to their by 16:30 and had just enough time to make it. While walking up to the massive elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire, we could not keep from taking pictures. We arrived at the gates has they were pulling them shut, 16:32. One picture too many!

We walked over to the Forum hoping to get in the gate before closing, but had little luck their as well. Rick Steves, our little guide book, said we had until 18:00 but he was wrong or we read it wrong. Either way we were denied admission. At this point we hopped on one of the sightseeing buses and rode around for a while getting off at Campo De Fiori.

We found a restaurant and took our seats. Eating two hours earlier than everyone else has its privileges. I now know why senior citizens eat at 4:30 p.m. The restaurant was empty and we had the full attention of the waiter. Krystal took the opportunity to take a picture of the cook. We could watch him at work through an open window and thought it would make for a great picture. This lead to a personal visit from the head chef. He wants us to send copies of the picture back to him. My limited creative writing abilities keeps me from fully describing the atmosphere of the evening.

3 bottles of vino and lots of food later we headed back to our hotel. We were hopping to blog on the laptop that Russell and Krystal brought, but the battery crashed and we didn't have the charger. The Halls headed off to their Hotel, a Hilton Cavaliri overlooking the Vatican, to see how really wealthy people travel to Rome. They were lucky enough to have some air miles donated to them.

Kimbra and I went up to the room, retrieved our Rick Steves book and set out on a midnight stroll through the streets of Rome. We made down the list of landmarks, finding out that Rome after midnight is very different than the Rome we had visited just 7 hours earlier. Their were couples walking arm in arm, college students on an Irish Pub craw were moving from one Irish pub to the next (it was St. Patrick's day) and Kimbra and I were taking it all in. We set on the Spanish Steps reigniting the passion that has been buried by the busy life of working parents. The aches and and pains of the day bled away as we sit holding each other listening to the sounds of the fountain down below. Unless you have seen pictures or have been here you I can not possibly convey the beauty of the Roman fountains in writing. They are unlike anything I have dreamed. The Romans truly knew how to flaunt their superior position in the world. As we make our way back to our hotel we realize that it's after 2:00 a.m. and we will only get a 4 hours of sleep. It was worth the exhausting we felt the next day. More on the 2nd day in Rome later. Make it a great day.

Dave