BigWeather's Blog

A quick note about the blog entries for Italy — my daughter will (eventually) be posting her blog entries as well but those are tagged with “Italy Trip June 2016 G” instead of just “Italy Trip June 2016”.

Tuesday into Wednesday and further into Thursday has been one big blur.  Stayed up almost all night Tuesday packing and such, finally crawling into bed about 6a on Wednesday morning.  Awoke at 8a with the intent of being on the road by 9a.  Yeah… that didn’t happen.  Eventually stumbled out the door, luggage in tow, just before noon.

As we saved a ton (almost two thousand) booking direct from Charlotte to Rome rather than Raliegh – Charlotte – Rome we had to get to Charlotte three hours before our 6p flight.  Luckily we made great time and traffic was light other than the usual trouble spot near Salisbury where I-85 goes down to a two-lane road and, while I appreciate the effort to widen the road, construction.

Got to Long Term Parking Lot #4 just short of 3p and thankfully they had a spot (#1 and #2 being full and #3 apparently… not existing).  Hopped on the shuttle bus to the terminal and relatively breezed through check-in and baggage tagging.  It being only about 3:30p we went to the in-terminal Bad Daddy’s burger shop and had burgers, shakes, and the like.  A strawberry shake really hit the spot after the hectic day we’d had thus far.

Headed to the gate (after turning the wrong way and being on the wrong concourse), stopping for snacks along the way — Life Savers, Chex Mix, Skittles, Cheez-Its, bottled water — you know, the essentials!  A thunderstorm had rolled in and delayed our departure as they had to abandon the plane mid-cleaning.  We finally boarded around 7p and then waited a long time taxiing to the head of the queue for departure as many earlier flights had been postponed.  We get to the runway and start going except we don’t really rev up.  Ruh-roh.  About half way down we pull off and it turns out that our flight path to the northeast was cancelled due to storms — I’m betting Greensboro / Burlington / Raleigh got some nice ones!  Re-queue, get a different flight path and finally lift-off at just past 8p.

Looking at the in-flight GPS it looks like our new route took us to the west, due north into southern Virginia then east to just south of Norfolk then out to sea.  Addison had the window seat, me the aisle seat next to him, then across the aisle sat Michelle.  It was an Airbus 330 in a 2-4-2 configuration.  The flight was mostly uneventful, and Addison and Michelle’s meal of broccoli and cheese pasta was a bit better than mine of orange-glazed chicken.  When will I learn to always go the veggie option on a flight?!

Entertainment-wise every seat had a screen in the seat back ahead with movies, music, news, GPS, etc.  I always find the GPS captivating — though this one had a macabre twist I don’t remember from earlier flights.  It showed the location of ship wrecks that were beneath us — Titanic 1912, Monitor 1864, etc.  I don’t know if they were trying to remind us that yes, travel can be dangerous, or “aren’t you glad you aren’t going by boat?!”  Addison knocked out five movies (and would later wonder why he didn’t sleep on the flight), Michelle watched Fifth Wave and got some shut eye, and I watched Deadpool, gloriously unedited!, for the third time.  Love that movie.

Breakfast was a fairly dreadful affair (Addison insists I promised bacon and eggs, I had earlier said “Don’t expect bacon and eggs” — selective hearing for the win) but that’s OK, in an hour we were on the ground in Rome.  The airport is a bit of a blur.  We were greeted by a prototypical European type of ad, at least.

We then rode a fast elevated tram to immigration which went really fast.  Picked up our luggage and, after a few minutes of walking about, located the driver that would take us to our hotel.  The trip was uneventful.  Definitely some creative driving going on (particularly when it came time to merge lanes), but nothing of the level I saw in India or Egypt.  I sat in the front and chatted with him while Addison and Michelle sat mostly quiet in the back seat.  We chatted about driving, budget travel, his family of four including two daughters, etc.  He was curious what Americans thought of Italy and I told him that in general it is quite favorable.  What else would I say?  Of course it is the truth so that was convenient.

