After washing up and changing, I was informed that the hostel provides a free pasta dinner every night instead of the more normal cold breakfast. I decided to have a look around the neighborhood and come back for the free dinner. So I went out the front door, walked to the end of the block and what should appear but the Colloseo! So I circled it, took in a few sites, and made my way back to the hostel for dinner (dry pasta, but sauce from scratch!).
Thursday, I walked the looooong way to Saint Peter's, waded through tourists, and was very disappointed to find that there was nowhere to sit down inside. One would think a church would have a dew pews in front of one of the many altars, but they seem to rely almost entirely on roped-off folding chairs. The only pews to be found were for penitence after confession, and that seemed a little much just for a seat. I walked the long way home (are you sensing a theme here?), stopping at lunch, piazzas, and shaded benches all the way home. That night after dinner, we went to the small piazza near our hostel, which seems to be the spot for groups of young people to meet up and share a bottle of wine (public drinking being legal here).
By Friday, I was determined to not do so much walking, and maybe more reading in the park. I had an 11-1 reservation at the Galleria Borghese, so I planned to just relax in the park the whole day. I saw some beautiful Bernini sculptures, and more combinations of holy family members than seemed necessary. Afterwards, I went and rented a clunker of a bike and spent an hour riding up and down the hills of the Villa Borghese.
The trees there look like the paintings of ancient Rome, which I guess I thought was just an affectation. Other people were riding motor-assisted 2- or 4-person bikes, golf carts, or even segways, which seemed like cheating. Walking back, I got so hot (it's been about ninety degrees here every day I've been here!) I had to stop for a lemon granita just to make it the last few blocks.
I started off Saturday by going with some people (mostly Aussies) to watch the Ireland-Australia rugby match at an Irish pub at at ten in the morning, which was part of the world cup. It was super fun to watch, and I think I mostly get the rules (which seem to be few and far between). Then I teamed up with another solo traveller, a German girl, and we agreed to go somewhere off the beaten track, not walk too much, and not spend too much money. So we took the metro down to a neighborhood called Testaccio, home to a seemingly random pyramid after which the metro stop is named. We went to the Protestant cemetery, which is full of all the people who died in Rome and weren't Catholic. Keats and Goethe are buried there, among others, and it's actually quite a beautiful place. After that we went to the market nearby and looked at all the fruits, vegetable, meats, etc. It definitely made me want to have access to a full kitchen. Instead, we went and bought some pizza by the pound (delicious and affordable!) before getting back on the metro and going to the bus station to buy tickets for the next leg of our respective trips. That night, I went with a group of people from the hostel to hang out at the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain at night.
[the above pictures are, regrettably, most of the pictures I took for my first four days in Rome. I made it up by taking a bunch of pictures on Sunday, so I'm just going to make. I'll make it up by just captioning my day of meandering sightseeing and including many pictures:
Fontane delle Torgughe (fountain of the turtles)
The beer selection at a micro-brewery I visited:
Cheese counter!!!
Street cafes in the former Jewish Ghetto
Bridge over the Tevere
View down one of the hills I climbed
People trying to take pictures through the Knights of Malta keyhole, which shows a perfect view of St. Peter's.
Random observations:
Hostels never lack for Australians, Canadians, or Germans. People come and go, and are at various stages in their various lengths of travels. One Aussie group making its way home after traveling for 18 months, and they still have about 3 weeks to go. Another Aussie group just starting out on their first backpacking trip ever! People making their way up to Oktoberfest, or to Croatia, which oddly seems like the place to go at the moment. It seems like in about two years Croatia will be the new Prague, attracting study-abroad students and vacationing families alike. Lots of packing styles, from very minimal to the very opposite, but so far I seem to have made good packing choices.
Rome is not only full of ornamental fountains, but functional ones as well! The water is cold, fresh, and tastes great! This was probably one of my favorite things about Rome (did I mention it was 90 degrees every day?)
All in all, I liked Rome, but I think I'll enjoy the smaller cities and towns a bit more. Too much noise and bustle for me. I'm catching a bus for Siena in the morning, and I'll have a few hours to explore before I meet up with someone from my first WWOOF farm. Onto my next adventure!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Rome, Lazio, Italy
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