ladysprite (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ladysprite) wrote2012-10-29 06:19 pm
ladysprite) wrote2012-10-29 06:19 pm
Italy, Day 1
So a week ago Friday, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
umbran and I set out for an 8-day vacation in Italy. I had been longing for this trip for years, and at the start of the year I finally stopped daydreaming and decided that, come hell or high water, we'd make it happen this year. And, much to my surprise and delight, we did.
Our flight out left Boston around 5pm on Friday. Due to traveling several thousand miles and simultaneously moving forward in time, we arrived in Rome at approximately 7am local time on Saturday morning. Attempts to nap on the plane were rather hampered by being crammed into the last two seats in coach, unable to recline because our backs were against the wall, but we decided to push through and stay awake through the day anyway.
The travel agent we planned the trip with booked us at a decent little hotel - our room wasn't huge, but it was clean and bright, and the hotel itself was right in the heart of Rome itself, within walking distance of literally everything we wanted to see. (Admittedly, walking distance for us may not be walking distance for everyone; I'm guessing we logged somewhere near ten miles or more a day, give or take.) Also, it was right on the Tiber river. There's something incredibly exciting and fascinating and overwhelming (to me, at least) about being so incredibly close to something I've read about in history classes.
After stashing our stuff in the hotel, which kindly let us check in at just-past-the-crack-of-dawn, we started wandering about in search of breakfast and in an attempt to familiarize ourselves with the area and find out what might be interesting nearby. We found a little convenience store a block or two away, with an incredibly friendly owner who set us up with delicious Nutella-filled croissants and tea, to take care of the first issue. In Italy, and probably in the rest of Europe, I'd assume, people seem to understand tea. They just drink it, like it's something normal, rather than a bizarre aberration to the national coffee fetish or a hobby in and of itself.
The weather was warm and sunny and glorious - for almost our entire stay, Italy was bright and in the ballpark of 80 degrees, which felt like heaven to me. It was perfect for walking around, and within a few blocks we started finding the preponderance of gorgeous marble buildings, statues, and fountains that seem to cover the entire city.
One of the dozen or so statues decorating the Palazzo de Giustizia, about 5 minutes walk from our hotel.
From there, we walked a few more minutes, and stumbled onto the Castel de San Angelo. I had never heard of this, and I'm not sure why - honestly, it's one of the most impressive historical sites that we visited throughout our entire visit, in terms of age, beauty, and historical significance. It apparently started out as Hadrian's tomb, then transformed into a military fortress, then a papal refuge, a prison, and finally a museum. The different layers of the building are still clearly visible, and it was old and rough and gorgeous and just... BIG and OLD on a scale that nothing in this country can be.
Castel Sant'Angelo - from a distance, so you can see the whole structure
The angel at the top of the Castle, for which it's named
The view from on top of the Castle, including St. Peter's Basilica
The only real problem was the number of street vendors harassing tourists. You literally couldn't walk down a single block without being stopped by people trying to sell you handbags, postcards, scarves, children's toys, or rosaries, or other people dressed up as Centurions haranguing you into taking a photo with them, and then demanding money. Also? Their panhandlers look real. I've gotten used to Harvard Square panhandlers - normal, healthy-looking adults in normal clothes with signs walking by intersections, or kids with facial piercings and designer grunge. Seeing people who looked like extras from a casting call for Historical Beggars was a little unsettling, and on a meta level made me uncomfortable with how uncomfortable I was. Still, it was a very small damper on a very good trip.
From there we kept wandering, and found a little corner tavern for lunch, where we had the best Caprese salad I have ever had in my life (the mozzarella was just amazing - better than anything here, and better than anything I found anywhere else on the trip), and pizza with prosciutto, olives, mushroom, eggs, and artichokes (apparently this is a normal pizza variant in Rome). The crust was thin and chewy and flavorful, and in spite of the kitchen-sink list of toppings, it wasn't too heavily topped with any one thing, including sauce or cheese, and it was all-in-all delicious.
We wandered the rest of the way to Saint Peter's, but it was crowded and loud, and the heat and bright sun were a bit overwhelming for our poor, exhausted bodies - when you start waxing rhapsodic about how comfy and soft the marble bench is, you know you're tired. It was still impressive, though, enough to make me think that no matter what else it may have led to, if religion also led to the production of such beautiful and glorious things, it couldn't be all bad. Anyway, after sitting and people-watching in the square outside the basilica for a little while we turned around and wandered back to our hotel, pausing for candied chestnut gelato at a little pastry shop we had noted on the way.
After that, we crashed for an hour or two in our hotel room before deciding to get up and figure out dinner. We didn't have any plans, but I looked at one of our maps and found a nearby Piazza that looked like a potentially promising area, so we wandered in that direction.... right into an enormous block party.
Apparently the Piazza del Popolo had recently been undergoing urban renovation, and the mayor had declared a day of festivities to celebrate the "new look of the block." The end result was that the entire main street off the Piazza was closed to vehicle traffic, and every little shop and restaurant had set up stands on the sidewalk giving out free food, wine, and treats. Bruschetta, arancini, homemade pasta (from the florist shop), cake, mortadella, smoked salmon... no need to go out for dinner. The overwhelming feeling was that Rome threw an epic party to celebrate our arrival. There was even a marching band.
See?