Passed through the very impressive ancient Roman walls that surround the old city and went past an ancient Egyptian obelisk.  I later learned that Rome has the most obelisks in the world.  I immediately thought to the one from Luxor in the Place de la Concorde in Paris that was given to the French in the 1830s and figured perhaps many of Rome’s were as recently acquired.  Turns out that eight of them were sent to Rome following its conquest of Egypt about two millennia ago and five were copies made by wealthy Roman citizens shortly thereafter.  Most had fallen and been lost in the millennia since, only to be excavated and re-erected in the 14th through 19th centuries (one even being lost, found, lost again, and eventually re-found!).  A last obelisk, from Axum — an ancient kingdom in what is now Ethiopia — was more recently “acquired” in 1937 during the Italian conquest of Ethiopia but eventually repatriated in the last decade.

Anyhow, we zipped along tree-lined boulevards that were still pretty spacious.  A note about the trees — amazing pencil thin cypresses and almost Dr. Seuss-looking pines really standout here.  Finally we entered the heart of the old city as the roads narrowed considerably and even turned to cobblestone.  We were let off at our home for the next three days, the Hotel Bolivar.  After briefly getting oriented with Peter, the desk clerk, we went up to room 212 (on the third floor to us Americans).

The room is nice — tile floor, a queen bed and a single, a decent bathroom (with a bidet — had to tell Addison to avoid that haha).  Our window overlooks a courtyard with some nice trees and flowers and the like.  The day was unseasonably hot in the low-90s, humid, but a nice sea breeze helped considerably.  I struggled with the electrical sockets — like in India they are individually turned on and off via an attached switch and the air wasn’t working so I kept the windows swung open wide while — it being siesta time at 1:30p anyway — we collapsed.

Michelle and Addison slept until past 7p while I was up frequently with a stupid headache.  I mostly paced it off with the help of some Motrin and some bottled water.  I used the time productively by setting up Google Maps on our phone to have available off-line maps of Rome, Florence, and Venice.

About 8p we headed to an ATM.  It was amusing because it was behind a glass door that we couldn’t figure out how to open.  There was a gentleman inside so we waited until he came out and then Michelle darted in.  Addison and I remained outside in case she was trapped and we needed help.  While she was using the machine someone else tried and failed to get in and waited until Michelle left to go in.  The cycle of banking life!

We also saw the very impressive ruins of a tower likely built around 1200 called Torre delle Milizie (“Tower of the Militia”).  It has a striking profile only made cooler with the attached 16th century church and a palm tree too perfect to be there by accident.  I may have taken many photographs of it.

Finally, on the recommendation of the concierge, we headed to a restaurant on Via del Boschetto called Crisciotti al Boschetto.  We elected to sit in the very rear in an open-air terrace that was very nice (if a little warm and humid).  For an appetizer we had prosciutto (ham) and mozzarella.  The ham was amazing!  The bread that also came wasn’t too bad, and I really liked the oven-browned crust very much.  For our meal Michelle had lasagna (at a very reasonable 8 euros) while I had straccetti ai funghi (sliced beef and mushrooms with a gravy) and sautéed broccoli (a bit more) and Addison had a beef fillet with large slices of mushrooms atop that he enjoyed.  We had after dinner drinks (which I think were meant to be free before dinner drinks but we didn’t let the server know until too late about our coupon for them) that were lemon-y with a very strong (nose-clearing) aftertaste.  Maybe they were meant to be after the meal as a digestif?  Definitely out of my element there.  Addison had a similar red-tinted drink with a fruity taste as well with a much less strong aftertaste.  Sorry we don’t know the fancy names for these things!

On the way back to the room we stopped at a corner store for some bottled water then, farther down Via Nazionale for some gelato.  Michelle had chocolate and I had coffee (topped with coffee beans).  Delicious!  Returned back to the hotel after a couple more pictures.

Feeling restless, I left Michelle and Addison in the room and headed back out into the now-cool and thankfully less humid night.  The Hotel Bolivar’s sign looked impressive glowing bright green and the reflecting off of the stone pavers that formed the street.  I walked past the tower again and took a few photos of it lit by floodlights and the moon behind peeking from behind the clouds.

