Back in Texas

After just over 24 hours of travel I finally arrived back in Texas at around 2AM local time (11AM Italy time). I had gotten up at 7AM to make my flight so looks like I was up for just a bit of time during my travels. It all went pretty well though. The flight from Rome to Chicago was smooth and went quickly with the aid of sleeping pills. After the ~3 hr dealy in Chicago the flight to SA was pretty easy. I got kicked out of both the Delta Crown room and the American Admirals club though since they both close early (7PM for Delta, 10PM for American). At least they were comfortable while I was there though.

Today I'm back in Texas and I had the fortune of being woken up by Gus, my dad's yellow lab, knocking on the door. He has apparently learned to use his paw to knock on the door when you are in there and he wants attention.

Anyways, thats it for my travel for Italy. All I have left is a flight to Dallas on Sunday morning and then a flight back home to Seattle. If all goes well I should be arrive mid-afternoon and have some recovery time before heading back to work on Monday.

Check out this beautiful sunset that I say from the Admiral's Club in JFK. Made the wait a bit easier to deal with.

Now waiting in Chicago

The flight this morning went pretty smothly. I had mis-understood the train schedules so although I arrived with time to board the 8AM train, it left at 7:52AM. Oops. I caught the 8:22 traing and made it to the airport about 10 till 9. Check in went fine. The plane ride went very well. I was in an aisle seat in the middle section of a 2-3-2 seat layout. And, there was no one in the middle seat. Worked pretty well for me. I took two sleeping pills as soon as I boarded and the flight just flew by (pun not intended). I was probably awake for only 2 1/2-3 hours out of the 10 hour flight.

When I got in to Chicago things seemed to get good. The gate agent told me it was not a good idea to try and get an earlier flight because they all connected through Dallas. Apparently Dallas and St Louis were having some serious weather issues today. I figured I could get through a 6 hour layover pretty easily. So off I went to the Delta Airline's Crown Room club. I picked it over American becauase they do free cocktails. I relaxed there for a while until they kicked everyone out at 6:30 for their normal closing time. Now I'm sitting back in the American Admiral's club waiting to order some food.

Last evening in Rome

Here I sit on my last night in Rome. Since the last posting I have added some more checkmarks to my list of to-do items. I took it pretty easy this afternoon and just relaxed a bit. Before dinner I wanted to follow the Rick Steve's walk from Campo Di Fiori to the Spanish steps since I was having dinner near there. I followed the walk pretty closely and again enjoyed both piazza navona and the parthenon while also taking in the newfound Trevi Fountains. It is nice to walk the streets of Rome at night and come across these things just sprinkled within the city. It seems like there is nothing much going on and then all the sudden you are in this impressive area. The Trevi fountains are nice on their own and even more impressive when you realize that they were supplied by the aqueducts, not just modern pumps. The sights in this city can easily seem tame when you consider modern day engineering and capabilities but when you realize that these things were done so long ago its then that the true wonder of it all really hits you. The intelligence they had to create the dome of the parthenon in increasingly lighter materials and thickness as they got closer to the top, the aqueduct system, creating paintings out of wall plaster and being able to know how it would dry, all of that is just amazing to me.
after taking all that in I went to dinner at Palatium. I was glad I had made reservations because people were being turned away due to them being fully booked. Of course, one blonde english speaking woman tried really hard to get a table for herself and two friends and was able to get them to accomodate. She said they would be quick. I left after a bit over an hour and they were still there. Wonder what she meant by quick.
Anyways, for me I had the caci e pepi pasta recommended by Simon. Along with that I had a whole bottle of wine. Normally I would have just gotten a 1/2 bottle but I didn't see any on the menu and none of the by-the-glass wines looked interesting. The pasta was great! very peppery though, in case anyone doesn't like spicy foods. It went very well with the wine that I got - Dithyrambus. The wine was a nice strong wine that didn't have too much of a finish. Strong take but faded nicely. It was about 18 EUr so not cheap but not too pricey either. All in all, it was a very good meal.
After dinner I took the leisurely way back to the apartment. I went by Trevi Fountains again and snapped some picture of it at night time with the lights one. There were still tons of people around the fountain. Then I continued on 'home'. I decided I wanted one more shot of gelato but only had 1 EUR after the 12 EUR reserve I had for the airport cab. So off I went to find a ATM machine. The first one didn't work but the 2nd one did. Unfortunately that machine only dispensed in EUR 50 increments. Better safe than sorry, I went ahead and got 50 to make sure I'd have plenty for cab and train to the airport. I then went for a good, large sized gelato cup with nutella/vanilla, chocolate, and chocolate mint. Nice last dessert in Italy.
In the morning I have to get up at 7, get packed, call a cab, get to the train station, take a train to the airport, and then hop on my place to Chicago. I think its a 10 hr flight and I am not looking forward to that part of it. I am still holding out hope that I'll be upgraded to business class. And, if not, at least I have an aisle seat and sleeping pills.

