Italy Trip: Another Scrap With Friction
Aug 10th, 2014, 02:17 AM
#82
"You know those Europeans - appearance is everything."
Aah the american's with their perfect teeth... ;-0
Not sure the USA should be making cracks about who almost ruined the West in 2008, I see subprime is still bubbling
Aah the american's with their perfect teeth... ;-0
Not sure the USA should be making cracks about who almost ruined the West in 2008, I see subprime is still bubbling
Aug 10th, 2014, 05:32 AM
#83
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"Another favorite: "You can drink up a storm and call it "experiencing the local culture""
Before I was married, "experiencing the local culture" had a whole different meaning.
"carfree, I hope you'll be posting pics!"
I don't know how to do this.
"Does no one else remember Leibfraumilch?"
Yes, right up there with Black Tower and Zeller Schwarze Katz. But German wine has a very low alcohol content, so it never was real popular. That's probably why German wine has all but disappeared from North America, where it was once the major rival of French. Although I still look for a nice Bernkastler Doctor Und Graben if I can find it.
"You know those Europeans - appearance is everything."
It didn't mean this in a negative sense. Europeans are/were famous for always trying to keep up appearances. This may have all changed in the last 15-20 years, but even if you had relatively little money, you spent what you had one good stuff, not junk. You would have at least one top quality set of clothes, for example. Like Aurelio Zen, who lives with his mother but has his one good suit.
"Not sure the USA should be making cracks about who almost ruined the West in 2008, I see subprime is still bubbling"
This is true, which is why I say "helped". It is also true, however, that German banks made things even worse because they kept buying CDO's even after the rest of the world had figured out that the game was over. As far as subprime is concerned. It's not the big concern anymore. High speed trading is. A flash crash will likely bring down the system sooner or later.
Before I was married, "experiencing the local culture" had a whole different meaning.
"carfree, I hope you'll be posting pics!"
I don't know how to do this.
"Does no one else remember Leibfraumilch?"
Yes, right up there with Black Tower and Zeller Schwarze Katz. But German wine has a very low alcohol content, so it never was real popular. That's probably why German wine has all but disappeared from North America, where it was once the major rival of French. Although I still look for a nice Bernkastler Doctor Und Graben if I can find it.
"You know those Europeans - appearance is everything."
It didn't mean this in a negative sense. Europeans are/were famous for always trying to keep up appearances. This may have all changed in the last 15-20 years, but even if you had relatively little money, you spent what you had one good stuff, not junk. You would have at least one top quality set of clothes, for example. Like Aurelio Zen, who lives with his mother but has his one good suit.
"Not sure the USA should be making cracks about who almost ruined the West in 2008, I see subprime is still bubbling"
This is true, which is why I say "helped". It is also true, however, that German banks made things even worse because they kept buying CDO's even after the rest of the world had figured out that the game was over. As far as subprime is concerned. It's not the big concern anymore. High speed trading is. A flash crash will likely bring down the system sooner or later.
Aug 10th, 2014, 07:03 AM
#84
I think Italians generally have a sense of dress which is significantly above many Europeans and many North Americans, certainly most Italians I have worked with have dressed better than most people on a similar salary.
Aug 12th, 2014, 04:20 AM
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Sorrento And Pompeii
The ship seemed to have sailed on Capri, metaphorical, so we had an unscheduled day. My original back up plan was Naples. On paper, there seemed to be a lot of stuff to see. But I was nervous because of all the negative vibes you hear and because several people we know who had been weren't keen on it. The travel videos weren't encouraging, either. Rick Steves spent a lot of time walking though through a glorified slum. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
I'm tough, OK. I eat shredded wheat without milk. I still use a flip phone. I once even sat through an entire Celine Dion concert. But why take a chance when there are plenty of attractive alternatives for our one free day?
We had considered and rejected Pompeii when planning the trip. The pictures I'd seen just didn't make it look that great and there were reports of much being closed to visitors as well as severe damage from the winter rains. To cap it all off, most of the good stuff was long ago been shipped to the archeological museum in Naples. Anyway, we could always go to Ostia Antica much more easily when we got to Rome. The tipping point was seeing Vesuvius first hand. It made Pompeii more real somehow.
The circumvesuviana train leaves from old town and was a bit of a walk from the hotel. The ticket line can be long, so it's best to get there a bit early. After a thirty minute train ride and a short walk from the station, we arrived at the gate. We paid our fee and picked up a free map and a few other booklets from an area off to the left. There was an announcement that a guided tour was leaving in a few minutes, cost ten euros. Armed with the map and the Rick Steves Pompeii walk on my ipad mini, a tour seemed unnecessary. Going it alone in Pompeii was possibly the worst decision I made on the trip. Taking a tour can be right up there with taking a taxi in reducing friction. There always seems to be a travel discussion board element who looks down their noses at anyone taking a tour, implying that he must be a wuss. Ignore them.
Pompeii is essentially a brick maze. The map you get at the entrance looks nice with street names and building locations, but it is isn't much help inside. The place is a classic example of no-signs-or-directions friction. OK, there are a few signs and few streets are marked, but only with inconspicuous black posts at intersections. However, the posts show the street name in the wrong direction. It took a while to figure out that when you come to an intersection, they show the name of the street you are already on and not the cross street as is the normal convention everywhere else in the world . It is very disorienting.
