Roma Finale

We awoke to a wet and rainy morning here in Rome. We got up and got dressed and headed out to finish our explorations. When we left the hotel it was dripping a little bit, but the rain had stopped for the most part.

We stopped at the corner bar for a caffe (espresso). It was very delicious and only 1,60 Euros to drink it at the bar, compare that to easily six dollars at your local Starbucks.

We walked to Termini Station and caught a bus headed for Piazza Venezia, home to the Vittorio Emmanuelle monument and behind that, the Capitoline Museum.

The piazza was incredibly busy today. There was a lot of cars and buses in the streets and a lot more foot traffic than I remember seeing yesterday. It seemed like everyone was going to see the Vittorio Emmanuelle monument today.

We climbed the tower of marble staircases, at least 150 stairs in all. We got to the top and were treated to an excellent view of the Roman skyline; one of many we would enjoy today.

We walked behind the monument and came to the Piazza Campidoglio, a smaller piazza surrounded by three buildings on the top of the Capitoline hill. In the middle is a bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius on horseback, ready to lead his troops to battle. The fourth side is a ramped stairway back down to the street level.


Also today, they were having an antique car show at the Piazza Campidoglio. There were many 1950s American-made cars on display around Marcus Aurelius.


We walked inside to the first building of the Capitoline Museum, the Palazzo dei Conservatori. This building gave a lot of Roman history starting with the founding of Rome. There were busts of famous Romans, and larger-than-lifesized marble and bronze statues.


In one large, glass-roofed room, there was the original bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius, along with a 10-foot tall head from a statue of Constantine and an original bronze statue of Hercules. There was also an original wall from the Temple of Jupiter, that once stood on the same spot as the Capitoline Museum.


One room was a fresco covering the entire wall. Not only was the painting the main scene, but it also included a frame around the painting, a chair rail with crown molding and other decorations that looked like they were attached to the wall. The artist had even painted the interior around the windows and the frame of the doors.


There was also a temporary display of an original marble sculpture by Michaelangelo that was on loan to the Capitoline Museum. The sculpture, Two Wrestlers, was in a glass case in the middle of an exhibition room. It was only about two feet tall, but was an amazing piece of art to see.


We continued to an underground passage that held many tombstones and epitaphs from ancient times. It was a little eerie to see all these grave markers while you were in an underground showroom.


In the second building, the Palazzo Nuovo, we saw many more marble busts and statues. These were mainly of emperors, senators and gods and goddesses. Several rooms held 20 or more busts and statues.


After leaving the Capitoline Museum, we decided to head over to Piazza Navona. On the way we decided to stop by a small restaurant to have a little snack. We got a nice table inside alongside many locals. We ordered a half-liter of house white wine (which was excellent again) and a pizza with fresh prosciutto. The pizza was hot, with a thin, crispy crust. The cheese was melted just right and the prosciutto was amazing.


After we left the restaurant we decided that we needed to have a little gelato, so I had Straccitella (chocolate chip) and Fior di Nutella (Nutella), while Jessica had two different types of caramel that were delicious.


We walked along to Piazza Navona and were amazed when we got there. It was probably the largest piazza that we had been to. It was literally double the size, or more, of the Trevi fountain area or Spanish Steps. The whole piazza was packed with people, mainly locals. There were little kiosks where people were selling trinkets or drawing portraits or caricatures. There were also  people playing instruments, a magician and many nearby restaurants. There was a great vibe there, with many families getting together to just hang out. No real agenda, just locals coming to the neighborhood piazza to see their friends.


We then had a short walk to the Pantheon. Again, we were treated to a wonderful piazza, though quite smaller than Piazza Navona. The Piazza della Rotunda was also slam-packed with people, with mainly a similar crowd as Piazza Navona, just on a smaller scale. Unfortunately there were some restorations going on to the Pantheon and half of the front of the church was covered with scaffolding. But the magnificence of the Pantheon was still there as crowds of people flocked and pushed toward the entrance to take a glimpse inside.


Then we sat on the wall right beside the Pantheon and people-watched and took a short break ourselves. We made some good photos with our tripod and then decided we were hungry again and decided to look for some more food.


We had decided yesterday to go to the Trastavere neighborhood for dinner tonight since it is supposed to have the best mom-and pop type restaurants in Rome. We knew that we wanted some good home cooking and some traditional Roman cuisine.


