Rome: Two Days, One Giant Post

Unfortunately, I was not as consistent with my itinerary-keeping once we got to Rome. This will basically be a series of pictures & descriptions. We hired a car & driver for the day, so we could see as much as possible in the short time we had available. It was also extremely helpful to get a local perspective, see some out-of-the-way and less touristy things, and to get around because public transportation was not as readily available as it was in Paris.

This is the Triton Fountain in Piazza Barberini, which was about half a block from our hotel:


Our driver took us to the top of a hill just outside the city for the view, and took this picture for us:


Nuns everywhere! Jeff was somewhat disappointed that we did not see any Cardinals in full regalia.


The stinkiest place in Rome - where the kitties live!



Ruins of the Temple of Apollo:


Theatre of Marcellus:


Roman Forum ruins:



Statue of Marcus Aurelius by the Capitoline Museums (which we had to save for the next trip):


Circus Maximus, where chariot races were held:


Palatine Hill:


Saint Paul Basilica (not even listed in the guide book we have). They have portraits of all of the popes, with a light shining on the current pontiff:





Santa Maria Maggiore:



Piazza by the Pantheon, the Pantheon itself, and the tomb of Rafael:





This church contains the relics of the cross. Too bad it was closed both times we tried to visit:


Colosseum. The part that isn't as broken:


Arch of Constantine:


The large window in the center is the location from which Mussolini would address the crowds below:


Trevi Fountain, where I was the victim of a lecherous Charlie Chaplin:


The aqueduct where we ate gelato. How Italian is that?


Our hotel, with the phone-booth-sized shower:


Colosseum by night:


The only food picture I took - cheesecake surrounded with a creme de menthe fondant:


You'll just have to believe me, but this is us at the Vatican Museums:


A mosaic in the section devoted to early Christian art:


St. Peter's Basilica as seen from the Vatican Museums:


St. Peter's Square, shortly after the Wednesday Mass concluded:


Colosseum, ruins of the Roman Forum, and the Arch of Constantine:


Piazza Navonna, where we had dinner & gelato on our last night. Jeff mentioned something being really smooth, and I agreed, thinking he was talking about our waiter. He was talking about the wine.


Walking across the Tiber River, with St. Peter's Basilica in the background:


Castel Sant'Angelo (originally Hadrian's mausoleum):


Basilica:


The Church across from our hotel, Santa Maria della Concezione. It has a crypt as well, that is decorated with human bones.


Other places we went to, but no pictures from my camera (which was almost out of batteries):

• Piramid (moved block by block to Rome after it was "gifted" by the Egyptians)
• Catacombs of St. Calisto (closed just before we got there, so I missed out on all the possible catacombs on this trip)
• Drove the Appian Way
• City Wall & St. Sebastian's Gate
• St. Crose of Jerusalem
• Fonte Acqua Paola
• Piazzale a Garibaldi
• Justice Building
• Piazza del Popolo
• Piazza San Marco
• Trajan's Column
• San Giovanni Laterano
• Teatro dell'Opera
• Santa Maria degli Angeli
• Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II

Now it's time to sleep!

Paris to Rome

We took the train to the airport, and even managed to alight on the correct one. There was a nun on our flight, so I figured we'd be OK, even though we had a rough take-off, flight over the Alps, and landing. Alitalia = not recommended.

Of course, we were some of the first passengers to arrive at the gate, being terminally early. The nun approached us, and asked "Roma?" We nodded, she asked where we were from, and if we spoke anything other than English. I responded that I parle un petit peu le francais, and she proceeded to tell me a rather lengthy story. In French. I believe her grandmother (or Mother Superior) went to the US at some point, but I could be totally off. We just smiled and nodded. It was then that I realized I was reading Catch-22 in front of a nun. Do I need to go to confessional?

You know the luggage saga that required that we spend our first evening shopping. It was terrible!!! We were lucky that Jeff had to buy clothes in Italy rather than France, and I was proud that I remembered the word "camicia" for "dress shirt" when the salesman tried to get him to buy a sweatshirt. And I got some pretty good gig clothes. Of course, all of this time & expense was rendered unnecessary when our bag magically reappeared in our hotel room the following evening.

Tres

We got up in time to see the sunrise at the Eiffel Tower. However, the ticket office to get upstairs didn't open until 9:30. We sat around for awhile, and were again accosted by the "entrepreneurs" selling garbage to unsuspecting tourists. Since we are very suspecting, we decided to leave and skip going to the top for this time. We're just going to have to come back!


