Day 3: Someone went to the Colosseum and totally didn’t write on the walls!!

Tuesday looked to be a lovely warm sunny day and we headed out early because we were totally going to the Colosseum! After seeing the lines at the place on Sunday we knew that we had to be there early (just before opening) and get in line. Our strategy worked and we were there about 20 minutes before they opened and had only a short wait until admission. The price of admission (I think it was 12 Euro) included entrance into the Forum as well.

Once past security we headed up the stairs to take in the sights of the incredible amp theater built back in 80 AD. Yes, again you see pictures on TV or online but you can’t imagine it in person. Massive, with wide spaced steps and a steep incline to go up it really doesn’t disappoint. There are many great views to be had inside as well as outside the Colosseum. The early time of our arrival really made it nice because there were no crowds and you could enjoy the views. Knowing the people who died in the Colosseum for “sport” was a little daunting but this is a must not miss when in Rome. I am so glad that I was able to visit and climb to the top. (Note that the steps are quiet steep and spaced apart so it is a challenge for those of us with bad backs or if you have mobility issues. Not sure if there is any type of accommodation for the handicapped.)  ***It is worthy to mention that the day after we were there a news report came out that two American tourists were arrested for defacing the walls of the Colosseum by scratching their names into the walls. Idiots. Not me and I didn’t see anyone doing that. Idiots.

After a quick snack and coffee in the café adjoining the metro we headed off to the Forum. Now the Forum is an archeological site of ancient Rome. It is kind of hard to imagine some of the uses for the spaces but in short it is the remains of 2000-year-old temples, law courts and victory monuments. It was getting quite warm outside and the sun does seem to be hotter in this little valley of history.

We were all doing good at this point (it was maybe noonish) and decided to head out to another area of the city for some sightseeing and shopping. Well, I was shopping, the boys were just my guides!

You see I was looking for a shop in my guidebook that specialized in handmade Italian leather shoes and handbags and such. Yeah, I’m so there! It was in the Campo De Fiori section of the city. Gigi and his Italian language mastery managed to find our way to that area and we walked along stumbling upon some lovely churches and what appeared to be a library. Then I stopped dead in my tracks. A. Fabric. Store!!!!

Gigi mingling with the locals. 

Small, unobtrusive and hidden in a small side street, it was just what I loved! A local fabric shop with the most beautiful Italian silk fabric!! Of course we went in! And of course I had to buy something. According to my business card the place was called Fatucci Tessuti. Gigi had a great time chatting in Italian with the shop owner, a lovely man who no doubt gets very little tourists (based on his lack of English). Now I could have communicated enough to purchase the fabric (I have done this in the Netherlands at the fabric market in den Bosch) but having Gigi there to converse provided much needed conversation about where the silk was made (near the place George Clooney has his villa) and also gave me a little “extra” during the cutting process. I was in heaven!

Beautiful Italian silk!

Silk in hand (or in a shopping bag) we set off again for the illusive leather shop. Stopping in Camp De Fiori we visited a fabulous farmers market and then a small café in the square for a light meal. Amazing food, again!

Lunch!

Let's buy more fabric!!

Finally finding the leather shop Ibiz I was not disappointed. Guidebook says, “shoes and bags are made by hand in an onsite workshop”. Sigh…..  The saleslady was so nice and her English was really good. I bought a fabulous pair of teal sandals. They were so soft that even after walking around all day when I slipped them on my feet felt magical. The leather was like butttaaa….

http://www.ibizroma.it

After full shopping bags we headed out to grab a taxi back to the Marriott for a rest before dinner. Yes, another dinner! We were meeting David and Antonio for a wonderful meal that they said would rock our world. Apparently it is a typical Italian meal. And it did rock my world!  Called L’Orso ’80.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187791-d716336-Reviews-Orso_80-Rome_Lazio.html

The amount of food that was presented to us was incredible. Why aren’t all Roman people fat? I don’t know because if they eat like this all the time they should be. The food just kept coming.  David and Antonio are great people and the company was just as fabulous as the food. This time, I didn’t stop for gelato before because I wanted to eat. And eat I did!

L'Orso 80

After another successful meal we headed back to the hotel because we were heading out in the morning to Venice via the train! We had a mid morning train so we could sleep in a bit before heading out. Because after that meal I think I was comatose!!

***Michelle’s tip:  Don’t eat gelato before the big dinner meal. And just take pictures at the Colosseum, it’s a historical ancient site people!

Day 2: Visiting the Vatican or An ugly American in the Sistine Chapel

Monday was the day that we had set aside for visiting Vatican City. We knew that this would be a long day filled with tons of people and long lines. After a hearty Marriott breakfast we set out to the Vatican. It was colder and a little rainy today so this also reinforced our idea that this was the perfect day to visit!

