Angels & Demons

Originally I only planned to stay in Rome three days. But when I did my Rome research the travel guides said to allot as many days as possible to see all there is to see. Also thinking that too much moving around on this trip might wear me out and it would be nice to have another home base for awhile, I upped my time from three days to 10.  I should have stuck with the original plan.

I love big cities.  Charming big cities.  In my opinion, Rome doesn't hold much charm.  The people aren't particularly nice (where's a friendly Parisian when you need one?), the buildings aren't beautiful (impressive, yes; beautiful, no), the Tiber River is not a good (or clean) place to go sit by the water for the afternoon, there weren't any art museums I particularly wanted to see and I didn't stumble upon a really good park.  Rome reminds me a lot of the way that I felt about Athens, Greece when I was there last May - probably the first big city I'd ever been to that I didn't really like and while I appreciated it for what it was, it just wasn't my thing.

My saving grace while I have been in Rome was the book Angels & Demons.  I was told to read it before I got to Rome, and I finished it while I was in Venice. (Very entertaining and a fast read by the way.)  For those of you who haven't read the book or seen the movie (I'm waiting to see the movie until I get back to the States), it takes place in roughly a 24 hour period of time across Rome. There is a map in the front of the book that shows all the major landmarks that the main characters visit.  I spent a few days going to the sites in the book, which are broken down as Earth, Air, Fire and Water.

Earth is inside the Chigi Chapel of the Santa Maria del Popolo.  Unfortunately the church was closed the day I visited, so I walked around the Piazza del Popolo.

Air is at the base of the obelisk in Saint Peter's Square.

Fire is Bernini's statue of Saint Teresa in Ecstasy inside the Santa Maria Della Vittoria.

Water is Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers on Piazza Navona.

In addition to the Angels & Demons sites, I also saw the other must-see sites in Rome: the Pantheon and Piazza del Pantheon, the Colosseum, the Arch of Constantine, the Forum, the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel (though I did go to Saint Peter's Square, I did not go in Saint Peter's Basilica - the line was so long and didn't appear to be moving, and it was out in the sun on one of the 90+ degree days), the Spanish Steps and Piazza de Spagna (and the designer boutiques nearby).  

I'm one of those strange people that doesn't love ice cream.  Well, there is one exception... Anyway, ice cream, or gelato is huge in Italy.  Gelaterias are everywhere.  Forget 32 flavors. Some Italian gelaterias boast as many as 100. (Yesterday I saw a flavor called "English Soup" - this couldn't have been good.)  It would be odd to walk down the street and not pass several people eating gelato.  So despite my aforesaid thoughts on ice cream, I was intrigued and tried kiwi, mango and coconut, which I liked in that order.  I also discovered icees (as you will know from my previous blog, I've been craving ice), specifically lemon icees, which I found to be better than any gelato I've had.

I rented an apartment in an area of Rome called Trastevere, which is located south of Vatican City on the west bank of the Tiber river.  It is a very nice area that is known to have maintained its original character, especially with its narrow, cobblestone streets (apparently much of the cobblestone streets elsewhere in Rome are being paved because the vibration from cars driving over them have been leading to cracks in the foundation of historic sites in the city).  The apartment itself I am renting is huge - three times the size of the other places I've stayed - and very nicely decorated except...  The guy that owns the place is obviously highly eccentric and narcissistic, and he has pictures of himself, by himself, hanging up all over the apartment.  One in particular is hanging in the bathroom, and as you will see why below, it disturbs me every time I take a shower.

Maneuvering around Rome is harder than most cities I've visited.  As opposed to, for example, Paris' Metro where there are 16 lines (so virtually a Metro stop anywhere you turn), in Rome there are only two lines - A and B. Apparently the reason there are so few lines is because as they have attempted to dig additional lines under the city they run into archaeological finds, which obviously slows down the process.  In order for me to get to a Metro stop from my apartment, it was about a 30 minute process of walking plus a bus ride.  Once to the Metro, though, most of the sites I wanted to see were easy to get to and just a brief walk from a Metro stop.

I knew there would be places on this trip that I loved and places I didn't particularly care for, and unfortunately I have to place Rome in the latter category. A large part of it is my disinterest in the history of the Roman Empire, and because I knew that going in, I should have ignored the travel guides and stuck with my gut to stay only three days.  Regardless, I'm still glad I saw what I did but will be very happy to move on to Prague tomorrow!

I Miss Ice and Other Random Thoughts

I've been in Rome now for a week.  I'm not really in the mood to blog about Rome at the moment, though.  I'm over halfway through the trip, so here are a few things I've been thinking about:

Living on $30 a day (after accommodation expenses obviously) is more difficult than it sounds.

