Rome – Day One - Monday
Gosh I forgot how long international flights are. Had a difficult time sleeping on the plane because the head rest that curves in, doesn’t cradle my neck but juts into my head. Dinner was nice in envoy class– I had seabass with baby broccoli on rice. We also had melon and prosciutto, warm nuts, a selection of petit fours – a cheesecake, a raspberry chocolate layer, and a crunchy chocolate carmal candy like cake. Annie had a decent steak and mash potatoes. I had the earplugs in the, headset over that and the eye shades on. At one point I got claustrophobic and had to tear then all off. Also, my tv broke which was actually good because it forced me to try and sleep, but I hardly did. I never realized what a luxury it is to lie flat.
Anyways, in the morning we landed just fine went through a place where we only had to show passports before we got our luggage. No problems with our luggage (yeah! we would have clothes) and then went to find the train and an ATM to get euros. We had to figure out the double door secret protection entrance to the ATM. Annie was so funny when she saw the money. She was very excited and said “Oh my gosh, it looks like monopoly money!”
We needed a little help figuring out how to get to the train. We had to get on the one and only small elevator to go to the 2cd floor and then through the tunnel over the road. We figured out how to get tickets from the kiosk, got them date stamped and then got right on. Perfect timing. Then we got a taxi driver from the train station and he know right were our hotel – Hotel della Nazione was , which was right near the trevi fountain – Fontana di Trevi.
We were determined not to nap and to get on “Italy time” so Annie showered and then went to the lobby to use the wireless internet and blog. Well before she went she plugged in the adapter, then put in a three plug into that, plugged in the computer and the hair dryer. She turned on the hair dryer and POP! There was a burning smell and we quickly unplugged everything. We tried to just plug in the computer – didn’t work. same for the hairdryer. But we did find that they worked in another plug so we must have blown a fuse. Oh well, I’ll tell the front desk later. First I broke the TV on the plane, then the plug, what next? I took a shower and just used the hotel hair dryer attached to the wall. I plugged in my curling iron using the adapter. I went to pick it up and it bent in half. “Funny”, I thought, “ I guess I have to click it together. I don’t remember having to do that” Then I noticed a burning smell and that the plastic was melting. I quickly unplugged it took the handle over to the big window that we had opened earlier. Fortunately the smoke all went out and didn’t smell up the room. Hopefully, bad things come in three and we were done.
Annie came back from blogging and was laying down while I finished getting ready. She was falling asleep so I knew we needed to get out. We headed to the fountains and stopped and got pizza on the way. The little Pizzeria had oval shaped pizzas that were maybe 12 inches by 5 inches. we pointed to the kind we wanted and she placed the knife on it in different lengths to see how big we wanted. Then she cut it and weighed it. It was priced by weight. We got it to go and she folded it in half so it was like a square sandwich and wrapped in a something that was wax paper on one side and regulare paper on the other. We munched on it as we walked down the block to the fountains. The Fontana di Trevi is beautiful and grande. Huge horses lunging out of rough cut marble and I think Neptune standing over them all. We sat and ate and took pictures.
It was a little drizzly and cold so we went back and put warmer clothes on then headed to the Pantheon. Of course we went the wrong way and ended at Trajans column and the Vittoria … I made Annie climb up these steep stairway behind the Santa Maria in Aracoeli church and we came to Piazza del Campidoglio. Over to the side we could look out all Rome. We tried to figure out where the Pantheon was and let me tell you, there are a lot of domes in Rome. We looked at our map and figured out a route. Annie was really dragging and I finally talked her into some gelato – ice cream even though she kept saying she wasn’t hungry. She had a small bowl with scoop of “crema” and scoop of limone (like French vanilla and lemon) I had amaretto and rum raisin. Well, it was to die for and Annie started to perk up. We found the Pantheon and it was amazing. I had learned in my landscape architecture class how the emperor Hadrian was mocked for designing it and no one thought it would hold up without collapsing. It was the biggest dome in the world until the 1960’s and it was built in ad 120. the ceiling is concrete squares (Iearned in my class that romans invented concrete and that was how they could build such huge structures) that recess to thinner and thinner layers and this was how they managed the weight of the dome. Ingenious. The Pantheon was converted to a church of martyrs and this is the main reason it still exist, unlike many other old roman structures.
We headed back to the hotel and decided to go to Alfredo della Scrofa’s for dinner, the restaurant where fettuccini alfredo was invented. My mom and dad had eaten here and loved it so much that they went back the next night. We got there at 6:00 and found they didn’t serve dinner until 7:30. They asked when we would like reservations and we said 7:30 – we are hungry and they smiled. We wandered about and come to Ponte Umberto, the bridge across the Tiber that has the Castello dela Angelo on the other side. This was a prime spot in the book Angels and Demons and is also originally the Mausoleum for the Emperor Hadrian. We walked down a few more streets and came to Piazza Navona, a big oval plaza with fountains and artists selling their pictures and nice hotels, cafes and churches surrounding it. There were some street entertainers acting like statues and also some break dancers amusing the crowds and trying to earn money. We looked at the paintings and sketches and Annie fell in love with one that looked like our cat Fluffer-Nutter so I spoiled her and bought it. We then went back to dinner and I even have to say it was the best fettuccini alfredo ever, and I make at least once a week at home for the kids. They of course use fresh homemade pasta, that is light and delicate and authentic parmigianna cheese and butter. Annie wanted to eat there every night. I had seafood risotta that was nice and creamy and caprese salad (tomatoes, mozzarella and basil). Annie also had good French fries. After that we went home and finally got to go to lay flat and go to sleep.
