Roaming

I over-Romed again, and this time I am feeling it in more than my feet.

A day is a long time to kill exploring. I think it would have been much better if I’d gotten an apartment so that I would have a place to hang out and even cook some meals, picking up things at the little grocery stores I’ve passed but have not entered because I don’t want to see what I can’t have.

Anyway, I got up early because I wanted to get out early. I don’t know why. I think I was still excited from yesterday. The hotel breakfast buffet was okay – yogurt, fruit cocktail (which I did not have), croissants, rolls, salami and cheese, juice and some cereal. I tried to eat a lot so that I could save a little on lunch. I’m not sure how my strategy worked.

I then went to Termini station to find a drugstore. I still have this stupid cold. It’s been like two weeks now. Maybe it is allergies, but I take an allergy pill every day. I’m tired of sneezing and sniffling, so I went to look for the pharmacy that my guide book told me was located there.

I went down to the lower level and found a place that said “drugstore” – when I entered, it turned out to be a grocery store and I didn’t see anything resembling any drugs – not even cough drops. When I left, I looked at the sign again to see if I had made a mistake, but sure enough, in big bold letters it said “drugstore”. I’m not sure what that was about.

The station was buzzing with the activity of the morning commute. It was good to see what it will be like when I head to the airport next Tuesday. I have my ticket already so all I need to do is get to the train. It will be easy.

Further down, I saw a green cross, which I have learned means pharmacy. I went in and asked the pharmacist for something for congestion. He asked me if I wanted tablets or spray and I got tablets. I took one this morning and just took one so that I won’t be congested when I sleep. I don’t know if this cold will ever go away – it feels like it won’t.

From there, I went up the street to the bus stop for the double-decker hop on/hop off sightseeing bus. The first bus left at 9 a.m. and I was on it. The ticket is valid for two days and I am thinking it might be how I get to the Vatican tomorrow since it stops very close to St. Peter’s Square.

At first the tour was a lot of fun. We rolled out past the station and headed around towards the Colosseum, passing several different sites along the way with a narration about each site and some info on the history of Rome – Romulus and Remus, the she-wolf who suckled them, vestal virgins and all that. It was actually kind of interesting stuff. One of the most interesting facts I heard was that imperial Rome reached a population of 1 million citizens, not counting “freemen” and slaves, and the total Roman Empire had a population of 50 million. So that means of those 50 million people only 1 million were considered citizens and actually had rights. That doesn’t seem very fair to me. I also heard about the rise and fall of the empire, the sacking by the Barbarians and Visigoths and how it was all rebuilt and restored during the Renaissance. It was also interesting to hear about the Vatican and the Popes roles in all of this. Between commentary we listened to different little songs, Vivaldi, and some other very Italian sounding pieces of music.
But after a while, it all started to get pretty old. We spent a lot of time stuck in traffic and the music kept repeating over and over again. It took about two hours for us to do the full route. I was going to continue on and get off at some stops but I had had enough and decided to walk to a basilica that we passed that was just on the other side of Termini Station.

It is called the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore and is a huge long place with a flat, gold plated ceiling and some beautiful mosaics in the ceiling and tiles on the floor. Apparently the mosaics are made from gold, lapis lazuli and other precious stones. I like the shocked expressions of the saints with their wide-eyed stares and how flat everything was. I also liked seeing the women who were wearing shameless clothing who were forced by the man standing guard at the entrance to wrap themselves with this tissue paper stuff. If they had bare shoulders they had to wear it like a shawl. If they were wearing shorts, they had to wrap it around them like a skirt. Interestingly though, men with shorts were allowed in with no clothing modifications. I thought it was all a little silly to be honest.
There were also confessionals scattered around and priests in full view were hearing confession from people also in full view. No comment on that.

From there, I decided to wait for the next tour bus, but the other line. There are two lines I can take, a red line and a blue line. I’m not sure what the difference is, but I thought it would be nice to see. But I was kind of hungry and thought it would be good to get something to eat before I got on the bus. I walked around looking for something to eat and instead found another basilica, also with some beautiful mosaics. From there, I ended up going to a pizzeria that had different dishes, kind of cafeteria style. I tried their eggplant parmesan, but was thinking of maybe veal scallopine or chicken cacciatore – maybe tomorrow. The eggplant was good, but it needed to be heated up.

I then went back to Santa Maria Maggiore to get on the blue line but saw I had 45 minutes to kill, as that line only had busses every hour. So I walked across the street to get a gelato. I tried their cinnamon. I was very disappointed. I think it just wasn’t good gelato. It didn’t taste like cinnamon and just wasn’t good.
Finally, the bus arrived and we headed off. We passed a lot of the same sights and the commentary and the music was the same. But then we went off in a different direction. In the end I am not sure if I really saw a whole lot that was new. I think the only thing I noticed was that the blue line had a bus stop near Trevi Fountain, though we never actually saw the fountain from the bus.

By now I was hot and tired and came back to my room for a nap.

After sleeping for maybe a little too long I went out in search of food. I really wish I could find a good, reasonably priced restaurant that is not too far from here. I would go back there every night.