Despite using sunscreen every day, I am more tan than I have ever been in my life.  This is not saying a lot as I'm still more pale than most of you are during the winter. Also, my hair is starting to turn red, but this is par for the course for me when I spend time in the sun.

I can't wait to see my dad in Amsterdam in a little less than two weeks.

I have not driven a car in nearly two months, and I have only worn heels once during that time. Am I going to forget these very important skills?

Speaking of driving a car, I have toyed with the idea of renting a car to drive the Autobahn in Germany when I'm staying in Salzburg, which is right on the border.  I can't remember which of you told me I couldn't drive the Autobahn without a special license, but I checked and all I need is my TN license and to fill out some paperwork.

One of the best things I have done on this trip is to ship clothes back home - not once but twice! (And yes, they made it.)  I simply brought too much stuff.  Surprise surprise!  I also downgraded to a much smaller rolling bag and dumped my large bag in the hallway of an apartment building since I didn't know what else to do with it.  So on travel days I'm a much happier girl for not having to pull all that weight around, but on the other hand...

I'm going to burn every single item of clothing I have with me on this trip the moment I get back.  One pair of jeans, one pair of cargo pants, two skirts, six tank tops, one jacket.  Those are pretty much my choices.  Oh and a few dresses, most of which will never be worn because they aren't practical but apparently seemed to me like they would be when I packed them!  You would laugh if you could only see all that I shipped home that I thought I would need.   

Is $100 too much to pay to see Madonna in Milan?  Maybe so, but it's Madonna!  In Milan! Add her to the roster of shows I'll see this summer starting with Depeche Mode in Prague next week, which will be awesome, though I'm really hoping to catch them in the States too when I get back.

Other than Kelly keeping me posted about the Obama/fly/PETA controversy, I really have no idea what is going on in the world right now.  I can't read headlines when I walk past a newsstand (at the moment in my life they are all in Italian), and I don't watch TV here.  I'm typically a pretty avid news follower, but I think there may be something to the whole ignorance is bliss thing.

World news aside, I do, however, keep up with people's Facebook statuses.  And from everyone's statuses about the thunderstorms in Knoxville, it sounds like Armageddon at home.

I miss ice.  They don't believe in ice in Europe, which I remember from my two previous visits. During those short trips of nearly two weeks each I started craving ice, so you can imagine how I'm feeling nearly two months in.  One of my favorite things when I've had an apartment is to freeze a bottle of water almost to the point of being frozen and then drink it.  You have no idea how good that is when ice is not otherwise an option.

I miss going to the gym.  Very strange, I know!  Out of desperation I've taken to using a 2 Liter water bottle as a weight.  I am seriously doubting its effectiveness, but it makes me feel like I'm doing something.  I walk at least a couple of hours a day, but I still don't really feel like I'm getting a good workout.  

On the flipside, though, walking in the sun wears me out, and I take naps almost daily - a habit that will need to be broken once I get back and start working again!

And speaking of working, I most decidedly do NOT miss work.  Or rather, I don't miss law.  I'll be excited to land some sort of a writing/editing gig.  I just need to find it...

I also miss, in no particular order: my family and friends, both of my book clubs, my Bunco gals, YPLC and my daily emails with Tiffany, sugar-free mojitos at Sapphire, going to Barnes & Noble to sit with books and magazines for a couple of hours, guac and chips and a Tequila Sundown at La Costa, TC, lunch with Honey at Trio and all the happenings on Market Square (though I don't miss the teenagers at Sundown).  I'll have to get my fix of these things once I get back in August before I take off again. 

I love all the emails and blog comments - keep them coming!  

Venice is for... Me

On Tuesday morning I left Paris for Venice.  I had added Venice into my itinerary because it just seemed like something I needed to see.  I didn't know what to anticipate, though, and beyond gondolas, I honestly wasn't expecting all that much. I had read that I only needed two days to see Venice but had built in three because with all the traveling, it's hard to pick up and go again after only two days.  

Once I arrived in Venice, I took the bus from the airport to Piazzele Roma.  This is as far as you can get with ground transport.  From there, it's either a private water taxi ($$$) or a vaporetto, which is basically like a ferry bus with stops throughout the canal.  I opted for the vaporetto, and it was very easy and cheap. It was also a great introduction to Venice, which was so picturesque and with the canals, obviously so different than where I had been so far.  Four stops later I was at my vaporetto stop right in front of San Stae Church.  From there I had instructions to get to the hotel, which was just one street and a private bridge away.