To compound matters, the place is very large, and much of it looks the same. You've seen one ruined brick wall, you've seen them all, so there aren't many landmarks The number of places that you really want to see is relatively small compared to the overall size, so you spent a lot of time wandering around lost in the maze. Further, some of buildings that we wanted to see and marked clearly on the map were closed, so you waste a lot of time and energy looking for them. Why does the map show the House of Vetti when, as we learned later, it has been closed for years? We wasted a lot of time and energy looking for that one.
We were not alone in our confusion. At any given moment, most visitors you see (not in a tour group) are staring at a map trying to figure out where they are and where to go. Rick Steves proved to be only marginally helpful. His typical direction was something like, "turn left at the third stone past the second pillar by the brick wall and head northeast", and only helped you get lost faster. When possible, we drafted behind tours.
All this was magnified by the intense heat. The direct sunlight heats up the bricks, making the place an inferno. We would surely have perished without the cold bottled water from the air conditioned snack shop, which was the most popular building in Pompeii. Thank heaven it hadn't been destroyed by the eruption.
We eventually managed to find most of the iconic buildings, such as The House of The Faun, with its faux Faun and ersatz Alexander the Great mosaic. The real mosaic and faun, like much of the best Pompeii art, is in a museum in Naples, most not replaced by copies. I realize that this is best for preservation, but it really lessens the impact of both the art and of Pompeii by removing it from its natural habitat. It would really have been nice to see what the place really looked like once upon a time.
Like every other male adult still stuck in adolescence, which is to say all of us, I wanted to see the Lupinar. It was the only building with a line to get in. Don't bother. It's a very small, cramped building, and the naughty graffiti shown in the guidebooks is about all there is.
We also saw the plaster cast guy, doubtless the remains of some tourist who showed up on day when the snack bar was closed. The baths were well preserved and one of the most interesting sights. Conversely, the lead pipes that are supposed to be a big deal looked like they came from my basement. We didn't have the energy to go find the amphitheater.
The highlight of the visit was the House Of Frontone, a place that I'd never heard of in all my research. We found it in one of the booklets I grabbed up upon arrival. It was a bit off the beaten track, a ways from most of the well-known buildings. We bravely tramped down the stone road in the heat trying to find it. The map was good enough to find the rough location, but we couldn't find the right cross street, because they weren't marked, of course. We sat down in the only partial shade that we could find and pulled out lunch, the left over pizza from the night before, and thought about giving up. Just then, a security guard came up to us. He spoke very little English, but I caught his drift. Having seen many Lassie movies, I immediate knew that he wanted us to follow him. He led us around a corner and pointed at a doorway that looked like every other doorway in Pompeii. It was the House of Frontone. From what I could gather from his minimal English, he thought it a shame that tourists never came out this way to see the place, and he felt compelled guide those who dared venture so far into the maze.
The frescoes that covered the walls with ancient colors were striking and in excellent condition. The ancient world came alive. This was the Pompeii I had always imagined. I took many photographs with my handy mirrorless DSLR (don't leave home without one), which I have blown up and put on my walls at home.
The only downer was that the best fresco was in a room that was closed off because the roof had collapsed, apparently a common problem in Pompeii. A large canvas picture of the fresco inside closed off the entrance. I don't know why they did this. It was a tease and made the disappointment of not seeing the room greater.
Back in Sorrento, we headed straight to the Foreigner's Club and got our seat by the cliff edge. Beer in hand and magnificent view in our eyes, we mulled over our visit to the maze. Despite everything I've said, both my wife and I were very glad we went. It wasn't what you would call fun, but it was a new and unique experience. That, in and of itself, is very worthwhile and satisfying. It may seem either an existential or pessimistic thing to say, but your experiences are all you really have. It helps that the mind seems to repress the bad parts so that memory becomes a distillation of the good. Thinking about Pompeii now, I can still see the Alexander mosaic, the bathes and the House of Frontone clearly, but the near heatstroke and frustration of being perpetually lost have almost faded away. Almost.
Our second night in Sorrento was the only occasion on the trip where I didn't have a firm plan for dinner. Actually, we ended eating at fewer than half the planned places due to various types of friction. We searched the internet for options dismissing any place that showed sauce drizzled in swirl or zig-zag pattern on a big plate with a tiny portion of food piled high in the center. Although it was tough to pass on the kebab place that was Tripadvisor's #1 Sorrento choice, we chose the nearby Tavern Allegra, and called for a reservation. No problem. In fact, we never had any trouble getting a table anytime on this trip and few of the restaurants even seemed all that busy.
Tavern Allegra aims to throw in some entertainment with the food. The owner wears a big floppy brimmed hat and big smile as he greets you at the door. Musicians play a string of corny old Italian standards, while the owner then circulates and chats people up at their table, sometimes trying to get a sing-along started. It is was the kind of shtick that that could be a lot of fun if you are in the right mood (or have had enough to drink). If not, it could seem pretty tiresome and hokey. We thought it a bit of a hoot but, doubtless due to my limited alcohol intake, I could equally have lived without. On the other hand, the food was pretty good. I don't recall what my wife had, but I had clam and spinach pasta. After dinner, it was back to the park to watch the sunset into Naples Bay, a brief gelato stroll and then to the hotel.
