Our Last Day in Roma

Our last day in Rome started at 10 a.m. as we toured the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. Our tour guide shared the violent history of the Colosseum. It was eerie to stand in a space where killing was a spectacle sport and so many people and animals had brutally lost their lives. Despite the tragic nature of the setting, the building itself was quite impressive. Built more than 2,000 years ago, the fact that even some of the structure is still standing today was unbelievable. We learned that the Colosseum actually had a retractable roof that workers moved on tethers—what an advanced system! We also learned that the Colosseum is the most pillaged site in Rome, which you can see by the holes where looters dug into the limestone to extract the metal.

I was even more impressed by the Roman Forum, where archaeologists have uncovered ancient ruins from the times of Julius Caesar and Emperor Augustus. Walking through ancient ruins was also an unusual feeling, but remarkable to see what people so many thousands of years ago were able to construct. It was exciting to see the archaeologists at work excavating ancient ruins from the ground below. What an incredible day at the office that would be!

The tour ended at 1 p.m. and by now the heat was sweltering again. We took the bus back to our neighborhood and decided we needed to correct the bad sandwich experience we had last night and find something that could rival the deliciousness of what we ate in Florence. There was a carniceria next to our hotel that smelled delicious every time we walked by. We popped in to discover that they offered sandwiches with fresh bread, meats cured at in the shop and different types of cheeses. For just 9 euro, we got one spicy salami and cheese sandwich, one regular salami and cheese sandwich and two giant bottles of water. Why hadn’t we eaten here every day for lunch?

We took our sandwiches and walked to the Pantheon. As we rounded the corner we were amazed that we had not yet seen this incredible structure. We sat on some steps at a bank across from the entrance to the Pantheon and ate our sandwiches while looking at this beautiful monument. The sandwiches were absolutely delicious (Kyle thought they were on par with those in Florence!). Then we went inside the Pantheon, which has a gorgeous dome that Brunelleschi studied to construct the Duomo in Florence. We saw Raphael’s tomb here (one of the world’s greatest painters) as well as the first two kings of Rome. Walking around the outside of the Pantheon, we could see remnants of the ancient city below that had been built on top of over the years.

We did some more souvenir shopping and then took a short siesta. For dinner we went to a top-rated restaurant in Rome called Matricianella. We ate a memorable meal of insalata with pear and pecorino cheese, penne arrabiata, fettuccini carbonara and eggplant parmigiano. For dessert, we went to our favorite gelato place, Il Ciampini, and each enjoyed a blackberry and lemon cone.

To celebrate our last night in Italy, we went on the romantic “Night Walk Across Rome” that Rick Steves published in his travel guide. We opened a bottle of Montalcino wine and walked from the Campo de’ Fiori to the Spanish Steps. Along the way we stopped at the Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, Piazza Colonna, Via del Corso and the Trevi Fountain (this time Kyle tossed in a coin, wishing for a return trip to Italy). The sites and fountains are beautifully lit along the way. At the end of the walk, we sat on the Spanish Steps looking out on the street below. When Kyle asked if I was ready to go back to the hotel, I teared up knowing that meant our trip was over and we’d be waking up early to head to the airport. We stayed until the polizia ushered everyone out at midnight.

And that, my friends, was our arrivederci a Italia.

An Unforgettable Day—Part 2

This is part two of the Unforgettable Day—Euro Cup Championship Game.

As soon as we left the Vatican Kyle was eager to watch the championship game of the 2012 Euro Cup in the main square that we heard would be filled with Italian fans. Kyle read online that the game would start at 1:30 p.m., so we raced back to the hotel to change. (We bought blue Italia shirts from a street vendor to share in the excitement with the crowd.)

The hotel told us that the game would be shown in the Circo Massimo (the ancient circus grounds where chariots used to race). This was a long walk from our hotel but equally far from a Metro, so we took the streets on foot. I struggled to keep up with Kyle’s long legs as he looked at the map to lead us to a part of the city we hadn’t yet explored.

We walked so briskly that we arrived at the site in less than 30 minutes only to find it completely empty except for one lone fan. This man was shirtless in the middle of the empty space, waving an Italian flag and yelling, “VIVA ITALIA!” at the top of his lungs. (He was surely on drugs.) Confused, Kyle said, “I don’t understand…The website said the game was at 1:30.” We walked over to the tents where the TV cameras were setting up, and I asked a man what time the game would start and he said “20:45” (or 8:45 p.m.). Turns out Kyle had read the time on the United States ESPN website (which meant the game time was 1:30 p.m. Eastern time). D’OH! Since we were now 7 hours early for the game, we decided to go find a nice restaurant for lunch.

On a road just off the beaten path from the Colosseum, we found a restaurant with a
shaded outdoor patio. We sat down to enjoy one of the best meals of our trip so far. For antipasti, we ordered the fried artichoke, zucchini, cod and octopus plate. As Kyle put it, the fried cod tasted like “the best fish and chips ever!” For the main course, Kyle ordered lemon linguini with roe and zucchini, and I had risotto scampi. Both dishes were unique and scrumptious. We enjoyed a cold beer in the shade and then went on our way.

We had plenty of time to get some sightseeing and shopping in after lunch. We stopped at Piazza Venezia, which is a giant, beautiful building housing the tomb of the unknown soldier. We then shopped at stores along Via del Corso before retreating to our hotel for yet another siesta to escape the heat.