I was searching for the old Jewish ghetto. Turns out one of the Popes in the 15th century or thereabouts made all Jews move to the ghetto. I want to find out more about that. I wonder how it coincided with the Reconquista in Spain. It wasn’t a very nice thing to do as it ended up laying the groundwork for the Holocaust and progroms in Russia I think.

Well, anyway, my guide book mentions some restaurants in the ghetto but fails to mention where it is located. I looked on my map and saw no mention of it. I was walking in vain because I had no idea what I was looking for. I’ll do an internet search later.

I ended up stumbling across Trevi Fountain, still mobbed even though it was late in the day. From there I wandered through some back streets and eventually found a little place that had a happy hour special and looked like a good place to try. They also accepted credit cards and since I was over budget today because of my bus tour ticket, I decided I would use my credit card and splurge a little.
I ordered tagliatelle alla Bolognese and a mixed salad and a glass of wine. My wine came and a German guy at the next table lit up a cigar, blowing the smoke right in my face. I asked the waiter if I could move and took a table behind the table of Germans but the wind shifted. The guy continued to smoke the cigar through my entire meal and I and the couple next to were waving the smoke away every time he exhaled. It was horrible.

I am really tired of the smoke. It is everywhere. Even on the tour bus today we would stop at certain stops and wait and the driver would step out and smoke a cigarette, right under me. I hate 2nd hand smoke and especially with this cold or whatever, my nose is very sensitive. I don’t get why Europeans still smoke so much. Do Europeans cigarettes not cause cancer and all that nasty stuff? Actually, in Duty Free in Seville I saw a sign with the cigarettes that said, “smoking can kill” – I thought that was pretty blunt and direct. Apparently, there are still some people who are not paying attention. I’ve thought several times of just buying a pack myself. If I am going to be breathing smoke, I might as well get the pleasure from it as well. But to be honest, I have no desire to smoke these days. I just want clean air.

So, disheartened about a meal that could have been pretty good, I went to search to find where the string of gelatos I had seen parading by me were coming from. I found a big bakery with a gelato counter in the back. Two guys were involved in a very animated conversation and marginally helping customers. I got a small cone with rice and a bit of chocolate. I had finally found the rice gelato I was looking for. They put a big dab of whipped cream on it.

The rice gelato was not as good as I thought it would be. It needed cinnamon, but still it was good. The chocolate was fantastic, and the whipped cream was phenomenal.

Walking along eating my gelato, not sure where I was, I eventually came to a sign telling me there was a McDonald’s. I needed to use the toilet and knew McDonald’s was a good place to find one, so I headed in that direction. After that, I found myself at Piazza Spagna and the Spanish steps.

I am not sure what the big deal is about the Spanish steps. I remember my old boyfriend Maurice, from Singapore, told me if you sit on the Spanish steps it is cool because there is a river running underneath them. I went and sat on the steps, but didn’t feel anything cool. I think it was probably bs.

There were lots of people sitting there and lots of people taking pictures of all of the people sitting there. There were also Indian or Pakistani looking men selling these lighted things that you spin that go flying up into the sky. It was kind of cool seeing them flying all around, but honestly, I was not too impressed with the whole Piazza Spagna scene.

Then I tried to find my way home. I sort of knew the direction I needed to go but kept finding myself somewhere other than where I thought I should be. I went up the stairs to the Capitolene because my guide book suggested it. There were a bunch of people sitting in chairs in the piazza watching a documentary about some war. I noticed some soldiers among the crowd. Not sure what it was about. The square was nice but nothing to write home about.

I then crossed the street and sat down on the steps of a church looking at Trajan’s column and the ruins of the Roman Forum. Seagulls were flying around screeching like they were really confused about where they were and why it seemed like it was still daytime. I think all of the lights from the monuments were confusing them. They should have been sleeping. They didn’t seem happy. It was a surreal scene and there were not many people there. It was kind of nice to find a place to sit that didn’t feel like a circus.

And on I went, looking for the ghetto and my way home. I passed through one neighborhood where a very buxom woman standing on a corner said hello – I recognized the look and kept walking only to be greeted by a drunk. Everyone there was so friendly!

I went up and down hills and finally saw the back of a church that I recognized as Santa Maria Maggiore. I was hoping to see some good restaurants as I got closer to home but there were none, so tomorrow I will try to find some that I passed that are not too close to my hotel, but still not as far as where I had to go today.
I think after tomorrow I am going to start getting really tired of roaming around without a clue as to where I am going. At least tomorrow I can do the hop on/hop off bus, and I am going to the Vatican, which will take up much of my day, but then I have three more days to figure out what to do.

One plan is to search out all of the churches and museums that have Caravaggio paintings. Another thing I will do is visit some of the sites that are close to my hotel that I have not visited yet. And one day I will check out Trastevere, the little neighborhood across the Tiber. But this is not the kind of tourism I prefer. I’m not really getting a feel for the life here. I spend much of my time wandering around aimlessly, and have not seen many actual Italians – mostly large tour groups and other tourists looking as lost as I am (though many of them do pull out their maps and try to figure out where they are going).

I really wish I had some Roman contacts and could get a little more of an insider’s view of Rome. Without that, I think probably 3 days is enough to say that I’ve been here. Six days seemed like a good idea, but now I am thinking it might be too much. Who knows, maybe I will find an enjoyable way to spend the rest of my time here.