Uneventful trip over other than not getting any sleep. I had my eyes closed for several hours but i doubt i got even 30 minutes sleep. But that's pretty normal - i am a terrible sleeper if i cant lay down flat. The Rome airport was pretty quick getting me out and on my way - no one in front of me getting my passport stamped, my bag came out pretty quick, no customs paper work to fill out, and it took me 10 minutes to get my train ticket and be headed on my way to central Rome on the "Leonardo Express".
When I got to Rome I walked outside of the crowded Termini train station to find there was no taxi line and jumped in the first one I saw. The taxi driver turns on the radio and the first song that plays is the Blues Brothers song "Everybody needs somebody love" (i need you, you, you, i need you, you, you...). Less than 4 miles later i got out and the fare was €30!! I think i will be doing a lot of walking from here out. My hotel is the Hotel Abruzzi, it opens up onto the Pantheon. Here's the view from the door of my hotel:
The Pantheon is not actually under construction
I get checked in by a really helpful guy who has a room ready for me at 915am. Score!! I need some toothpaste and a shower bad. So i get up to my room and wow, it's tiny. Less than 2 feet on each side of the bed. The bathroom is a good size but not the shower. It's a square with each side not even as long as my leg is from my knee to ankle. Makes washing the lower part of my body pretty tough. Post shower and toothbrushing I took a beauty nap - 1 hour and I was out the door. I walked to the Colosseum and the adjacent Forum, which you will see pictures of later. (Strange that these are the same names as the old adjacent sporting venues in Los Angeles. LA thinks they are pretty hot sh8.).
I didn't have the required time to check out these sites in depth bc i had to get up to the Borghese Gallery for my 5pm reservation. And that place was pretty cool. To get there you walked through a park and up a long path to a big ol' mansion. The guy who built this gallery (Borghese!) was the nephew of the pope and the pope named him "cardinal" which granted him huge powers and access to huge wealth. This appointment is where we get the term "nepotism" (the Latin word "nepos" means nephew). The museum is a collection of this cardinal's art as well as his family's collection after he died. The building was built in the 1600s. There are some really cool sculptures in here from this guy Bernini who made some lifelike Sculptures before he was 26. He had lots of other art plus some adjacent gardens that make for cool estate. After my two hours at the Borghese Museum, i walked over to the Medici house and the Spanish steps and through a whole walk laid out in the Rick Steves' book. Here's a view up the Spanish Steps:
After making this walk i ended up at the Trevi Fountain, probably my favorite piece of this hour long walk. I then hit an Irish pub to eat and watch a little NFL football. That was nice to get a little American normalcy to my day. So after a french meal of prosciutto and mozzarella on baguette i went home, typed this blog and crashed.
One word: Jealous. Ok, five words total: Jealous, love it, keep trekking! I am all about "Take back the holidays" Hoo-rah to that. Happy trails. Keep the stories flowing and live it up!
~Blue Lollipop Road :)
Posted by: BlueLollipopRd | 01/02/2011 at 05:04 PM