Trying to figure out what might be open at such an early hour, we settled upon the Cimetiere du Pere-Lachaise. Dead people generally do not keep regular hours. We walked through a large portion of the cemetery, and only later learned that if we had entered at the other end, it would have all been downhill!


We saw the grave of Oscar Wilde, which you are apparently supposed to kiss, so I did (Jeff will probably have a picture later):


Chopin, complete with Polish flags:


Jim Morrison, whom I knew was famous, but I had to ask Jeff for what:


The next stop was the Rodin Museum, an attraction which Camber, rather frequently and violently, demanded that we visit. We were surprised to learn upon our arrival that our Museum Passes had expired, and we had to wait in line with all the peons. Since they were only 2 day passes, and we had accidentally gone to the Louvre a day early, we were out of luck. From there, you can see the dome of Napoleon's Tomb, with a little bit of "The Thinker" in the foreground:



We tried to go to the Catacombs, but they were closed to the public due to vandalism. I was sorely disappointed, but we did enjoy a nice lunch in a quaint Italian cafe in the area. The panna cotta was miraculous!

The last stop of our time in Paris was the Arc de Triomphe. It was raining, so the same "entrepreneurs" appeared, this time selling umbrellas. I preferred to go for the Russian look:

For dinner that night, I insisted that Jeff try a crepe - he had never had one! This was the first sit-down crepe restaurant at which we dined. The French are geniuses to make crepes portable! Jeff had one with eggs, andouille sausage & cheese; I had chocolate & coconut. We called it an early night since we had to pack up and catch the train to the airport the next morning.

Paris Part Deux

It was another early morning, as we had booked a trip to Versailles. We arrived at the terminal, where there was a group of American middle-aged women who couldn't get their credit cards to work. They kept insisting to the clerk that they had plenty of money, and that it worked yesterday at Louis Vuitton. Jeff & I were hoping that it would never be resolved, and that we wouldn't have to live with them on our bus, but we were disappointed.

Since we were there early, we had some time to visit the Tuileries Garden which was across the street. All of the grassy areas were marked with signs indicating that one was not supposed to walk there. Look closely at the picture. If this hobo had tripped on said sign, I might have mistaken him for my father.



We boarded the bus for Versailles, with the obnoxious Americans (not us). Once there, we were mobbed by Japanese tour groups. They insisted upon taking pictures, even though there were multiple signs forbidding such. We eventually gave in and joined them. One of us...one of us...one of us....



We were supposed to catch the tour bus at noon, but were done at the chateau around 11. So we ditched the bus. They may still be waiting for us, but we took a train back into Paris. Our first stop was the overrated Basilica de Sacre-Coeur. This was, however, where I ate my first Parisian crepe (strawberry). We were constantly approached by scam artists who try to tie a piece of string on you and make you pay for it and people selling plastic Eiffel Towers.


We climbed to the top of the stairs, but didn't make it into the Basilica before we wanted to get out of there. The view is great, but not worth the hassle:


Back on the Metro, our next stop was the Opera Garnier. There was a ballet beginning shortly after we arrived, so we only got to see the exterior and the lobby. From there we walked to Place Vendome. On our way back to the Metro, we were behind a group of British young men. Attempting to decide what to do, one suggested that they sit in a cafe all day, drink wine, eat a baguette, paint little moustaches on their faces, and say "ooo la la" and laugh nasally all afternoon. It made me want to join them.


Palais Royale was our next stop, and this is where we saw the string orchestra playing on the sidewalk. The building was under construction (they were installing a large sculpture in the courtyard), but the trees were perfectly angular:


While sitting in the courtyard here, we spotted six French teenagers, all wearing berets. By the time we left Paris, I had counted 21.

At the Bastille Opera, we were approached by a young French couple, who immediately started speaking to us in French. We didn't quite understand at the time, but upon further reflection, they were wondering what Jeff was photographing (a typical crowd scene).


It was also at this location that I asked an old lady for directions to Victor Hugo's Maison (in French). She responded (in French, of course), and I followed (pretty much). I only got us a little lost. Jeff tolerated this stop. I love going to museums where everyone else is over 70 and wearing tweed. As we left, and old man who resembled Jean Valjean was setting up a display on the sidewalk. Upon stepping out from under the awning, a little drop of rain fell on my forehead. I did manage to restrain myself from bursting into song on the spot.


We had one final stop, and that was the Arenes de Lutece. These are the ruins of ancient Paris, and have now been converted to a children's park. There were kids climbing all over them and playing football amongst them.

For dinner, we had our first encounter with a waiter who did NOT have perfect English. We were actually glad to be forced to use French for all of our communication. After dinner, there was the required trip to the crepe stand - and my first taste of Nutella.