Thursday, December 3, 2009

When in Rome, act like a Roman


To celebrate Thanksgiving this year, we decided to visit Rome Italy over the four day weekend. We stayed in a pensione near the Spanish Steps. While there, we found out that a pensione is one step above a hostel. The place was nice enough with clean, comfortable beds and our own bathroom. Biggest drawback was the lack of television (I know!) but they did have wireless internet.

With less than four days to visit and two young sons to drag around, we carefully selected what we wanted to see, leaving the rest for a later visit. Our first full day, we went to the Vatican, visiting St Pietre's Basilica and the Vatican Museum. St Peter's Basilica and the square were amazing. Even chasing Jacob around the confessionals in St Peter's, I felt a sense of tranquilty and peace that I rarely feel in everyday life.

Next up, we visited the Vatican Museum, the only way to see the Sistine Chapel. Searching for the Sistine Chapel felt a little like searching for Venus di Milo in the Louvre. We kept looking, walking, following the signs, but it was always just a little bit further. Christian and Jacob's tolerance for museums is low and we basically ran down the corridors trying to find the chapel. And when we did find it, I was a little disappointed--crowded with no open seats to sit and look at that beautiful masterpiece. After some rest back at the pensione, we went to the Pantheon. Christian was enthralled with the mice outside the Pantheon. After dinner, he wanted to go back and see what they were doing.

For our second day in Rome, we visited the Coliseum, the Palantine and Roman Forum. The Palantine and Roman Forum make up this large area of Roman ruins. The area is massive and full of history. It was completely worth the effort to see a lot of it even if after a few hours we just wanted to find the exit.
From a language perspective, most people in Rome spoke English and knowing Italian was of little use. Regardless, if you made the effort to speak some Italian, the people seemed just a bit friendlier, even if they just corrected your Italian. Of the places we've been in Europe, it did feel like we were back in the US with the large amount of Americans that were there.
Public transportation was easy, even though the train system looked like it hadn't been renovated since Mussolini was in power. We walked a lot and as you might have heard, the roads are cobblestones without any sidewalks and we had to dodge quite a few cars. Food was so-so though we did not venture outside of the more touristy places. Breakfast was always a cafe and pastry with absolutely no chance of having some eggs and bacon to go with the pastry.
Overall, we had a lovely time in Rome. Our time there was very short but we are looking forward to our next visit.

1 comment:

  1. I'm so glad you're blogging about all this! I feel like I'm getting to really catch up with your family.

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