The Amalfi portion of the trip was now over. Tomorrow we would head to Rome. My stomach was beginning to settle down a bit. During the rest of the trip, I had some good days but also a few not quite so good. Overall, though, my stomach had turned the corner. At least, there were no more chunks. Little did I know, however, that Rome is where the friction would almost bring us to a grinding halt.
The ship seemed to have sailed on Capri, metaphorical, so we had an unscheduled day. My original back up plan was Naples. On paper, there seemed to be a lot of stuff to see. But I was nervous because of all the negative vibes you hear and because several people we know who had been weren't keen on it. The travel videos weren't encouraging, either. Rick Steves spent a lot of time walking though through a glorified slum. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
I'm tough, OK. I eat shredded wheat without milk. I still use a flip phone. I once even sat through an entire Celine Dion concert. But why take a chance when there are plenty of attractive alternatives for our one free day?
We had considered and rejected Pompeii when planning the trip. The pictures I'd seen just didn't make it look that great and there were reports of much being closed to visitors as well as severe damage from the winter rains. To cap it all off, most of the good stuff was long ago been shipped to the archeological museum in Naples. Anyway, we could always go to Ostia Antica much more easily when we got to Rome. The tipping point was seeing Vesuvius first hand. It made Pompeii more real somehow.
The circumvesuviana train leaves from old town and was a bit of a walk from the hotel. The ticket line can be long, so it's best to get there a bit early. After a thirty minute train ride and a short walk from the station, we arrived at the gate. We paid our fee and picked up a free map and a few other booklets from an area off to the left. There was an announcement that a guided tour was leaving in a few minutes, cost ten euros. Armed with the map and the Rick Steves Pompeii walk on my ipad mini, a tour seemed unnecessary. Going it alone in Pompeii was possibly the worst decision I made on the trip. Taking a tour can be right up there with taking a taxi in reducing friction. There always seems to be a travel discussion board element who looks down their noses at anyone taking a tour, implying that he must be a wuss. Ignore them.
Pompeii is essentially a brick maze. The map you get at the entrance looks nice with street names and building locations, but it is isn't much help inside. The place is a classic example of no-signs-or-directions friction. OK, there are a few signs and few streets are marked, but only with inconspicuous black posts at intersections. However, the posts show the street name in the wrong direction. It took a while to figure out that when you come to an intersection, they show the name of the street you are already on and not the cross street as is the normal convention everywhere else in the world . It is very disorienting.
To compound matters, the place is very large, and much of it looks the same. You've seen one ruined brick wall, you've seen them all, so there aren't many landmarks The number of places that you really want to see is relatively small compared to the overall size, so you spent a lot of time wandering around lost in the maze. Further, some of buildings that we wanted to see and marked clearly on the map were closed, so you waste a lot of time and energy looking for them. Why does the map show the House of Vetti when, as we learned later, it has been closed for years? We wasted a lot of time and energy looking for that one.
We were not alone in our confusion. At any given moment, most visitors you see (not in a tour group) are staring at a map trying to figure out where they are and where to go. Rick Steves proved to be only marginally helpful. His typical direction was something like, "turn left at the third stone past the second pillar by the brick wall and head northeast", and only helped you get lost faster. When possible, we drafted behind tours.
All this was magnified by the intense heat. The direct sunlight heats up the bricks, making the place an inferno. We would surely have perished without the cold bottled water from the air conditioned snack shop, which was the most popular building in Pompeii. Thank heaven it hadn't been destroyed by the eruption.
We eventually managed to find most of the iconic buildings, such as The House of The Faun, with its faux Faun and ersatz Alexander the Great mosaic. The real mosaic and faun, like much of the best Pompeii art, is in a museum in Naples, most not replaced by copies. I realize that this is best for preservation, but it really lessens the impact of both the art and of Pompeii by removing it from its natural habitat. It would really have been nice to see what the place really looked like once upon a time.
Like every other male adult still stuck in adolescence, which is to say all of us, I wanted to see the Lupinar. It was the only building with a line to get in. Don't bother. It's a very small, cramped building, and the naughty graffiti shown in the guidebooks is about all there is.
We also saw the plaster cast guy, doubtless the remains of some tourist who showed up on day when the snack bar was closed. The baths were well preserved and one of the most interesting sights. Conversely, the lead pipes that are supposed to be a big deal looked like they came from my basement. We didn't have the energy to go find the amphitheater.
The highlight of the visit was the House Of Frontone, a place that I'd never heard of in all my research. We found it in one of the booklets I grabbed up upon arrival. It was a bit off the beaten track, a ways from most of the well-known buildings. We bravely tramped down the stone road in the heat trying to find it. The map was good enough to find the rough location, but we couldn't find the right cross street, because they weren't marked, of course. We sat down in the only partial shade that we could find and pulled out lunch, the left over pizza from the night before, and thought about giving up. Just then, a security guard came up to us. He spoke very little English, but I caught his drift. Having seen many Lassie movies, I immediate knew that he wanted us to follow him. He led us around a corner and pointed at a doorway that looked like every other doorway in Pompeii. It was the House of Frontone. From what I could gather from his minimal English, he thought it a shame that tourists never came out this way to see the place, and he felt compelled guide those who dared venture so far into the maze.
