Rome -- Intro and Day One

It has been far too long since I’ve taken a real vacation. I did go to Myrtle Beach last year but it wasn’t what I’d hoped for. Fact is, I try every year to go away but it just hasn’t happened in the last few years. Last year I wanted to go to Greece but a whopping car maintenance bill prevented it. 2009 I wanted to hit Ireland but decided to pay off my credit card bill instead. My cat got deathly ill in 2008 – he lived but his hospital stays sucked up all my trip money. So the last real trip I took was Hawaii in 2007.

But as I turn 40 this year, I decided to make my birthday an event. Bills can wait. There's a passport burning a hole in my pocket and there's no way i wasn't getting out of the country this year.

Why Rome? Why not?

I’d never been to Italy, never traveled outside of the country by myself, and I really couldn’t think of a better time to do it. So as soon as I got my tax refund in February I made my plans.

The following is a day by day accounting of my trip with as much detail as I can remember. It’s not in my nature to sugarcoat anything and Rome was full of great and no so great experiences so here goes.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (otherwise known as my 40^th birthday trip to Rome)

4/10/11 – 4/11/11

Way too jazzed to sleep, I get up really early on Sunday. Bags are packed, the cat sitter is already set up to come to the house daily while I’m gone, and I’m antsy to get to the MARTA station. Took the nearly hour-long trip to the airport and arrived so early that I was able to catch an earlier flight. I had really expected the check-in process to take longer. Even though I didn’t check any luggage, I was still going on an international flight. I was directed to one of the check-in machines (no line), swiped my passport, and got my boarding passes. Cool.

This is my first time traveling on US Airways so I’m not sure what to expect. What I quickly came to realize is that they’re not exactly known as the most prompt airline. Every flight throughout my trip is delayed coming in or delayed getting in the air. No biggie this time because of my earlier flight to Charlotte. Even if we get in late I’d still have a decent layover.

I don’t think I’ve ever been to CLT. It’s a nice open airport with lots of shops. I grab some lunch during the layover and do lots of walking. The flight to Rome is overnight but still a long one. I do as much stretching as I can beforehand.

The Rome flight is barely half full. I practically jump for joy that the seat next to me is empty as well as the row in front of me. A very good thing considering that airport seats are simply not designed for really long legs.

After a chicken dinner, I watch The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader (not bad) but sleep through 27 Dresses. It takes a while to get comfortable but I try to get as much sleep as possible.

The plane arrives in Rome around 9:30 am local time. I make a beeline for the restroom and by the time I get out it's deserted. Not just the restroom but the airport itself is a ghost town. The signs are in English and Italian but I still have no clue where I'm going. I make it to the train area and almost get on the wrong train before hopping on the right one. At the first stop, an airport employee waves me off and points me in the right direction.

Customs is kind of a joke. Stand in line for ten minutes then the mute agent glances at my passport, stamps it, and waves me through. I was all excited to get that Italian stamp but when I looked at it later I noticed that most of it was faded and all you could see was the date. Well that sucks.

I stand in another line for ten minutes until I realize that with no currency to exchange I really need to find an ATM. Find one, get out 150 euros ($215.97 without fees), and make my way to ground transportation. I’d made all my arrangements through Orbitz which included transport from Fiumicino airport to my hotel. But when I looked at the voucher I realized that I should have emailed a confirmation 72 hours in advance of my arrival. Failure to do so would be perceived as a no-show. Great. Now what?

Assuming that the transport wasn’t coming, I make arrangements with another shuttle company. I meet the driver and get my voucher then sit in the overheated airport to wait for other passengers. Then I join an Asian family, a single Asian woman, and a British couple in the small mini-van.

Viewing the city proper for the first time, I’m surprised by how much graffiti there is on the buildings.

The outskirts of Rome are just like any other major city, full of apartment buildings and small shops. You can definitely tell when we reach the older parts of the city as the archways and statuary become more frequent. The driver points out various buildings and structures. Then he points to something on the left. I get my first look at the Colosseum and it really hits me: I’m in Rome! Cool!

There are vey few signs pointing anywhere but please believe that McDonald’s makes sure to make it’s presence known. Every sign we see, the little Asian kid behind me excitedly points them out. Sad, but true.

Passing the Colosseum (at the south end of the historic district) we get into the seriously congested areas. I knew from TV that Roman streets are no joke but to actually be in it? That is a singular experience. There seem to be no boundaries or real lines as everyone is just jockeying to move forward. There are pedestrians everywhere who are often walking between the cars regardless of the Don’t Walk signs. Motorcycles are zipping around cars and pedestrians alike as seemingly no one has the right of way. Cars and trucks are double and triple parked with people trying to get out of them. It is insane.

We foreigners had quite a few sphincter-clenching moments and I fully expected us to get hit or hit something. But no. Everything was fine and the driver was calm as a cucumber. This was just business as usual for him. The British woman next to me commented that they really don’t need to rent a car here. I heartily agree. I know that there’s this romantic notion of renting a scooter and traveling all over Rome but trust me; it takes real skill to navigate these streets. I’m pretty sure your average driver couldn’t handle it. Americans somehow manage to get into fatal car wrecks driving 20 mph down a straight road. Driving on Roman streets would lead to a quick bloody end to your holiday.

I was the second passenger to be dropped off. I paid my 25 euros, said my thanks, and went into the Art Deco hotel. As evidenced by the name, there are a lot of neat retro elements to the hotel by way of the furniture, paintings, and decorated panels. The room is small and narrow with gorgeous hardwood floors and a single (and surprisingly long) bed. There’s a mini-bar, a safe, a flat screen hooked onto the wall and a radio (but no clock) on the nightstand.

