When In Rome…
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“Veni, Vedi, Vici.” The roman phrase is attributed to Julius Caesar and after three days, we came, we saw, and while we didn’t conquer, I don’t think we were conquered either. It was a draw. Our trip to Rome was a first in many ways for us. It was our first time staying in an Airbnb instead of a hotel, using backpacks instead of suitcases, and our first time experiencing Italian culture outside of Sicily.
Planes, Trains, and Walking
The flight from Catania to Rome is close to an hour and crosses the Tyrrhenian Sea, then veered left, flying alongside the coastline providing views of the Amalfi Coast and Naples before landing. Only traveling with backpacks instead of suitcases allowed us to walk right out of the airport after landing since we are traveling within the EU. The only downside to that is that it limits your options on what you can bring. Limiting ourselves to a backpack doesn’t allow us to bring a jacket and extra shoes if we wanted to go out to a nice restaurant, but we have two small kids and no babysitter, so that’s not really an issue for us this trip.
The airport is about 30 Km outside the city and can be easily reached via train to Roma Termini. After a 30 min train ride, we arrived at the station where we had our choice on the next mode of transportation. There are buses, electric bikes, taxies, Uber, and good ol’ fashion walking. Being the “adventurers” that we are, we opted to walk with Cassandra navigating the 3 km route from the train station to our Airbnb. Unfortunately, it was the middle of the day and temperatures were expected in the 90’s all weekend. I pushed Naomi in the stroller and carried both our backpacks.
The walk wasn’t too bad, there were a few hills, and the sidewalk was wide and smooth enough to traverse with the stroller. There were a few instances where there was no sidewalk and many of the roads are cobblestone, so it made for a bumpy ride in the stroller, which was also on its last leg. Along the way we passed multiple churches, statues, monuments, and museums, reiterating the fact that there is so much to see and do in Rome, that it would be hard to do it all in the short time we would be here. The one that caught my attention when walking past was the Monument to Victor Emmanuell II, the first king of a united Italy since the 6th century. It is in a piazza with steps leading to the museum entrance but what really stood out was the two horse drawn chariots helmed by a rider with wings which stood on the roof of the museum on either side.
One of the many museum/statues we saw on our walk that we didn't have time to explore this time.
Airbnb: The Pros and Cons
Finding our apartment, wasn’t too difficult even though it wasn’t as clearly marked or labeled like a hotel would be. The entrance was a nestled in between a restaurant and a mini mart, but we eventually found it and was able to get in. The upside to choosing an Airbnb over a hotel is that it gave us multiple rooms, a kitchen, dining/living room instead of us all being confined to one room. In our previous trips, after struggling to get Naomi to bed, we were left sitting in the dark quietly. This trip, after we got back, we were able to get Naomi ready for bed, we could put her in her room, then Cassandra and I had time to relax and unwind from the day’s excursion.
The other advantage to choosing Airbnb over a hotel is that we could stay in the center of Rome within a walkable distance to all the restaurants, museums, statues we wanted to see at a fraction of the cost, saving ourselves a little over 600 euros. We could even cut down on the cost by going to the nearby grocery store and getting items for breakfast and coffee. This was a plus since most of the hotels we stayed at previously charged us between 10 and 20 euros a day for their breakfast or we could spend that or more at a nearby café having breakfast. Instead, for 30 euros I was able to get pastries, coffee, a bottle or two of wine plus some limoncello to enjoy after a long day of sightseeing that lasted the entire weekend.
So Much To See, So Little Time
After resting a bit inside our apartment, Cassandra found a nice restaurant called Nanarella in a section of town called Trastevere. It was a short walk over to the other side of the Tiber River and was full of shops, restaurants, and lounges. Luckily, we decided to eat early because by the time we left, there was a long line waiting to get in that stretched across the piazza. With so much to see and not a lot of time, we took the scenic route home where we came across the Basilica di Santa Maria, that we were able to go inside and observe and admire the frescos before they closed. From what we saw that evening, the art wasn’t confined to the museums or churches, it was all over the city. There were murals painted on garage doors and bands playing in the piazza in front of a full house sitting on the steps playing mostly American music. It was a very pleasant stroll, taking in the sights and sounds of Rome on a Friday night.
The public street art is just as amazing as the stuff in a gallery or museum.
To cap off day one, we decided to go check out Piazza Navona, which is the location of the fountain designed by Bernini, La Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (The Fountain of the Four Rivers). The sun had set, and we thought the fountains would look great all lit up. Unfortunately, all the statues in the piazza were under construction. This was a disappointment, but I can understand that maintenance needs to be done to preserve things that have been standing since the 1600’s. Hopefully, we’ll be able to come back and explore this area after construction is complete because there is also an excavation below the street level that you can explore.
The first Sunday of each month, all the museums in Rome were free, as a result, most guided tours operate on a limited basis. However, I do not think that the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel and St. Peters Basilica are open to tourist on Sundays at all, so we purchased tickets to that on Saturday and pushed the Colosseum to Sunday. The Vatican Museum houses over 70,000 pieces of art and only about 20,000 pieces are available to the public and there isn’t a description or literature on each piece so a guided a tour is highly recommended.
The tour starts out with a detailed description and history of the art within the Sistine Chapel because there are no photographs allowed and silence is expected, so the tour guide explained the history and backstory to these artworks. Naomi thought she should be the center of the discussion and frequently yelled and spun from the billboards while the tour guide narrated the story of Michelangelo’s two contributions and the Life of Moses and the Life of Christ series that adorned the North and South walls.