The frescoes that covered the walls with ancient colors were striking and in excellent condition. The ancient world came alive. This was the Pompeii I had always imagined. I took many photographs with my handy mirrorless DSLR (don't leave home without one), which I have blown up and put on my walls at home.
The only downer was that the best fresco was in a room that was closed off because the roof had collapsed, apparently a common problem in Pompeii. A large canvas picture of the fresco inside closed off the entrance. I don't know why they did this. It was a tease and made the disappointment of not seeing the room greater.
Back in Sorrento, we headed straight to the Foreigner's Club and got our seat by the cliff edge. Beer in hand and magnificent view in our eyes, we mulled over our visit to the maze. Despite everything I've said, both my wife and I were very glad we went. It wasn't what you would call fun, but it was a new and unique experience. That, in and of itself, is very worthwhile and satisfying. It may seem either an existential or pessimistic thing to say, but your experiences are all you really have. It helps that the mind seems to repress the bad parts so that memory becomes a distillation of the good. Thinking about Pompeii now, I can still see the Alexander mosaic, the bathes and the House of Frontone clearly, but the near heatstroke and frustration of being perpetually lost have almost faded away. Almost.
Our second night in Sorrento was the only occasion on the trip where I didn't have a firm plan for dinner. Actually, we ended eating at fewer than half the planned places due to various types of friction. We searched the internet for options dismissing any place that showed sauce drizzled in swirl or zig-zag pattern on a big plate with a tiny portion of food piled high in the center. Although it was tough to pass on the kebab place that was Tripadvisor's #1 Sorrento choice, we chose the nearby Tavern Allegra, and called for a reservation. No problem. In fact, we never had any trouble getting a table anytime on this trip and few of the restaurants even seemed all that busy.
Tavern Allegra aims to throw in some entertainment with the food. The owner wears a big floppy brimmed hat and big smile as he greets you at the door. Musicians play a string of corny old Italian standards, while the owner then circulates and chats people up at their table, sometimes trying to get a sing-along started. It is was the kind of shtick that that could be a lot of fun if you are in the right mood (or have had enough to drink). If not, it could seem pretty tiresome and hokey. We thought it a bit of a hoot but, doubtless due to my limited alcohol intake, I could equally have lived without. On the other hand, the food was pretty good. I don't recall what my wife had, but I had clam and spinach pasta. After dinner, it was back to the park to watch the sunset into Naples Bay, a brief gelato stroll and then to the hotel.
The Amalfi portion of the trip was now over. Tomorrow we would head to Rome. My stomach was beginning to settle down a bit. During the rest of the trip, I had some good days but also a few not quite so good. Overall, though, my stomach had turned the corner. At least, there were no more chunks. Little did I know, however, that Rome is where the friction would almost bring us to a grinding halt.
Aug 12th, 2014, 05:13 AM
#86
Pompeii's own audio guide is much better than Rick Steves' guide which often takes you on a wild goose chase (closed streets/buildings). The sites in Pompeii are numbered (on your map and signs at the sites). With the audio guide, you punch in the number of where you are to hear the info. At the entrance, they can also give you suggested routes depending on how much time you want to spend (2 hour, 4 hour, etc.). They may have added IPads now (haven't been for a couple of years) as some other sites have (Rome's Colosseum offers a choice).
Some sites within Pompeii are kept locked and reservation only which you usually need to schedule in advance.
Some sites within Pompeii are kept locked and reservation only which you usually need to schedule in advance.
Aug 12th, 2014, 11:21 AM
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I have to agree that a guide is pretty important for Pompeii - our guide was a lovely gentleman who really made the place live for us. As he said, it is a memorial, not a museum.
Also, we were there in February - no heat and no crowds. I'm sure that contributed to our enjoyment of Pompeii.
Love the cliff-hanger . . .
Also, we were there in February - no heat and no crowds. I'm sure that contributed to our enjoyment of Pompeii.
Love the cliff-hanger . . .
Aug 13th, 2014, 04:17 AM
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I think your description of your experience in Pompeii is quite accurate for people who have done no prior research ( which is most people, and in your case understandable since you weren't even planning on going). But if someone is willing to do a few hours of research before the trip then you can easily tour Pompeii without a guide or even an audio guide. There is a huge amount of information on line, even an entire course by Yale University (free, open to anyone). In fact the entire booklet that they give you at the Pompeii entrance is online. Much better to read it in the comfort of your home than standing in the blazing sun in a crowd. The few times we eavesdropped on a guide he wasn't saying anything I didn't already know (and I knew nothing until I did the research, it's not that I was a history major or anything).
The better option for most people I discovered this past trip is Herculaneum. Since my husband and I had done Pompeii on our previous trip we took our travel companions to Herculaneum. MUCH more manageable in just a couple hours, the frescoes and mosaics still there are better than a lot of the stuff in Pompeii. Hardly any crowds. It just doesn't have the same name recognition.
The better option for most people I discovered this past trip is Herculaneum. Since my husband and I had done Pompeii on our previous trip we took our travel companions to Herculaneum. MUCH more manageable in just a couple hours, the frescoes and mosaics still there are better than a lot of the stuff in Pompeii. Hardly any crowds. It just doesn't have the same name recognition.
