Rome: I came, I saw, I conquored... Or, well at least I came and saw.

Today is Wednesday. Two weeks from now I will be flying home. I have been in Europe for roughly 5.5 weeks and am currently ending my first full day in Rome.

Rome, what can be said about Rome. My Lonely Planet travel book says "Rome: just the name conjures 2700 years of Western civilization. Possibly the most influential city the world has ever seen." It goes on to say "Rome might now be filled with more foreigners carrying maps of Rome than actual Roman citizens. However, its storied past and legendary buildings overpower and captivate even the most jaded of visitors."

I am not jaded. At least not towards Rome. :)

To be honest, I still have not figured out if I like Rome yet or not. It is overpowering. The history and the landmarks are just breath taking. But there is a rawness to Rome that I just have not figured out yet. Its either my favorite city I have been to yet, or my least favorite. I just haven't figured that out yet.


So, in my first full day of exploration of the city, I headed back to where I had been last night. Towards the Roman Forum, the Palatine and the Colosseum. I walked of course... well, rather limped. I actually prefer walking everywhere. It lets you get a feel for the city. You start running into intersections that you had been to the day before and they start feeling 'familiar'...


I paid my 11 euros entry fee to the Colosseum (price includes tour of the Palatine Hill). I started walking through the ruins, up and down the different halls and stairwells. I could not help thinking "This is where Bruce Lee kicked Chuck Norris's ass!". Now, most of you will have no idea what I am talking about and will think I am a nerd for even saying that. While a rare few of you will think "hell yeah". I am comfortable with the coolness of the statement regardless of its popularity. :)

Anyhow, I tried to imagine the roar of the 50,000 spectators and I imagined people hacking each other to death. The lions and gladiators. But the thing that I found the most interesting, was touching the actual ruins. There were bricks that have been there for almost 2000 years. I think of the person who put that brick there. I think of the images and sounds that brick has witnessed. Its been there the whole time (well most of them have at least)... I have seen it in books all these years and now, here I am walking through it. Pretty amazing.

I also paid for entry to Palatine Hill in my ticket for the Colosseum. But for the life of me I could not figure out how to get to into it. It is a massive area of ruins that is fenced off. You can see it all from above and through the fences, but I wanted to be in the middle of it. Well, for the life of me, I think the Italy does not understand the concept of signs. I walked for 20 minutes down a fenced in road thinking it was leading somewhere. There was not one exit and there was nothing at the end. No signs warning you that it was a dead end. Nothing. It was a 40 minute trap that I and about 300 other people fell into today. At the end of it, everyone I encountered was like "what the hell" or "you got to be kidding me". While walking back, I wanted to tell everyone I passed (about 100 people) "its a dead end turn around" but for some reason I felt it best to just let them figure that out on their own.

So I spent probably 2 hours looking for the entrance to Palatine Hill and finally when I found it, it was closed. I was told my ticket is good tomorrow, but I had full intentions of going to different parts of town tomorrow, possibly the Vatican. So, we shall see.

Speaking of the Vatican. Once a week, on Wednesdays the Pope gives a public mass at the Vatican. I could have seen the Pope. Had I done a little more planning ahead. Course, Renee showed me some photos a week ago of her visit to Rome and there were the photos of the Pope and all. She told me about this but I couldn't remember what day it was. Strike three for Chris. :)

But there is still plenty to see that the Vatican. Hell I might even convert to being a Catholic! or not...

So what else can I say about Rome?

The food is outstanding. Being an American there are a few 'ethnic' foods that stand out. There is mexican, chinese and italian... not in any specific order either. Nobody really knows what French food is. German food? Isn't that like sour crout? Well there is a reason everyone knows about Italian foods. Because its awesome!

Today, on my way to the Colosseum I found a cool little stretch of back roads that were just awesome. Tiny little one lane roads that made you wonder when the stones in the street were laid. All sorts of shops lined the roads and I had a hard time picking one restaurant over the other, but for some reason I chose one.

When I walked in I found a group of older Italians all turned around and looked at me like they did not expect a customer. A few of them said something in Italian and I just responded by "hi" and a smile. One of them eventually seated me and I quickly ordered water and lasagna.

Water is an interesting subject in Rome. Nobody serves free water. You have to buy it by the bottle. Though, in my hotel I drink it out of the sink (possibly I shouldn't). They look at you funny if you ask for regular unbottled 'tap' water. So, I got a bottle without really asking for it.

