Friday + {Day Twenty-Five: Rome + Florence}

I woke up at midnight and realized that Gooligan still hadn’t gone to bed. I got up to investigate and she, Sarah, and Shannon were in the other room, desperately trying to call a taxi. Apparently not only was Shannon’s phone having difficulty connecting with Italian numbers, but whatever taxis they eventually did get ahold of simply didn’t have anyone free or working that early in the morning (they needed a taxi for 4:30).

Since our apartment was about five or six km from the main train station (where there are always a reliable number of taxis), we decided, worst case scenario, they’d walk and we’d walk with them. After all, Gooligan and I were leaving from Termini so it wasn’t out of our way—just really early—but we wanted to make sure they got their safely.

Shannon even enlisted extra help in finding a taxi, but to no avail. Not even the super expensive private car company they called could send someone at that time. Not sure if this is normal for Rome or what, but we all woke up and got ready to walk to the train station at two in the morning.

Before we left, Gooligan had a brilliant idea and looked online to see if there were any buses that ran that early (trams don’t start until 5:30). Eventually she found a night bus and we made it to the stop on time. (Not only are the night buses not really advertised, but their stops look a lot different than the bus stops we were used to seeing.) It was just a post with a tiny sign that said “stop” in Italian and had the acronym of the transit system on it.

But thankfully the bus did, in fact, stop when they saw us there and we rode it all the way to Termini where there were plenty of taxis waiting. Since we were really early, and since Termini station doesn’t open until 4:30), Shannon and Sarah waited with us for an hour. We really appreciated it since Rome is not exactly the cleanest or safest place.

But finally Termini opened and since Shannon and Sarah needed to catch a taxi at that time anyway, it worked out perfectly. We said our goodbyes and told them to email us periodically so we know they arrived safely.

Gooligan and I made our way into Termini station, where we found the only open coffee shop and ordered some pastries and hot chocolate. The guy behind the counter definitely gave me a latte instead of a hot chocolate, but after freezing outside, we were just happy it was warm.

After a quick pit stop, we found a warmer place to sit and Gooligan read some of the book we’re reading together out loud. While we were sitting there, so many people stared or verbally harassed us. This is one of the factors that made Rome probably our least favorite city on this whole trip: the aggressiveness of men. From our first horrible encounter on the train to Rome to our last day, the men here are simply reprehensible. Crowning jerk of the trip: the loudmouth we had to listen to blab about how stupid American study abroad girls are, especially when he dropped the c-word.

Gooligan and I have felt safe everywhere on this trip—even in Dublin, which is definitely a rougher city—but there are definitely certain cesspools of males in Europe.

Unless you are an art buff or an archeologist or a devout Catholic, frankly I have no idea why anyone would willingly come to this city. But at least it is behind us now: we are currently on the train zipping along to Florence.

Looking forward to ending this trip on a high note over the next few cities!

After we arrived in Florence, it was only around nine in the morning, and we couldn't check into our Airbnb until seven at night, so we dropped our bags at a manned bag desk at the train station. About five euro per bag for the first five hours, then seventy cents for every additional hour. In total it cost us fourteen euro to be bag-free in the city all day, which was a deal. We took our valuables with us, just in case, which meant our daypack was heavy enough to deal with as we took turns carrying it.

Our first stop was the Galleria dell'Accademia, the museum that houses Michaelangelo's David. Tickets were eleven euro each but completely worth it. I was blown away by the statue. There is, obviously, a lot of other amazing art in the museum--and a whole wing devoted to old instruments--but I didn't realize how big David was. We weren't allowed to take photographs but even if we had, I'm not sure the scope of the statue would be captured. My brain can't even wrap itself around how Michaelangelo sculpted something so much bigger than himself.

Anyway, after the Galleria, we stopped for lunch right next to the Duomo (we didn't go in, though, because we wanted to save something for another day). Then we got gelato (some of Gooligan's favorite so far!) and hiked over to the river, the old medieval bridge Ponte Vecchio, and up through Piazzale Michaelangelo, a square that has a fantastic view of Florence.

Gooligan and I sat on a stone wall for awhile and read each other parts of the book we're reading together, then made our way back to the train station with a stop at a grocery store for some snacks for the next few days.

After we picked up our bags, we caught the bus to our Airbnb. Since we were still early, we sat around in San Marco square for awhile killing time, ate a slice of awful pizza, and then made our way over to the bus.