We were led through the gardens and past various statues, busts, frescos, reliefs, and baths. The level of detail that went into creating these works of art and through preservation, that is still evident today is astounding. I don’t pretend to be an art buff, but it’s quickly apparent that you aren’t walking through a third-grade art show. The use of shading gives some of the artwork a realistic appearance, so much so that one wall was painted as drapes and even up close, if you didn’t touch it, you would think they were real drapes. One of pieces where this was the most apparent was a dome. We stood in a giant rotunda looking up at ceiling admiring the craftsmanship it took to get that high up and chisel out reliefs, only to be told that it was a painted ceiling.
Is this a painting of a dome or a real dome?
At the end of the museum, we were yet again reminded not to take pictures and observe silence within the Sistine Chapel. We were curious why you could take pictures throughout the Vatican Museum but not in the Sistine Chapel and according to Cassandra’s internet research, the Vatican couldn’t afford the cost of restoration, so they outsourced the work. The company that completed the restoration was then assigned copyright protections to the artwork. The plus side to not taking pictures inside the chapel makes you appreciate the artwork a lot more since it forces you to be present and appreciate the artwork in the way it was intended. While everyone talks about the painting at the center of the ceiling, The Creation of Adam (the one with the two fingers touching), personally, I appreciated The Last Judgement more. It takes up the entire alter wall within the Sistine Chapel and contains over 300 figures, including what’s believed to be a self-portrait of Michelangelo depicted in the face of the flayed skin held by Saint Bartholomew.
At this point, we lost our tour guide, but we had already handed in our earpieces, so we decided to venture on alone and grab some lunch before Naomi had a meltdown and refuel for self-guided exploration of St. Peter’s Square and other public works throughout Rome. St. Peter’s Square was a little on the underwhelming side after the Sistine Chapel, but I made a point to go and find one of the markers of the Path of Illumination depicted in Dan Brown’s book Angels in Demons.
One of the markers in the Path of Illumination spread across Rome
The remaining monuments we visited that day were all closer together but a further walk from the Vatican, so we ventured to the nearest bus stop. Like our experience in Poland, you hop on the bus and buy your ticket if you don’t already have one or the Roma Pass. The trick here was that you tap your card, and you get a green light, unfortunately, you must use a different card for each rider, which we found out the hard way on way back to the train station Monday, to the tune of a 54 euro fine for only scanning our card once. Ignorance was not an excuse.
When we got as close as the bus route would get us to the Spanish steps, we got off and made our way down via della Fontanella di Borghese, which from my perspective felt like Rome’s version of 5th Avenue or the Miricle Mile. We passed many high-end shops with security guards stationed out front or the appearance of needing an appointment to get in. At the end of the street, we encountered a large congregation of people around a fountain relaxing on a set of steps leading up to another obelisk and another church. We stayed and relaxed here a while, stepping out on to the fountain to refill our water bottles and sit on the steps watching the people pass by.
A quick break with the other tourist visiting The Spanish Steps
It was getting late, and everyone was getting hungry, so it gave us an excuse and something to do to pass the time while we waited for the sun to go down. Seeing the Trevi Fountain lit up was something that we had overheard a local mentioning to fellow tourist since it allows the large crowds that gather there during the daytime to leave. This was my second favorite site we visited that day, and it was great way to end day two. Until I saw it in person, I don’t think I quite understood the appeal of the fountain. The size of the statues as well as the attention to detail that went into sculpting them was impressive. If you ever get a chance to visit, try and wait until the evening (unless you are a super early riser) because it will allow you the opportunity to sit down and appreciate it way more than you would if you were having to stand on your tip toes or getting pushed around by other tourists.
The Trevi Fountain is something that I don't think can be fully appreciated until you see it in person.
The following day, the intent was to wake up early and head of to the Colosseum. On the first Sunday of each month, the museums are free to visit so we were prepared for large crowds and long wait times. After the long day before, we didn’t get to the Colosseum early, but it didn’t really matter since the lines for tickets weren’t long. I walked right up to the ticket counter, got four tickets for an entry time of 1:50 and that was it. The trick seems to be going to one of the other ticketing booths near the Roman Forum which doesn’t have near as long a line as the one outside the Colosseum.
The downside to seeing the Colosseum on Free First Sunday (not sure if that’s the real name or not), is that certain sections were unavailable to tourist like underground and arena floor access. Even on other days, these sections are off limits unless you are apart of tour group. Regardless of the restricted access, the Colosseum is an impressive sight to behold. You just need to think about when it was built (the official dedication was in 80 CE) and realize that large portions of it are still standing almost 1900 years later. It says a lot for the craftsmanship during this period and many of the design features are still in use today at your local sporting venue.
It may not be as big by today's standards, but when you reflect back on when it was built, its impressive.
Our tickets granted us access to Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. Pushing Naomi in the stroller at these sites proved a lot more cumbersome than the other sites we saw in Rome that weekend. The walkways consist mostly of large, uneven, and spaced-out cobblestone roads, so we were getting the stroller stuck a lot. Even when Naomi wasn’t in the stroller and walking, she wanted to run around and frequently darted on the other side of the roped or fenced off areas. Palatine Hill had enough signage detailing what we were looking at, but I didn’t see much of that through our walk in the forum. The one thing that really stood out to me was the various gardens within Palatine Hill, which I hope to be able to recreate in our backyard when we return to the states.
One of the fountains at Palatine Hill. I'm going to need to find a way to recreate this in my own backyard.
Outside of the major tourist destinations, Rome has a lot to offer and experience. There are so many museums, sculptures, art, and excavations to explore that I don’t know that you can do it all in one trip. Our three days here didn’t really feel like a vacation since we left more tired than we were when we got there. But it was a memorable experience, and I look forward to coming back and exploring some of the lesser-known sites, which is one of the perks to living so close to Rome for the next few years.
