Italy

Finally, an internet cafe! We almost gave up hope...

First glimpse of Rome

We touched down in Rome a bit before 8:00 am on Christmas day, pretty well wiped out after the 9 hour leg from Atlanta. Our first job, after recovering our bags, was to find a taxi to the hotel. Immediately we were approached by Mr. Charisma, a guy who offered to take us there by van. Within moments we surmised he was probably unlicensed, saw the error in this and slipped away toward the licensed taxi area, a line of various beat-up white cars inching forward. Our taxi driver, an older white-haired gentleman, pulled up to the front and soon we were on the road.

We sped down the Autostrata, catching our first baffling glimpse of Italy from the back seat. We were realizing at this point how lacking we were in our knowledge of the outskirts of Rome. For several minutes the scenery was rural, looking like any number of areas you find in the US. Then we entered the city - a shock! For the next several minutes, our driver, who had still not said a word to us, careened down the vacant, twisty streets, through run-down graffiti-marked residential neighborhoods. The area looked like some of the guidebook pictures of Mussolini-era construction, but that was as familiar as it got; ancient Rome this was not.

Venturing conversation, I tried asking the driver what district this was. He grunted something like 'despachio'. (Later we learned this meant 'sorry'). It had become apparent by the end of the ride that our driver, in his years of experience shuttling tourists, had already learned all the English he cared to. After struggling to settle the fare, we realized we had a little Italian to teach ourselves in the coming days...

We finally made it to our hotel, a nondescript building on the North end of town, and settled in, pleased how clean and nice the room was. It was now time to catch a few hour nap and head out for a bite to eat.

A Spontaneous Walk to The Colloseum

Our first outing was camera-free; we had left in in the room, and didn't bother to retrieve it, because we weren't planning on getting much more done that evening beyond dinner. It was just before dusk and not as cold as expected. Before long we found ourselves at the top of the famous Spanish Steps, its obelisk under renovation (more on this later). We found - as did most other Americans that everning - an appealing little restaurant near the steps. Two pasta dishes and a carafe of red wine later, we were satisfied with our accomplishments.

It was dark as we left, but still not especially cold. We could see throngs of people in the cobblestone streets wandering around, interspersed with street vendors, practically covered in brightly colored LED baubles, occasionally flinging little toy flying saucers skyward. (This saucer toy looked pretty cool, I thought, which did entertain Lauren) We decided to get out there and see what we could find before jet-lag exhaustion would finally take hold of us for good.

Headed about South, armed with a map from the hotel, we strolled and watched the locals (and their dogs), and other tourists go about their evening under a full moon. To our surprise, we checked the map and found we were already well on our way to the city center and the Colloseum!

Every block had some sort of attraction it seemed, and they sort of drew us further along. Around a final corner we went, and there it was in the distance at the end of a long avenue - the Colusseum.

Down the avenue, past more vendors and their flashing lights, as the ruin grows larger... We strolled on, finally passing the last of the trincket guys, who seemed to be keeping a respectful - or perhaps required - distance from the actual site. Joined by only a few clusters of other visitors, we felt unrushed as we took in the sight and meandered around the outer wall and iron-gated archways. Looking straight up the walls from the base, you're struck by how truly massive the structure is. The walls had a haunting look, with the higher arches bathed by orange-tinged lights. We stepped up on some rounded lumps of stone as we walked (originally cut at right angles, you'd have to think). We started walking around the perimeter, past some fenced-in trenches, apparently new archaological digs. The Colosseum revealed new dark passageways as we peeked in from the different viewpoints. There at night, you could try to imagine what must have occured long ago (the deafening cheers and terrifying games of violence). I fell short of being able to picture much of this. Our Colosseum on Christmas eve was a peaceful giant, and delightfully, more than just another tourist attraction.

Our planned Colosseum visit was first thing the next day. We got there this time via a speeding public bus. It was raining since dawn, and now quite glad to encounter a street vendor, we picked up a couple of cheap umbrellas on the way to the bus stop. It was an entertaining and fascinating couple of hours, as we did the popular stuff: got our pictures with the rowdy 'gladiators' (for a mere 20 Euros), and did the self guided tour inside. Quite a place, but probably better shown than explained. We'll get the pictures up, as soon as we get our stuff completely figured out here at the internet cafe...