Day 195 - Another American Comes to Rome

My friend EJ arrived today from the US to travel for a short time with me in Rome and Barcelona! It's always great to see a familiar face, after this lengthy trip around the world. It would be a birthday weekend celebration for us since my birthday was tomorrow and his, the day afterwards.

I spend the majority of the day prior to his arrival running some errands and getting situated at our hotel, which was just a stones throw away from some of the ruins of the city, including the Roman Forum and Piazza Venezia. It was probably the perfect location for someone coming to Rome for the first time!

I picked EJ up at the airport to make sure he got here safely. He was concerned with the safety of the city, after hearing of purse snatching and other dangers lurking around. I guess I feel the same way when I come to a new city, but you have to just learn to be a smart tourist (or in a sense, not a tourist at all). It was funny because I joked around with him about forgetting that I had to pick him up at the airport. At the metro on our way to our hotel, I took out my camera to take a picture of the trains, and he told me to put it away until he got his luggage safely in a hotel room. Big Camera = Tourist = Easily Scammed, but I think I've gotten used to traveling everywhere holding my camera, despite what others have told me about stolen cameras and whatnot... Maybe I should be more careful...who knows?

We headed for dinner at a Chinese restaurant nearby. The place was packed, but I think we were the only two Asians there, except for all the workers of course. I got a chance to use some of my Chingrish to order the food and ask for the bill.

We headed to the Colosseum nearing midnight to celebrate my birthday and to also get him his first dose of Rome! It was actually the first time I saw any of the ruins at night, and I must say, it was so much better to visit at this time of night because everything is lit up and there weren't any other tourists crowding and suffocating the area! We had the whole place to ourselves and it just seemed more special to be in that environment without the distractions of street vendors or gladiators trying to get you to pose in a photo with them. Might as well celebrate the clock striking midnight, as I turn 26 at one of the most recognizable places in Rome!

Metro - Termini Station

Day 194 – Santa Maria Maggiore Church and the Trastevere

I've been in Rome way too long, and my friend is coming tomorrow, so I didn't want to sightsee anymore before he got here, or else I'd probably be seeing the same thing again and again, not that there isn't a plethora of different things to see and do here...

I headed out before noon to go for a walk and decide which direction I wanted to head towards. The good thing about booking a hostel or hotel for more than one night is that you can sleep in without having to adhere to the check out time policies.

The first stop was the Santa Maria Maggiore church, which was very close to Termini station. I'd passed by this church a couple times when I was on the Hop On Hop Off bus with my cousin a couple weeks ago, but never got the chance to walk around outside or see the inside. It was very bare for a large church, with a ton of walking space between the doors in the back and the altar at the front. What was interesting was that there were services going on in the adjacent rooms to the left and right of the main church. I guess the chuch is used to the large amounts of tourists visiting. There were a bunch of priests also in the confessional booths. I'm not sure what a typical confessional session looks like, but I always thought both the priest and the confesser were in private booths. Here, both of them could be easily seen!

Afterwards, I made my way towards the Colloseum and Circo Massimo. The weather was cloudy and it rained slightly in the morning, which might explain why there weren't as many tourists as when I first visited. It definitely made for better pictures today though. Once I was at the Circo Massimo, I decided to relax at a bench and read my books. It was a strange feeling, seeing everyone else around me come and go, taking pictures and being tourists. I almost felt like I was not doing the right thing by wasting away just reading a book when there was so much to see and do in Rome, but everyone needs a little break from discovering and exploring and observing.

The last stop for me for the day was to visit an area called the Trastevere, where people said there were many restaurants and bars to eat and drink, especially during the night. It was a nice place to see a slightly different Rome, away from all the ruins, but still a very touristic place. There happened to be some sort of a chocolate festival this weekend, and there were a bunch of chocolate vendor stalls selling their sweet merchandise.

At night, when I was relaxing at my hostel, I met a French girl and an Australian man. We got into a conversation about the French language because the man was going to Marseille after Rome and needed to refresh his French skills. He was an older man, who decided to travel for about a year, around the world. The girl was traveling for 4 months and participating in WOOFing, which is similar to couchsurfing but more about helping farming communities in exchange for lodging. We talked a little about tongue twisters and “faux amis,” or words that sound similar in English and French, but have entirely different meanings. The french lesson of the day for me was a tongue twister - “Un chasseur sachant chasser sans son chien est un bon chasseur” which means something like “A hunter who can hunt without his dog is a good hunter.” I think I should memorize it so that I can pretend to be fluent in French...

