Day 18: Restorations

Seeing as now I’m consistently at least a day behind on writing in our travel blog, I woke up early to play catch up. Not only that but I needed to figure out our plans from getting to the airport on Sunday morning. By morning I mean 4:30 a.m. for our 6:55 a.m. flight. Kill me now… It all sounds so good when you book it. “Perfect, we’ll be in Athens by 10:00 a.m. ready to meet the day!” The reality is you’ll get to your flat around 11:15 and crash for five hours because you got no sleep the night before. Ah reality… It bites.

Our flat is nice enough to have a washer outside on the deck and a clothes rack to hang our clothes which is great. However, the instructions were in Italian and the settings were foreign to us, see what I did there…. so, we were a little lost. We started the wash, hoping it would finish before we left so we could dry the clothes all day. We were not so lucky. Looks like we have to dry them over night and the following day. Here’s hoping the dry before we have to pack them up.

Like most of our stops we don’t have a lot of time in Rome. Because of that we are hoping to eat a lot of pasta and pizza, and if we’re lucky eat gelato every day, maybe twice a day.

We decided to see some of the bigger sites today so we set off for the Trevi Fountain. Rome’s metro system, unlike London’s, does not reach to every corner of the city. When you get off at a station marked “Trevi Fountain” you are likely to have to walk five to ten minutes to reach your destination. That’s not a problem, just an observation. As we emerged from the Metro I saw this fountain [see above]. “Wow, that’s cool! Is that Trevi Fountain?” Bethany did not think so. “I think it’s a lot bigger and against a building. So… this is just an intersection fountain. Every intersection needs a large ornate fountain I suppose.

Finally, we made our way to the Trevi Fountain and it was under construction. This is not unusual. Many of the sites we’ve gone to throughout Europe are undergoing restorations. Unfortunately, this was a total restoration, the fountain had been drained and the majority of the monument was covered by scaffolding and surrounded by fences. But, just incase we didn’t know the fence told us we could still throw a coin in… The empty fountain… Nice try Rome. We were bummed, Bethany wanted to throw a coin in the fountain, sigh…

It was noon and time to eat so we found a nice cafe and got a bite. I will say, the pasta in Italy is pretty great. I suppose that’s a given, but make sure if you come here you get it. Steer clear of all American restaurants and eat good local food. It’s worth it! Though I normally try to avoid restaurants in heavy tourist areas it has not been a problem in Italy. So far all of the food whether in touristy spots or not is high quality and the service is great. Just remember to ask for your bill because they won’t offer it. They are never in a hurry to get you out of there. Which is awesome, except when you’re in a hurry.

We headed down the road to the Pantheon. It’s weird seeing all these things you’ve heard about, read about or seen in movies. Honestly, I forgot what the Pantheon was. Yes I know what it is, it’s The Pantheon, but the purpose of it? Who knows… probably no one. As with most things in Europe it is beautiful and grand. In fact, The Pantheon is the largest dome structure in the world. Not bad Rome…. not bad.

As we moved on to our next destination we came across this guy. A street performer who’s performance is making you say “What the heck!?” Now the simple explanation is that under his flowy garment is a platform of some kind that is hidden and obscured by his outfit. But I gotta say… It’s a pretty cool trick. I actually had the thought for a moment “Is he really strong enough to hold himself up like that?” Anyways… Moving on to the Spanish steps.

Our final stop before hopping on the Metro was the Colosseum. You know the one where Maximus made Joaquin Phoenix throw a tantrum and eventually goes “home” to be with his girl? That’s how it went right? We snapped a few photos but were told the inside wasn’t worth the wait. Judging by the restoration blocking the windows and scaffolding around the whole back, I think we made a wise decision. Still, pretty crazy to think about all the things that went on in this historical colosseum.

Remember when I said the Romans like to sit on steps. Pause for a moment… How cool is it that the people living in Rome are Romans!? I mean I know they don’t really call themselves that, but they are and that’s cool. Anyways… We arrived at the Spanish Steps to see hundreds of people sitting on steps and another hundred taking photos of people sitting on steps. Kind of like the one above. Just below the steps is a fountain. Bethany threw her coin in to spite The Trevi Fountain! Not really, but she did through in a coin. From here we walked up a street that was clearly the shopping district of Rome complete with my favorite store H&M… Before being disappointed once again by the way to small clothes at H&M we saw another delightful street performer making large bubbles for kids passing by. You’re never to old to enjoy bubbles.

H&M Update: I found four shirts and a pair of shorts that fit. Looks like Rome’s H&M doesn’t hate normal size men.

After a failed attempt to eat dinner at a secret restaurant our friends told us about we walked by a few other awesome old things and took the Metro back to our home to eat at the famous Ferro e Ghisa. I’d never heard of it, but then again I wasn’t really sure what The Pantheon was… We both got pizzas, our first official Italian pizzas, and we loved them. Three things I should note.

(1) Italian pizzas are very thin. I’m talking millimeter thin. Not of that deep dish thick crust business. This Ultra thin, somewhat flimsy but delicious crust.

(2) Toppings are not mixed on Italian pizzas, at least not the ones we’ve had. I’m sure there is a reason but mushrooms, olives, sausage and ham are seperated into different corners with very little overlap.

(3) If you, like me, Like crushed red peppers on your pizza you may have trouble asking for it. I asked for “hot peppers” and I just got normal pepper. Bethany thinks I should have asked for “Chili Peppers” I think she is right but I didn’t want to bug our already overworked server.

We went to pull out and hang our clothes to dry over night and the next day and headed to bed. We’re going to The Vatican tomorrow morning at 8:10 so we need to get to bed by a reasonable hour. Ciao Ciao!

Cheers,
B&B