Vacation to Rome- or “our Roman Holiday”

From 2012- blast from the past

Joni and I had our big trip to Italy this past week. Below is a day-by-day blog of the activities written each evening when back to the hotel so as to perhaps give you the view of what we were doing and seeing each day and what we planned to do the next day. As you will see we had to adjust schedules for weather or other activities and issues.

But before we go on to the day-by-day, a few observations:
1. If you travel to Europe ensure each person has their own adapter to charge up electronics before you go.
2. If going to Rome, don’t bring exersize gear. I brought running shoes and running kit but we did so much walking and filled up or days I never did do any running. Also, depending on where you stay, you may not have roads for running. Our hotel had no gym anyway.
3. We had a package deal (flight + hotel) and as such were outside of Rome proper which meant we used mass transit for moving around. It worked for us. You could get a hotel closer to in town though it might cost more.
4. We brought one umbrella- bring one for each person- it rained several days while we were there and moving through crowds with two people huddled under an umbrella was difficult. We ended up buying a second umbrella.
5. We have a bunch of photos and will be cataloging them over the next week and post them later for everyone to view

Thursday Aug 30
We rode the Amtrack to Chicago from Grand Rapids. Unfortunately, we were crammed on to one train car for initial ride and no designated seats. All solo riders got on the train and took seats along the windows so Joni and I were not able to sit together, instead we had to sit across the aisle from each other. However, once the train reached Holland we jumped to second car and were able to sit together. When we arrived in Chicago, we got breakfast at nearby Starbucks, then walked to transit station to catch the Blue Line to O’Hare.

For our flight to Italy, I messed up seat assignments online. Joni and I were accidentally assigned seats three rows apart. Not sure how I did that but the American Airlines staff at the gate caught it. They could not get us together but got us in same row separated by aisle. I was not impressed with Boeing 767. The overheads do NOT fit the allowable 22 inch carry-on wheels first. Also, TVs so spread out that one had to either peer to see far one or crane your neck for a nearer TV. The staff was great, though, and the flight on time.

Friday Aug 31
After landing at the Fiumincino airport we tried to find the shuttles to the hotels or busses but could not find the right ones. Turned out later we’d have needed to call the hotel and pay 15Euros to utilize the shuttle. We couldn’t call the hotel because my international service was not set up on my world phone. We ended up using a cab to the hotel arrived Ostia. I had bought a sim card for italy but could not get it to work. Though we didn’t really have time to use it, interestingly, we would find the hotel charges an added 5Euros to use the pool but it is closed after 6pm. Wi-Fi was 3E per hour which didn’t matter since I didn’t have my computer available anyway.

Since we arrived at the hotel about noon we had already decided to not go into Rome itself. Ostia is about 10 miles outside of Rome and 2000 years ago was the port city of Rome. But centuries of silt building up at the end of the Tiber river created new land and eventually Ostia was a couple miles from the ocean and ceased to be a port.

The hotel sits only a mile or a bit more from the main downtown of Ostia, but there are no sidewalks and the road is narrow. Once into Ostia there are sidewalks with restaurants and cafes. We got the bus to the downtown and went to visit the Ostia Antica ruins. I knew there were ruins there but was not ready for the scope of what we wer to see. We spent almost four hours touring what was once a city of 50,000 people. And I don’t think we saw it all. Joni’s camera died and we didn’t have the correct adapters for the Italian outlets and we planned to get that Saturday at some point. We still had my camera powered up. We then ate dinner at a local restaurant of spaghetti tomato/parmigiana with breschetta and some wine.

For our short bus ride back to the hotel we had cash for the bus pass, but did not know how to buy passes which we later found we could get them at most tobacco stores and such. We got on the bus anyway and nobody kicked us off but we missed our stop as we didn’t quite yet kow the area and had to get off the bus and take a bus back in the original direction to the hotel. Too much fun after being tired and drinking wine.

Saturday, we decided, will be general look around Rome without necessarily trying to get into specific locations.

Saturday Sept 1
Day two ended up as a rather chaotic day. We got up shortly after 7am and were on the road to downtown Rome to check out prospective travel plans for the rest of the week. Joni’s camera battery was out of power yesterday, but we had my camera so we figured we were good until we found an adapter to charge everything. I kept my phone powered off as I still did not get the Italian sim card to function and had my own service still active. (I did have the data service turned off though to save on battery and roaming charges).

We went right in to Lido this morning and found an adapter at a hardware store. We then found the train station and bought a seven day pass for the metro so basically we can ride nearly any bus or trolley or tram in the metro area for the rest of our trip- the cost was 48E for both tickets. This will make traveling much more convenient than hunting down bus passes constantly or train passes.

