Solo ruins

A smooth three transfers on the trains and an hour and a half later I landed at Ostia Antica. This was the original port of Rome.

There were probably a whole 30 people in the entire ruins. I had a cheesy downloaded audio tour which was actually very helpful. You can actually walk almost everywhere in the ruins. I found myself exploring overgrown areas that probably had not been used in months. 

I could sit and contemplate for hours there. It's amazing to see how these structures from 1AD have survived this long. 

I found my way to the old bar/store which was across from a lower class apartment building. I subjected the headless man statue to a selfie.  Sorry well endowed man. But this is what you wanted, to be forever remembered. 

I walked for hours and hours and then realized the temperature was dropping which meant nightfall as well as the closing of the site.  I watched one more plane go overhead (obviously Ostia Antica is in the path for the airport).  If I fail as a vet, my backup plan is definitely a pilot.  I got so giddy seeing when the wheels came down.  I love flying :).  

Now my half frozen self is on her way back to Rome to source some wine and a warm place to rest the toes. 

Fine art day in Rome

So after returning Monday night, I started talking to the other two guests in the house. I have fondly named them "the Greeks" because I have forgotten one of their names.  One is Greek, and the other is Polish.  We got to talking and the next thing I knew it was 1 am. Good wine and conversation seem to cause this time warp very predictably.

Tuesday is known as fine art day. I casually made my way to the Borghese Gallery to meet Trisha and her father. I had a coffee from a hole in the wall, served in a plastic drinking cup. This coffee was arguably one of the best I have ever had.  Never judge a coffee by the cup it is served to you in. 

I had a pleasant stroll at freezing temperatures through the Borghese gardens. My body naturally seemed out any sun that was shining, just to add a bit more heat. The wind chilled me to the bones. 

As I arrived at the Borghese, I silently thanked my mum for recommending to buy tickets ahead of time. The sign on the door said they were sold out until January 6th. The Borghese is beautiful. It is walking through an old house, room after room lined on every side with beautiful paintings and works of art. Sadly the gallery only allows 2 hours before they kick you out. We spent a large portion of time admiring Berninis Apollo and Daphne sculpture. It was so delicately done. Not my picture, but here it is.

My late afternoon was spent wandering in the Vatican. This brings my foot in country tally to 7 this year. Not a bad way tally if you ask me. 

It dropped below freezing and the winds picked up, so I decided to head back to the flat, picking up cooking items on the way. 

Alessandro is the other brother who own the flat, and he and I chatted with another friend of his. More of his friends came over for a celebration of a wedding. Then the Greeks arrived home and we were officially a party.  It's lovely to meet new people and learn about them. 

Airbnb is my new favorite travel accessory. It's so nice to be able to come and be around other people, or disappear into your room if you would like. Having a kitchen for making a quick dinner is also a bonus. 

Ruins of Rome

So Rome = walking, and I love it. I found myself at an entrance to the metro. There were two rickety elevators and no stairs. Elevator it was. I got on and as every other person stepped in the elevator dropped 3 inches and then bounced back up. I'm sure we were over capacity with the 5 people sardined in the metal box of death.

Trisha and I started out the day by confusion on the meetup spot.  I had drunkenly the night before texted the incorrectly spelled mattress store near where I am staying.  She got there and thought why would we be meeting at a mattress store. Rightfully so, not the best wine induced meeting point. Next time we will be civilized and choose a cross roads. 

We made our way to the colosseum. Holy moly. After some confusion about me purchasing child's tickets and tour guides we made our way in.  We spent the next 2 hours attempting to visually reconstruct the bones of the building in our minds. We both spied a display case of animal skulls and as vet students do, we started to determine what animal they once belonged to. 

We then realized that we needed fortification. Wine. We stumbled into a place that was still open. When we finally looked up from our deep conversation we realized it was almost dark outside. We then decided to continue our wanderings. The forecast had been wrong and my poor Trisha was freezing. We made our way back to the colosseum to find a vendor to buy a scarf from. This might have been the only time that anyone had willingly wanted to get pestered by a vendor and there were none in sight. Finally an older man with arms full of scarves approached us. Trisha was warm. 

We then ambled down the boundary of the forum. It was so pleasant as so few people were out. We finally got the feeling of how old the structures were around us. 