Our thoughts were to visit the Vatican Museums first. They open at 9 am and we got into the line around 8:20 or so. There was still a line but not nearly as bad as it would be as the day went on. My understanding is that there is never a time when there are no lines. So plan accordingly.

There is a charge to get into the Vatican Museums (I think it was 13 Euro) but no charge to get into St. Peter’s Basilica (more on that later). Once inside the Museums you pay your admission fee, go through airport like security and head up the escalators towards the museums. Now there are TONS of things to see in the museums. I can’t even describe the artwork, tapestries, and general overall cool stuff to see there. There is way too much to see in one visit. Knowing that my back would not handle everything that we planned I wanted to go all the way to the end and visit the Sistine Chapel and then work back to some of the other things. We did that (scouting around the large Asian tour group) and although we did stop along the way to see some rooms, our main focus was heading to the Chapel.

Gigi is so excited about the escalator!

And it didn’t disappoint. Words can’t really describe how lovely this place is and how amazing Michelangelo’s ceiling is. You can see it on TV but that doesn’t do it justice.

******Alert**** Alert**** Ugly American sighting**** Alert

We interrupt this blog post to discuss the ultimate Ugly American Sighting. While in the Sistine Chapel, there are multiple signs (in different languages) that tell you NO pictures are to be taken and please be silent. It’s a holy place, after all. There are benches around the long walls of the chapel where you can sit and gaze up at the ceiling. I was sitting there with Gigi on my right quietly discussing the Apostles or Saints or something like that. When we hear/see probably 25 fee in front of us a very upset Italian museum guide reprimanding this larger American man of about 30ish. I mention that the American was larger because the Italian museum dude was about a head shorter than said American. The conversation went as follows:

Italian dude: “hey, didn’t I tell you just a moment ago NOT to take pictures”.

American: “umm, yeah”

Italian dude:  “then WHY are you taking pictures? Let me see your last picture on your phone. Why didn’t you listen?”

American:  “dunno”

Seriously, this was the conversation. American dude just shrugged like he didn’t have a care in the world. Italian dude was getting more and more angry by the second. And since Italian dude was a head shorter he kept straining his neck to look up at Ugly American. And let me tell you, Italian dude was kind of scary. My money was on him!!

The entire place went silent when all this was going on. SILENT. We looked on in amazement as Italian dude then dragged off Ugly American out the gates to the back of the chapel and to God knows where. I assume that he was going to have the Pope pull out his fingernails and then be turned over to the Dementors.

So! After that little performance we kind of just wandered out to the rest of the museum. Because once you gaze at the Sistine Chapel and see someone dragged off by Italian dude for being an idiot, well that was all there was to see. After a quick snack and bathroom break in the café, we headed outside and around the museum towards St. Peter’s square and the Basilica.

Public praying?

There is no admission fee to get into the Basilica, but you do have to go through security and the lines are incredibly long to get in. People come from all over the world to see the world’s most famous church and the head of Catholicism. Being Catholic myself I know that seeing this church really was something that was a lifelong dream. It’s important, it’s holy and dammit I am going to stand in line for as long as it takes!!

Turns out it takes about an hour in line. Approximately. I can’t even imagine what this looks like in the summer or warmer months. And my back was killing me for standing in line on those cobblestones! But we made it and it really was amazing. Another one of those “words cannot describe” moments. There were quite a few people in the basilica but honestly I didn’t feel crowded because it is such a huge church.

The famous Michelangelo status "Pieta"

Swiss guard doing their thing!

After our St. Peter’s visit we knew we needed food and a lot of it! I also needed to sit down before I fell down! So we headed out to one of the side streets near the Vatican. I know that these places are often touristy but we knew that. Gigi negotiated us down a couple side streets until we found a lovely little sidewalk café/restaurant (it had stopped raining by then).

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187791-d4244905-Reviews-Alberto_e_Graziella-Rome_Lazio.html

Let me tell you, this place was amazing! For just stumbling upon it we made an excellent choice. Gigi’s mastery of Italian helped out the grandmotherly-like woman who owned/served the restaurant. I could just see her in the back whipping up the spaghetti sauce in this tiny little kitchen. We had a wonderful buffalo mozzarella with tomatoes and basil and then this amazing type of spaghetti. Such an amazing way to top off the Vatican experience. We sat out on the sidewalk and took our time and ate, and ate, and then ate some more!

Amazing!

Bellies full and back slightly rested we headed back to the hotel. By now it was probably 3pm and we knew that we were meeting some friends (again!) for dinner. Ricardo and Fabio wanted to take us to their most favorite pizza place in Rome. Yes, please!!

