I have been giving this a ton of thought – how to document our time in Rome? Would I try to do a weekly summary? Egads, that would be overwhelming for everyone. Besides, if you want to see photos of the Colosseum there are tons on the web, and a vast number of them are better than mine. Besides, I’m too long winded. What I have decided on is to give you my thoughts on Rome and maybe share a story or two if I can remember.
Driving in Rome. Just don’t. Let those who understand the…hmmm…traditions (because they certainly aren’t rules of the road!) of driving, drive these streets. I’ve always sworn that I would never drive in London or Paris. I would drive a minivan through London or Paris if it meant I did not have to drive in Rome. Up in northern Italy, on the autostrada or in the countryside – no problem! But here, oh man, what an adventure. But, since we don’t drive, we walk everywhere. Which means we do share the streets with those same drivers. The trick is – look the driver straight in the eye when you cross the street. Don’t back down. It’s a game of chicken – in the end the pedestrian will usually win. Bus drivers will usually let you cross the street. Police, no.
And speaking of the police. There’s the Carabinieri (which is one of the coolest words to say!), Roma Capitale Polizia, and the Guardia di Finanza. And then every major site and official building has a scary looking security force outside. I know Rome has a reputation for petty crimes (and with normal crowds I can totally see it) but it’s not because the city isn’t trying to have a strong police presence! Then there’s the Gendarmería of the Vatican, plus the Swiss Guards.
While the police force are out in…force, so are the panhandlers, peddlers, people in costumes and numerous others trying to separate you from your money. Walking up the big boulevard near the Colosseum you are accosted constantly by people making certain that you have your tickets. They are usually dressed nicely so you think they are official – they aren’t. IF they do have real tickets the cost is greatly inflated, but I suspect that they are often not real tickets. Getting tickets to these locations is easy. Go online, TO THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE and buy your tickets. I have, a couple of times, stood outside the venue and purchased tickets online, then walked in – you don’t need anyone calling to you in the street to help you. Rome has raised the art of panhandling to great heights though. Wow. From being handed roses to being asked where you’re from to people cleaning the streets and sidewalks to being accosted by men dressed in cheap centurion costumes – they are endlessly creative. Our favorite thus far was at the Spanish Steps: we were headed down the steps and saw an old lady sprawled on the landing of the steps like she had fallen. There was something about how artfully she had arranged herself, with her cane nearby, but making certain she was not far from her bowl to collect money! How very inventive!
Loving old stuff as I do and getting stupidly giddy over old places, Rome is happiness on every corner! I could do an entire post on my favorite buildings or my favorite churches (and I might!). But honestly, it’s walking down the sidewalk and there’s an ancient arch there, or you can see pillars that are two thousand years old that are imbeded in a building that is five or six hundred years old, or a square with ruins in it that you don’t know the history of- so you look it up and realize that you were looking at the spot were Julius Caesar was assassinated! Stuff like that.
The Aventine Hill. Rome was built on seven hills, so each one of the hills has ancient stuff on it! Palantine Hill is probably the most well known as that is where the Roman Forum is. However, Aventine might be my favorite. If you avoid the street and take the old road up it is peaceful and really pretty. At the top are a few really old churches – in a city filled with old anything, the churches are really old, a pretty park, something under restoration (but I didn’t look to see what it was), and a door. The door leads to the property of the Knights of Malta, which is like an embassy – so it really is Malta. In this door is a keyhole, which when viewed through gives a perfectly framed shot of the dome of St. Peter’s basilica! No one seems to know whether this was by intention or by accident – I suspect it was by intention. The first time we were up in this area was on a weekend and the line to view the keyhole stretched down the street and around the corner! No thank you. One of the wonderful advantages to the way we travel – we have the ability to say “let’s try this another day (non-weekend!) first thing in the morning”! A few days later we made the hike again and only had maybe five six people ahead of us. The keyhole view really is something to be experienced in person. I was fortunate enough to be able to get a somewhat decent photo but most of the people around us weren’t able to get one.
And finally, what has become my favorite subject regarding Rome…toilets. It has been far more of an adventure than I had ever contemplated. Mostly due to the lack of a toilet seat on the vast majority of toilets that I have encountered. Shudder. We went to this rather fancy tea shop while the Mother was here (with rather impressive prices I might add) – the WC was very clean and nicely done – but without toilet seats!! I’m dead serious, I get excited when we go somewhere and the toilet has a seat on it. I make certain to mention to the Husband that we should frequent that location. Just this morning we stopped at a tourist information booth to use the toilets there – for €1 I got a (CLEAN!) toilet seat and heating! A warm WC, how novel. Of course the water out of the faucet was like ice and the hand dryer was useless, but it had a toilet seat! Ah, the simple joys.