last day in Rome

Well, this is it, my last day in Rome. It started off with some rain this morning so I was glad I had already hit the main sites I wanted to visit.

This morning I went over to Forno to get some croissants for breakfast. They looked pretty brown and so I was afraid they would be dry and crunchy inside. Boy was I wrong. Not only that, but they also glazed them. Imagine the sugar glaze on a donut and put it on a tender, buttery, flaky croisssant. Yes, it is that good. I even upped it a notch with some nutella. I think I found my new favorite breakfast. Though I'd probably have to run a mile each morning just to work it off.

After that breakfast I waited out the rain a bit and then headed over to the pantheon. As I got there I realized I had walked right past it a couple days before and thought nothing of it. Maybe I've been in Italy too long when a giant artistic building like that is just another building. But, inside I went. The dome has an opening at the top of it and some parts of the floor were roped off due to the rain. But, the architects were smart, they build in 24 holes in to the floor as a drainage system. Those guys planned ahead. But I could only count 18 holes, so maybe they got distrated by that number and decided to go play golf instead of finishing up the final 6 to get to 24.

Thats been it for today. This is just an easy day. The rain seesm to be coming back so I'm just going to wander around and see if i can find some 'cool' souveniers for people.

I won't be posting again until I am back in the states. I have a 6 hour layover in Chicago tomorrow so I am sure I will post more then. And I can probably get some pics into the posts as well.

Ciao

more of the demonstration today

ok, so I was sitting at dinner thinking over the things that happened at the demonstration today. It was really an interesting experience when I think back over it. The little square I was in ended up being completely closed off by the police (polizia, carabineri, and guardia finanza). There was only one road in that was open and it was not until I was walking out that I realized they were only letting people out. No one was being allowed in.

There were 6 entrances to the square (plaza?), each one was blocked by two large vans\transports. There was a line of about 12 guys in front of each one and 4 on each side preventing anyone new from coming in. They really had it locked down.

On the street where I left there were another couple vans and many police cars as well as more police in riot gear. It was easily a new experience for me. just wanted to jot it down before I forgot it.

Rome, Day 2 - Done!

OK, maybe not fully done with Rome yet. I did hit the main To Do items though. Today I slept in a bit since I didn't sleep well last night. The apartment being on the street, and without much in the way of sound deadening, lets in a lot of noise from people walking by or scooters going by. Not horrible, but kinda annoying. I did get in some sleep though.

Next time, I think I'll go for a hotel. I like having the kitchen options in the apartment but unless I'm travelling with someone else I don't think its worth it. Plus, there is no internet in the apartment :)

Today I hiked from the Campo Fiori area over to the Vatican. It's a bit of a long walk but it felt good to exercise a bit. I should have taken water with me though because I was in linen slacks and a t'shirt. It got very warm on the walk over so I overpaid for some water on the street. Better than dehydrating though,huh? I managed to arrive just as they were wrapping up the Wednesday ceremony by the Pope. I saw the little popemobile on the big screen but at first didn't recognize it. Due to the ceremony and the number of people the line to get in to the basillica was very long. So I walke around over to the Vatican Museum. The line there looked long but only took me 10 minutes to get in. I spent about 2 hours in the Museum looking at the artwork and displays. Most of the time was spent in the Sistene Chapel though. I just parked on a bench and took in the ceiling and the scenes. I wish I could have taken pictures of it but they were not allowed. One person was forced to show and then delete the picture he had taken. They were pretty strict.

