Sunday, November 03, 2019
Rome, If You Want To
Some more tidbits from our trip:
-- We definitely got scammed at the airport, even though my inner 60 Minutes codger was watching out like a hawk. This guy asked if we needed a ride and when I said no assured us he worked for the airport. Then he grabbed our bags and ushered us to a car like forty miles from the terminal. Then he drove us to our hotel and charged us 140 euros (trip back was 50, with tip). Added bonus? The roads near our hotel were closed for a race, so we had to walk the final two blocks or so with our luggage. But at least we were not robbed and murdered, as was entirely possible.
-- I ate pasta nearly every day while I was there. But because we also walked like 12 miles a day, I actually lost weight on the trip. I should write a self help book.
-- We climbed the dome of St. Peter's (with stairs, not like a grappling hook or anything), which gave Ian a panic attack. The hallways get super narrow, and also curved. And there's like a million people climbing at the same time, so there's definitely a sense you could be crushed at any minute. For some, I think that's part of the attraction.
-- There was some sort of strike going on while we were there, which had the interesting effect of causing museums to randomly close for a couple of hours here and there. The Capitoline Museums actually closed while we were in them -- they were basically like "time's up, bitches, there's a strike."
-- Due to a defective weather forecast, we did not bring any shorts on our trip, and it ended up being in the 80s and sunny nearly every day. So we ended up buying shorts at some Italian discount store where you had to try things on in a corner behind a curtain. Eventually we convinced ourselves that we actually liked them, but of course we were living a lie.
-- We visited roughly a thousand churches while we were there. And they were all pretty stunning. This is an area where the U.S. lags behind much of the world, I'm afraid.
-- Naples was pretty filthy. But part of the strike was a trash strike, so I don't know if it's always like that or we were just lucky. The archeological museum was pretty sweet, though. Also the BK at the train station.
-- We toured some catacombs with a group that included a "bored" Dutch 12 year old. So we've got that going for us.
-- I fell down some steps in the rain and scraped and bruised myself fairly significantly. Apparently I have finally reached the age where I say things like "I'm lucky I didn't break anything." Fun, sexy times!
Some more tidbits from our trip:
-- We definitely got scammed at the airport, even though my inner 60 Minutes codger was watching out like a hawk. This guy asked if we needed a ride and when I said no assured us he worked for the airport. Then he grabbed our bags and ushered us to a car like forty miles from the terminal. Then he drove us to our hotel and charged us 140 euros (trip back was 50, with tip). Added bonus? The roads near our hotel were closed for a race, so we had to walk the final two blocks or so with our luggage. But at least we were not robbed and murdered, as was entirely possible.
-- I ate pasta nearly every day while I was there. But because we also walked like 12 miles a day, I actually lost weight on the trip. I should write a self help book.
-- We climbed the dome of St. Peter's (with stairs, not like a grappling hook or anything), which gave Ian a panic attack. The hallways get super narrow, and also curved. And there's like a million people climbing at the same time, so there's definitely a sense you could be crushed at any minute. For some, I think that's part of the attraction.
-- There was some sort of strike going on while we were there, which had the interesting effect of causing museums to randomly close for a couple of hours here and there. The Capitoline Museums actually closed while we were in them -- they were basically like "time's up, bitches, there's a strike."
-- Due to a defective weather forecast, we did not bring any shorts on our trip, and it ended up being in the 80s and sunny nearly every day. So we ended up buying shorts at some Italian discount store where you had to try things on in a corner behind a curtain. Eventually we convinced ourselves that we actually liked them, but of course we were living a lie.
-- We visited roughly a thousand churches while we were there. And they were all pretty stunning. This is an area where the U.S. lags behind much of the world, I'm afraid.
-- Naples was pretty filthy. But part of the strike was a trash strike, so I don't know if it's always like that or we were just lucky. The archeological museum was pretty sweet, though. Also the BK at the train station.
-- We toured some catacombs with a group that included a "bored" Dutch 12 year old. So we've got that going for us.
-- I fell down some steps in the rain and scraped and bruised myself fairly significantly. Apparently I have finally reached the age where I say things like "I'm lucky I didn't break anything." Fun, sexy times!
