Roma - First Day

Lindsey, the bunny whisperer.

We took a morning train out of La Spezia, the closest major city to Cinque Terre. I was hoping for the Frecciarossa, the fastest train in Italy, but it only runs from Florence. So we "settled" for a Frecciabianca, also fast - averaging around 80-100mph from what I could tell. The train took us down the west coast of Italy, giving us a wonderful view of the water and coastal towns separated by groves of olive trees, fields of wheat, and other crops unidentifiable from a moving train. Along the way we picked up a teenager headed home to Rome and his pet rabbit that he left in Lindsey's care while he went to for a smoke. This little bunny was rather cute, I must admit.

We got into Rome's Termini station at about 5pm amidst a buzz of Roman activity. The day was already winding down for most people and you could see city exodus about to happen at the train station. We decided to walk up to the Repubblica, a plaza much like NYC's Columbus Circle, fountain and all, only there was the ancient remains of a building (church?) now converted into something Frankenstein would be proud of with metal and glass additions, repurposed into offices perhaps.

Turning left at the Repubblica, we walked down Via Nazionale. This was tough as we were walking straight into the intense late day sun. Via Nazionale is similar to any NYC street with shops, a wide street, wide sidewalks and metro buses abound. The only difference is the old buildings pressed between new ones. In fact I was so unexpectedly curious about one ancient church exterior that I failed to see the giant granite bench in front of me! Fortunately I missed the bench, but my wheeled suitcase did not, which was the source of good laughter for some locals. Laugh it up Romans.

Realizing Google Maps placed our hotel (just north of the Victor Emmanuel monument) on the wrong street, we utilized some Italian and old fashioned map reading skills to find the correct street. Thanks Google. Our hotel was far from special, but it was located in the heart of the city.

Deciding we were starved (6 hours or more on trains will do that) we scrambled with our dwindling cognitive abilities to come up with a solution from our guide book. It was just about 6 and nothing opens in Italy before 7 to 7:30 for meals, except for this place: a German bier hall. Hmm, sounded bad even then but we were hungry. Easily found the place nearby and sat down with the other starved and desperate tourists. Strike one - simply because our suspicions were confirmed. While looking over the menu of würstel (?!) and other German-Italian fare, I noticed all of the beers were Peroni. Strike two - Italian beers. Watching our fellow prisoners, ah, foreign restaurant patrons sitting, standing, flagging, and exclaiming stressfully for wait service from one of the seven servers for fifteen minutes I decided that was enough. Strike 3 - beyond Italian level horrible wait service. We stood up and left amidst confused and concerned questions of assistance ("Prego?!"). The thinnest pizza ever eaten was ours within thirty minutes of that experience. So thin it was like eating giant wafers with sauce and cheese. Much better than faux German bier hall food and service.

This was between pizza and Trevi Fountain.  Cool!

Trevi Fountain - 13s exposure

Starvation fended off, we decided to walk north. A block later we hit the Trevi Fountain...and the mob of people surrounding it. Very pretty to witness at night so we lingered for a bit while the entrepreneurial middle eastern types peddled flowers to everything that might be a female, spun light up tops and whirligigs in the air, showed us their impressive collections of miniature tripods, and were offered bargain deals in the latest glow-wear fashions. Deciding to walk further north to the Spanish Steps, we left behind the impressive fountain.

The Spanish Steps were rather busy at night too, only by a mostly teenage to twenty-something demographic (and more middle eastern entrepreneurs). Not too much to look at, but certainly large in size, topped by a borrowed Egyptian obelisk, and a church (replete with directions to McDonald's), the Steps were wonderfully quiet part way up. From here we could see far down an illuminated street and across the rooftops of Rome. A bit romantic...but not €1 rose ("real - cheap!") romantic.

Spanish Steps - 30s exposure

Piazza del Popolo, down Via Corsa and twin buildings

Not quite tired yet, and certainly still excited to see more of Rome at night we meandered in the direction of the Piazza del Popolo. Not sure what to expect of the piazza and realizing very few people were in this part of town (even if well lit), we walked a little faster. The piazza is a giant courtyard with an equally giant borrowed Egyptian obelisk in the center on top of a fountain. Here we noticed for the first time the bronze cross proudly mounted on top. Nice touch. Even the middle eastern entrepreneurs were looking a little tired here, so we turned around and walked south down the via Corsa.

Via Corsa is the other main drag in Rome. Many stores to look into, most with mannequins proudly showing plastic cleavage beneath designer clothes and denim jean-wear. We strolled back, marveling a little more at the night life of roller bladers meeting up for a social gathering, miniature cars zipping or slowly rolling, and any requisite praying one needs to perform within open church doors. Rome is going to be more of the same and yet definitely possibilities that could prove interesting, entertaining, and new to us.

Roller blading late night meetup

Trajan's Column

Midnight prayer?

Victor Emmanuel monument

Street cobble in repair.  All hand laid, all over Rome!

(Still glad we didn't fall complete victims to the faux German bier hall.)

-NT

Location:Via 24 Maggio,Rome,Italy