Our first full day in Rome. We didn't want to stand in long lines for tickets to the major attractions, so we had signed up for a package tour. In the morning, we would be visiting the Colosseum and the ruins of the Roman Forum, ending on top of the Palatine Hill. In the afternoon, we were scheduled to see the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain and a bunch of other places.
Our guide for the morning (Dario) was well-informed and kept us entertained. We climbed up to the second level of the Colosseum, saw the underground chambers. Next, we walked among the ruins in the Roman Forum and saw the burial chamber of Julius Caesar, who we learned wasn't an emperor after all. For some reason, my memories of Asterix comics made me think that he "ruled" Rome and so he must have been an emperor. Anyway, we saw the Temple of Vesta, the temple of Castor & Pollux, the Arch of Titus, the palace on top of Palatine Hill and many others. At around 1pm, we got a break for lunch. First, though, we bought ourselves some roadside gelato which gave us enough energy to walk to the Metro station. We went to Spagna and had a pizza / coke lunch in a nice little place just outside the Spagna station. On a side note, there are two things that I really loved the taste of in Italy: pizza and tomatoes. The pizzas are somehow very different than the ones we get in USA and (yuck!) India. Maybe it's the way they make the ingredients or the way they bake the pizza base. I don't like pizza as a rule, but I found myself wolfing down slices here in Italy. And, tomatoes! Yum...crisp, red, firm, juicy.
The Metro in Rome is organised a bit like the Namma Metro in Bangalore. It has two sections crossing each other at a central point (Termini). So, there are large parts of Rome that are not serviced by the Metro at all. The third “phase” of the Metro has been under construction for about 23 years and has still not been completed. Makes our Namma Metro folks look really efficient and productive!
After lunch, we strolled across to Piazza di Spagna and found our guide who said that we should check in after 10-15 min. There was a large display outside a 'Pharmacia' that said that it was 40 deg C! And, we definitely felt it. But, we could see the Spanish Steps just a minute's walk away, so Sahana and I left the kids to sit and rest on the sidewalk while we went to the Spanish Steps for a couple of photos and also saw the Spanish Embassy and the Column of the Immaculate Conception. The fountain in front of the Spanish Steps was closed for construction, though. I have forgotten the name of the lady guide who took us around but she wasn’t anywhere as interesting as Dario. By far, the biggest disappointment of the afternoon was the fact that the Trevi Fountain was dry. It was completely cordoned off and there were signs of construction all over. We had to use our imagination to visualise how it would look in all its glory. Apparently, if we had planned our trip about 5-7 days earlier, the fountain would still have been open and operational. Anyway, we moved on to the Pantheon, the Piazza di Navona with the Fountain of the Four Rivers (one of the fountains represents the Ganges) and ended at the Campo Fiori. By then, we had walked about 11 km and we were completely exhausted. However, this area was not serviced by the Metro, so we had to catch a bus back to the hotel. The bus (46?) was very crowded and we could only get standing room. We decided at the last minute to get off at a stop just before Termini called Repubblica (that’s right, with two b’s!). There’s a very nice fountain in the centre of the circle (Fountain of the Naiads), so we took a few pictures there and walked towards our hotel. After resting for a bit, we decided to go out for dinner. We walked to a small place called Famiglia near the Termini. We had (what else?!) pasta and soup and the kids had Algida gelato on the way back to the hotel. Thus endeth day #1 of our Italy 2014 trip.
Our guide for the morning (Dario) was well-informed and kept us entertained. We climbed up to the second level of the Colosseum, saw the underground chambers. Next, we walked among the ruins in the Roman Forum and saw the burial chamber of Julius Caesar, who we learned wasn't an emperor after all. For some reason, my memories of Asterix comics made me think that he "ruled" Rome and so he must have been an emperor. Anyway, we saw the Temple of Vesta, the temple of Castor & Pollux, the Arch of Titus, the palace on top of Palatine Hill and many others. At around 1pm, we got a break for lunch. First, though, we bought ourselves some roadside gelato which gave us enough energy to walk to the Metro station. We went to Spagna and had a pizza / coke lunch in a nice little place just outside the Spagna station. On a side note, there are two things that I really loved the taste of in Italy: pizza and tomatoes. The pizzas are somehow very different than the ones we get in USA and (yuck!) India. Maybe it's the way they make the ingredients or the way they bake the pizza base. I don't like pizza as a rule, but I found myself wolfing down slices here in Italy. And, tomatoes! Yum...crisp, red, firm, juicy.
The Metro in Rome is organised a bit like the Namma Metro in Bangalore. It has two sections crossing each other at a central point (Termini). So, there are large parts of Rome that are not serviced by the Metro at all. The third “phase” of the Metro has been under construction for about 23 years and has still not been completed. Makes our Namma Metro folks look really efficient and productive!
After lunch, we strolled across to Piazza di Spagna and found our guide who said that we should check in after 10-15 min. There was a large display outside a 'Pharmacia' that said that it was 40 deg C! And, we definitely felt it. But, we could see the Spanish Steps just a minute's walk away, so Sahana and I left the kids to sit and rest on the sidewalk while we went to the Spanish Steps for a couple of photos and also saw the Spanish Embassy and the Column of the Immaculate Conception. The fountain in front of the Spanish Steps was closed for construction, though. I have forgotten the name of the lady guide who took us around but she wasn’t anywhere as interesting as Dario. By far, the biggest disappointment of the afternoon was the fact that the Trevi Fountain was dry. It was completely cordoned off and there were signs of construction all over. We had to use our imagination to visualise how it would look in all its glory. Apparently, if we had planned our trip about 5-7 days earlier, the fountain would still have been open and operational. Anyway, we moved on to the Pantheon, the Piazza di Navona with the Fountain of the Four Rivers (one of the fountains represents the Ganges) and ended at the Campo Fiori. By then, we had walked about 11 km and we were completely exhausted. However, this area was not serviced by the Metro, so we had to catch a bus back to the hotel. The bus (46?) was very crowded and we could only get standing room. We decided at the last minute to get off at a stop just before Termini called Repubblica (that’s right, with two b’s!). There’s a very nice fountain in the centre of the circle (Fountain of the Naiads), so we took a few pictures there and walked towards our hotel. After resting for a bit, we decided to go out for dinner. We walked to a small place called Famiglia near the Termini. We had (what else?!) pasta and soup and the kids had Algida gelato on the way back to the hotel. Thus endeth day #1 of our Italy 2014 trip.
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