Aug 13th, 2014, 07:43 AM
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isabel, I did think that the particular guide we had must have been exceptional because he obviously was very moved by the experience of the people of Pompeii and so vividly conveyed that to our group - and in three languages!
Aug 13th, 2014, 07:54 AM
#92
When I was in the area I felt like a stroll through history rather than a marathon so went to Herculaneum and was quite satisfied. Cool, December, perfect weather I think for that sort of activity, not to metion excellent light for photos. I, too, recommend Herculaneum and off-season.
Aug 13th, 2014, 09:07 AM
#93
>>>Herculaneum. MUCH more manageable in just a couple hours, the frescoes and mosaics still there are better than a lot of the stuff in Pompeii.<<<
Pompeii has reopened quite a few buildings this summer (and some new ones). Some have nice frescoes, but some others seem to have collapsed the last few years.
http://www.italymagazine.com/news/te...s-open-pompeii
Pompeii has reopened quite a few buildings this summer (and some new ones). Some have nice frescoes, but some others seem to have collapsed the last few years.
http://www.italymagazine.com/news/te...s-open-pompeii
Aug 13th, 2014, 09:09 PM
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Great info---we actually felt this way about Ostia Antica when we were there 2 yrs ago. One time we didn't have a guide, it was sunny, hot and didn't really know what we were looking it. Just wasn't a favorite for us but probably because we weren't prepared. If we do go to Pompeii, we will hire a guide to get more out of it.
Aug 14th, 2014, 10:08 AM
#97
we weren't too struck by Ostia the first time we went with the kids a few years ago. the 2nd time I went was with the language school class we were attending in Rome and its director acted as our guide - what a difference! Another pile of stones, [like the Forum] which comes to life when described by someone knowledgeable and enthusiastic.
Aug 14th, 2014, 06:44 PM
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Wow, I loved Ostia Antica! And all I had was a map and a free download of Rick Steves audioguide.
It is so green and easy to walk, plenty of shade. I guess to each, his own.
(Pompeii is not on my list, but I'd consider Herculaneum if I was in the area.)
It is so green and easy to walk, plenty of shade. I guess to each, his own.
(Pompeii is not on my list, but I'd consider Herculaneum if I was in the area.)
Aug 16th, 2014, 04:36 AM
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"You thought the leaden winter
Would bring you down forever
So you sailed upon a steamer
To violence of the sun"
The beginning lines of "Tales Of Brave Ulysses", the only hard rock song about tourism, is a good description of our trip. We chose Italy this year because we thought that it would be warm. This winter had been brutal, and we really needed a break from the cold. Further, in recent trips to Europe the weather had been very cold, windy, rainy, even at the end of May. This time, we really wanted to be sure of warm weather, so we went Mediterranean. Well, there is an old saying, "When the gods want to punish you, they give you want you want." How true, how true.
Sorrento To Rome
We retraced our steps from the day before and boarded the circumvesuvia train. Having heard about all the pickpocket and theft problems on the train, my wife and I sat facing each other in window seats with out bags crammed into between our two sets of knees. A British couple sat down and the other seats, so we felt a bit at ease. They had no bags, so I surmised that they must be going to Pompeii. Soon a discussion going about what we had learned the day before. After a pleasant chat, they got off in Pompeii. We were hoping to stretch out bit.
But then, it was a nightmare come true. Two enormously fat Roma women, one young and one old. sat down in the seats, squishing us against the wall and leaning right against us. They appeared half comatose with slitted eyes partly closed. The older one mumbled something vaguely in our direction, barely looking at us. I didn't understand the words but the meaning seemed clear as the international language of beggars everywhere - "give us money". My hands immediately went to cover my pocket, although I didn't have much thee. (I always travel with my valuables in a neck pouch that hangs on my chest under a sweater or shirt.) The women then sat nodding off, or pretending to nod off. My wife's eye's went wide, and I could tell she was thinking the same thought as I - when are they going to make their move? I suggested that we continue seated until we pass Herculaneum, leaving only 15 minutes to Naples. Then we suddenly get up and stand near the door. Surprise is always a good tactic. And that's what we did.
Were we being paranoid? Were they really asleep? Did the woman really just ask for the time? We'll never know, but the Bard said it best, "Best safety lies in fear."
Rome Day 1
We arrived in Naples with no incident and easily found the route from the circumvesuviana tracks to the main station where we caught the next Trenitalia express to Rome. In a bit over an hour we were at Termini.
I picked a hotel that seemed at the edge of walking distance from Termini for logistical reasons that I'll explain later. It took us longer than expected, but we finally found the Rome Life Hotel. The place is new, less than a year old. It goes for the cool, high tech look, like one of those Aloft places common at American airports, but doesn't do it very well. This is an increasing popular hotel type where idea is apparently to blind you with cool so you don't notice how small the rooms are. How small are the rooms? The rooms are so small that the mice run around hunchback. The rooms are so small that you have to go outside just to change your mind. The bed takes up almost all the space, leaving a tiny desk and no place to put your suite cases.