After the museum I went out the 'secret' exit straight to the basilica cuppola (dome). I paid the EUR7 for the walk to the top including the elevator. I had walked enough already today :) The walk was pretty tight. Some of the circular stairs reminded me of the lighthouse steps, just not as wide. There were also some passaged where you had to lean to your right due to the slant of the roof. And there were a lot of steps! I think they said it was 320 in total (540 if you don't take the lift). I spent a good bit of time at the top outside. The view was great from up there. I think due to my Rick Steve's book a number of people realized I spoke english. So I was a temporary professional photographer. I must have taken a dozen pictures. Funny one was when I was handing a camera back to a couple and the lanyard got caught on my other hand's little finger. The camera dropped and the woman gasped before realizing I had hold of the lanyard and the camera was safe. She may have her color back by now but it left her at that time. After enjoyed the view in all directions for a bit I headed back down. Another 320 steps...

I then walked around the basilica itself and just took in the size of it. Standnig inside of it gives you some serious respect for its builders. Most of the churches I've been in could fit in about 1 quarter of this. I walked in here into each of the 4 areas, took more picture for people, and then concluded my visit. I had spent at least 5 hours in the vatican so figured it was time for lunch.

I popped up the GPS and searched for my standard foregin visit location - Hard Rock Cafe. It was a 2.5mi walk but I made it over. While eating I found out that President Bush was in town and they were closing down the street for his cars to come by. After lunch I walked down to a square and sat for a while to rest up and watch the large numbers of cops. It took about 2 hours for anythign to show up and in the end it was just a large protest march. The president may have been coming behind it but I doubt they would have put them on the same route. So I packed up and headed out. Now I'm here posting before I head back to the apartment. I need a shower and some rest. Tonight is going to be a casual dinner near the apartment but tomorrow with be a fancy place Simon says I must visit. I now have 7 minutes to look it up before my net time expires. New updates tomorrow.

back to Rome..

I arrived back in Rome today. Busy day too. Got up early and headed out of San Gimignano back to Florence. The drive went well with not too much going on. Nice and sunny too. Got a bit sketchy back near Florence as the GPS tried to get me going the wrong way down a 1 way street. I noticed the signs just as an old italian guy was waving his hand and smiling to let me know. I quickly turned around and got back on track ignoring the GPS. Dropped off the car and made my way over to the train satation. Pretty uneventful trip there other than running into a family from Houston that was spending a couple weeks in Italy. Their kids were playing with the blinds on the windows and the parents apologized to me. No big deal though because I had done the same thing when I left Rome for Florence.

Once I got in I was tempted to take the bus to my apartment but decided to cab it instead. Cost 10 EUR for the trip and was very comfortable. The apartment is pretty nice but the web listing was a bit misleading. Very little light in the place and it doesnt appear to be the best on neighborhoods. Oh well, at least there are multiple big locks on the door. Looks to be a converted storage or warehouse type thing.

Once I got settled I was back out the door. First up was to find my way to the Colosseum. The GPS was again helpful here. I stopped off along the way at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Very beautiful building and sculptures. I was surprised by how many people were scolded by the guards though for sitting down on the steps. (it was clearly posted at the small entrance that this was forbidden). I walked up the stairs there to take in the view of the city and just appreciate it. I have pics that I will post up once I am back in the states. The net cafe here will not allow me to bring in my laptop so that will have to wait.

Then I resumed my original goal of the Colosseum. I found it easily and waited in line for maybe 5 minutes. It was not much of a line at all. Great sunny day today made it perfect weather for walking around both levels. I was hoping to get good pics of the area beneather the old floor by my camera just didn't zoom enough. I did walk around both the 1st and 2nd levels though and had someone get a neat picture of me standing on the 2nd level. It really is hard to capture it in pictures though, you really have to see it in person. After probably an hour or so walking around I headed out to the forum area.

Across the street from the Colosseum is the forum area. I was glad I had the Rick Steve's book because he has a well written walking tour of the area. I followed the guide closely and took in all the sights. It is really hard to describe it. Some things look kinda plain but others just have that detail and artistry to them. You can really see the work that went in to these things. I probably spent over an hour walking around here and then going back to look at things again.

Once I was done there I headed back toward the apartment. I stopped off in Piazza Campo Fiori to enjoy happy hour drinks and rest up a bit. Then I got some directions from the woman for the nearest market. She gave me 4 options and, having been a long day already, I went for the closest. Just stocked up with yogurt, orange juice, tomatoes, bread, mozzarella, and a nice large bottle of water.

Thats it so far today. Still trying to figure out where to go for dinner.