Blog

A too-early wake up call got the ball rolling this morning. Shower. Breakfast. Time to fly home. The military and its marching band was reassembling on the closed road in front of the hotel…today is a national holiday…La Festa della Repubblica. Bonus…an easy 30min drive to the airport…FCO…Leonardo da Vinci International.

Quick check in through Lufthansa. Confirmed our upgrade from Frankfurt to SFO…both of us.

Time to kill.

Left Rome in the light rain. A couple of hour later, descended through scattered puffy clouds into Frankfurt…by one measure a very predictable, efficient airport…marred by inexplicable irritants.

Boarded our on-time 747 bound for San Francisco. Champagne for Jeff and red wine for me. I do love business class.

Followed a familiar route over Iceland and Greenland and down over Canada. The US leg involved wonderful views of Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Shasta. The San Francisco Bay was beautifully lit…a welcome sight.

Awoke to another sunny day in Rome…forecast to be the warmest of our visit. Another filling breakfast…yesterday's held us over till dinner…Italy has enough of our money. Filled our water bottle…Rome has countless, free-flowing water fountains all over the city for cool, fresh refills.

Headed a short distance to the three-building Musei Capitolini high atop Capitol Hill…the seat of ancient Roman temples and even pre-historic settlements back to the Iron Age. The museum has an amazing sculpture collection. We finished our visit in the open-air section of the museum that overlooks the Forum. This section is the Roman temple of Jupiter.

Another long afternoon walk, starting with a daytime stop at the Pantheon…free, easy entrance into this impressive architectural wonder…originally a Roman temple…now a church. Next stop, the controversial modern building on the Tiber constructed to showcase (and protect) the ancient Altar of Peace…a huge, gleaming-wite marble "box"…carved with intricate figures. We viewed the Altar from the outside for free 🙂

Across the street, the simple church of San Rocco…in Rome, even the small churches are gems. Hit a couple of tourist meccas on our walk back to the hotel: viewed the famed Spanish Steps from afar…across the heads of a gazillion people. Popped by the Trevi Fountain…a brilliant fountain, buried under the weight of popularity.

Took a long winding path back to the hotel…past the gleaming monument to Italian unification; past the Forum; past the Colloseum; past the Circus Maximus. Dinner one last time in the Travestere…pizzas and wine from a recommended spot. The Travestere was full of Italians…in town for the three-day holiday weekend. Had one last wonderful gelato. Saw our angry mime again.

Fell asleep tired, but knowing we had wrung every last drop from the Eternal City.

Jeff tells me that at 4am, a full military marching band passed by our hotel…I heard nothing. Had our first hearty breakfast of the trip…including fluffy scrambled eggs, bacon (the way I like it) and due cappuccini.

Started the day with the second half of our Palantino ticket with a visit to the always-impressive Colosseo. New sections were open on this visit, providing some up-close vantage points to peer into the ancient flooring and imagine what it was like in the bowels of such a structure.

Began a long afternoon walk in the direction of Castel Sant' Angelo. Ducked into two cool churches along the way…cool in decor, but more importantly, cool in temperature. Maria en Campitelli was a dark, quiet church with few visitors, while Agnese di Agone was bright and opulent and teeming with admirers. Outside, on the Piazza Navone, Jeff spotted a landmark from a book he is reading: Dan Brown's Angels and Demons. (Thanks to Matt for the recommendation…Jeff is pointing out "clues" all over Rome.)

Our primary destination for the afternoon–the Castel Sant' Angelo–is another book landmark. The Medeival Castel was construted on top of an ancient Roman masoleum constructed by Emperor Hadrian. Later, the Castel housed Papal apartments, and a secret passage to the Vatican ('Il Paseo') for the Pope to escape invading armies. For modern visitors, the result is a 3-D inter-mixing of eras. From the parapets, got a colorful glimpse of the myriad of street vendors below: sandals, handbags, glasses, scarves, grass reeds twisted into oragami grasshoppers…tripods?

A short walk to the Vatican, where visitors lined up for evening service in Piazza San Pietro. Watched the curious scene for an hour…expecting something to happen…I'm sure it did eventually…probably even included the Pope. Nevertheless, hunger overcame us and we walked along the Tiber back to the Travestere for dinner. A very popular spot…Carlos Menta…with good food at very reasonable prices. They are the one place that seemed to have embraced the American economic model that with high volume, you can have low prices.

Returned to the hotel for drinks (mojitos) and dessert (a creative, rich tiramisu) at the hotel rooftop bar, Circus.

Nestled into a very cozy bed.

The overnight rain brought with it a pleasant chill. Perfect sleeping weather. Breakfast was out on the terrace…although an approaching storm was preceeded by strong breezes that tugged on linens.

