Rome Again
Trip Start
May 07, 2005
1
52
117
Trip End
Ongoing
Rome,
Italy
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Rome (Kim)
We returned to Italy for the next leg of our visit with Jackie and Dennis. We knew it was going to be alot more hectic than Paris as our plan was to travel the length of Southern Italy not staying anymore than 2 days in any one place. If I had to pick a theme for our Italian week this go around I would dub it the 'Week of the Near Miss' with a subtheme of 'Traffic Dodging.'
Right from the journey out of Paris we were destined to experience some close calls with almost missing our transportation. Paris has 3 airports. Jackie and Dennis flew into Charles DeGaulle - the main international airport. Dave and I flew into Orly. For Rome we flew out of Beauvais. To catch a plane from this suburb of Paris (and I use the term suburb loosely here) one needs to first get to the bus stop 3 hours prior to flight time
A Dennis and Three Brandt
. We gave ourselves 3.5 hours to make it to the airport upon leaving the apartment. By the time we arrived by metro to the bus station we were gleefully informed by the cab driving vultures circling the station that the bus for the Rome connection had already left. For 130 Euro he would happily to transport us the remainder of the way to the airport. We decided 130 Euro merited further investigation. It turns out we were allowed to ride one of the other connecting buses which was scheduled to leave within the half hour. This would give us one hour to check-in for our flight as the bus ride itself takes one hour and cost 13 Euro per person. We took this option and I spent the entire hour sweating bullets hoping we didn't miss the flight. The budget airlines in Europe are really cheap. The catch is the transportation to and from the airports on both ends. They don't use main airports on the metro lines so a special bus on both ends is required.Our Pension in Rome was a saving grace. I had booked a 4 room hostel called Papa Germano and it turned out to be within walking distance of the station. This was our first hostel so we weren't sure what to expect. Papa was very friendly and liked to sing as he worked in true Italian fashion. The room was clean and comfortable. The bathroom was separate and the breakfast was pretty good. The little place had an internet point and a small library with guides of Italy
Best Gelato in Italy?
. We spent 2 days catching the sights we had missed the first go around. It was such an amazing experience to return to Rome again. It felt very different this time. We were on foot instead of biking. Slowing down in this way lets you see so much more up close. Biking was good too as we got to see alot more of the city in a short amount of time. We returned to some of our favorite sites with Jackie and Dennis like the Colosseum and St. Peter's Basilica. We did some new things on our own like seeing the Prime Minister's Palace (previous home to the Pope before the Vatican) and Trevi fountain where we dutifully tossed in a coin to ensure our return to Rome. We had some excellent meals out at some Italian restaurants and even yummier Gelato. On our way to the Trevi Fountain there was a noteworthy Gelateria with gourmet flavors that had some awards for their unique recipes. The four of us dutifully sampled some twice :)
All of the walking around gave us many chances to avoid Roman drivers and cross the road in true Italian style. We stopped traffic on more than one occasion and I think all of us have a few extra white hairs. Little did I know this was just preparing us for what was to come in Egypt. We also rode the metro quite a bit. All I can say about this is think 'hot, sweaty Italians jammed in like sardines. At one point I looked over at Jackie as she was wedged between two shady looking guys and thought OMG!! I hope my mother-in-law survives this... I found out later they really liked Rome. At one point we had gone our separate ways. They had a chance to spend some time in the Roman Forum and Palentine Hill.
Next stop for us Sicily... We headed to Palermo via a 12 hour journey on the night train.