Our first transit via bus then train into downtown was a stop at the Baths of Caracalla — magnificent. We paid the 6Euro each to get in (the pass is good for seven days) and went into the turnstile. Joni started taking photos — and MY camera battery died! You have GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! JEEZ- there’s almost NO POINT in going around Rome without a camera and we now down to zero cameras! So we came back to the hotel to plug the cameras in and charge while we at lunch locally- but the adapter was apparently not a good one- it blew a fuse in itself. Jeez -out of business AGAIN!

We made a decision to go get another charger. Our first stop was to go back to the train, take it back out past Ostia to LIDO where we’d been told there was an electronics shop. However we got there at lunch time and all the non-restaurant or pub business essentially shut down for 2–4 hours. The electronics store was now closed until 430pm. We had almost four hours to kill, so spent it having lunch, walking around the city and stopping at a local bike shop (which sold Cannondale, Pinarello and Castrelli bikes). Joni bought a cool Castrelli bike hat. We got back to the electronics store and — another hit- they did NOT carry the adapter we needed. We rushed to the hardware store where we’d bought the previous defective one- we had it with us- and it was closed.

Now it is about 5pm and we were getting desperate. I could not fathom doing this trip on disposable cameras. So I had one last idea- the airport. We spent 25Euro to taxi back to the airport where there’d be a bunch of tourist-y stuff and we found the perfect store in the shopping area of the airport- and found a charger! SUCCESS!

What to do now? We decided to go back into Rome via the rapid non-stop train that depart from the airport. That train however was NOT part of our bus pass system and we had to pay 14Euro each to ride it, but it took us downtown to the main train terminal in Rome on the northeast side of town. This terminal also houses departures to other major italian cities. For example one way for one person to Florence was about 30Euro for the 3–1/2 hour train ride.

It was now dusk and we walked around the area working our way back to the normal transit train we’d need to take back to Ostia. We stopped at a restaurant a few blocks from the terminal and had dinner. joni had a shrimp scampi risotto and I had spinach & Cheese ravioli- delicious and great service from the waiter. A couple more blocks and we reached the metro station to ride the train back to Ostia and our hotel.

We reached Ostia Antica, walked the three blocks into the downtown area and bought a couple liters of water and a bottle of wine recommended by the proprietor. We asked for a sweet wine. Joni likes sweet wines- I like merlots the most but we only bought one so went with the sweet red he recommended which turned out to be a Lambrusco. It didn’t have a price tag and he said it was “three-fifty and very good” in accented english- which I mistakenly thought he meant $350Euro and I said “WHOAH!” but he said no, no, and pointed to another bottle with a price tag which was $3.50 (about $5.00). Later when we did open it, it was indeed very good- quite a quality bargain for that price.

Back at the hotel after the short bus ride and out with the power adapter. Time to get our cameras and phone up and running. I got the adapter out and we plugged in a camera- NOT WORKING! No outlet in the room worked! I went to the the front desk and he plugged in the adapter in his office and it worked. So, in business! The USB on the adapter would not charge my Blackberry however. So I got out my multi-outlet power strip and plugged it into the adapter and flipped the switch and BAM! all the lights went out. The power strip not only the room lights breaker- but the adjacent room too! WTH? I went back to the desk, sheepishly, and explained the situation- we blew not only our breaker, but our neighbors AND the main box on the floor. So I tossed the defective multi outlet bar in the trash. We started charging Joni’s camera via USB and it worked at first- then stopped. Apparently the USB outlets on this adapter are not reliable- so we plugged her camera in with the regular 120 plugged into the adapter and we’re now charging it. I will plug my camera in later, perhaps overnight. I will then charge my phone at the least while we eat breakfast tomorrow since I leave it off most of the time anyway.

WHEW. We’ve put MILES on our feet and on the trains and busses today. The big drawback was that we did not get full chance to reconnoiter the Roma Pass aspect which gets us into the Coliseum, Palatine and the the Roman Forum.

Sunday Sept 2
Sunday went much better than the previous day. We got up a bit later than planned, but left the hotel at about 830am. The big glitch this day was we tried a bus stop ride to a terminal north of the hotel where we expected to catch the train to Rome. The bus line had a stop named “Acila” — as did the train, but we found they were not the same stop and far apart with no connection. We ended up going back to Ostia and catching the train as we did previously.

Our plan for the day was pretty much successful
1. go directly to the Coliseum, Forum, Paletine Hill area and check into the Roma Pass, which is a three day pass to these locations.
2. check out some of the other locations a little outlying from this ancient center.