As I sat waiting for my food there is a wall of pictures on the wall in the cosy little spot. Family members over the past 20 years. As I waited, I saw each and every one of them. All aged 20 years since the photos. The cook, he was the one in charge, was probably 60 in the photos and 80 at present. I saw him cooking in the back and was worried he could still make a decent dish.

Wow was I wrong. I had easily the best lasagna I have ever tasted. It could not have been healthy but I savored every taste. It was like regular lasagna that we have in the US except it was probably a bit more oily and probably had more cheese in it. It was very rich. I absolutely LOVED it and hope to get back there again before I leave.

Another point that I am glad that figured out now rather then later. My Lonely Planet guide tells me that drinking wine will save you money rather then drinking beer. Well, in my first 24 hours I thought this was a load of shit to be honest. Every place I went to had a beer for 4-6 Euros and wine for 4-6 Euros. The thing I did not know until tonight for dinner, was that the price for wine is not by the glass, its by the LITER!

Holy shit! 6 Euros for a liter of wine! Thats probably a bottle!

Tonight I decided to splurge. They had a house wine for 6 euros. I thought that was by the glass. So i was like "what the hell, I will have a glass of wine" He was like "do you want a liter or half liter" and I was confused so I said half liter. It was only 3 Euros and plenty enough to get me well on my way to toasted.

So, Lonely Planet was right again. Wine is the way to go when in Rome. I doubt I will have another beer while I am here (except for the beer I bought at the grocery store that I keep in my room refrig)... (thats right, I have a frig in my room... I am livin the life of luxury). :)

Wine it is then.

Speaking of alcohol. As an American I find it strange that everywhere you go sells alcohol. You might stop at a touristy shop with postcards and other touristy crap, and then in the cooler in the back there are cokes and booze. You can walk around on the street or go through the Colosseum with a beer. I found this strange, but I like it.

Since I believe in walking more then busing it or training it, I get to see what the shops are selling more. I have to admit, that I like the fashion of Rome better then the fashion of Paris or London. Possibly I do not speak for the 'world of fashion' but as far as I am concerned, Rome is where it is at! I am actually considering spending some considerable cash for items here. There are some shoes that are mildly affordable for 45 Euros ($70US) and a really awesome leather jacket for 150 Euros (I don't want to admit what that would cost in dollars). Anyone who knows me knows I don't really spend a lot on stuff. Normally, had I found these items in the US I probably would have bought them, but because I am on this whole budget thingy and spending more money then I care to think about on travels, I hesitate. Hard to say if I will buy them or not. The shoes especially cause they are cheaper and might help the whole walking problem. We shall see.

Traffic in Rome is pretty similar to the other parts of Europe I have been too. Completely insane. Today I gathered enough nerve to walk across a pedestrian right of way in a six lane road. I was scared and watching all directions as if my life depended on it (as a matter of fact, IT DID). Driving in Rome is probably more chaotic and lawless though. I see all types of things I probably would not see in the states. Besides pedestrians, right of way seems to be whoever gets here first type of rule.

Parking is also surprisingly chaotic. Clearly you can not block a street or sidewalk, but I think the rules end there. Smart cars seem to be the coolest thing in all of Europe. I have seen them parked in the strangest of little places. Today I ran into a smart car parked diagonal (nose to sidewalk) in a parallel parking situation. I got a laugh out of that. Also, I have probably seen 5 cars, pulling out of the spots, bump another parked car. It seems socially acceptable here to do that. I actually saw one guy bump the car behind him, pull forward and bump the car in front of him and so on until he could make it out. I think if this happened in the US, and had the person who parked in front or behind them witnessed this, there would have been a fight.

Well, that is about all I can think to write at this moment. I am limited on internet access so I am writing this before I log on and post. My room is nice and I have decided to stick it out in this room. I can buy hourly access to wifi for 3 Euros. Though, I have found that just because I have temporarily stepped up to a 3 star hotel that things are perfect. Yes, the room is nice, but it has a slight smell to it and the water takes about 8 minutes to heat up (literally). So, I am not sure the higher prices justify the 'luxury'. Looks like I am a 2 star hotel kind of guy. :)

Lastly, today I bought some cough medicine at a local pharmaceutical shop. Luckily the guy understood what I was saying. He immediately grabbed something from the stack and told me once every four hours. Not sure how the drug policies are here but I hope this stuff works. I can't read a damn thing on the bottle so we shall see. Could be fun experiment! :)

Till next time!

Not caughing as much as he used to,
Chris