Dropped ye olde Kia off at Avis. Crossed to the train station to wait for the 11:58 train to Roma Termini…delayed by 25min…and a bit confusing without seat reservations. But no worse for the wear, we made our way (finally) to Rome by around 1:30pm.

Taxi from the train station. Our first real problem. Even though we got an officially marked taxi from an official taxi stand, the driver still gorged us. Jeff berated him to reduce the price and we got a small reduction, but the 1 mile ride still cost us 30 euro…the hotel told us it should be 10-15 euro. Live and learn, I guess…still, it gives me that feeling in the pit of your stomach that you've been taken.

The Hotel 47 staff was helpful and the room spacious and comfortable. We're located near the end of the Roman Circus Maximus behind the Palantine Hill…which we set out to see after dropping off our bags.

In Roman times, the Palatino Hill was THE place to build your palace. Today, its a fun maze of ruins…arched brick walls, marble columns, scattered masaic floors, hidden passages. Our first and favorite sight was the newly-restored rooms in the Casa Augusto. These four tiny rooms were painted almost 2000 years ago, and yet the pigments have been amazingly preserved. Augustus must have loved brilliant red.

Finished the Palatino Hill and exited to the Forum below. The afternoon light made this open-air playground of Roman artifacts come alive. Exited the Forum at Capitolino Hill and the piazza designed by Michelangelo. Returned to the hotel to shower and relax before dinner.

Crossed the Tiber River into the Travastevere area…this is the heart of Medieval Rome…with narrow, winding, and slightly seedy streets. Found an outdoor restaurant on the Piazza Santa Maria en Travatereve. Ate a hearty meal while watching the colorful activities of the piazza…a comical mime, roving bands of salesmen hawking cheap plastic toys that light up, a gang of children mocking the roving salemen, a spray paint artist, and a rousing troubador.

Took a long walk into the wee hours. Historic Rome at night is just fun. The Jewish Getto and the Area Sacra…with its tribe of wild cats. The Campo di Fior with drunken/festive revelry. The race-track-shaped Piazza Navona. The simply breathtaking Pantheon. And every few blocks…a random patch of ruins.

Tired feet but an overwhelming sense of history.

Awoke to the sound of birds…happy birds. Birds feeding or nesting or courting or whatever birds do as the sun rises. Certainly our most peaceful wake up call. The scents of honeysuckle, lavendar, and roses mingled in the air.

A light, fruity breakfast in the hotel Enotecca–their event wine bar. Local preserves. Fresh strawberries and cherries. Three flakey fruit tarts. Yogurt. And cappuccini…oh yes!

Swung into Orvieto to buy tomorrow's train tickets to Rome and to locate the Avis drop-off. Success.

A short but scenic drive to postcard perfect Civita di Bagnoregio…but first a stop in sleepy Lubriano who's claim to fame seems to be the perfect overlook of Civita. It began to rain steadily. Drove to the larger town of Bagnoregio with its own to-see's, but for us just the entry point to Civita. Unfortunately, the rain picked up, and we were without rain gear. So, another picturesque vista of Civita…perched high atop its mound of tufa…the town's single connection to the world a narrow foot bridge.

Returned to the Locanda for rain garb for the afternoon.

Into central Orvieto for a couple of underground sights. First stop, a recently re-discovered network of Etruscan wells, tunnels, garbage pits carved into the tufa dating 25 centuries ago. These ancient sites were intermixed with more recent modifications by the Romans and again in the Middle Ages.

Grabbed lunch at a creative (looking) place we had passed yesterday. Unfortunately, only the decor made us chuckle…the food was mediocre and the service was horriffic. Maybe the pan-flute CD playing covers of Guns and Roses and Celine Dion should have warned us. Rain blew through and left behind high humidity…ugh.

Walked across Orvieto for our next stop…the engineering marvel that is Pozzo di San Patrizio…aka, St. Patrick's Well. Built at the orders of a Pope to ensure a sustainable water source in case of the town being beseiged, this 16th-century well is notable for its double-helix stairwells, decending 496 steps to the bottom with a half-turn separated route back up. Nice and cool below. Shopped for some of Orvieto's famous ceramics. A breeze picked up and lowered the humidity.

With the rain gone, decided to take the short drive back to tempting Civita. Much better vistas 🙂 This time, we were able to walk the long foot bridge into Civita, up the steep approach, and through the old Etruscan tufa gate. The town is tiny and desolate…but the Medieval buildings are worth the trip.

It was getting late as we left Civita so we rushed back to Orvieto to try and grab dinner. Long story short…we left thwarted…Italy does not make eating lite and quickly simple. So we returned to the hotel to sample a local wine in our room minibar…only to find that there was no cork screw. Want a beer or Coke? No bottle opener. And no way to contact the innkeeper, because we are the only two people in the hotel. It wasn't meant to be.

We can see lightening on the horizon from our bed. There is a cool breeze and the humidity is low.