Rome wasn’t built or seen …
Sunday, September 22
We flew into Rome’s Fiumicino airport much more well-rested than we had been after previous flights. US Airways has their A-330 planes fitted out with individual cubicles in the front cabin, and traveling like that could really spoil us for future flights. Our seats flattened out completely, and we were actually able to sleep for at least a few minutes. Service was excellent, the flight a smooth one, and though this was our first flight on US Airways, it probably won’t be our last. Altogether a pleasant way to spend the eight and a half hours needed to get to Italy.
We were met at the airport by a driver who took us to our “home in Rome,” Eva’s Rooms, not far from the Piazza di Spagna. This wasn’t a fancy hotel; in fact, it wasn’t even a hotel, but a B&B. I don’t think we’ve ever stayed in a place before where we actually had a key to the front door. And a key to the gate to let us into the elevator lobby that separated Eva’s rooms from a couple of other establishments with access on the ground floor. And keys to our rooms, one of which (Tori’s) actually had a small balcony. All those keys seemed like a lot to carry around, especially with huge brass key fobs attached, but in the end we actually used all three of them.
After we got checked in and settled a little, the inevitable happened: Judy and I took a nap while the other three went to lunch. That turned out to have a couple of benefits, the best one being their search for a restaurant for dinner. Always take the advice of locals!
Once we got back together, we headed out to find the Hop-on-hop-off bus that Jan had recommended. After a bit of wandering and searching, we finally got on board and found seats on the top deck. Though Judy and I had been to Rome a couple of times, in the past we just wandered around on our own, going to places we specifically wanted to see. We had never really “toured” Rome, and this turned out to be a great way to see many of the major sites of the city. This was the first time we received a set of ear buds during this trip, and at the time, we didn’t think anything of it. That was to change, as you’ll find out in later pages. Just note that these were sort of a reddish orange.
Though we had the option to get off the bus and spend more time at several places, as one always does with this kind of thing, we chose to take a more restful approach today. We rode, we listened to the recorded comments, and perhaps we dozed off during the long stop at the train station. I’m not going to use this space to add a lot of photos we made from the bus; they’ll be on a separate page. But just to get you started here’s a sample. To see larger images of the four below, click them to open full-size photos.
The day was fast coming to an end for us, of course. Jet lag is a little different traveling eastward, and its main problem is getting through the first day after losing seven hours overnight. We were happy to head back to the hotel and explore the neighborhood a bit more. We were really happy to be so close to more taxis than we could count, and like most places in Rome, finding food was really easy. Turning left out of the front door, we had about a three minute walk to the Spanish Steps, one of those places Judy and I had never managed to visit before. This is how we usually saw the piazza on this trip, of course, and the photograph shows one of the things that surprsied me and Judy throughout the trip: the crowds! I’m afraid we’ve either lost that part of our memories, or there really were fewer tourists clogging up pathways at every site the last time we were in Rome. If you want to see the Spanish Steps, rather than seeing tourists on the Spanish Steps, you have to get up early in the morning.
Once back in the hotel, I struck out looking for a market or a small store where we could stock up on some essentials: small bottles of water to take with us, snacks for the room, and perhaps even a bottle of wine or two. Never being one to travel in a straight line, I managed to duck into a nearby church along the way, not a difficult thing to do anywhere in Rome on a Sunday afternoon. I’m embarrassed to say that in my haste I never wrote down the name of the church. I was really a lovely place, and perhaps because it was Sunday, tourists even had access to the cloister, complete with palm trees, lemon trees with fruit, and several other delights. I hope I’ll find the name of the church some day, so I can point people to a great place to get away from the noise and crowds of tourists when they’re in the neighborhood.
The location of Eva’s Rooms had a funny side, too. If we turned right out of Eva’s front door, the next intersection was where Via dei Due Macelli crossed Via Tritone. Five musicians somehow couldn’t really pronounce it the Italian way — something like “Tree-Tony,” with the final syllable changed a bit. We just had to have our first dinner on “Try Tone,” once called “the devil in music.” As luck would have it, we look absolutely fabulous in this picture, but the ones we made of the brightly lit sign outside were so out of focus we subjected them to the trash can icon on our cameras long before we got home.
After dinner, it was lights out for the whole family. Altogether this was a great beginning to our trip!
Credits