Check-in went smoothly; we're staying in a detached room from our host family. The room is beautiful, there is a great mix of privacy but also someone around to ask for help/advice. The only slightly inconvenient thing is that the bathroom is up in the main house and you have to go up these stairs and through the kitchen, so at night or during meal times it's a little awkward, but they're been great so far!

Plus the bed is perfect. Almost too perfect. Prying myself out of it to do anything over the next three days will be an ultimate test of my willpower. Just kidding. But boy am I looking forward to sleeping!

Thursday + {Day Twenty-Four: Rome}

This morning I scouted out a breakfast bar that I thought looked alright, but the pastry I ordered (which I thought was a plain croissant) was filled with some kind of bitter/putrid fruit. Disappointing.

After breakfast we headed off to see the Pantheon. This time Gooligan did us all a huge favor and found a bus that ran the way we wanted to go. The bus was a little full sometimes, but there were seats and we were rarely pressed up against other people.

The Pantheon was cool, with this huge circular hole in the roof. Because of its dimensions, if light floods in through that hole it becomes the biggest "column" anywhere in Rome.

We were there when it was dry, luckily, but I wonder what it would be like if it started pouring (which is did off and on today).

After the Pantheon, we ate at this super delicious pasta restaurant. Gooligan and I split our dishes: rosemary spaghetti and mussels with spaghetti. So delicious!

Then the four of us walked all the way back to the Colosseum. Since it started to pour during lunch, Gooligan and I bought an umbrella on our way to the Colosseum. Not the best quality, but it was only three euro and we have definitely gotten our worth out of it so far.

We went on a brief tour of the Colosseum, which was great to explain some of the basics. Gooligan wanted to go on the underground tour, but it was sold out except for two spots only two hours later.

Being in a place like the Colosseum (or a lot of these historic sites, actually) is difficult for a number of reasons. Yes, the construction of these sites and their endurance is impressive. But how many people were exploited to build these sites? Or, for the Colosseum in particular, how many people and animals were needlessly put to death? Something to think about.

After the Colosseum, we went over to a nearby gay bar that, during the day, is a delightful cafe. Since it was our last day all together we indulged and ordered drinks, food, and dessert. The food was great and afterward we headed home to pack and get organized for the next day of traveling.

Wednesday + {Day Twenty-Three: Rome}

Still in Rome! Today we went to the Vatican museum. We practically walked right in. We had tickets, of course, but there was no line and almost no security. Almost as soon as we went into the museum it started to pour rain. Great timing!

We wandered among the rooms and saw a lot of Greek, Roman, and Egyptian antiquities, but the best part of the whole museum is, without a doubt, the Sistine Chapel. We weren’t allowed to take photos, but I’m sure they wouldn’t have even remotely done justice to it. I can’t believe that it took Michaelangelo only four years to design and make it!

After the Sistine Chapel, we headed outside, then, after a short break, got in line for St. Peter’s Basilica. In addition to having the Pietra on display (behind bulletproof after some nut took a hammer to it in 1972), St. Peter’s Basilica is huge. It also we designed by Michaelangelo, but they made a lot of changes after his death and he died before he could finish certain parts (like the dome).

Apparently St. Peter--or at least the bones of someone who has been historically treated as St. Peter by pilgrims, etc.--are buried under the ceremonial altar. There were also two dead popes on display.

After we walked through the church, we decided to sit in the pews--something we've done in every other cathedral we've been to. Only our timing was great/awful and before we knew what was happening the entire church filled up with something like sixty thousand people and they started Mass.

It was beautiful, but since only I had eaten before going into the church, we had to extract ourselves partway through before we all passed out from hunger. After stopping at this place and ordering what we thought were individual pizzas but were, in fact, pizzas big enough for 2-3 people, we went home and all squeezed onto our couch-bed to watch New Girl, a television show we all love. It was a nice break from all the running around, especially the transportation which is definitely over capacity all the time.

Tuesday + {Day Twenty-Two: Rome}

At the place we're staying, the bed we're sleeping on is a weird fold-out couch that is essentially a plank of wood with a mattress that was maybe two inches thick. Certainly not the best sleep, but halfway through the night we started sleeping sideways in the bed and that made it bearable (but only just). Definitely the worst bed of the trip so far.