Gosh I forgot how long international flights are. Had a difficult time sleeping on the plane because the head rest that curves in, doesn’t cradle my neck but juts into my head. Dinner was nice in envoy class– I had seabass with baby broccoli on rice. We also had melon and prosciutto, warm nuts, a selection of petit fours – a cheesecake, a raspberry chocolate layer, and a crunchy chocolate carmal candy like cake. Annie had a decent steak and mash potatoes. I had the earplugs in the, headset over that and the eye shades on. At one point I got claustrophobic and had to tear then all off. Also, my tv broke which was actually good because it forced me to try and sleep, but I hardly did. I never realized what a luxury it is to lie flat.
Anyways, in the morning we landed just fine went through a place where we only had to show passports before we got our luggage. No problems with our luggage (yeah! we would have clothes) and then went to find the train and an ATM to get euros. We had to figure out the double door secret protection entrance to the ATM. Annie was so funny when she saw the money. She was very excited and said “Oh my gosh, it looks like monopoly money!”
We needed a little help figuring out how to get to the train. We had to get on the one and only small elevator to go to the 2cd floor and then through the tunnel over the road. We figured out how to get tickets from the kiosk, got them date stamped and then got right on. Perfect timing. Then we got a taxi driver from the train station and he know right were our hotel – Hotel della Nazione was , which was right near the trevi fountain – Fontana di Trevi.
We were determined not to nap and to get on “Italy time” so Annie showered and then went to the lobby to use the wireless internet and blog. Well before she went she plugged in the adapter, then put in a three plug into that, plugged in the computer and the hair dryer. She turned on the hair dryer and POP! There was a burning smell and we quickly unplugged everything. We tried to just plug in the computer – didn’t work. same for the hairdryer. But we did find that they worked in another plug so we must have blown a fuse. Oh well, I’ll tell the front desk later. First I broke the TV on the plane, then the plug, what next? I took a shower and just used the hotel hair dryer attached to the wall. I plugged in my curling iron using the adapter. I went to pick it up and it bent in half. “Funny”, I thought, “ I guess I have to click it together. I don’t remember having to do that” Then I noticed a burning smell and that the plastic was melting. I quickly unplugged it took the handle over to the big window that we had opened earlier. Fortunately the smoke all went out and didn’t smell up the room. Hopefully, bad things come in three and we were done.
Annie came back from blogging and was laying down while I finished getting ready. She was falling asleep so I knew we needed to get out. We headed to the fountains and stopped and got pizza on the way. The little Pizzeria had oval shaped pizzas that were maybe 12 inches by 5 inches. we pointed to the kind we wanted and she placed the knife on it in different lengths to see how big we wanted. Then she cut it and weighed it. It was priced by weight. We got it to go and she folded it in half so it was like a square sandwich and wrapped in a something that was wax paper on one side and regulare paper on the other. We munched on it as we walked down the block to the fountains. The Fontana di Trevi is beautiful and grande. Huge horses lunging out of rough cut marble and I think Neptune standing over them all. We sat and ate and took pictures.
It was a little drizzly and cold so we went back and put warmer clothes on then headed to the Pantheon. Of course we went the wrong way and ended at Trajans column and the Vittoria … I made Annie climb up these steep stairway behind the Santa Maria in Aracoeli church and we came to Piazza del Campidoglio. Over to the side we could look out all Rome. We tried to figure out where the Pantheon was and let me tell you, there are a lot of domes in Rome. We looked at our map and figured out a route. Annie was really dragging and I finally talked her into some gelato – ice cream even though she kept saying she wasn’t hungry. She had a small bowl with scoop of “crema” and scoop of limone (like French vanilla and lemon) I had amaretto and rum raisin. Well, it was to die for and Annie started to perk up. We found the Pantheon and it was amazing. I had learned in my landscape architecture class how the emperor Hadrian was mocked for designing it and no one thought it would hold up without collapsing. It was the biggest dome in the world until the 1960’s and it was built in ad 120. the ceiling is concrete squares (Iearned in my class that romans invented concrete and that was how they could build such huge structures) that recess to thinner and thinner layers and this was how they managed the weight of the dome. Ingenious. The Pantheon was converted to a church of martyrs and this is the main reason it still exist, unlike many other old roman structures.
We headed back to the hotel and decided to go to Alfredo della Scrofa’s for dinner, the restaurant where fettuccini alfredo was invented. My mom and dad had eaten here and loved it so much that they went back the next night. We got there at 6:00 and found they didn’t serve dinner until 7:30. They asked when we would like reservations and we said 7:30 – we are hungry and they smiled. We wandered about and come to Ponte Umberto, the bridge across the Tiber that has the Castello dela Angelo on the other side. This was a prime spot in the book Angels and Demons and is also originally the Mausoleum for the Emperor Hadrian. We walked down a few more streets and came to Piazza Navona, a big oval plaza with fountains and artists selling their pictures and nice hotels, cafes and churches surrounding it. There were some street entertainers acting like statues and also some break dancers amusing the crowds and trying to earn money. We looked at the paintings and sketches and Annie fell in love with one that looked like our cat Fluffer-Nutter so I spoiled her and bought it. We then went back to dinner and I even have to say it was the best fettuccini alfredo ever, and I make at least once a week at home for the kids. They of course use fresh homemade pasta, that is light and delicate and authentic parmigianna cheese and butter. Annie wanted to eat there every night. I had seafood risotta that was nice and creamy and caprese salad (tomatoes, mozzarella and basil). Annie also had good French fries. After that we went home and finally got to go to lay flat and go to sleep.
You're like me...it's all about the food! Love the commentary :) Have a great time!!!!
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