The Pensione is very nice considering I am paying only 30Euro a night. It's basic - a bed, a table and chair, armoire, and a wash basin in the room. The mattress is extremely comfortable and the sheets don't scratch. Bonus! Although... I was dead tired the night before and would have slept like a stone on the bare floor with a yoga mat and burlap blankets. The only problem with the room is that it is right next to the bathroom & shower, and other guests don't seem to care if they are making noise in a place that really echoes. It echoes in the hallway, it echoes in the rooms, why wouldn't you think it would echo in the bathroom. I don't want to hear your straining to perform your bodily functions, people. That is all.
Got myself ready to go and headed out to meet up with Trixy and Allan at Termini station. It's a huge place so I had told them to meet me in front of the McDonalds. There's only one in the station so it shouldn't be a problem to find me. I kept an eye on the board for their train arrival notice and kept seeing the time push back, five minutes, then fifteen, then a half hour. The Italian word for delay is "ritard" which reminds me of Galifiniakis in "The Hangover" which makes me giggle. Because I'm mentally twelve some days, okay?
Their train from Civitavecchia finally arrived and they found me. What was up with the train "ritard?" Allan said they were an hour into their journey (the trip takes 75 minutes) and an announcement came through the PA asking if there were any doctors aboard to please make their way to car number 5. Allan isn't a doc but he is an E/R nurse and teaches lifesaving certification skills courses to doctors and all E/R personnel so he went to check it out in the next car. He ended up giving chest compressions to an older gentleman. Why they stopped the train fifteen minutes away from Rome I don't know, but when they arrived at Termini an ambulance team boarded and used a defibrillator machine on the guy before they took him away on the gurney. Go Allan! Way to start the day.
Outside the station there was a noisy demonstration going on due to the fact that it was Berlusconi's birthday. Unhappy people protesting against politicians. It's like I never left the Bay Area.
We caught a cab and took it over to the Trevi fountain. The time schedule in my head was off and I didn't want to waste a moment waiting for the metro. I engaged the lady cabdriver to take us to the fountain and wait for us, then take us on to the Colosseum. We had 11:30 reservations for entrance.
Trevi is always gorgeous and a showstopper, even with hundreds of people crowding around it. I took full advantage of my height to put the camera above my head and hope that I could get a shot without half the world in the frame. It worked!
Across the street and away from the throngs of people is a gelato shop, and I popped in to find out if they have a Nutella flavor. This is the flavor Allan and Trixy wanted to try. They did and we feasted quickly before returning to the cab. Yum! I don't have enough gelato in my life om a daily basis. I need to remedy that.
We made our reservation time and got our tickets, avoiding the approximate 90 minute wait (Yay for online reservation systems. Seriously, why DON'T people look this stuff up in advance and handle it???) Behold, the Anfiteatro Flaviana, AKA the Colosseo.
We made our way past the Arch of Constantine and up the hill toward the Roman Forum. And this is where Kris learned the difference between going to sites with a tour group and going it alone.
Mind you, dear readers, I had been at the Foro Romano about a week before. We just walked right up that hill and waltzed in under the the Arch of Titus. Not when you're not with a licensed guide as part of a tour, you don't. Turned away and made to walk over a half mile away to an entrance I hadn't seen before. Oh well. Along the way I yammered on about dates, details and historical overviews on Roman life for them.
We spent a considerable amount of time there, and I almost took a tumble with misplaced footing. Careful! It was 1:30 and we were hungry... time to leave ancient Rome and get some grub. I had the place picked out. On to L'Orso 80 for copious amounts of food please!
(Monument to Vittorio Emmanuele II and The Unknown Soldier, also known as the Wedding Cake, the Dentures, the Typewriter, and any other derogatory terms in Italian.)
We walked in to "l'Orso 80" and I told the waiter we wanted the antipasti misti, mixed appetizers, some red wine and water please. Then sat back and watched Trixy & Allan's faces as plate after plate arrived with the small mounds of goodness arrived. Eighteen dishes of veggies, meats, and cheeses. Nothing heavy and pretty healthy, all things considered. This picture is only half of the table. I love this place.
After rolling ourselves away from the restaurant we struck out for Saint Peter's Basilica; the highlight of their day in Rome. Trixy & Allan take their Catholicism seriously and this was the main reason they wanted to be here in the city. To see it in person for once in their lives. I'm happy to oblige.
There is not really any way to describe the monumental scale of the church. It is just massive. Everything is grand - picture the highest ceiling in any church you've been in, or an atrium in a skyscraper, something on that order - this is taller than that. The columns are huge, the cherubini decorating the basin of holy water are four feet tall. Big fat cherubs, indeed!
I went see Michelangelo's Pieta while they went to a side chapel to pray for a while. This is his first Pieta, the best one. It is behind a bulletproof wall, thanks to a crazyman attacking Mary's knee with a hammer a couple of decades ago. But, it is exquisite.
I've said it before, how statues tend to give me the most visceral emotional reactions in art, and this one is the motherlode for me. Forget about religious beliefs, this is a mother's sorrow at the loss of her child. The fact the Michelangelo did this at the age of 25 is beyond my comprehension and that he was able to convey the emotions on her face, let alone the artistry of the billowing folds in Mary's dress. I get goosebumps, then the tears well up in my eyes. Every single time.
I only wish my photos could do it justice, and that my flash was better for these pictures.
After finally tearing ourselves away from the Basilica we made our way across the Piazza to the cabstand. There was a Japanese couple marching along beside us, arguing the whole way. And it's a big Piazza. He would holler at her, she would yell back at him. Stop walking - wildly gesticulate - emphatic harsh sounding words. He grabbed her by the elbow. YELLING. At one point things really escalated to where it sounded and looked like he was going to strike her and I jumped in on them.
"HEY -STOP! ENOUGH! KNOCK IT OFF!"
This broke the spell and he started yelling at me. I don't care if they spoke a word of English or not. This is not the place to be screaming at anyone. Anywhere in public is not the place, actually. I don't care if you lost your tourguide, had your money stolen, a Vespa ran over your dog, whatever, stop being an idiot in public - in front of a church no less.
I started waving for a policeman across the street. Dude got the drift and shut up. The Carabinieri came over and I told him in Italian these people needed assistance of some kind and they are very upset. He started attempting to sort things out for them. Maybe he took her back to the hotel and beat her up, I don't know, but I didn't need to see it happen in broad daylight in front of me.
Trixy said it looked like I was going to swing on the guy. That wouldn't have happened, I don't need to land myself in jail, but I would have stood toe to toe with him in a staredown, that's for sure. Angry man = 0, Kris = 1. No fists this time around... my Dad will be so proud.
We got into a cab and got them to Termini where we hugged our goodbyes. They were moving on to Naples and the Amalfi Coast next but I won't be joining them. I have my next tour starting tomorrow afternoon. Squeeeeeeeee!
Another early evening and sleeping like the dead, this time with toilet paper stuffed in my ears to ward off the auditory assaults from the bathroom. Goodnight!
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