The longest line (pt 2)

I was talking to my italian co-worker today and mentioned "the line" from my Rome trip. His response was, "No no no, what did you do that for? When you are in Rome you have to be Roman, just go up to the front of the line and go in." So you heard it here, you've all got permission to cut the line. If someone complains, they're probably just a tourist and you can, like the guy at the forum did, say in your best italian english that it is ok because you are a local :)

Rome, city of gelato

While the exact quantity of gelato consumed during the Rome trip is highly classified, it did provide much appreciated cooling, breaks, and fuel for siteseeing. Leaving the Vatican, I proceeded to Castel Sant'Angelo, former home of Hadrian. It looks just like any other castle you have seen, only that this is one is much older and better preserved. From there, a meandering route past some very nice statuesand plazas until I reached the Pantheon.
Seeing the Pantheon, it is really hard to believe that it is 2000 years old. It looks so new inside that you are sure it must only be a few hundred years old. Like everything else in Rome, it was overrun with tourists and it was hard to stay for very long to admire it.

The next stop was the Trevi fountains Again, a marvelous site and very crowded. I can see it as being the place to be on a hot summer's day. Somehow, though, it was smaller than I thought. The last stop on touring day 1 was the Spanish Steps, easily the most overrated thing in the city. Everyone says it's a must see place, but fundamentally, it's a staircase leading from one unremarkable spot to another.

The next day started off with a walk past the worst abomination ever inflicted on Rome It wouldn't be so bad if it were in proportion to the rest of the Roman architecture, but in this case it appears that someone took a Roman style monument design over to the copier and hit enlarge. Next was the museum at Campidoglio where among other things you can see Statue of a Giant FingerStatue of a Giant FootStatue of Babies Feeding on a Shewolf

From there I went through the forum and palatine, which were quite impressive in scale. It's a shame they weren't as well preserved as many of the other stuff in the city.

And finally, what I know you've all be waiting for, the Coliseum; proving that the state of the art in arenas has not advanced in two milenia.
From there it was off to the airport, where apparently they don't have any gelato.

The remainder of the Rome gallery can be found here.
(Again, many of the full size pics were cutoff during transfer, no idea why.)

The Vatican and the longest line in the world

The first visit of the Roman adventure was to the Vatican, aka Hogwarts. I call it Hogwarts, because once you are inside you'll notice that the paths between places seem to change constantly. One minute a hallway is open, the next minute it is closed and a different hallway is open. Finding your way can get very confusing. But, before you can find your way, first you must get inside. At 8.30 in the morning, before opening time, the line was, as you can see, quite long.
That works out to about a 2 hour wait. Yikes! Inside the museum, there are many many works of art and artifacts to see. One could easily spend an entire day there. It is, however, ridiculously crowded with people trying to get to the Sistene Chapel. That said, if you get off the path to the Sistene Chapel, it is surprisingly uncrowded.
The section on modern relgious art was especially good.

Next stop was St. Peter's. Quite an impressive site from the exterior. I had planned to go inside, but they weren't letting visitors in at the time and after waiting over an hour without any sign of change, I gave up and moved on to the next thing.

Just remember that when visiting the Vatican, the checking out of the opposite sex is strictly forbidden.

The rest of the pictures from the Vatican in in the gallery.
(For some reason many of the full size images got cut off during upload, not sure why.)

The strikes in Italy

Italian trains have the stereotype of running by a schedule unique onto themselves. They say it took Mussolini to make them run on time. The strikes however, run precisely on time. There was a strike here today that started exactly at one time and ended exactly at another, all in time to allow everyone to squeeze (literally) into a compressed morning and evening rush. So, it begs the question, if Mussolini made the trains run on time, who made the strikes run on time?

Tip of the day: Crossing streets in Rome
In Rome, pedestrians do not have the right of way, pedestrians are not avoided, and crosswalks serve mainly to help drivers take aim. So how do you cross the street in Rome? Easy, wait for a little old lady (preferably a nun) to cross the street and then use her to shield you from the traffic. Not even a Roman wants to run over a sweet old italian grandma. No old ladies around? No problem, just wait for a hot girl to cross the street; it has the same effect, albeit for slightly different reasons.

Sweaty, Smelly People

The morning after a sleepless night of sweating greeted me with the promise of a nice refreshing shower. This is where things went bad. The shower head produced only a trickle of water. This meant that soap did not wash off easily and that most of the washing effect was lost. It really sucks to stand under the shower and have to wait a while to sorta get wet. I complained about this at checkout thinking a discount was in order, they did not seem to care. I spent the whole time thinking about the $8/night hotel I had in Russia that was also lost in time, but clean, roomy, and reasonably well appointed.

The Rome metro is also something of an experience. It is extremely hot and extremely crowded. By the end of the ride you are soaked in sweat and quite smelly. The sweatiness has it's advantages on the metro as it helps lubricate the passengers as they try to force their way on and off the train. I had been feeling self-conscious about being a little smelly from the poor shower in the morning, but riding on the metro I decided I wasn't so bad off compared to the odiforus passengers around me. Another thing noticed on the metro, Italian girls are really quite attractive, but it's kinda off-putting when a girl reaches up to grab the hand rail to reveal a very hairy, sweaty underarm.

My new hotel for the remainder of the stay is not the ritzy place that people said it was. It is however, half the price, clean and simple, and a normal temperature. And, more interestingly, it has the cheapest minibar I've ever seen. A normal sized can of coke costs pretty much what I would expect to pay at the corner store. So, no complaints from me.

Alitalia and the worst hotel ever

Day1 started out in typical interesting fashion. I tried to run some errands before leaving for Schiphol and ended up getting to my train with only a couple minutes to spare. When I tried to check in for the flight, they demanded my passport. I tried to explain that my Dutch ID card was adequate for travelling within Schengen, but they refused to accept it. The agent called the Marechaussee, who said it was ok. Alitalia still refused to let me on the plane. I've flown all over Schengen with just my national ID without problem. Apparently Alitalia knows something Lufthansa, KLM, and SAS do not... So, I rebooked myself on the next flight and went home for my passport. This time, there was construction blocking the tram line, so I got to the station just in time to see my train leave. Fortunately, the next train was in 20min and so I figured I would still be safe. Passport in hand, I tried again to check in. This time they claimed they had no record of me in the computer. I had them check under my first name, and there I was. So, I got on the flight and made it to Rome, just not in time for dinner as I had hoped. No comments on the airplane interior that was very reminiscent of really cheap pool table material.

My first hotel sounded quite nice online, however the reality of it was something different. First, they demanded my passport (what is the Italian obsession with passports?) Then, they said breakfast wouldn't be until 07.30, so no breakfast for me. It looked like it had been lost in time. The room was small and dingy, and it was extremely hot inspite of the relatively cool night. The worst, however, was yet to come...

One weird thing did happen on the way to my hotel, I made a wrong turn and ran straight into a woman I used to work with at my last job. How weird is that!?

Roma!

I'm off to Rome for a few days. Work plus a couple days to myself. I have no idea what I will do when I get there, but I'm sure I will figure something out. I'm not usually this unplanned, but I haven't really had the time. The weather forecast looks good, so I should be bringing back plenty of nice pics.