Once sufficiently rested ( I am pretty sure I took a nap) we headed out again in the evening. Our dinner reservations were for 8 but we set out early because I wanted Gelato! I had been in Rome 2 days and had not had any yet and by God, I was getting my gelato!! We found a place a short distance from the restaurant and proceeded to partake of the gelato. A tiny little park was close and we sat on the benches eating gelato and generally watching the world go by. Lovely!

The pizza place is called Alle Carrette and the TA link is below. We sat and had amazing food (although I was slightly full from the gelato) and chatted and had a general good time. I know that I mentioned that meeting up with the locals and going to less touristy places are the way to go but I’m going to say it again. Because it is. It really is!  And bonus is that your new friends can give you a ride to your hotel in their snazzy Italian Mini Cooper!

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187791-d1231075-Reviews-Alle_Carrette-Rome_Lazio.html

***Michelle’s tip:  Get to the Vatican Museums early and for the love of God, don’t take pictures!

Day 1: The day we walked our asses off then went to the Gay Bar!

Good morning! Welcome to Rome! Ahh, this place is lovely!

After a much-needed night of sleep the three amigos set off to the rooftop café for the Marriott breakfast. Now my breakfast is included in my platinum membership but Chris and Gigi had to pay. They were running a special two for one for the price of 30 Euro. It was a little pricy but they really do put on a great spread. I highly recommend the breakfast!

View from the hotel rooftop restaurant

We then started off to head towards the Colosseum. Now this was Sunday. The first of March. Little did we know Rome on the first Sunday of March opens up all the attractions free of charge. So when we finally go to the Colosseum (after a late start- we did get in really late last night) there was about a 3-hour line. Yeah: That’s not happening! We did get some great picture of the exterior, though and we made plans to be there when they opened on Tuesday so that we could get in.

We then walked along the top of the Forum area (again the price of admission is included in the Colosseum so actual entrance was planned for Tuesday). The sheer size of these historical places is hard to articulate. And the amazing thing is that they are so ancient but yet the modern city is built right around them. There is literally a metro stop 100 yards from the Colosseum. It’s incredible!

While we were walking around we stumbled upon this fabulous street festival. From what we could tell, it was a type of (perhaps) Peruvian day for I am guessing the Peruvian folks living in Rome. I am guessing at this. But the three of us agreed that was going to be our story! That is the lovely thing about travel; you never know what you are going to stumble upon as you are walking. (Carrie: remember the Russian church procession we stumbled upon in Red Square?!)

These little girls were adorable!

I soo want to twirl around like that!

The festival headed right towards the Colosseum!

Walking throughout the city, we then ended up at the Pantheon. This is an incredible ancient building designed and built from 118 to 125 AD. It is “governed by circles and squares” and according to my architect friend Gigi cannot be duplicated even with today’s technology.  It really is lovely and although full of tourists I highly recommend checking it out.

Pantheon

That skylight is open to the elements! 

After the Pantheon we met up with Chris and Gigi’s friend Ricardo. Such a lovely man! I was so glad I was going to meet “real people” and not just the folks going to tourist attractions! We strolled around and chatted for a while before parting to go back and rest at the hotel. We were all a little tired after our first day and we wanted to take a break because later that night we were meeting up with many friends at an Italian Gay Bar!

Later that evening…..

Picture of the menu outside the OS Club

So we met friends at a local Italian Gay Bar in Rome. This was both a restaurant and bar with music (of course) and actually quite hidden in a quiet neighborhood near a park. I say this because we took a taxi there because it was rather difficult to find and that it was dark out when we met there.  I was rather disappointed to learn that there still is a stigma attached to gay bars and clubs and often they are slightly hidden from view and hard to locate. I expected Italy to be a bit more progressive in that manner.  Sigh…

OS CLUB VIA DELLE TERME DI TRAIANO,4A

http://www.osclub.it

Exterior of the secret Gay Bar!

There were several groups of couples  (and some not couples) that met up with us there to have dinner and drinks and hang out. This place was so much fun! I of course had a great time meeting and chatting with friends but the atmosphere was fabulous! For a fee of 10 Euro you get entrance into the club, full buffet all you can eat dinner and one drink from the bar. Really a great deal. There was so much food!!! And it was all so good! But it really was the company that made the night! David and Antonio, Fabio and Ricardo and of course Chris and Gigi made the night what it was! They had reserved an entire table for us in the back and there was a total of maybe 10-15 of us. It was interesting to chat with people and not “be a tourist” and just hang out. Everyone spoke English (all of various degrees) and it was great fun learning about everyone’s lives. These are the types of “normal” activities that you can’t get from a tour book. Just hanging out with people chatting and having good food and drinks! Now we didn’t stay exceptionally late (everyone has jobs to go to in the morning) but I can say that is was not a “wild” place. Which is good, because I am at the point in my life that I want less “wild” and more “food and drink”.  Heh

The music was fabulous (everything from Nancy Sinatra’s “these boots are made for walking” to the “under the sea” song from the Little Mermaid) just added to the good times. We laughed and chatted and had a great visit! I was one of the very few women in the club but that didn’t matter because the place was filled with beautiful Italian men who this American woman doesn’t mind looking at (even if they are all gay).  You really have to love the way European men know how to dress and tie a scarf. 