By the time we finished wandering and eating, it was pushing 9pm, and we were exhausted and ready to turn in for the night. We found our way back to the hotel without any problem and promptly sacked out, in hopes of catching enough sleep to be ready for our early-morning walking tour of the city the next day....
umbran and I set out for an 8-day vacation in Italy. I had been longing for this trip for years, and at the start of the year I finally stopped daydreaming and decided that, come hell or high water, we'd make it happen this year. And, much to my surprise and delight, we did.Our flight out left Boston around 5pm on Friday. Due to traveling several thousand miles and simultaneously moving forward in time, we arrived in Rome at approximately 7am local time on Saturday morning. Attempts to nap on the plane were rather hampered by being crammed into the last two seats in coach, unable to recline because our backs were against the wall, but we decided to push through and stay awake through the day anyway.
The travel agent we planned the trip with booked us at a decent little hotel - our room wasn't huge, but it was clean and bright, and the hotel itself was right in the heart of Rome itself, within walking distance of literally everything we wanted to see. (Admittedly, walking distance for us may not be walking distance for everyone; I'm guessing we logged somewhere near ten miles or more a day, give or take.) Also, it was right on the Tiber river. There's something incredibly exciting and fascinating and overwhelming (to me, at least) about being so incredibly close to something I've read about in history classes.
After stashing our stuff in the hotel, which kindly let us check in at just-past-the-crack-of-dawn, we started wandering about in search of breakfast and in an attempt to familiarize ourselves with the area and find out what might be interesting nearby. We found a little convenience store a block or two away, with an incredibly friendly owner who set us up with delicious Nutella-filled croissants and tea, to take care of the first issue. In Italy, and probably in the rest of Europe, I'd assume, people seem to understand tea. They just drink it, like it's something normal, rather than a bizarre aberration to the national coffee fetish or a hobby in and of itself.
The weather was warm and sunny and glorious - for almost our entire stay, Italy was bright and in the ballpark of 80 degrees, which felt like heaven to me. It was perfect for walking around, and within a few blocks we started finding the preponderance of gorgeous marble buildings, statues, and fountains that seem to cover the entire city.
One of the dozen or so statues decorating the Palazzo de Giustizia, about 5 minutes walk from our hotel.
From there, we walked a few more minutes, and stumbled onto the Castel de San Angelo. I had never heard of this, and I'm not sure why - honestly, it's one of the most impressive historical sites that we visited throughout our entire visit, in terms of age, beauty, and historical significance. It apparently started out as Hadrian's tomb, then transformed into a military fortress, then a papal refuge, a prison, and finally a museum. The different layers of the building are still clearly visible, and it was old and rough and gorgeous and just... BIG and OLD on a scale that nothing in this country can be.
Castel Sant'Angelo - from a distance, so you can see the whole structure
The angel at the top of the Castle, for which it's named
The view from on top of the Castle, including St. Peter's Basilica
The only real problem was the number of street vendors harassing tourists. You literally couldn't walk down a single block without being stopped by people trying to sell you handbags, postcards, scarves, children's toys, or rosaries, or other people dressed up as Centurions haranguing you into taking a photo with them, and then demanding money. Also? Their panhandlers look real. I've gotten used to Harvard Square panhandlers - normal, healthy-looking adults in normal clothes with signs walking by intersections, or kids with facial piercings and designer grunge. Seeing people who looked like extras from a casting call for Historical Beggars was a little unsettling, and on a meta level made me uncomfortable with how uncomfortable I was. Still, it was a very small damper on a very good trip.
From there we kept wandering, and found a little corner tavern for lunch, where we had the best Caprese salad I have ever had in my life (the mozzarella was just amazing - better than anything here, and better than anything I found anywhere else on the trip), and pizza with prosciutto, olives, mushroom, eggs, and artichokes (apparently this is a normal pizza variant in Rome). The crust was thin and chewy and flavorful, and in spite of the kitchen-sink list of toppings, it wasn't too heavily topped with any one thing, including sauce or cheese, and it was all-in-all delicious.
We wandered the rest of the way to Saint Peter's, but it was crowded and loud, and the heat and bright sun were a bit overwhelming for our poor, exhausted bodies - when you start waxing rhapsodic about how comfy and soft the marble bench is, you know you're tired. It was still impressive, though, enough to make me think that no matter what else it may have led to, if religion also led to the production of such beautiful and glorious things, it couldn't be all bad. Anyway, after sitting and people-watching in the square outside the basilica for a little while we turned around and wandered back to our hotel, pausing for candied chestnut gelato at a little pastry shop we had noted on the way.
After that, we crashed for an hour or two in our hotel room before deciding to get up and figure out dinner. We didn't have any plans, but I looked at one of our maps and found a nearby Piazza that looked like a potentially promising area, so we wandered in that direction.... right into an enormous block party.
Apparently the Piazza del Popolo had recently been undergoing urban renovation, and the mayor had declared a day of festivities to celebrate the "new look of the block." The end result was that the entire main street off the Piazza was closed to vehicle traffic, and every little shop and restaurant had set up stands on the sidewalk giving out free food, wine, and treats. Bruschetta, arancini, homemade pasta (from the florist shop), cake, mortadella, smoked salmon... no need to go out for dinner. The overwhelming feeling was that Rome threw an epic party to celebrate our arrival. There was even a marching band.
See?
By the time we finished wandering and eating, it was pushing 9pm, and we were exhausted and ready to turn in for the night. We found our way back to the hotel without any problem and promptly sacked out, in hopes of catching enough sleep to be ready for our early-morning walking tour of the city the next day....