We went right to the Coliseum and took some great photos from outside. Apparently on sunday, Rome shuts down the main street along the Coliseum and pedestrians roam freely taking photos. This turned out to be a great benefit for us to do all the exterior photography so when we do get inside we can concentrate on those images. We bought our Roma Pass as well but have not yet activated it.

We then wanted to see the famous Trevi Fountain- so we began walking there. The whole day was walking walking walking and we saw what we planned and more! The Trevi Fountain, various modern government buildings of the modern era, the Pantheon, and more. we somewhat did a big arcing loop to the north and then around south and west of the ancient main area — working our way to the Mouth of Truth and the Tevere Island. The Mouth of Truth was the famous image from the movie Roman Holiday. You can’t actually get to it now without paying entrance to a church, but it is visible via the gate so we took a couple photos and departed. We went into a couple churches- all so ornate with amazing architecture and effort involved.

Joni’s camera died again but I had plenty of power on mine so the day was not lost for lack of photography- we will charge hers all night tonight and monitor it tomorrow. Late arrival back to Ostia- light pizza dinner at the same place we ate Saturday (Cibo Restaurant) — delicious and quite like Scribs, I thought. Then to the hotel to recuperate and be ready for Monday. Our Monday plans — go right to the coliseum and get there early to get in- concentrate on the Roma Pass locations and as necessary see other locations later. It is looking unlikely we will get to drive up to Florence- too much to do this week yet and we lost about a half day of serious sightseeing on Saturday.

Monday Sept 3
This day went fantastic and as planned. The weather all week looks like rain and indeed it rained midday lightly and steadily for a couple hours, but not so hard you get soaked. We do have an umbrella.
We got up early, ate breakfast and then went to the bus to jump to the train and back to downtown Rome. The plan was to reach the Coliseum early due to the expected crowds that arrive later. We would tour the coliseum then go to the Forum and Palatine Hill — all using the Roma Pass we bought.

You can buy passes to the individual locations, but the Roma Pass is a great bargain- it gets you into the three main sights as noted previously, but also gets you into other locations at a discount if not for free. As we hoped, the crowds were sparse. We did not plan on a guided tour, but after a few minute discussion with a tour guide solicitor we paid the 13Euro each for the guided tour to both the Coliseum and Palatine Hill. We followed the guide fpr 45mins then spent the next two hours or more in the coliseum ourselves. The tour fee also included a guide to the Palatine Hill after which again we could roam as we please to take photos.

During our research online prior to our trip we saw many tours indicated on the internet ranging in prices from 30Euro to 65Euro. Those tours in many cases include the fee to get into the location but may not include the fee to the other locations. Since we paid for our entry already via the Roma Pass it meant the “guided tour” aspect was only the 13Euro. Other people in our group we spoke to paid much more because the tour company was also covering their entry fee to the location.

After touring these three locations in the ancient center of Rome we were already at nearly 5pm so we worked our way to the main train terminal because Joni wanted to check out a shop there. We then found a restaurant for dinner then back to the metro for a 2 train ride back to Ostia Antica where we got Joni another gelato and we bought another bottle of the local wine.

In the ongoing saga of power shortages- I transferred all photos from Joni’s camera to my now depleting computer, then as I was attempting to transfer mine, the computer went into hibernation. I have a four gig card so worst case we fill it up and also fill Joni’s card in her camgera in the remaining days and need to buy more SD cards to save photos.

Plans for the rest of the week:
Tuesday- tour the Baths of Caracella on the cards we bought the other day, then go to the Borgia Gardens
Wednesday- we plan to go to the Sistine Chapel. Then later go to the the opera La Traviata
Thursday- the plan is to rent a car and drive up the coast to sienna and florence, we can then keep the car and return it Friday when we go back to the airport for our flight home

Tuesday Sept 4
We arrived at the Baths of Caracalla Tuesday morning as planned- in the rain. I brought a jacket and a hat and Joni had the travel umbrella but it rained harder and harder. We both huddled under the umbrella and toured the Baths (which were essentially an ancient Roman YFCA capable of holding 1600 people at one time. Since it was raining we altered our plans and rather than go to any other outdoor locations we decided to go to Vatican City to see the Sistine Chapel. On the way back to the train terminal I broke down and bought a travel umbrella from the street vendors that seem to show up everywhere when a hint of rain appears. For 3Euros it was a cheap umbrella but effective- though the one I bought was defective due to one of the braces being broken. I caught back up to the vendor and showed him the issue and we swapped umbrellas and the second one worked as it was designed. Having two umbrellas was much more effective in maneuvering through crowds.