Santa Maria Maggiore

Trastevere

Rainclouds over Piazza Venezia

Day 176 - Colloseum, Palatine Hill, and the Roman Forum

I stayed at a hostel last night and it was the first time I was in a room with all Chinese people. There were two Taiwanese students who were studying in Prague but taking some time off to visit Italy, and one other guy who was from Toronto, Canada. Usually, I see all the Asians in organized bus tours, but I guess we have our own share of backpackers and independent travelers.

Linh and I took another tour on the Hop On Hop Off bus. Most of the route was the same as yesterday, with a couple of additional stops since it was a Sunday and they had to adjust to traffic conditions as well as the religious services that were held on the holy day. We stopped at the Trinita del Monti and the Spanish Steps, a popular spot for tourist and locals alike to stop and grab a bite to eat or converse amongst company. At the bottom of the steps were some of the more high end luxury brand stores.

We decided to use our Roma Passes and headed to the Colloseum, where slaves once battled each other and animals to the death amongst a stadium full of spectators. Each time the slave won a battle, they would win gold, honor, and the interests of the women of the empire. With 10 wins, the slave was then set free, or could continue to fight to gain more honor and wealth. I thought about it for a while, thinking how brutal these battles were, and how people watched it as a sport, seeing people get killed in front of their own eyes, but I guess it's not too different right now with boxing and wrestling seen as spectator sports.

Afterwards, we headed to the Palatine Hill and Roman Forum, which were adjacent to the Colloseum. The Roman Forum was a collection of ancient ruins, surrounded by Roman Empire government buildings. There wasn't too much left of the remains except for some standing columns and scatters of ruins everywhere else.
Palatine Hills is one of 7 hills in Rome, and also contained some ruins of homes and some nice green space at the top, providing some open views of the city below. I think they were just bonuses next to the well-known Colloseum, but easily skipped if you want to see other sights or museums, since there are so many options!

Roman Colloseum

Spanish Steps

Pizza Chefs Fooling Around

Roman Colloseum

Roman Forum

Palatine Hill

Day 175 - Hop On Hop Off Roma

I got advice from my sister as well as the Lonely Planet guidebook to purchase a “Roma Pass,” which offers tourists free admission to the first two archeological or museum sites and around a 30% discount for each ticket thereafter. The pass lasts for three days and includes unlimited transportation on the metro and local buses. They can be purchased at newsstands, hotels, and at the sites themselves, but for some reason, we couldn't get are hands on any of the. Everyone kept saying they were sold out and that they wouldn't get a new batch of passes until after the weekend.

Without enough of an idea on what we wanted to visit in the next 4 days, we ended up taking one of those typical double-decker “hop on hop off” buses that you find in every major city in the world. We purchased the 2 day option just in case we wanted to use it as a means of transportation tomorrow. I felt it was actually a great idea to get a mini tour of the city to acclimate with the layout of the city since it was our first day.

The tour included a fresh pair of earbuds to listen to a recorded tour guide, giving information about each stop, and including a little bit about the history of the city itself, which was formed before the Common Era. We ended up stopping by the Santa Maria Maggiore, The Colloseum/Roman Forum/Palantine Hill, Circo Massimo, Piazza Venezia, and the Vatican before getting a ride back to our hotel.

For lunch, we had our first taste of Italian pizza. We shared slices of a mushroom/bacon combo and a mushroom/tomato combo – a bit too greasy for my taste, but it was a fast food stop, so maybe some of the fresher options will be better at a sit-down restaurant.

Afterwards, we headed back on the bus to catch a ride to the Colloseum to take some pictures around the perimeter of the archeological site. We walked towards the Piazza Venezia, taking a look at some of the ruins that remain around the city and are continuously being preserved and restored.

One of the most famous and recognizable sights in Rome is the Fontana di Trevi, which is a fountain made popular because it was featured in the classic movie, La Dolce Vita. They say that you should throw a coin in the fountain to guarantee your return to this beautiful city. I didn't throw a coin in...so we'll see what happens. I hope I didn't end up cursing myself!

While headed back to Linh's hotel, we found a tourist office that actually sold the Roma Pass, so we managed to snag a few to use tomorrow. We'll probably visit the Colloseum first since it includes entrance to the Roman Forum and Palantine Hill together. We aren't really sure what else to see just yet...

Fontana di Trevi

Termini Stazione

You'll find many people painted in gold or silver near famous tourist spots, hoping to get some quick cash.

Saint Angelo Castle

Riding the Hop on Hop off Bus

Constantine Arch

Colloseum