The place had some other problems. For starters, the door knob doesn't turn. It takes a couple of days to figure out how to do a push-pull thing on the knob just right to get it open. The shower has no tray or place to place soap or shampoo. You have to just put it down on the floor of the shower when you aren't using it and pick it off the floor when you want to it. The public seating area has the charm of cave painted black and white. The maid walked once ignored the "do not disturb sign" and walk in on us, and I'm still looking for the alleged ice machine.
And then there's the "welcoming drink" that they advertise. The desk clerk sent to the bar where the bartender asked if we wanted coke or fruit juice. Somehow, when someone says to me, "Let's meet for a drink" I'm not thinking Jamba Juice. Anyway, I told the bartender that maybe I shouldn't since I'm driving.
On the plus side, they have an excellent breakfast, except for the dreadful cappuccino that tasted like it was made Cremora. They are also close to a major bus stop on Nazionale for ease of transportation. As everyone who has been to Rome knows, it is probably the only major European city where the metro is the not the prime mode of public transportation. You can't put a spade in the ground without hitting an ancient temple, so they can't build a metro tunnel going through the older, tourist, parts of town.
By the time we were settled in, it was about 1:00, so had time to go off an do some sight seeing. We first explored the immediate area around the hotel to get the lay of the land. Rome Life is in Monti, which is frequently described as "up and coming." Well, it was more coming than up. There isn't really much right around there. We wandered down toward the main Monti street, Cavour, looking for Fatamorgana, a gelato place of some renown and Elite supermarket, allegedly the best room food source in the area. We eventually Fatamorgana by backtracking a string of people holding little plastic cups. The gelato was indeed first rate. Of course, to paraphrase Father Flanagan, "The is no such thing as a bad gelato."
We continued on to Cavour, passing the metro station to the Elite. It is fairly high end place with lots of great looking food and a decent wine and liquor selection. The plan as to come back and by picnic food, but we never had our picnic.
We rested up a bit back in the room and were soon ready for the main event. One problem in revisiting a place is that having seen the iconic places already, you have to decide which, if any, to see again. We had decided against going back to the Vatican, Forum and the Colosseum. Since we just like to walk around big cities, we would go back and walk around the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain and Piazza Navona. We had been to the Capitoline Hill, but had not gone into the museum. This time I was eager to also see the Tarpeian Rock and the insula. Both feature prominently in John Maddox Roberts's SPQR books, to which I am seriously addicted. We had some museums, galleries, etc. on the agendum, but we were mainly going to see the major churches which we missed last time. They look specular in the photographs. As it urned out, they had another desirable feature - they were cool.
I used google to draw a series of maps with walking routes showing the shortest path between the places we wanted to see, complete with blow ups, insets and ratings. (Eisenhower eat you heart out). We had our "south walk", longer "east walk" and "north walk". We started out on south walk, which was places closest to the hotel. We hit Santa Maria degli Angeli, Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, Santa Prassede, and St Peter In Chains. Of these Santa Maria degli Angeli was far the most interesting, as it has a sort of planetarium, a meridian line sundial, built into it. St Peter In Chains is at the bottom. It is a long exhausting walk from the others and I'd recommend giving it a miss. Beside its unusual name, it is noteworthy only for the Michelangelo Moses statute. He may have had chiseled features, but you've seen one Michelangelo statute, you've seen them all.
Santa Prassede has some nice mosaics, but we saw the same or better elsewhere. This is also where we first encountered to trick of requiring you to put a coin in a machine to light up the mosaics for a few piddling minutes. Obviously, they had been studying the airline industry. No one was seemed willing to do it, so we finally gave in. The lights went on and immediately, everyone in the place rushed to front, like moths to the flame, and began to furiously snap photographs before the lights went off again. I wanted to pass my own personal collection plate. Of course most of these places try to extract money through selling souvenirs and inducing visitors to pay to light a candle. At least most in Rome used real candles. Lighting a bulb just isn't the same. What's next? A light-the-candle app?
Santa Maria Maggiore is a massive place with a long columned hall that is reminiscent of Greek temple and, of course, mosaics. It is largely a blur. We also took a quick look at the Trinità dei Monti. One thought that I always have in such places is that even a minor church like this would be one of the biggest tourist attractions in any US city. You just can't build up culture, art, architecture and history like this in a mere 200 or 300 years.
The other amazing thing about churches in Rome is that they are all selling the same message, yet they are all visually very distinct. Each new looks very different from the last. I guess I expected much more uniformity. Still, it gets hard to remember details of what you saw where, unless they have something really unusual, like Santa Maria degli Angeli's planetarium.
We had St Clemente, and Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano on the map, but they were too far for a single afternoon. We also wanted to visit the Baths of Diocletian, supposedly attached to Santa Maria degli Angeli, but after walking all around the outside, we couldn't find the entrance. Of course we also looked for any interesting shops, etc., but didn't see much.Of course, much of Rome's appeal is that you can turn a corner and suddenly see a building that was a thousand or two years old just sitting there amid the chaos of the modern city.