We took a tram across the Tiber river into Trastavere and walked a few blocks to the Piazza de Santa Maria in Trastavere. On the way to the piazza we saw a nun and a priest sitting together at a table, and both were drinking a Guiness beer. Only in Italy! The Piazza de Santa Maria in Trastavere was a quaint little piazza with a small fountain and plenty of nearby restaurants. We found one just a half block off the piazza called Ristorante la Canonica.


We started with a bottle of white wine and a bowl of pasta e fagioli. Then we shared calcio e pepe (spaghetti noodles with cheese and pepper; a classic Roman dish) and Saltimbocca alla Roman (sliced veal with prosciutto cooked in a white wine sauce). The pasta was very good and had an unexpected spice and bite to it, while the veal was melt-in-your-mouth good. We finished off the dinner with a helping of tirimasu.


After dinner we walked back to the tram stop and changed to our connecting bus back to Termini Station. We got back to the hotel and packed up for our trip tomorrow to Naples. Luckily, we discovered that the European Union has switched back to Standard Time as of this afternoon. That means that we are now only five hours ahead of the East coast and we get an extra hour of sleep.


Tomorrow is our first train trip, and we are heading south to Naples. We are looking forward to the ruins at Pompeii and Hurculaneum, the island of Capri and, of course, lots of pizza. Hope all is well in the United States. Happy Hallween! Ciao!

Ancient Roma

This morning we struggled around a bit in the morning, still shaking off some of the jetlag. We ate breakfast and showered and headed off to our first stop on our Ancient Rome journey: The Colosseum.

There is a Metro station that opens onto the street directly across the road from the Colosseum, so as you are walking to the door you can already see people gathered around at the base of the amphitheater.

The Colosseum is a lot larger than both of us expected. We knew that it was big, but this was HUGE. And to think that it was constructed by hand about 2,000 years ago. That is a pretty impressive feat. We walked around to the entrance to purchase tickets. Luckily we had bought Roma Passes yesterday, so we walked right past the hundreds of people waiting to buy tickets, easily saving ourselves two hours wait in line.

About 10 days ago the Colosseum opened a new portion of the amphitheater to the public. They now offer guided tours of the subterranean levels as well as the third level of seating. These had to be reserved ahead of time, and apparently not a lot of people knew about it. There were 15 people in our tour and thousands of other people confined to the area for “normal” people. The crazy thing was that they were charging four Euros to rent an audioguide for the normal portion of the Colosseum. But we paid eight Euros, got our own personal guide and were able to see two extra areas that had never been open to the public before. We think we got a good deal.

During the first part of our tour, we got to walk out onto the wooden portion of the main floor of the Colosseum. It was pretty cool as you got a first-hand look at what the gladiators would have seen. The walls are so high around the main floor, they seem to stretch up to the sky.

We then walked down to the subterranean portion of the amphitheater. The guide showed us where wild animals were led into the Colosseum and the cages where they were held. We also got to see where the Ancient Romans had trap doors and elevator systems to lift gladiators and animals to the main floor. It was very eerie to be down under the main floor, almost like you were close to the death that came before.

We walked up to the third floor next and were treated to a spectacular bird’s eye view of the whole stadium. It is crazy to think that there were more seats in the original Colosseum that would have still been 75 feet higher than we were at the top.

After the Colosseum, our next stop was the Palatine Hill. This is the area where all the Emperor’s built their palaces. The house of Flavian was easily the largest and most ornate, even 2,000 years later. He had his own smaller stadium in his house along with gardens, reception areas and plenty of rooms.
I was very excited to see Circus Maximus, the old chariot race course that is seen from one of the terraces at Flavian’s house. Once we got there we saw that it was completely covered in white tents and military vehicles and equipment. There was apparently some sort of festival or demonstration that was taking place right on Circus Maximus.

Next we walked over to the Roman Forum (the Colosseum, Palatine Hill and Roman Forum are all connected, so it is very easy to go from one to the other). We had downloaded an audio guide from Rick Steves, so we listened to this guide as we walked around the main street of Ancient Rome. Huge arches, large basilicas and temples stretched around the main square. We saw the temple for Julius Ceasar and the Temple of the Vestal Virgins.

These ruins are still spectacular to see, even in their somewhat depleted state. It gets your mind racing, trying to imagine what life was like in Ancient Rome.

When we left the main area of Ancient Rome, we had planned to run back to the hotel to drop some gear in the room and then go to Stadio Olimpico to watch the AS Roma soccer match, we even bought Forza Roma scarves to wear. We made the slightly out of the way combination of Metro and bus routes to the stadium. Unfortunately the match had already started and they stop selling tickets ten minutes before the match begins. Bummer.

