Day 43

Saturday September 8

7:15amish - woke up. Realized that this hotel probably didn't provide any breakfast. I can't believe this place is 115 euros a night. Anyway, I didn't unpack much obviously, but at least I was only going across the hall. Went across and finally met the elusive Alberta who runs the Hotel Paba. What a sweet little old woman LOL. At first I thought she was a guest and I was like "Do you work here?" LOL I felt badly. Anyway, she took my luggage and I paid for the other hotel in cash and went across the street to a pastry shop and got a chocolate croissant for a euro. Yum.

9:00amish - took the bus 571 to those ruins I was at yesterday, which is near Campo de Fiori. Walked there and found the cute little produce market and bought some tomatoes and plums. There were other kinds of stalls selling crappy looking clothes and also ones selling crazy spice mixes and stuff. They had "pizza" mix and "bruschetta" mix and stuff. LOL

9:30am - found a big street and caught bus 40 to Via Nazionale, which was luckily right up the block from where I wanted to start the Frommer's "Heart of Rome" walking tour. Started at the President's house, where there were lots of cops and it almost looked as if he had either recently come or gone. Anyway, did the tour, which went by some of the places I went on the night tour last night so it was neat to see like the Trevi Fountain and other places during daylight. Went to the Spanish Steps but started at the top. Realized that they are not THAT far away from my hotel, but I am still glad I took the taxi last night. It continued down some of the fancy shopping squares, to some ancient ruin-y type things, and back down right near my hotel.

Tonight is this big thing here called La Notte Bianca - where the whole city stays up all night. Museums and restaurants and stuff are open until like 5am and I guess a lot of the museums are free. I'm just like, keep me away. I mean I'm sure I'll get to see some of it when I'm out for dinner, but still, sounds like no fun.

12:30pmish - was hungry and right near my hotel so I figured I'd just find a place right by the hotel and then go, officially check in to the proper hotel, and get settled. Found a pretty cheap trattoria right across the street that had a wide selection of pretty cheap food and just picked it. Had a small salad and what was supposed to be chicken milanese. I'm not so sure it was chicken, it may have been pork? Anyway, it was alright. But the guy, he took the plate away before I was even done (big piece of lemon on the plate LOL wahhh). I thought this was odd considering all I had read about the Italian waiters just leaving you be, etc. Also, the guy said he remembered me. I'm like, errrrrr from where? He said "From the hotel" - he must have seen me going into or out of the hotel building yesterday I guess. But like, a little creepy? LOL. Anyway, total was 10 euros.

1:15pm - went to the hotel where my stuff was already in my room. All the rooms appear to be right off the reception area. So at least my room is not facing the busy street but just the backside, so that's nice, but I'll hear anything that goes on at the reception desk lol. Luckily it closes from about 9pm to 7:30am she said. Anyway, this hotel is MUCH nicer. A huge comfy bed (which was a nice surprise since a lot of reviews said the one thing they didn't like were hard beds lol), good a/c, cute little bathroom, tv with satellite (though the only english I can find is BBC World), and a minibar, nice so I can keep cold water. Relaxed for a few. Asked her where the closest internet place is, she showed me on a map and also showed me a lot of the sights and gave me a very handy bus map. She said something about having her own wireless and that I could use it - I thought she meant something similar to the one in england where they gave me the password to get onto the wireless, but no she meant let me borrow her laptop. I was like, oh that's not necessary lol and she said she won't give out the password. I don't understand why she won't let guests use the wireless, even if it cost a little. What would I do with the password, sell it? LOL. Ah well no big deal, just seems curious.

Oh and she explained (I asked) why the metro stopped working - they are doing work on that line so it stops around 9pm or so. Unbelievable! If they are doing construction, post a freaking sign in a few languages so there is much less confusion!

1:45pm - found the internet café which is really almost right across the street. Pretty cheap and pretty high-tech. Spent about 15 minutes and 70 cents mostly deleting emails LOL

2:00pm - realized this was probably not the best time of day to go to the Forum, but oh well. I had finished the walking tour faster than I thought (seems to be the trend of my trip LOL) and didn't have anything planned to do. I can always do something else tomorrow afternoon (or maybe not(?) since it's Sunday lol) or whatever, since tomorrow I have scheduled for "ancient Rome" day. Had meant to try a little gelato place a few doors down from the hotel that advertised home-made gelato (well, most places do) and I must say, in terms of the quality of the flavors, I think it's one of the better. The coffee was really strong and the chocolate tasted like melted chocolate. Yum.

2:15pm - made it to the entrance of the Forum where the Rick Steves audio guide stops. On my way there, a guy hawking something (was walking so fast I didn't even see) tried sticking stuff in front of my face, following me down the sidewalk. I just kept walking fast and he finally gave up and started to laugh. No dude, I'm the one laughing, at you. These people are truly pathetic. But there were a couple of intelligent entrepreneurs who had frozen water bottles. I should've bought one.