 

We got off to a slow start today. For Shannon and Sarah, Rome is the last stop on their trip (minus a brief layover in Paris). Not sure if it was the end of the trip fatigue, homesickness, or the fact that none of us are particularly excited about Rome, but we were dragging physically and emotionally.

Still, we managed to scrape ourselves together enough to get some food. While a lot of the food is delicious in Italy, the simple fact is so much of it is similar that, soon enough, it doesn’t matter if it’s the best pizza you’ve ever had… you’d give anything for a second-rate practically-anything-except-pizza meal.

After running around the city for way too long trying to figure out how the public transportation works, we finally made it to this really great pizza restaurant. The man who served us was wonderful and the pizzas were these half-unbaked one-person servings and after you pick out which one you want they pop it into the oven and it comes out warm and freshly baked.

The restaurant didn’t have any chairs/tables, though, so the four of us headed out to the street around the corner to eat. After we enjoyed our literal street food, we headed next to the Trevi Fountain. It was gorgeous, but packed with people. We threw in the obligatory coin according to the legend (if you toss a coin in, you’ll come back to Rome), but after our experiences in Rome, I’m not sure if any of us are particularly eager for that wish to come true.

After the fountain, we headed over to Valentino’s, this amazing gelato place. Run by Valentino and his wife, the place was bustling. He doesn’t hesitate to change your flavors if he thinks you will enjoy something more and no matter what you order, he suggests the order in which he thinks you should eat it. I got dark chocolate (since I read a review that that was one of his specialties), coffee, and coconut. He said I should eat first the coffee, then the coconut, then the dark chocolate. I couldn’t finish the gelato, but only because the dark chocolate was so rich. 

After gelato, we headed over to the Spanish Steps and sat awhile. Then we headed home, once again navigating the treacherous metro system. Every other city we have visited has had a relatively great, easy-to-use metro system. But Rome has a weird smattering of trams, buses, the metro (the underground/subway system), and night buses. The trams and the metro were always packed. Not just sort of full, either, but bodies wedged in so tightly that you couldn’t even move your hands if you wanted to. And every time you think the metro or the tram or whatever you’re on is full, anywhere between one and three more people squeeze on at every stop.

By the time we got home, we were too exhausted to go back out, so we decided to eat in again. This time Gooligan somehow whipped up fajita-like burritos; she uses the leftover bell pepper, steak, tortillas, and beans—this single tiny can she found crammed amongst all the pasta sauces and packaged noodles. I'm not entirely sure how she managed to cook in the closet-kitchen, but it was perfecto like her cooking always is! Even cooked in our tiny cabinet-kitchen it was one of the best meals of this trip.

Monday + {Day Twenty-One: Rome}

After another focaccia run, we headed off to the train station to catch our train to Rome! Well, first we had to catch a train to La Spezia, the main train station near Cinque Terre. After we got there, we had about an hour and a half, so we went down the street for lunch.

The woman was very nice and I had meat ravioli—her favorite dish! Then we went back to the train station and caught our connection to Rome. About five minutes into our trip, this man sat down in the aisle of the train and stared at us in our compartment. We were very unnerved and after several bad looks/comments, Gooligan pulled the curtain shut. He immediately yanked it back open, after which Gooligan went out into the hall and yelled at him to leave us alone. We had to endure another half hour or so of him, but eventually he got off the train, and this nice couple from South Africa sat down next to us, and we had a really great conversation with them about our respective travels. It was so cool to hear about their life and one of the most relevant parts of our conversation, I think, was to hear how unstable their currency was. It put the issue of our currency dropping slightly during our trip in a larger perspective.

The takeaway of today, though, is definitely the fact that I am so grateful to know (and be traveling with) three very forceful, confident, strong women. So many men out there think they can get away with crude, oppressive behavior because they think that women won’t push back, but we will and we can.

After our experience on the train, we decided to get a taxi to our next Airbnb instead of the tram. It was a short trip and our host was waiting for us at the apartment. It's another apartment being leased, so we don't have a "host" living with us here either, but the apartment is lovely and within walking distance of a grocery store and a cheap bakery!

Gooligan cooked dinner for us (because she's amazing!) and we ate outside on our wonderful eight-stories-up balcony! A load of laundry later, and it's time to do a little FaceTiming of my parents and then bed!