When it was finally closer to game time, we walked back to Circo Massimo, this time with a huge crowd of people with their faces painted, soccer jerseys and scarves on, and waving flags as they walked. Vespas whizzed by with Italian flags waving in the wind, all headed in the direction of the square. We stopped at a sandwich shop to bring a picnic with us to the game. We got caprese and salami sandwiches (which sadly turned out to be the worst meal of the trip), olives and beer.

When we arrived at the Circo Massimo the scene was quite different than what we saw earlier; the square was now filled with at least 100,000 people (and more kept streaming in), all wearing blue like the team jerseys or red, white and green like the Italian flag. Flags were waving and smoke bombs were being lit left and right, also giving off the colors of the Italian flag.

Awed by the site, but leery of how rowdy the crowd might get, we chose to sit on the hill off to the side of the main square. We sat on the grass between other travelers from Holland and Denmark. Here we had our picnic people watching and waiting for the game to start.

The fact that we were sitting in the country’s capital for the championship game sunk in when the TV screens showed the news and we saw the square where we were sitting. The crowd roared with cheers and vigorously waved the flags for the TV cameras. Soon the players took the field and Italy’s national anthem played loudly over the speakers. The crowd went even crazier, lighting off the brilliantly-colored smoke bombs and singing along.

Unfortunately, Spain dominated the game, scoring within the first 20 minutes. This sucked the energy from the crowd like letting helium out of a balloon. Spain scored again before the first half was over and the crowd went silent. Flags still waved in support, but the tension was palpable. We stood through halftime among the eerily silent crowd.

When the second half began, Italy had renewed energy and looked stronger and more confident on the field. Sadly, this revitalization was short-lived as Spain scored its third goal around the 70:00 mark. The crowd was getting anxious now and more smoke bombs were being lit. Kyle turned to me and said, “If you see one of those things fly in our direction, make sure you jump up quick and move.” No less than 10 minutes after he told me that, a fiery smoke bomb came streaking into the grassy hill where we sat and landed just two people away from us. I jumped up and grabbed Kyle’s arm. He quickly pushed me behind him to protect me from the heat. The people around the smoke bomb stomped on it, putting out the fire that had started in the grass. The two guys who were sitting were the smoke bomb landed complained of burns and left immediately for the first aid tents.

Shortly after the smoke bomb incident, we decided to leave and beat the crowds that would be streaming out of the square at the end of the game. As we walked away, we heard Spain score its fourth and final goal. The news the next day called the Spanish team “the best in history,” and it certainly showed as they dominated the entire game.

Despite the loss, the fans were surprisingly low-key as we walked away from the stadium. No one caused any trouble, and we saw no one rioting or vandalizing like often happens in the U.S. Even though Italy lost and we almost got lit on fire, this was such a cool cultural experience.

To Roma

On our last day in Cinque Terre, we decided to give our tired legs a break and take it easy at the beach. The beaches here don’t have the soft sand we’re used to on the West Coast; instead they’re made up of different sizes of rocks. Laying on them with a beach towel feels surprisingly fine, but I could not get used to walking on them. We soaked in the beach time, feeling completely relaxed.

But, as Kyle put it, “If there’s one thing we can do at home, it’s lay on the beach.” So we decided to pack our things up and go to the train station to buy our tickets to Rome. We bought tickets for 1:30 p.m. train, which gave us just enough time to go back to the pizzeria and get another slice of that tasty focaccia pesto pizza. To no surprise, the pizzeria owner was in a much better mood today. He explained to us in perfect English that he clearly didn’t want to work last night when there was a match to watch and that’s why he closed his store. “If I’m going to serve people acting like a grouch, what good does that do for you or for me when I clearly don’t want to be here? So I close my store and I go enjoy the match!” How different, but wonderful is the Italian work ethic?!

The train to Rome took about 5 hours. On the ride, Kyle and I played card games, and then I wrote as Kyle watched TV shows on the Kindle. The large windows allowed us to watch the scenery as we passed from town to town. The air conditioning on the train barely cooled the cabin, and again, we fought the heat.

We arrived in Rome on a holiday—the Festival of St. Peter and St. Paul. We checked in to our hotel and set out for a stroll to explore the area around our hotel and find a place to eat dinner. About three blocks from our hotel, I stopped in my tracks as I saw my first glimpse of the Vatican off in the distance. I was so excited knowing that I had wanted to go there for so long and I was finally here, seeing it and tomorrow we would get to go inside and take a tour.

Our hotel recommended a nearby restaurant called Segreto. We tried Roman fried artichokes (that tasted like potato chips) and insalata romana—our first green salad since we’ve been here. For our main courses Kyle ordered penne arrabiata and I ordered ravioli with ricotta cheese and spinach. While it may seem silly to post about every meal we eat, each one is special and unique. Kyle’s cousin Joe told us that “you can’t have a bad meal in Italy,” and he was right!

After dinner we walked to the popular Piazza Navona, a vibrant square filled with street vendors, artists, musicians, restaurants and incredible Bernini statues surrounding the a giant fountain. There was so much going on in this square that we decided to stop at one of the restaurants to have a drink and do some people watching.

While this was a day broken up by train travel, we were still able to spend some time at one of the most unique beaches we’ve ever seen and get a taste of Rome at night—not too shabby!