Oh well. We decided to go back into the center area of Rome to look for a nice place to eat dinner. To take away some of the pain of not going to the soccer match we decided that we whatever amount of money we would have spent on soccer tickets, we would instead spend it on dinner.

We took the bus and Metro back to the Trevi fountain area. We walked up toward the fountain, and could hear it before it was even in sight. Between the rushing water and the throng of people around it, the Trevi fountain is extremely loud. It is also very magnificent to see in person. We walked down to the edge of the fountain and each threw in some money, guaranteeing our return to Rome. We started walking down a side street, intending to walk to a restaurant we had noted that was in the area close to Piazza Navona. But as we were walking a restaurant caught Jessica’s eye. It was called L’Arte della Pizza and it was located on Via della Sabini. It was a very “mom and pop” type place; just the kind of place we were looking for.

We started out with an order of bruschetta and a half liter of the house white wine. Both were unbelievable. The wine seemed to be similar to a pinot grigio and the bruschetta was to die for. There were three large pieces, not the small bite-sized pieces of bruschetta that we were used to in the United States. One piece had an olive paste, one had artichoke paste and the other had quartered tomatoes. All three were amazing, but I think the winner went to the tomato bruschetta. The tomatoes were quartered and had a little dressing and a lot of herbs and spices. Even Jessica agreed that it was the best, and she doesn’t even like tomatoes.

For our main course, Jessica ordered lasagna and I had tortellini with meat sauce. Both were very good. You could taste how fresh the ingredients were that they used. We ate every bit of both dishes. We finished the meal with a couple glasses of limoncello. This is a lemon-infused alcohol mixed with a simple syrup. Everyone’s is homemade and everyone’s is the best.

We finished the night with the Rick Steves “La Dolce Vita” walk up Via del Corso to the Piazza del Popolo (an open piazza with no cars). We then walked back down Via del Babuino to the Spanish Steps. In front of the Spanish Steps is a smaller fountain, and there were plenty of people out enjoying the night by sitting on the steps, even though it was already past 11 p.m. We sat along with them and enjoyed the moment before walking back to the Metro and taking our ride back to Termini station.

We are resting up from our first full day in Rome and looking forward to tomorrow when we visit the Pantheon, Piazza Navona and the Capitaline Museums, among others. Until then, Ciao!

Vatican Museum/St. Peter's Basilica

Off we go on our first sightseeing tour of the trip. We made the easy, two-block walk to Termini Station (it's amazing how much easier it is to find something when you know where it is). We then descended the labyrinth of stairs and escalators to the Metro Linea A.

A few stops later we exited at Cipro station and made a short walk to the Vatican Museum. On the way we stopped for our first Roman meal. We ordered a tomato and cheese pizza that was folded over on itself (sort of like a calzone meets a panini). It was hot and delicious and easy to eat on the move.

We met our tour group at a hosteria near the Vatican Museum entrance and started our tour. Our tour guide was a younger, American female. She was a lot of fun and very knowledgeable on art history and Vatican history. There were eight of us in the tour, including a family from Dallas with a daughter who was a sophomore at Baylor.

We went through room after room of amazing frescoes and paintings, followed by the piece de resistance, the Sistine Chapel. If you have never been to the Sistine Chapel before, then there is really no good way for me to explain it to you. If you HAVE been to the Sistine Chapel, then you know what I'm talking about. It is way higher, way bigger and way more detailed then you can imagine. The Last Judgement, Michaelangelo's altarpiece in the Sistine Chapel is equally brilliant. Unfortunately copyright laws prohibit the taking of photos inside the Sistine Chapel, so I have nothing to show. But the Sistine Chapel is something that you will never forget.

After the Sistine Chapel, we made our way to St. Peter's Basilica next door. If the Sistine Chapel was amazing, then St. Peter's was equally so. It is massive; I have never been inside a church that big. The dome is enormous. There is a large bronze structure that stands over the main altar that is the largest bronze structure in the world. St. Peter's is very cool and they were starting mass while we were there; also very cool.

After leaving St. Peter's and setting out on our own, we realized that we had not eaten any gelato since we arrived in Rome, which was going on 10 hours, so we made a stop for our first taste of the gelato goodness. Jessica had menta and ciccolato (mint and chocolate), while I opted for ciccolato and pistacchio (chocolate and pistachio). Wow, was it good. And eating it while sitting on a bench on Via della Concilliazione, not 100 yards away from Piazza de San Pietro made it even better.

