After approximately 17hrs of flight time, we landed in Rome at 0930 Monday morning. As both of us slept a combined 30 minutes on the overnight flight, we were enthusiastic but a little exhausted. Coming off the plane we were greeted with our first experience with Italian society-waiting in lines. We had to wait in a line, to wait in a line, to go through customs. That's not a typo. Think of it as a 'pre-line' line. Little did we know that there was much more of this to come. We eventually collected our bags, got some euros from the ATM, headed to the train, and made our way to central Rome.
Our hotel, Hotel Turner,
was just one subway stop and a 10 minute jaunt away from the main hub. We checked in--to the smallest hotel room I've ever seen. Now I know hotel rooms are smaller in Europe, but this was TINY. with our two twin beds pushed together, there was about 18 inches on either side to walk in, and about 3 feet between the end of the bed and the far wall--where a useless mirror/vanity sat. There was no A/C coming out of the vent, but I didn't care--it was NAP time. 3 hours later, we were finally able to tackle Rome.
We made our way to the first of many, many sites on our wishlist--The Coliseum. Now, here's where the waiting in line thing pops up again. Basically at every site there is the big long line, to wait in a line, to buy a ticket. This pre-line line, we came to find out, could easily be a couple of hours long, depending on which site you were visiting. However, most of the big sites would let you call ahead, and for the price of the ticket plus a couple of extra Euros, let you make a reservation for a specific time. Or you could get a type of Combo-pass that lets you in to multiple sites. Kinda like the Disney fast-pass line. I had read about the Roma Pass, the combo pass used in Rome(obviously, duh), so we set out in search of one. The first FOUR sites we stopped at, were sold out. I'm sorry, how do you SELL out of something at 3 in the afternoon?
So, at our fifth stop, we finally procured the Roma Pass. This was at Palatine Hill, in close proximity to the Coliseum, but not exactly right next door. The coliseum would have to wait. We spent the next several hours here and next door at the Forum, basically mainstreet Rome in the old days.
Day 2
Day 2 started off--at 1030(yes I slept 13 hours, I don't think I've EVER slept that long, even post call)-- with a jog around and through the Borghese Gardens--Rome's Central Park, except MUCH smaller. Next stop, Vatican City. On our way we grabbed a quick panini to go from a pissy Italian, then spent the rest of the day wandering through the Vatican museum, the Sistine chapel, and St Peter's Basilica.
Day 3
Our last full day in Rome, and we still had a lot of ground to cover(yes I'm very task-oriented; I get it, I know-deal with it :)) After another jog around through the Gardens, we headed back to the Coliseum. This time, with Roma Pass in hand, we bypassed all the unlucky souls without tickets, made our way directly to the entry gate, and jumped right on in. I've had people who have been to the Coliseum tell me, that its just not that impressive in real life. And I'd have to say to those people, are you freaking KIDDING me? This engineering MARVEL was built 2000 years ago, holds 50,000 people, said people can ALL enter/leave within a matter of minutes, subflooring with 80 lifts/elevators for gladiators/animals/whatever you can think of to appear just about anywhere on the arena floor, the arena could be flooded for naval battles--and did I mention it was built 2000 years ago and holds 50,000 people?? But I digress.
After the Coliseum the rest of the day was spent wandering around the area visiting multiple other sites and museums, but none nearly as interesting or breathtaking. Overall Rome was a fascinating place to visit and I LOVED it there, but it was time to get moving. Next stop, Pompeii, Sorrento, and the Amalfi Coast. The journey to get there did not go smoothly, and this will be the subject of the next blog. Until then, PEACE!