***Michelle’s tip:  Stay away from the museums on the first Sunday of the Month. You will thank me.  

Italy 2015: The Flight!!

Today we set out on the first leg of our trip to Italy! This trip was not going to be solo, but with my good friends Chris and Gigi. They had been to Italy many times and have friends there, and Gigi speaks Italian. After much back and forth we decided to opt for Turkish Airlines for our trip. Can’t turn down a round trip ticket for $616!!

Let the craziness begin!

Having never flown with TA, we were unsure of what to expect but I have to say that the airline was great! The flight was full and we had great service with the flight attendants and the food was just fine. We had a 5-hour layover in Istanbul before our flight to Rome. Now the airport in Istanbul is really large and has many, many shops for you to spend your money. There are restaurants and duty free shops everywhere. They will also allow you to pay for things with Euro or Turkish Lira, which is nice if you are just there for a few hours and don’t want to hit the ATM to get Turkish cash out.

Having landed in Rome late at night (the flight from Istanbul got in to FCO about 10:00 pm local time) we traveled straight to the hotel. There is a flat fee rate of 48 Euro from the FCO airport anywhere to inside the city center. That is not bad at all, especially with three adults and their luggage. After about a 30-minute drive we crashed at the Marriott Grand Flora hotel and went straight to bed. We had been up over 24 hours at that point and wanted to be ready to hit the ground running the next day!

***Michelle’s tip:  If you find yourself in the Istanbul airport and you remotely think you might want to grab a trolley for your stuff, grab a trolley. Don’t hesitate, when you see one then grab one! They are in high demand and if you have a long walk from gate to gate or even just want to shop it is worth it. Just don’t question if you might need one: just grab one!

Gelato on the horizon!!!

It’s almost Gelato time!!  In a few weeks I’ll be departing on my much-anticipated Italy trip. This time around I am not going by myself but traveling with two great friends who have been to Italy before. Our plan is to spend about 4.5 days in Rome and then 2 days in Venice.  

Since we have been planning/talking about this trip for almost a year it seems like it would never get here but it’s almost time! I know that it seems like I was just in Prague (and I was) but we felt that March was the best time to see Rome/Venice. I don’t do well with the intense heat and it’s less crowded during off -season so this worked for everyone!

Stay tuned for Italy blog posts and pictures in the coming weeks!  Apparently the Trevi Fountain is still under construction so that will be a little sad but it’s not like I didn’t have pictures of scaffolding before (looking at you, Berlin).

Happy Travels!!!

Prague trip: The one with the final comments!

So! Another successful trip is over and I thought one more blog post about Prague would be in order. I enjoy traveling over the Thanksgiving holiday and it is always exciting to see new places and chat with folks in another country.

My overall thought on Prague is that it is a lovely old city with some fabulous landmarks and buildings. Although it was different than my expectations (damn those pre conceived notions!!). If you look on a map you can see that the Czech Republic is very close to Austria. So although I acknowledge that they are two different countries I thought there would be some similarities. Not really.

My impression of Austria (Vienna and Salzburg) is that it is an elegant, refined city with culture and music. Perhaps using the word “highbrow” wouldn’t be out of order. I found Prague to be lovely but perhaps a bit more “grittier” and more “working class”. This is in no way a negative thing. Just a comparison. To be honest I found Prague more like Moscow than Vienna. To my (very) untrained ear the language was similar to Russian than to German.

With all this being said I actually found the people in Prague to be friendlier. Although there was a slight language barrier (most people understood some English but not everyone spoke English) it appeared that the Czech people were more “down to earth”.  As far as the city itself being “grittier” I only attribute that to both having had most of its buildings survive WWII and also the communist influence.

If I were to visit Prague again I think a day trip outside the city would be a great addition to the trip. I didn’t have enough time this vacation to do that but there is some great little towns 2-4 hour train ride away that might provide a more rounded experience.

Last thoughts? I would definitely visit Prague/ Czech Republic again. I perhaps might not visit in November, as it was very chilly. Although based on the crowds that I experienced the summer months would be too crowded. I might suggest either October or perhaps April (to avoid crowds and also the cold weather). All in all a wonderful trip (minus the blisters)! Remember that these are just my opinions and your mileage may vary!!!

Next up? A trip to Italy in March with some friends! Rome and Venice here I come (and there may be a stop in Istanbul as well!!).

Happy Travels!!