Apr. 14th, 2014: Resting up…
After the little mix up the night I arrived in Rome, I was happy to get to bed and enjoy a night of dreamless sleep. Next morning, I just hung out at the apartment trying to organize my plans and make up an itinerary for the next two months. Traveled around the neighborhood and other than all of the signs being in Italian, it’s a nice typical neighborhood. More small shops then in the US but everything was recognizable. Seems as though English is made up of a bunch of Italian words. Or is it Latin?
I was staying at the Piazza San Felice de Cantalice. In a quiet private room in a private flat which I shared with the owner. My room was kind of small, but the bed was comfy, plenty of places to store my stuff and had a nice desk. The apartment is just six miles from the heart of Rome, near by both an electric train and bus station. The train only takes 30 minutes to get to the termini, and the termini is the train’s last stop, so I didn’t bother with buses. The room was small, the wifi worked best in the living room, but it was fine for a weeks stay. Kitchen was light filled but crowded by an overlarge table so I would have to move to my bedroom or the livingroom to use my computer when the owner was cooking for himself. Overall, I wasn’t disappointed with the room. Host was helpful and friendly, and very quiet. The shower was makeshift and not comfortable…it’s really more of a tub with a shower, though. The neighborhood has all the amenities…there is even a grocery store next door. ATM’s, cafes, bars, banks, and shopping. Restaurants too. Overall, very convenient. Found the room on Roomorama, and paid $32 per night. Pretty good price considering.
Light rail station near my apartment.
Arriving at the termini.
As you probably have figured out, the termini is the main rail station for Rome. I was on a local train and the station handles both those and the long distance trains. Then the Metro underground is another entire subway system. I found a map in the Metro area that showed me which train to take to get to the colosseum so off I went.
Here’s a map I used quite often to get oriented: Rome
My first goal today…a visit to the colosseum to sort of get my bearings. Nothing more than that. I arrived around 10AM or so. Weather was beautiful. Looks like the work Italy has been doing to reduce the harmful effects of engine exhaust is really paying off. There was a time, like 20 years ago, when you wouldn’t have been able to see blue skies for all the smog.
Renovation going on.
And once you get off the metro the colosseum is right there. It’s an amazing piece of work. They are doing a bunch of restoration but it is still easy to see that it’s a magnificent building. Today was just an information gathering day so I didn’t go inside but I did buy tickets for tomorrow for a private tour…with 25 other people. Still, I wouldn’t have to stand in line like all those other people that just show up and try to enter. Plus we’d have a local who knows what she’s talking about to point stuff out.
It’s big!
It was pretty exciting being here at such a world renown place. More than 2,000 years old but still standing proud and firm.
The Forum.
Off in the distance the Roman Forum. Many of these ancient buildings were damaged during the vandal and visigoth sackings of Rome in ancient times…then the early church took over and instead of getting their own marble from nearby quarries, they picked pieces off these beautiful buildings and incorporated them in their own buildings. Sad really.
The same ruins, just back a way.
That’s not a McDonald’s sign, it’s a Metro subway station sign.
Everywhere you look there’s more ancient buildings. And lots of construction going on too.
Three thousand year old wall right there.
I did find that the subway station I was at was like a hub for the tour buses that go all over Rome. I figured I would find out about that the next day after I took my tour.