Rome at night is glorious. So few people are out. Everywhere we we searched for words. The overuse of the word amazing became evident to both of us. We tried using other words, but our gasps and ebullient eyes around every corner would have been contagious to the most sullen of people. 

We walked to The little island in the middle of the river, and bravely went down to the banks. The echoes of our giggles and awe became evident as we went under the archa of the bridges. 

We decided after about 2 hours that we needed more fortification. I had a restaurant marked on my map. Honestly I have no recollection where I found it, but since I had at one point thought it was a good idea, we trekked on to it. The route guided us down the narrowest of the cobblestone streets of Rome. We were green with envy. People lived here. Vespas lined the narrow streets. 

The restaurant was a house. There were about 8 tables, for a total of about 26 guests. We walked in and were obviously the only non Italians in the place. We were questioned whether we had a reservation. I used the very little Italian that I know and simply shook my head. They decided that they could seat us at the tiny table by the chimney. I didn't even care about the horrible draft. It was perfect. The host attempted to take our order. Wine. He arrived at our table with our bottle and in his attempt to communicate with us, starts singing "red red wine" by Uber40. Trisha and I were in love. The server was a 70 year old Italian man. He was so precious. Trisha and I drank and talked into the night, so grateful that they were able to sit us, as countless others were refused. 

We were in the process of paying our bill and we had one of the euros for our tip out and were scrounging for more. Our server walked by and picked up the euro and kept walking. We tried to tell him we were getting more, but he was gone in a flash. We fished out another, which he came and picked up again. As a joke we put another one out and he came by and threw his hands up in question with a big smile on his face. 

We decided to try our wine induced brains and figure out how to get back to our different hotel/flat. We failed. So we got a cab. It is here that I learned that ALL traffic rules and signs are simply guidelines for Italians. Red lights do not mean stop, but simply to watch out for other traffic. The left side of the road is for driving on when a bus is going slowly in the proper right side of the road. Speed limits do not seem to exist. Throwing your hands up or cursing makes other drivers ahead do what you want. It is also where I learned that even if you think you know where you are, don't get out of the taxi until he tells you. I then had to wander back to my flat after I misinterpreted where I actually was. Only a 10 minute walk. 

Roma

So I missed writing about a few of my trips, but I'm back with a vengeance. 

Roma

Trains are the same everywhere. There is always a muddle of people who are utterly confused looking around as if they are lost. There never seems to be anyone around to help at that precise moment, but when help does arrive, a gaggle of confused tourists huddle around him. They then all return to where  they were as they were correct in the first place. 

I gracefully sat on the lush train, and flipped open my book.  Every time someone boarded the train,  they looked at me trying to best ask if this was their correct train. "Termini?" Was typically the case, in an attempt to have an Italian accent. They were all shocked when I spoke in English "yes". This happened 4 times before a lady sat down across from me and started asking me for a pen in Italian.  I responded non capisco which means I don't understand. How in the world I look like I would speak Italian is beyond me, but it's comforting in some sense that I don't seem to be standing out as a tourist. 

I made my way to the Spanish steps and around to find a place to eat.  I found a quieter street and picked the restaurant I found.  I was on a quest to find the best amatricana in Rome.  Big glass of red and an ok pasta.  

I left the resturant and walked, li and behold two doors down was the restaurant that my friend recommended. Doh!  

I then wandered finding my way back to the metro to find the flat that I am staying in.  I met Luca whose spare room I am staying in. 

I was to meet my friend Trisha at a resturant. I found my way there only to find a locked gate and a lengthy note in Italian.  I then wandered to the hotel to get it translated and found Trisha and her father wandering looking for the restaurant as well. The host at their hotel roughly translated that it was a kilometer walk down a busy street. We left a bit confused and tried to find it again.  Failed.  I called the restaurant and the host attempted to describe how to get there.  I guess it was the confusion, but suddenly she said to wait out front the hotel and they would come and pick us up!  We were a group of 7!  So the chef pulls up in his own car and makes two trips to get us all to the resturant!  We all piled in and got to the other entrance around the block. It was hilarious. 

The restaurant was basically a house. Trisha and i started the wine!  The food was fabulous and worth the confusion!  Course after course our palates were pleased!  

As we were finishing up Trisha and I were debating another bottle of wine. The hostess looks at me and says I'll bring you the cork so you can take it with you. We were sold! 

We then walked back the windy busy road back to the hotel, since we knew where we were going. We never would have been able to find the place if it weren't for the driver!