10 July to 16 July
Overall, I really didn't like Rome! So much so that I have refused to write in my journal about it the entire time we've been here. There are of course some really, really cool things about Rome: its thousands of years of history, the ancient ruins, and the many landmarks and monuments scattered about the city. They are all beautiful, and even the ruins have a sort of beauty in their disarray.
In fact, we might have enjoyed Rome a LOT more had it not felt like 40 degrees Celsius with the humidity outside! The entire time we have spent in Rome outside of our bed and breakfast, we had been just drenched in our own sweat. How very uncomfortable (and unclean!).
Even so, there were a few things we had to do. We bought tickets to wander the Roman Forum and the Colosseum - I feel like these are the obvious sights to see while in Rome. At only €12, it wasn't a bad deal and we got to see the remnants of a place lost in time. But, because of the heat, we could only last about an hour under the blazing sun in the Forum before we had to retreat back to where we're staying. We were inside the Colosseum for perhaps half an hour; there isn't much to see without an audio guide or an official tour, so all we did was wander around the ground and 2nd floor reading some info cards about some remnants of the Colosseum's past. We also got to walk around the inner part of the Colosseum, the part that looks out over where the battles and "games" took place. It really is a huge structure and an architectural marvel. We passed the half hour doing these things in-between ducking in and out of the shade we could find. Again, because of the heat, we did a lot of our sightseeing in Rome in much the same way.
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| The Roman Forum |
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| The Roman Forum |
We also went to Vatican City, because you can't go to Rome and not go there, right??? We lined up to enter St. Peter's Basilica, which of course was out in the big square and in direct sunlight. Luckily the line moved quickly and we made it in within 15 minutes. Finally, we could get some respite from the sun, although we had to cover up our knees and shoulders to do so out of respect to the holiness of Vatican City. Which means I was wearing a long sleeve button-up for the 15 minutes we were in the Basilica, which meant that I sweated not only through the tank top I was wearing, but also my coverup shirt! Super, sweaty, sticky mess. This is essentially all we did in the Vatican. It would have been awesome to wander around more within the smallest country in the world, but it was just too dang hot! We definitely would not have made it out feeling very well if we tried.
We tried to beat the heat by going out in the evenings, but it lingered quite late into the night. However, this was when we did a lot of our wandering, when it was at least a bit more tolerable. During the night we went back to the Colosseum (a few times) and the surrounding area, Castel Sant'Angelo, and wandered the Spanish Steps area on the prowl for dinner and gelato.
Also: are ALL Italians rude as hell or is it just the ones in Rome?! I never really understood the stereotype of Canadians being polite but holy crap, it's so true. If you're at a cross-walk, make sure you wait for a break in the neverending line of cars because NOBODY stops for you to cross! It doesn't even matter if you're away from the city center and the droves of tourists - they won't even stop for one person! So I just started stepping out and staring drivers down, being all, "go ahead, hit me ya Italian jerkface". And IF they slow down, sometimes they'll try to swerve around you if they've got room. The amount of times a car has gone ahead and turned through a crosswalk even though the walking signal is green is unbelievable. Cars have jerked to a stop literally a foot away from me as I'm crossing and I've gotten so tired of it that I stare them right in the eye and challenge them to be even more of an ass.
The rudeness extends to people walking on the street as well. PICK A SIDE TO WALK ON! Don't weave and make yourself seven lanes wide! And for the love of God don't stop right in the middle of the sidewalk/road. In the metro, I always thought it was commonsense (and more efficient) to let people leave the train before trying to board. Well, apparently not in Rome! They just shove their way through, come hell or high water, they're making it onto that train. But man, come on, how do you expect to get into the train if we can't even get off with you blocking the way?!
ALSO!!! The amount of pervy leering from men is atrociously disgusting. Today alone, we (well, Meg at least) were on the receiving end of very obvious and very gross staring by a COP in the metro station as well as a dude on his dinky little Vespa, who felt the need to CROSS traffic and stop right in front of us, as we waited for the walk signal to turn green, and yammer at us in Italian, which we angrily ignored.
What I did like: mostly food
We had a lot of pizza and pasta, but nothing really screamed "DELICIOUS" to me, which is a little unfortunate. I've kicked two GREAT food experiences that have made our trip to Rome a little less disappointing.
1. WOK Asian rice boxes from Termini Station
The first time we went here, we were just dying for lunch on our way home from the Roman Forum. We were tired and sweaty and wanted nothing more than our air-conditioned room, but we knew we needed food so we stopped and ate, and sweated all the while. BUT! This place in Termini is AWESOME! So awesome that we have eaten there a total of 3 times in the past 3 days and have both gotten the same thing each time: Holy Basil Chicken fried rice for Meg and Thai Yellow Curry with shrimp for me! I'm actually eating it right now and I'm so happy. We've had a lot of luck with Asian food on this trip, actually.
2. Gelato
We've gotten a lot of slush drinks and gelato/ice cream while we've been in Italy, and Rome is no exception. We've got to beat the heat somehow! Our favourite place is Giolitti, located near the Spanish Steps and Piazza di Spagna. It's 115 years old (not sure whether if has always sold just gelato and sweets), and has a massive variety of gelato flavours as well as Italian ice and pastries. The first time Meg and I sat down there was to take advantage of their A/C...we ended up ordering a banana split that was pretty dang good. The next time we went, I got a cone with raspberry and pomegranate and it was so, so, SO good. The pomegranate was on point and tasted exactly how it would if you were chewing on the seeds themselves - tart and acidic and yummy. The raspberry was also very, very good. Probably the best gelato I've had this entire trip! Not overdone with sugar and entirely refreshing.
Well, that's it! Tomorrow we leave for Lisbon, Portugal, and we are very excited to be in a cooler climate with a beach within reach!
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