Onto the train and out to vatican City- a short line to enter. You don’t get to go directly into the Sistine Chapel. You actually tour through the entire Vatican Museum which takes a couple hours or more at minimum depending on how long you linger at various exhibits. The Sistine Chapel is nearly the last location on the tour. The Vatican Museum has many pieces of famous art as well as many statues from ancient Rome. The Church’s effect on Roman archeology is a mixed verdict. On the one hand, quite a few landmarks were preserved as well as many pieces of art and many statues which otherwise may have disappeared forever or been destroyed. But other aspects were cannibalistic, taking stones and bricks from many locations to build new ones. The Trevi Fountain, for example was built with stone pilfered from other locations. The Pantheon, however, was saved completely intact by being converted into a basilica (church).

The Sistine Chapel was simply amazing- they don’t allow photos but everyone seemed to be taking them so we took a couple (without flash). No photos you can take do justice so if you are interested in really checking out the images, it’s always best to get a book or look online if you can’t actually go there. Also the main chapel fills up because that’s the crown jewel of the tour and there are so many images everyone wants to see them.

Outside, there was a long line in the rain to go into St Peter’s Basilica and it was nearing 5pm. We took some photos of the outside of the Basilica and St Peter’s Square and worked our way back toward the center of town, stopping at a restaurant for dinner which again was delicious. Joni had a lemon flavored fried chicken with basil couscous and I ordered Napoli style pasta with a patata (potato based) sauce and cheese.

Wednesday Sept 5
The week is beginning to wind down. We slept in later today. We had opera tickets so we went into Rome to do a bit of souvenir shopping and lunch. We had paninis. I had a caprese and Joni had a mozzarella-prosciuto We also went to the Navona Piazza to take a few more photos. Then back to the hotel to change for the opera.

The opera was at the Salone Margherita Theater- a small ornate theater just off the Piazza Spagna. There were only about 20 rows on the main floor holding 8–10 people and boxes around the top on the second level. The theater holds maybe 250 patrons. The cast had 18 members and the orchestra had only 20 people. Some of the cast had to do double duty as more than one character. The main two leads (male and female) were superb.

The opera didn’t start until 830pm and it was nearly 1100pm when it was over. We were running a tight schedule to get back to our hotel. The trains stop running at 1130pm and there would be no bus in Ostia when we got there. We rushed to the train at Piazza Spagna to the connection which would take us to Piramide, to then rush to catch the last train out to Ostia and Lido. Since there would be no bus to get to the hotel and no means of getting a taxi effectively in Ostia, we went past that station to the Lido north station (where we’d been on Saturday) as we knew worst case, there was a hotel by that stop at which we could order a taxi. We got off the train as that station was preparing to close. The attendant called a cab for us and after a few minutes it arrived and took us to the hotel.

Thursday Sept 6
Our last day. What a great week. We took the hotel shuttle to the airport to pick up the rental car. I got a five speed mamual Fiat Punto Eco version (it shut off when stopped in traffic and re-started automatically when the clutch was pressed in). We then drove up the coast along the ocean stopping at a castle on the Mediterranean. After a stop there for photos we took the highway inland to Sienna. Sienna was a beautiful town, rather small and nestled in the hills. If you’ve seen the second Daniel Craig James Bond movie “Quantum of Solace” and recall the scene where Bond chases a bad guy through a crowd where there is a horse race taking place- that is the main famous piazza in Sienna and they hold a horse race festival there twice a year.

We departed Sienna for Florence. By the time we got there it was now late afternoon so we drove directly to the Leonardo DaVinci Piazza to take photos from that high perched vista over the city. As it was now late, we worked our way to the toll expressway and began the three hour drive back to Rome arriving at our hotel at nearly 1100pm. We did some packing, laid out clothes for our departure Friday.

Friday Sept 7
I drove the rental car back to the airport and we arrived about three hours in advance of our flight. After a coffee and hot chocolate, we lingered near our gate and found that the flight was now delayed. In all it departed nearly 45 minutes late. It was also late arriving in Chicago. Between the delayed flight and landing, and the long lines through the customs and immigration we caught a Blue Line to downtown, rushed from the Blue Line to Union Station and- missed the Amtrack to Grand Rapids! A quick call to our son Brenden and a check with Amtrack, we changed our tickets to the Kalamazoo station and boarded the train which arrived in Kalamazoo at 830pm. Brenden drove the 45 minutes down down from GR to meet us there. Ironically, we actually got home before the train to Grand Rapids even arrived though it left earlier than the one we took to Kalamazoo.

Wow- amazing week, fantastic trip. We will spend a few days sorting and naming photos and post them online next week

More photos here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152118983665500&type=3

We are now trying to figure out what could be our next big trip.