40th Anniversary Trip Day 16 and after

40^th Anniversary Trip Day 16 – Tuesday in Rome

After a peaceful night’s sleep we had down for breakfast in the hotel – included as always!  Although it didn’t include pannacotta we will both agree that this is the best breakfast spreads we had on the whole trip.   It includes a chef who makes omelets to your order – no need for me to choose ingredients I can just say “everything”.  There are sausages, bacon, hash brown and tomatoes to go with it, along with the usual selection of breads, cheese, cold meats and fruit.  But what makes this really special – and it takes Vicky to find it – is a counter with local specialty pastries.  Over the next 2 days we try several of them. 

Although the dining room is large, we’re given a table by the window where we can watch people and traffic on the Via Veneto.  Vicky does an unscientific count and we conclude that over one third of the private cars in Rome are “Smart Cars”.  As we walk around the streets later, we find many of these little cars parked at 90 degrees to the curb – a great solution to the limited parking in the center of Rome!

The concierge has booked us on an afternoon tour, so we decide to explore the local area.  Right across the street is a cashmere shop –  I don’t need another cashmere sweater and of course Vicky got her new shawl in Murano, so we simply “just look”.  Further up the street is a store that modestly advertises itself as “the finest menswear in the world”.  I find a shirt I really like and ask to see it.  The friendly sales clerk takes it off the shelf and holds it where I can see not only the shirt but the $750 price tag.  I play the game by telling her on reflection it’s not what I want.

At the top of the street is the entrance to Villa Borghesi, an impressive palace that is now an art gallery with extensive park-like grounds. 

The gallery itself is closed for renovation but we spend a delightful hour or two exploring the gardens (the 3^rd largest public park in the city) and trying to identify trees and birds.  There’s a zoo (Bioparco di Roma) on the grounds, which we consider, but settle for more strolling.  This statue may prove that selfies are older than you thought!

Since the afternoon tour is on foot, we stroll back to the hotel and rest for a while.

The tour company is to pick us up at the hotel and drive us to the starting point of the tour.  WE arrive early and sit in the lobby, eventually getting worried since they haven’t arrived, but the concierge checks and they’re on the way.  Eventually they arrive and we’re driven through the narrow streets, meeting our guide and fellow travelers just across the road from the Colosseum.

The next 3 hours are fascinating.  Although we’ve visited the Colosseum (officially the Flavian Amphitheatre after the family name of Emperor Vespasian who had it built) and the Forum Romanum before, we learn a huge amount of history, including the debunking of several myths.  Although Ancient Rome did stage “fights” between wild animals and hapless prisoners (mostly early Christians) these were not held in the Colosseum.  What happened there were gladiator fights and the vanquished were rarely killed (forget the “thumbs up – thumbs down” bit).  This was for economic reasons.  The gladiators were highly trained fighters who were treated very well by their employers and to kill them wouldn’t make much sense.  But they did provide (free) entertainment for the masses.

There are, as promised, huge lines to get in but our guide gets us past them, and we have the choice of walking up to the interior of the amphitheater as the Romans did, or taking an elevator.  I take the ancient route while Vicky saves her knees.  The Colosseum is under construction but we still get a feeling of how it must have been, with different levels for the different classes of society.  We get enough time to circumambulate the arena on the Senatorial level, then back down the stairs (or elevator), through the crowds and across the street to the more peaceful climb of the Palatine Hill.

Site of the hill where the she-wolf raised the orphans Romulus and Remus, so the legends say.   Our guide tells us there’s no evidence of any truth to the rumor – the people of Rome defeated the Etruscans who ruled here under their kings, and se up the Republic.  But it was the site of the modest home of Octavian Caesar, who continued to live in it after he became the first Emperor.  It’s still there, and we see the ruin from afar.  We’d need a separate tour to see more but that will have to wait for our next visit to Rome.

We do see the opulent palace known as Domus Augustana, the opulent palace used by emperors for over 300 years.  It had nothing to do with Octavian, being built by Domitian, the not too pleasant younger son of Vespasian (of Colosseum fame).   Maybe Domitian wanted to have only a short walk to the gladiatorial contests?  Whatever its beginnings, it’s still possible to get a feeling of what the place was like in its heyday.  We see a peristyle (courtyard) with the remains of a huge fountain, as well as many of the walls. 

The guide shows us how to distinguish the age of the walls.  During the Republic and earlier, stones were used.  After the founding of the empire they turned to brick.  We spend a happy hour immersed in details like this, imagining how it must have looked all those years ago.  Eventually we reach an overlook where we (and the senators before us) can look over the Forum, the center of business and life during both the Empire and the Republic.

We walk down into the (familiar to us) Forum where you can still see many of the temples and the Senate House.  The guide points out the spot where Gaius Julius Caesar was murdered (that, at least, is not a myth!) and then leaves us to our own devices.  A great afternoon!  The tour doesn’t include transportation back to the hotel so now we have to find either a bus or subway.  The latter isn’t really an option since the subway station nearest the hotel is closed.

After a lot of wandering and asking of random policemen and women, we fins a tobacconist where we can buy bus tickets.  The woman who sells them to us tells us where to find the bus, but her directions bear little relation to the streets.  Eventually another policeman shows us to the bus stop and suggests an additional bus that will get us even closed to the hotel.  After watching several of the buses we were going to take go by with no sign of the new one, we do get one of our original choices, which gets us home, although it’s a short walk since we get off one stop too soon!

The bus is crowded but Vicky finds a seat.  I have to struggle to the front to validate the tickets.  As I’m returning to stand by Vicky a young man takes pity on me and gives up his seat.  We have some time to rest in the room.

For our last dinner in Italy we head just around the corner to a place we found yesterday after we’d already eaten.  We have a nice corner table and start with a “Primi Platti”.  I opt for a risotto which is flavorful but would make a meal in itself.  Vicky’s pasta is much lighter.  For the main course we both choose veal.  Vicky has Saltimbocca, a thin slice of tender veal cooked with ham.  I’ve had this in restaurants in the US and enjoy it, but today Ii opt for something new – pork shoulder servce with potatoes, a Rima dish, so I’m told.  While not as flavorful as Vicky’s the veal is tender and delicious.  I also order a side dish of cooked chicory – another experiment!  It’s rather bitter but it does complement the veal and potatoes.  The only downside is after two large dishes I can’t face dessert.  Nevertheless, a few spoonfuls of Vicky’s dessert somehow find their way into my stomach.

That’s it for the trip.  Wednesday we take a taxi to the airport.  A word of warning.  Every taxi in Rome has a sign on the side promising a trip to the airport for 48 euro for up to 4 people in including luggage.  Comparing this to the cost of a taxi to the station plus train fare, we decide to do it.  The hotel calls the taxi and we’re no sooner inside than he turns on the meter.  The driver tries to tell me that traffic is heavy so he has to use the meter.  After some discussion I tell him to just take us to the train station, at which point he turns off the meter and we get the published rate.

There is heavy traffic around the hotel due to a special event, but once we turn the corner it’s no worse than usual and we make it to FCO airport in the promised 45 minutes.  Hence the warning.  If you do this, watch to make sure the meter isn’t running!

The flight is fine except it’s very cold, and when I ask for a blanket I’m told I have to pay for it!  So much for low fares!  We get in late and overnight near LAX and arrive home to our wonderful Quill on Thursday afternoon.

Italy is as wonderful as ever.  Great memories, but I wish it weren’t over.