Rome, Italy: November 6-10
The longest leg of our trip was spent in one of the most jam packed historical cities in the world, Rome. My expectations were high for Rome. I figured it’d be like stepping into a time capsul and then transported to a beautiful city full of life and culture. Unfortunately I was mistaken. Rome is a wonderful city to visit as it is filled to the brim with history and ancient ruins but it is far from beautiful. The streets are littered with garabage and sometimes questionable sticky residue. Everywhere is adorned with tourist-trap gift shops with unoriginal trinkets and hoeky knick-knacks that are actually made in China. The food isn’t as sensational as I had built it up to be (more about that later). But although it isn’t a charming place to visit, it is busting at the seams with history. And I suppose at one point it time, it was not such a tourist trap. Nonetheless I am glad I went there. I figure the Colesium among other attractions are worth braving the mediocre food, bothersome street vendors, and tricky public transportation.
Because we had woken up early that morning to board the plane headed toward Rome, we were exhausted by the time we reached our pension. Yet, we couldn't check in to rest yet, therefore we decided to try and get acclimated with Rome.Under the suggestion of our pension and the guidance of Rick Steves, my mom and I, weary from our early morning, stumbled our way to the Tevi Fountain. In the day light we saw the bustling atmosphere of the Roman streets. Near the Trevi fountain were street entertainers (as well as annoying and sometimes rude beggers). There were of course tourist shops and pricy restaurants. After searching for some time and maybe wandering in a few circles, we decided to dine at a small and empty Italian restaurant. I was excited for my first taste of “real” Italian food. I thought it would be like fireworks in my mouth. I ordered some kind of pasta with mushrooms and cream sauce while my mom ordered lasagna. There weren’t fireworks, there weren’t even really sparks or fire crackers. Although the food was edible and certainly better than other’s I’ve tried, it was by far not the best Italian food I’d had in my life. But it felt good to eat. Afterwards I tried my first gelato. Again, I expected it to be amazing. It wasn’t. It wasn’t bad either—it just wasn’t any different from what I’d had previously in Copenhagen. The weather was warm and we walked back to the pension to rest for awhile before heading out again.
After relaxing for a bit we wandered our way back out to the streets. We browsed a few shops for a little near where our pension was located. It had been a few hours since we’d last sat down for lunch so we decided to give it another try with the Italian food (not like there was much choice). We were ushered in to a restaurant called “Bar Washington” that was on the same street as our pension. The waiters stood outside the restaurant and if a passerby so much as hesitated in the slightest way they would exclaim “table for 2?” “table for 3?” (of course depending on how many you were with) or they would say “to eat or drink?” My mom and I were suckered in. We looked at the pictures posted on the outside of the restaurant and figured the food looked tasty and what not. I can easily say that the food I had at “Bar Washington” was the worst Italian food I have ever tried. My mom got spaghetti with meat sauce while I decided to try the margarita pizza (I based this off of the picture that was posted nearby). Both meals were terrible (along with the service and bread that not only was crusty from sitting out but took forever to get). The food was overpriced and absolutely awful. The pizza was worse than frozen and the spaghetti was on par with Chef Boyardi (which might have been better actually). There was absolutely no hint of fireworks in that meal. But it was lesson learned. For the rest of the trip we didn’t give any restaurants with waiters outside trying to usher in customers a second chance.
The next day we purchased the Archeological Card at the National Museum with some very friendly and helpful guidance from a museum worker. Again we were fortunate that we were in walking distance to nearly everywhere in Rome and thus started towards the ancient area that holds the Coliseum, Forum, and Palestine Hill. We first visited the Coliseum with the aid o
f a very dry but informative audio-guide (but we knew that was coming because Rick Steves already explained that in his book). Walking around the Coliseum was almost surreal to me and although it was crowded, I still enjoyed it. I had heard so much about gladiators and ancient Rome that it was unreal to be there, to have seen it in movies, read about it in books, heard stories of the battles that occurred on those very grounds. Epic battles between man and man as well as man and animals were fought here. It truly was a different time. Things were carried out with swords and death was not an issue. While being there I started to think about how truly amazing the human race is; to have built such a powerful structure with limited resources (no heavy machinery) and I thought about the brain power and imagination that it took to formulate such building plans. But then I thought about how easily Mother Nature could take it all away with a swift and easy earthquake.
Palatine hill was the next stop. Palatine hill is the remnants of a palace and the ruins of many other buildings such as Romulus and Remus’s homes. From the top of the hill there is a view of the Forum that is astonishing. While looking out onto the grassy plain and hills covered with stones that once held up lavish marble structures, I tried to picture what it looked like when the Forum was the bustling market where Romans used to congregate. Now it is ruins, destroyed by war, the fall of the Roman Empire, and the test of time. While we walked around the Forum all I could think was “I’m walking where Caesar walked!”
Our tired feet made one last trip. We went back to the National Museum to see some of the tapestry, paintings, and sculpture displays.
