1980 Roma/Rome (8/4-5/1980)

Monday, August 4, 1980

Awoke at 07:30 and went out on the glassed-in terrace for the included breakfast of tea and rolls with jam and butter. Left our bags at the reception desk and started toward the bus station. Ended up in the Piazza Independenza where the YMCA was located. Decided to go there to book a room. It was only a few dollars less than our room of the previous night, but was nicer; a very large room with three beds and a sink. The toilets and showers were at the end of the hall. Got a little mixed up in finding the room in the first place, because the outer hall doors were numbered in the hundreds, but the inner room doors were numbered by the tens. We just looked at the room and left. We could even use the Visa charge card at a YMCA! Took bus #64 which was extremely crowded sardine-style.

Rome bus ticket

Got off at the Vatican and walked around the outer wall to the entrance of the Vatican Museums. Terry and Kathy got in at student rates.

Vatican Museums ticket

We decided to take the D-tour which is the complete one and is supposed to take seven hours. We did it in 1-1/2 hours, seeing real mummies right down to the skin and bones, paintings, sculptures, tapestries, maps, artifacts, the U.S. swan gift, ceilings, etc. We just kept on walking, swiveling our heads as we went to take in almost everything. We did pause a while in the Sistine Chapel.

Sistine Chapel ceiling by Michelangelo (TAT)

Vatican Museums mummy

We stopped in at the post office to mail the sixth roll of film. We had bought film at a store near the bus terminal. We walked back around to St. Peter’s Square and saw the Swiss guards before entering the basilica to see the Pietà, the bronze statue of St. Peter with the worn away toes, and the dove and sun stained glass window.

St Peter's Basilica from behind

Swiss Guards

Dove of the Holy Spirit window

Postcard of St Peter's Square in the Vatican

The crypts were closed, so we left the Vatican City, passing the Castel d’Angelo. We crossed the river Tiber and plunged into the streets of Roma. We found the Navona Square with the three Bernini fountains, and then the Pantheon with its hole in the ceiling (dome) and holes in the floor.

Pantheon (TAT)

Passed the city hall and the Marcus Aurelius column, ending up on Roma’s main shopping street. Went into a department store looking for wire (!), but found they only sold clothes. So continued to the Trevi fountain where we didn't even have coins to throw in the water.

Trevi Fountain (TAT)

Passed the Tritone fountain by Bernini, then hurried to the Spanish Plaza where the American Express office is located. Found their D-tour had become very expensive and didn't leave until 14:30, so we need not have hurried so much. We weren't really hungry, so didn't want to go to a restaurant. We went to the Spanish Steps and saw the boat fountain in front where people were soaking their feet and splashing their faces. We bought some peaches and soft drinks for lunch as we joined the lots of people sitting on the steps. We went for a walk to the Piazza del Popolo, then down the main shopping street where all the stores were closed for lunch.

Piazza del Popolo

Also went down the street of exclusive shops (Gucci, etc.). Stopped in a bar for ice cream, and asked for mixed flavors. We each got raspberry and chocolate, Terry and I got lemon, and Kathy got banana rum. We sat again at the Spanish Steps having grapefruit juice before boarding our bus for the American Express tour. It left at least 15 minutes late, and we had a striking looking guide who didn't overdo the cute humor, although he had his repertoire of jokes. He explained street names, the seven hills, told of the monuments at the ends of the streets on which we were traveling, but never got to see them! We passed the St. Mary Major Cathedral and Nero's baths as well as the Coliseum. Ended up at St. Peter in Chains Church, where we saw the supposed chains and Michelangelo's Moses statue with its misinterpreted horns.

Michelangelo's Moses

Then we drove past the Palatine (Forum palaces) and the Circo Massimo, then the baths of Caracalla.

Palatine Hill (TAT)

We went down the Appian Way to the catacombs. There a geology professor-type monk gave us a tour through part of the 11 miles of catacombs, again stressing that no one had hidden there during the Christian persecutions.

Catacombs ticket

Our bus then took us to St. Paul's Outside the Walls Cathedral with its beautiful cloister and the papal portraits (only 13 spaces left!).

St Paul's Outside the Walls

Cloister

On our way back we passed a pyramid and a couple of Roman city walls. Once back at the American Express office I changed $200 into lire, seeing we had spent about $50 in total for the tour. We then walked back to the hotel of our first night in Roma, passing a demonstration of the workers against Fascism and terrorism. We retrieved our bags and took them over to the YMCA. We went out again to get some emergency provisions, then returned to the YMCA restaurant. A group of people were eating at one table, but no one came to serve us. At about 19:00, the people at this table got up and respectively went behind the bar, went into the kitchen, went to turn up the lights, and to bring us a menu! Other English-speaking people also started coming into the restaurant. Kathy ordered the tourist menu with a vegetable-soup (they didn't have cannelloni), steak and salad, then ice cream. Terry also had the tourist menu but with lasagna (green!), steak and French fries, and ice cream. I ordered ala carte the rice Milanese (here it was just rice with butter) and a steak. We took some bread for another meal, and ate some breadsticks (grissini) with our meal, plus some very cheap (relatively) Cokes. We then tried to take the elevator to the 5th floor where the gym was purported to be, but we only found more rooms. So we returned to our room to prepare for the night. Clothes we had washed before dinner were already pretty dry. This time we used string and the plastic toothpick from our Swiss knife to "sew" Kathy's broken sandal.