We continued walking down the street and came to Castel Sant'Angelo. Jessica's comment was, "it's not every day that you turn the corner and see a castle."

It was a very impressive stone and brick structure, situated on the banks of the Tiber river. As we were crossing the street (never an easy task in Rome), Jessica yelled, "It's our first day, please don't kill us," to one of the crazy guys on a moped.

We crossed the Tiber, headed toward Piazza Navona in search of food. Of course we found another gelato shop first and had round two as an appetizer. We then found a restaurant called Il Piccolo on Via del Governo Vecchio that had an aperitivo special (think Happy Hour, but instead of drink specials, you get free food with your cocktails). We each had a wonderful pinot grigio and a heaping plate of porketa, pasta, polenta with tomatoes and some very tasty prosciutto.

We walked part of the way home and finished the night with a bus ride back to Termini Station. We are having an easy and early night tonight due to the long travel day yesterday and the slight sleep deprivation we are currently working on. We hope to wake relaxed and refreshed tomorrow morning for our tour of Ancient Rome. Ciao!

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Well, it has been a whirlwind tour so far, but we are officially in Rome! After three flights, a train ride and nearly 24 hours of travel we are in the Eternal City.

Yesterday started out with a 3 a.m. wake-up call at Rick and Jody’s house. We left their house in Suwanee right at 4 a.m. We arrived at the Atlanta airport at 4:45 a.m., even though our flight was scheduled to depart at 7 a.m. Jess said, “better safe than sorry!” We were at the airport so early that the TSA security lines weren’t even opened yet. That’s early!

We set up camp at the Burger King right beside our departing gate. I was reading one of my travel guides while Jess charged her laptop and transferred some stuff to her iPhone. All we needed was a table for two, a power outlet and a $2 cup of Hi-C fruit punch with unlimited refills.

Side note, walking down the terminal in Atlanta we passed Da’Sean Butler, the former basketball player at West Virginia. I had heard that he was just cut by the Charlotte Bobcats because his knee was not fully healed from a devastating injury suffered last year at the Final Four. So that was cool … he is a big dude.

After a quick stop at my old stomping grounds at DFW (I almost expected to see the Baylor track and field teams waiting in the terminal) and a visit to McDonald’s for a biscuit, it was off to New York City’s JFK airport.

Another short layover and it was time to board our final flight to Rome, Italy. We were very fortunate to have emergency exit seats on all of our flights, and we will have the same on our return flights in a couple of weeks. It was a bit daunting to get on a plane knowing that you will be on that plane for the next eight hours. But the anticipation of our destination quickly made up for that.

We arrived in Rome and quickly made our way through customs (which apparently in Italy is a freakin’ joke). The agent quickly glanced at Jessica’s passport and waved her through the line. Then I got up to the counter with my passport and he did not even look at it before he waved me through as well. We didn’t even get stamps and we are a little ticked.

A crowded train ride on the Leonardo Express to Rome’s Termini Station and we were officially in Rome. The next challenge was to find our hotel. I had the address of the hotel, but in a city where the roads are not clearly marked and street numbers are virtually pointless this proved a little harder than expected.

I had Google Mapped the location before we left, so I knew that it was at the intersection beside a piazza with an architectural building. Unfortunately, we were in the wrong piazza and spent about 15 extra minutes taking an impromptu tour. But we made it to the hotel and are checked in, showered and ready to start exploring.

We are off to grab some lunch, followed by a guided tour at the Vatican Museum and St. Peter’s Basilica. Back with more tonight. Ciao!

Packing and Other Preparations

Well, after a year of planning, it's finally here. Our trip to Italy and France! Follow along as we hop from city to city, exploring Ancient ruins and viewing modern art. We hope to update this blog daily and hopefully will be able to provide some photos to help commemorate our trip. We will be six hours ahead of Eastern time, but will be able to respond to your comments and questions. Be sure to check back often to see what we are up to each day.


Even though we will be traveling for 16 days, our plan is to bring one carry-on piece of luggage apiece. No small feat: for a light packer like Jon, and definitely for a not-so-light packer like Jessica. But amazingly it seems like everything is fitting. As evidence, here is a photo of Jessica's carry-on...

And proof that it actually DOES close...



(thanks to Jim and Jean Brown for the use of their extra carry-on bag)


We are heading to Atlanta on Wednesday after Jon gets off work. We will spend the night with Rick and Jody, and then leave from the Atlanta airport bright and early on Thursday morning.