For dinner, we went to La Taverna dei Fori Imperiali. I selected it based on good reviews and location, not too far from the hotel and we could walk around ruins and see them lit up after dinner. After being seated, we looked around to take in the ambience and classic Italian bric-a-brac when my eyes came to a screeching halt. There, featured prominently on the opposite wall amid all the old Italian pictures and artifacts, was Pittsburgh Steelers jersey. Talk about your tarantula on a slice of angel food. I asked the waitress about it. A Steelers player had frequented the place, became friends with the owner and sent him the jersey. I was tempted to order an Iron and a chipped ham sandwich, but the waitress probably would have gotten the joke. The meal was probably the best we had on the trip. We split a primi of proscuitto, and I had a secondi of very tasty saltimbocca.
After dinner, we walked around looking the lit up ruins for as long as we could before giving out in the heat and humidity, which was still oppressive even at night. We took a taxi back to the hotel. Tomorrow would be a full day of sight seeing and the last before it all hit the fan.
Would bring you down forever
So you sailed upon a steamer
To violence of the sun"
The beginning lines of "Tales Of Brave Ulysses", the only hard rock song about tourism, is a good description of our trip. We chose Italy this year because we thought that it would be warm. This winter had been brutal, and we really needed a break from the cold. Further, in recent trips to Europe the weather had been very cold, windy, rainy, even at the end of May. This time, we really wanted to be sure of warm weather, so we went Mediterranean. Well, there is an old saying, "When the gods want to punish you, they give you want you want." How true, how true.
Sorrento To Rome
We retraced our steps from the day before and boarded the circumvesuvia train. Having heard about all the pickpocket and theft problems on the train, my wife and I sat facing each other in window seats with out bags crammed into between our two sets of knees. A British couple sat down and the other seats, so we felt a bit at ease. They had no bags, so I surmised that they must be going to Pompeii. Soon a discussion going about what we had learned the day before. After a pleasant chat, they got off in Pompeii. We were hoping to stretch out bit.
But then, it was a nightmare come true. Two enormously fat Roma women, one young and one old. sat down in the seats, squishing us against the wall and leaning right against us. They appeared half comatose with slitted eyes partly closed. The older one mumbled something vaguely in our direction, barely looking at us. I didn't understand the words but the meaning seemed clear as the international language of beggars everywhere - "give us money". My hands immediately went to cover my pocket, although I didn't have much thee. (I always travel with my valuables in a neck pouch that hangs on my chest under a sweater or shirt.) The women then sat nodding off, or pretending to nod off. My wife's eye's went wide, and I could tell she was thinking the same thought as I - when are they going to make their move? I suggested that we continue seated until we pass Herculaneum, leaving only 15 minutes to Naples. Then we suddenly get up and stand near the door. Surprise is always a good tactic. And that's what we did.
Were we being paranoid? Were they really asleep? Did the woman really just ask for the time? We'll never know, but the Bard said it best, "Best safety lies in fear."
Rome Day 1
We arrived in Naples with no incident and easily found the route from the circumvesuviana tracks to the main station where we caught the next Trenitalia express to Rome. In a bit over an hour we were at Termini.
I picked a hotel that seemed at the edge of walking distance from Termini for logistical reasons that I'll explain later. It took us longer than expected, but we finally found the Rome Life Hotel. The place is new, less than a year old. It goes for the cool, high tech look, like one of those Aloft places common at American airports, but doesn't do it very well. This is an increasing popular hotel type where idea is apparently to blind you with cool so you don't notice how small the rooms are. How small are the rooms? The rooms are so small that the mice run around hunchback. The rooms are so small that you have to go outside just to change your mind. The bed takes up almost all the space, leaving a tiny desk and no place to put your suite cases.
The place had some other problems. For starters, the door knob doesn't turn. It takes a couple of days to figure out how to do a push-pull thing on the knob just right to get it open. The shower has no tray or place to place soap or shampoo. You have to just put it down on the floor of the shower when you aren't using it and pick it off the floor when you want to it. The public seating area has the charm of cave painted black and white. The maid walked once ignored the "do not disturb sign" and walk in on us, and I'm still looking for the alleged ice machine.
And then there's the "welcoming drink" that they advertise. The desk clerk sent to the bar where the bartender asked if we wanted coke or fruit juice. Somehow, when someone says to me, "Let's meet for a drink" I'm not thinking Jamba Juice. Anyway, I told the bartender that maybe I shouldn't since I'm driving.
On the plus side, they have an excellent breakfast, except for the dreadful cappuccino that tasted like it was made Cremora. They are also close to a major bus stop on Nazionale for ease of transportation. As everyone who has been to Rome knows, it is probably the only major European city where the metro is the not the prime mode of public transportation. You can't put a spade in the ground without hitting an ancient temple, so they can't build a metro tunnel going through the older, tourist, parts of town.
By the time we were settled in, it was about 1:00, so had time to go off an do some sight seeing. We first explored the immediate area around the hotel to get the lay of the land. Rome Life is in Monti, which is frequently described as "up and coming." Well, it was more coming than up. There isn't really much right around there. We wandered down toward the main Monti street, Cavour, looking for Fatamorgana, a gelato place of some renown and Elite supermarket, allegedly the best room food source in the area. We eventually Fatamorgana by backtracking a string of people holding little plastic cups. The gelato was indeed first rate. Of course, to paraphrase Father Flanagan, "The is no such thing as a bad gelato."