Tuesday, August 5, 1980

Slept fairly well except that Terry mistakenly thought that someone had broken into our room because the white framed door looked like the door across the hall. Almost caused a panic until she saw the strip of light shining under the door to restore her perspective. Awoke at 07:00 and soon went down for our included breakfast of rolls with butter and jellies. Kathy tried a cappuccino which tasted like milk with coffee. My milk with coffee was steamed and sprinkled with brown powder and thus looked like a cappuccino. Terry was smart and ordered tea. We then went to check out, and the clerk accused us of perhaps having breakfast the morning we arrived, and made several annoyed phone calls to the restaurant to assure that we hadn't. Finally got out of the YMCA, and went to check our bags at the station and check the train schedules. We began our hike to the Borghese Gallery. Along the way we stopped at La Rinascente department store, but couldn't find appropriate wire in their hardware section.

Borghese Gallery ticket

At the gallery we signed in with our free passes. Saw the Canova lady reclining on the real-looking mattress, and the Bernini sculpture of the girl turning into a tree (Kathy missed the details). Also the Bernini Zeus statue and the bisexual statue. Walked through the Borghese grounds, then down Via Veneto past the U.S. Embassy. Stopped in at the Cappuccini monks' cemetery of bones with its simple cross markers, and the extremely extravagant decorations made of bones. We walked on to the Piazza Venezia to see Mussolini’s balcony covered by a banner. The Vittoriano, the large huge memorial mostly in white, was seen with the guards at the tomb of the unknown soldier(s).

Vittoriano (TAT)

We walked around it to the Capitol Museums to see the bronze she-wolf with the twin founders of Rome, the bronze of the boy pulling the thorn out of his foot, and the little girl holding a dove away from a snake. Again, tried to figure out how the statue in the middle of the square was out of proportion.

Capitoline Museum ticket

View from Capitoline Hill

She-wolf with Romulus and Remus

We walked back around the Vittoriano to the Forum, and signed in with our free passes. Kathy gave us her version of a tour, pointing out some temples, possible baths, and the location of the "eternal" flame.

Forum ticket

Roman Forum

Constantine's Arch

We came out of the Forum at the other end, and walked across the street to the Coliseum. Again couldn't get any cats into the picture.

Coliseum interior

Coliseum

Coliseum (TAT)

We then hopped on the old subway (saw the existence of the new subway in many places) and went to the train station.

Rome Metro ticket

Didn't see how one transferred to the new subway. Kathy used the restroom in the station, then we took the short walk to the St. Mary Major Cathedral. Along the way we stopped in a hardware store where I asked if I could have just a half meter of a thin wire. The man let me have it for free! At St. Mary's we noted the ceiling supposedly decorated with gold brought back by Columbus from the New World. We looked for the Holy Crib, but didn't recognize it if it existed. We then sat on the steps in the shade outside the cathedral, where we re-repaired Kathy's sandal with the wire, since the string had broken as she walked along. Then we set off for the fourth major cathedral in Roma: St. John the Lateran. This cathedral, plus St. Paul's Outside the Walls, St. Mary Major, and St. Peter's each supposedly have a Holy Door, which are opened only once every 25 years (?). Along the way we bought some provisions. After noting that the Holy Stairs were closed, we sat in a small park for a lunch of cantaloupe and cold Coke. We then went into St. John’s, but didn't find the piece of the Last Supper table supposedly kept there. We then walked back to the Coliseum to take photos, and went down past the Forum to Vittoriano which still had the sun behind it. Drank our bottle of warm water, then headed back to the train station. Near the station we stopped at a cafeteria just before it closed for the afternoon. Kathy had a pick-me-up meal of meatballs, and now I know how to say meatballs in Italian (polpetti).

Postcard of Roma

Map of Roma

We retrieved our bags and went to board the next train to Napoli leaving at 15:30. But it was already fully crowded, so we decided to wait for the 16:00 train. We waited and waited, and then I went to the departure board to see that it would be 35 minutes late. We decided to take the neighboring train which was leaving, or so the sign indicated, at 16:30. We were still sitting in the train station at 17:30! The 35-minute late train had come in and left, and two other trains had left in the direction of Napoli! And still we sat. Finally the train left at 17:45, and it didn't stop (except for brush fires and cattle crossings?) until Napoli. However, for this speedy service we were surprised with a supplemental fee of $2.50 each! According to the signboard when we got on the train, it was regularly scheduled and not a special train. Arrived in Napoli at just after 20:00, and in going through the station we were accosted by no less than three Napolitanos (one a fairly legitimate taxi driver). Walked to the hotel where I had stayed last year, and got a room for three with toilet, shower, and breakfast for less than we had paid at the YMCA! However, the shower didn't have a curtain, so we had to mop out the bathroom after each person. Ate our dinner of (raw) beef sandwiches and cookies. Then booked a tour through the hotel for Capri. To bed.

Next: Isola di Capri/Isle of Capri.