The hotel, Al Ponte Mocenigo, was great.  It was small - only 10 rooms - and included breakfast each morning in a really beautiful outdoor courtyard. I was surprised that nearly everyone staying there was American.  Because they had to move my room after one night (and I offered to pay in cash), they gave me a greatly reduced rate well under my daily budget.  Hotels in Venice during the summer are expensive, so I was lucky to find this place.  Also, it was far removed from the touristy areas, which I found out later was a good thing, and near some really great restaurants, cafes and bakeries (now that I'm a bakery junkie and all, that is important to me - the madness has got to stop).

I spent the day on Wednesday wandering around and seeing the tourist sites - the Rialto Bridge, St. Mark’s Square including St. Mark’s Basilica, the Clocktower, Doge’s Palace and the Bridge of Sighs.  I went in and out of shops where I could actually afford things and stared in the windows of all the big designers where I couldn’t - Gucci, Missoni, Chanel, Louis Vuitton.  

My splurge for the day was a 15 Euro bellini - yes, a cocktail that cost nearly $21.  And it was tiny.  But it was delicious and worth every penny, or Euro, uh, cents.  I was at Harry’s Bar, which claims to have invented both the bellini and carpaccio.  The bellini and carpaccio aside, I wanted to go there because it was a favorite place of Ernest Hemingway’s.

On Thursday I debated whether to take a gondola ride.  Yes, it’s probably a tourist trap, but it looks like fun.  Two things held me back - one, it wasn’t the kind of thing I ever envisioned doing alone (I’d rather wait to go back with someone some other time) and two, it cost 80 Euros.  That’s $110 and beyond my budget, so a gondola ride was most definitely out.  I had read about a traghetto, though, which is another means of public transportation and is a way to cross from one side of the Grand Canal to the other.  A traghetto used to be a gondola, just stripped of its fancy chairs and trimmings.  Also, instead of one gondolier maneuvering the boat there are two - one in the front and one in the back.  The best part is it costs .50 Euro.  That’s 70 cents.  It seemed like a no brainer - I’d still get the feel for riding in a gondola and it was $109.30 cheaper.  There are seven traghetto stops throughout Venice, so I just went to a traghetto stop, waited in line for the next traghetto, paid the money to the guy and got on board with several other people - mostly locals, it seemed, as opposed to tourists.  Traditionally instead of sitting like on a gondola, you stand during the crossing, so I stood.  The crossing was short, but it was fun being out in the middle of the Grand Canal.

After my traghetto ride I walked through Venice's fish market and fruit and vegetable markets. Beside the fish market was a restaurant called Pronto Pesce, and as I passed it I noticed a sign in the window that Anthony Bourdain had eaten there last year and recommended it on his show.  I stopped in for a look.  It was a tiny little restaurant with just a few bar stools to perch at a little ledge in the window.  Some people opted to stand outside while they ate.  All the food was behind a counter and was pretty much different varieties of tapas.  Everything was in Italian but not being traditional Italian food that I was used to, I had no idea what I was seeing.  The man working there was very helpful and tried to explain what each thing I pointed to was.  I ended up with three tapas (each 2.50 Euro) and other than a brioche with swordfish, mascarpone and tomato, I have no idea what I ate despite his explanation, but it was very good.

The people in Venice were so nice.  I don’t say that just because I had come from Paris and the stark contrast was apparent.  (Parisians weren’t so bad - just a bit standoffish and aloof.)  Even going into a small hardware store to buy yet another power adapter (long story but this is the fourth power adapter I've bought AND I brought one with me - I didn’t know Italy’s adapter was different than the rest of Europe), the shop owner joked with me about whether I was an Obama or a Bush American.  He liked my Obama American answer.

The streets in Venice were like a maze - very narrow and winding through the town.  The odd thing is that I found it easier to navigate there than almost anywhere I've been so far in Europe other than London.  The streets were very well marked, the map the hotel gave me was easy to navigate and there were signs pointing the way to all the major tourist attractions, so I never felt lost.  I went out one night because I wanted to see the city from the Rialto Bridge.  The streets were not well lit at all, so I did worry about finding my way, but I didn’t have any problems and it was worth it being able to see the city at night.

 

All in all, Venice was one of my favorite spots so far on the trip.  Its only flaw was on cruise ship day.  St. Mark’s Square was teeming with pigeons and American tourists, neither of which were pleasant.  And yes, I realize I am an American tourist as well, though when someone speaks to me in Italian and I nod my head and smile and seemingly have an entire conversation with them and they never realize that I have no idea what they said I hope that I’m blending in.  :)