Anyway, started the walking tour, which led me through the whole thing, explaining the buildings, etc. It's kind of hard to fathom how old this stuff is and that you're walking on the same bricks and stones that people did over 2000 years ago. Crazy, really crazy. Spent a good hour or more walking, gazing, sitting in the shade (it's hot out) and just looking and imagining what this place was like so long ago, etc.

3:30pm - left through the exit closest to the street up to my hotel and stopped at this crazy little market across the street. They have a huge long deli full of all kinds of Italian specialties, and then they have pastas, all kinds of olive oils, etc. What a crazy little place. Bought a small and big bottle of water to keep in the fridge and came back to the hotel to relax a bit during the hottest part of the day before going out and exploring a new area and dinner.

5:15pm - left and got on the metro one stop to the train station. Had heard about all the horror stories of the pickpockets on the metro so had a hand on my bag at ALL times. But it wasn't that busy, so I imagine the problems aren't as bad then anyway. Switched to the A line and took 4 stops to the Piazza del Popolo stop and went into the church right there. It has a couple of Caravaggio paintings, as if I am familiar with his work and would appreciate it anyway LOL.

6:00pmish - Wandered around to find the place I wanted to eat for dinner - a Neapolitan pizza place a local on TripAdvisor recommended. Didn't open til 7:30. Had like an hour and a half to kill LOL

Walked up the steps, hill, steps, hill, etc. you get the point to the Pincio, a hill and park high above the Piazza del Popolo. Beautiful views and my goal was to see the sunset but I didn't quite make it. Bought one of those nifty frozen water bottles and just sat and people-watched for a while.

6:45pm - descended back down to Piazza del Popolo and went into one of the other churches (there are 3 on the square LOL). In the third, it looked like a wedding was just ending. There was a horse-drawn carriage there with white ribbons, and a ton of people. There was also a huge group of "goth" teenagers, all dressed in black. Sat and just watched the busy scene on the square for a while.

7:25pm - got up and walked around and about 10 min later went into the restaurant, which at this point was mostly empty. But by about 7:50 it was getting really full. Anyway, I had a - shocker - margherita. But it was totally different because it was Neapolitan style. The crust was thicker, especially around the edges - and wonderfully charred yet chewy. Lots of yummy sauce and the cheese was kind of in clumps. Whatever. It was fantastic. LOL. I don’t know if I can ever eat pizza in the US - especially in LA - ever again. Anyway, total including soda was 10.50, charged it and put one euro on the table.

8:10pm - left (and by this time people were waiting to get tables in the restaurant) and walked down the short block to Via del Corso - a major street in Rome that goes all the way from the Piazza del Popolo to near the Colosseum and forum, near where I'm staying. Because of this Notte Bianca festival I was told public transportation could be a mess and I was better off walking. Kind of a far walk but I had rested up in the early afternoon to give my feet a chance to make it back LOL!!

But oh wow. The street was filled. The shops were mostly all open, some even had special "Notte Bianca" sales. Churches were even all open, families were out, groups of teenagers were out, tourists, locals, you name it. It was an absolutely fantastic scene. I took a short couple blocks detour to find one of the best gelato places in the city - della Palma - and got a cup with Rocher (chocolate ice cream with pieces of ferrero rocher candy and hazlenuts - in Amanda's honor), cappuccino (which was a mousse of coffee and some other stuff) and chocolate mousse. I think this is the best gelato I've had. The texture was just so unbelievably creamy, that's what made the difference. Anyway, this Notte Bianca is really special. Tons of people all out in the streets - behaving but having fun - just wandering around, shopping, eating and drinking, cheering and singing, dancing, etc. I'm still not even sure what this festival is even about, but I know it was a lot of fun and I am quite lucky for my visit to have coincided with it. Apparently it goes on all night. I don't have the energy for that but what I experienced of it was great. And if I had attempted public transportation or just given in and taken a taxi, I would've sadly missed it all.

Anyway, backtracked to Via del Corso and made it all the way down to where it meets the via de Fori Imperiali, where the Forum and, at the end, Colosseum are, and also Trajan's column/market and some other stuff. Busy scene, there were multiple stages set up with crowds of people sitting on steps overlooking the biggest stage. Guess there will be a concert later. I walked all the way down to the Colosseum, determined to get a good night shot. Of course this meant finding a place to set the camera down to use the night scenery mode! Kept wandering around snapping away, hopefully getting a couple good ones here and there. Walked up an old stairway to get a better view, kept snapping away, etc. Finally I got to the point where I figured that was as good as I was gonna do, so my next goal was to ultimately find the hotel LOL. Wasn't quite sure where I was but I knew the general direction I had to go, and I ultimately came out about 5 doors below my hotel. Perfect.

10:10pm - back at the hotel and feet hurt now. But what a fun day. I like Rome much better today LOL!!