We continued on to Cavour, passing the metro station to the Elite. It is fairly high end place with lots of great looking food and a decent wine and liquor selection. The plan as to come back and by picnic food, but we never had our picnic.
We rested up a bit back in the room and were soon ready for the main event. One problem in revisiting a place is that having seen the iconic places already, you have to decide which, if any, to see again. We had decided against going back to the Vatican, Forum and the Colosseum. Since we just like to walk around big cities, we would go back and walk around the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain and Piazza Navona. We had been to the Capitoline Hill, but had not gone into the museum. This time I was eager to also see the Tarpeian Rock and the insula. Both feature prominently in John Maddox Roberts's SPQR books, to which I am seriously addicted. We had some museums, galleries, etc. on the agendum, but we were mainly going to see the major churches which we missed last time. They look specular in the photographs. As it urned out, they had another desirable feature - they were cool.
I used google to draw a series of maps with walking routes showing the shortest path between the places we wanted to see, complete with blow ups, insets and ratings. (Eisenhower eat you heart out). We had our "south walk", longer "east walk" and "north walk". We started out on south walk, which was places closest to the hotel. We hit Santa Maria degli Angeli, Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, Santa Prassede, and St Peter In Chains. Of these Santa Maria degli Angeli was far the most interesting, as it has a sort of planetarium, a meridian line sundial, built into it. St Peter In Chains is at the bottom. It is a long exhausting walk from the others and I'd recommend giving it a miss. Beside its unusual name, it is noteworthy only for the Michelangelo Moses statute. He may have had chiseled features, but you've seen one Michelangelo statute, you've seen them all.
Santa Prassede has some nice mosaics, but we saw the same or better elsewhere. This is also where we first encountered to trick of requiring you to put a coin in a machine to light up the mosaics for a few piddling minutes. Obviously, they had been studying the airline industry. No one was seemed willing to do it, so we finally gave in. The lights went on and immediately, everyone in the place rushed to front, like moths to the flame, and began to furiously snap photographs before the lights went off again. I wanted to pass my own personal collection plate. Of course most of these places try to extract money through selling souvenirs and inducing visitors to pay to light a candle. At least most in Rome used real candles. Lighting a bulb just isn't the same. What's next? A light-the-candle app?
Santa Maria Maggiore is a massive place with a long columned hall that is reminiscent of Greek temple and, of course, mosaics. It is largely a blur. We also took a quick look at the Trinità dei Monti. One thought that I always have in such places is that even a minor church like this would be one of the biggest tourist attractions in any US city. You just can't build up culture, art, architecture and history like this in a mere 200 or 300 years.
The other amazing thing about churches in Rome is that they are all selling the same message, yet they are all visually very distinct. Each new looks very different from the last. I guess I expected much more uniformity. Still, it gets hard to remember details of what you saw where, unless they have something really unusual, like Santa Maria degli Angeli's planetarium.
We had St Clemente, and Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano on the map, but they were too far for a single afternoon. We also wanted to visit the Baths of Diocletian, supposedly attached to Santa Maria degli Angeli, but after walking all around the outside, we couldn't find the entrance. Of course we also looked for any interesting shops, etc., but didn't see much.Of course, much of Rome's appeal is that you can turn a corner and suddenly see a building that was a thousand or two years old just sitting there amid the chaos of the modern city.
For dinner, we went to La Taverna dei Fori Imperiali. I selected it based on good reviews and location, not too far from the hotel and we could walk around ruins and see them lit up after dinner. After being seated, we looked around to take in the ambience and classic Italian bric-a-brac when my eyes came to a screeching halt. There, featured prominently on the opposite wall amid all the old Italian pictures and artifacts, was Pittsburgh Steelers jersey. Talk about your tarantula on a slice of angel food. I asked the waitress about it. A Steelers player had frequented the place, became friends with the owner and sent him the jersey. I was tempted to order an Iron and a chipped ham sandwich, but the waitress probably would have gotten the joke. The meal was probably the best we had on the trip. We split a primi of proscuitto, and I had a secondi of very tasty saltimbocca.
After dinner, we walked around looking the lit up ruins for as long as we could before giving out in the heat and humidity, which was still oppressive even at night. We took a taxi back to the hotel. Tomorrow would be a full day of sight seeing and the last before it all hit the fan.
Aug 16th, 2014, 05:24 AM
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Well thanks for not assaulting me verbally for not loving Ostia Antica. We had a guide at Hadrian's Villa and it made a huge difference....probably would have helped us to have on at OA.
Totally know how you feel about the women on the train....you hate to be sitting there like sitting ducks and I have decided that I am OK if someone thinks me rude but I am not going to ignore that voice in my head that says get away from these people--they are up o no good. Better safe than sorry.
Last, my husband, best known on the forum as Mr Starbucks, is from the''Burgh, so I completely lived the Steelers jersey and reference to an Iron and Chipped Ham. I got the joke and loved it.
Totally know how you feel about the women on the train....you hate to be sitting there like sitting ducks and I have decided that I am OK if someone thinks me rude but I am not going to ignore that voice in my head that says get away from these people--they are up o no good. Better safe than sorry.
Last, my husband, best known on the forum as Mr Starbucks, is from the''Burgh, so I completely lived the Steelers jersey and reference to an Iron and Chipped Ham. I got the joke and loved it.