My bathroom has a tub (for which I would be so grateful later) and this odd looking vacuum device for shavers. It was kind of scary so I took the picture then left it alone.

It takes me a while to figure out that none of the light switches work. Then I remember that there is a slot just inside of the door for the room card. Slip that puppy in there and the lights come on for the entire room. Weird. The TV and its clock are also on the same circuit. You have about a minute after removing the card before the lights turn off again.

Before I leave the room I make sure to call and confirm my day trip to Capri on Wednesday. This was pricier than the transport and there was no way I was going to screw it up this one. Got that confirmed and hung up when a few minutes later the phone rings. It’s the transport company. They were waiting at the airport and wanted to know what happened to me. Oops. I told them about not confirming and that I made other arrangements because I didn’t think they were coming. Completely my bad. The lady understood and confirmed a pick up time for the return trip to the airport on Friday. One less thing to worry about.

There would be time to explore the rest of the hotel later. I unpack my bag and get on the hoof. One of my main objectives in Rome was to hit the Hard Rock. I’ve collected the t-shirts for years and I was not going to miss out on this one (I’d already somehow missed Paris and Myrtle Beach when I was there). I had it in mind that that would be my first stop but I immediately make a wrong turn out of the hotel. Once I realize this, I decide to just do what I do best; wander aimlessly.

One of the first things I see is a street market. These pop up at various points in the city, rarely the same place twice from one day to the next. There are the usual shoe and purse merchants, fruit booths, and folks selling jewelry. I end up getting hustled by two Indian men when I show interest in a necklace. I bought it and another just like it in a different color for a ‘discount’. Whatever. I figure I can always sell the other online if I want.

Despite already spending way too much money, I’m very happy to be walking the Roman streets. It was a bright sunny afternoon, I’m not in any rush, and I’m enjoying getting my first taste of how Romans live. The personal soundtrack I have running in my head was playing Dog Days are Over by Florence + the Machine (a joyous song about finding happiness after a bad time) and thanks to my run in with the Indian con artists, the other song in my head is Hustlin’ by Rick Ross. ‘Cause believe me, if you venture out of your home in Rome you will be hustlin’ to navigate through the cars and the pedestrians and the uneven cobblestone streets and – uh oh. Look out for that motorcycle coming up behind you on the sidewalk!

From the market I just wander the streets for a while, ending up at one point in the University of Rome area. Lots of official sounding buildings with students milling about. Every few feet or so on the rest of the streets there seems to be a trattoria or a smaller joint that seems to be the Italian equivalent of fast food. The places are small with two doorways on either end and a long glass display in the middle of the room showing the food. Most have a small sitting area inside but they’re really designed for you come in one door, get your food, and head out the other door. I eye the pretty colorful gelato in several stores but the lines are usually out the door so I keep walking. I do make a brief stop in one place to have a slice of pizza before heading out again.

Periodically, I spot one of these funky hydrants spewing water onto the street. I don’t know if they’re supposed to be water for drinking or not but I don’t risk it. I use it for wiping off sweaty hands only and buy my water in one of the shops.

By this time I’m getting a little tired of wandering. I’ve seen plenty of Roman neighborhoods where Romans are walking their dogs, playing in parks with their kids, meeting at cafes, or just going about their daily lives. This would all be more interesting to me if I could actually find my way to any of the historical sites I want to see.

Instead I find myself at the Tiburtina Metro Station. Really exhausted by this time, I think about getting on a train but I’m tried and determined to find my way back on foot (yes, I can be something of an idiot sometimes). I have my guidebook with me which has maps it the back of it but I end up getting another larger map (I only realize later that there are smaller maps in that guidebook that would have been more helpful than the pull-out map that I kept referencing – I should have better studied that book before the trip). With the large Metro station as a starting point, I tried to map out a course back to the hotel. By the way, I was nowhere near all the sites. Tiburtina Station is to the northeast of my hotel and the sites were further to the southwest.

The first route I took dead ended – no more pedestrian traffic. I also figured out that I was somewhere near where the driver brought us into the city. I circled around and hit the surface streets to try to get back on the route I’d chosen. Another dead end – this one right next to a bus stop. Figured out later that the #61 bus would have taken me to the bus stop on Via Palestro which was about 100 feet from my hotel. Did I take that bus? No. Sigh.

Referencing my map every three minutes, I slowly edge my way back to where I was supposed to be. But it was not easy. Already that day I had narrowly avoided being hit by a car, pedestrian traffic was rather heavy (not as bad as the more touristy historic district), and I must have gotten turned around at least a dozen times. Roman street names aren’t posted on signposts as there are here. They are listed on plaques on the sides of buildings but not on all buildings just to keep you guessing. Roads often change names once you cross an intersection to further confuse you. Needless to say it was an exhausting and frustrating journey.

I got near the hotel (I could just feel it) when I once again got out the map to check my bearings. A lovely Italian woman sees my distress and offers to help. With her guidance I finally get back to Via Palestro (from an entirely different direction from where I’d started. It was now getting dark, I was exhausted and, quite frankly, smelly, and all I want to do is get back to my room to chill out. I run some water in the tub, grab my MP3 player and my O magazine and settle down for a nice long soak. Best. Bath. Ever.

I briefly consider going out for some dinner but the mere thought of putting on shoes makes me tired. Instead I grab one of the outrageously overpriced protein bars I scored at CLT and jump in bed to finish reading my magazine. Amazed that I could actually stretch out full length on the bed without my feet dangling off the end, I conk out around 11:00.