Crossing the street a hundred foot tall marble column came into view.  Trajan’s Column was completed in 113 and has bas relief spiraling around the column telling of the conquest of Dacia (near modern-day Romania — see how it got that name?) over two wars in the prior decade.  Surrounding it are columns of the Imperial Forum, excavated centuries ago and re-erected.  Beyond lay the Altare della Patria (“Altar of the Fatherland”), a massive white marble monument to the first king of a unified Italy, Victor Emmanuel II, and to those lost fighting the Great War (WWI).  In addition, domes of various churches and, far-off, the Coliseum could be seen.

Headed back to the hotel and notified the desk clerk that the AC wasn’t working too well.  He managed to get it working, turns out it is just a fan that sucks the hotel’s central air into each room.  Regardless, thankful to have chilled air!  Wrote the blog until 2:30a and got photos off of the camera and iPhone and backed up to OneDrive.  All-in-all a fantastic, if exhausting, day!

We awoke shortly past 6:30a and got our showers and headed up to the top floor for our included breakfast.  Quite a nice view and the weather was shaping up to be much nicer than Thursday’s.  While I had given Addison a heads-up that there likely wouldn’t be bacon and eggs as it was a Continental breakfast — and he actually listened this time! — we were pleasantly surprised to have both bacon and eggs as well as cereal, croissants, and some cakes (lemon poppy seed, lemon, etc.).  Quite good and a great start to the day.

Headed downstairs and hired a cab to the Vatican as we wanted to be sure to make our 9a ticket time for the Vatican Museum including Sistine Chapel.  The cabby didn’t speak much English so, unlike our trip in to town yesterday, I kept my mouth shut and just enjoyed the ride through the city.  I loved seeing the narrow side streets, the frequent tiny plazas each with their own character, occasional peeks at Roman ruins or other grand but small churches, and people watching as they headed to work, school, and in the case of a group of nuns, church.

Shortly after crossing the Tiber (with a nice view of the second century Castel Sant’Angelo perched on its banks) we arrived at the Vatican.  And by arrived I mean at the head of a long pedestrian avenue leading to St. Peter’s basilica, obelisk in front.  It was a fairly pleasant walk though being stopped every few hundred yards by tour guides offering (at first) genuinely helpful advice before (every.single.time) launching into their sales pitch got a little old.  Still, it’s their living and we were in a major tourist area so to be expected.  Headed into the square, turned right and went a bit before turning left at the second stop light, hugging the Vatican’s walls to our left.

Eventually arrived at the entrance to the Vatican Museum and skipped the line that was forming as we’d bought our tickets online (note to anyone that may go in the future — buy your tickets online!).  Turned in our online tickets for official ones and headed up what must be the longest escalator I’ve ever ridden on.  We picked up a map that looked like a very complex flow chart and set out exploring the museum.

To say that the museum is vast is an understatement.  It consists of 1,400 rooms, grouped into categories ranging from ancient Egyptian and Near Eastern art all the way to modern art.  Many of the rooms are full to the brim with objects though some are sparser.  As the buildings hosting the art once served as papal offices and residences many of them have amazing wall and ceiling decor.  I’m a little unsure as to how to describe our visit as I took hundreds of pictures and there were so many objects and decor — I’ll distill it down to the essentials.

The first area was mainly Greek and Roman statuary, mosaics, and sarcophagi.  There were several long halls of just statue after statue.  Next we saw the Egyptian and Near East collection that included not only statues but also everyday items as well as sarcophagi and a mummy and attendant canopic jars (vessels that held the removed organs during the mummification process).  Also particularly cool was a letter written in cuneiform on clay tucked within a clay envelope.

 

Next came an immense hall with massive tapestries from the 1500s or so.  They weren’t as vibrant as they once were I’m sure but nonetheless impressive.  Shortly beyond that was my favorite hall — Galleria delle carte geografiche, the hall of maps dating from 1580.  Painted on the walls were floor to ceiling maps of each region of Italy showing all the towns, churches, roads, terrain, etc.  I took loads of photos and lingered there as long as possible.  The detail was amazing and the little touches like sea monsters and inset maps for cities were very cool.

Following that came the four Raphael Rooms, decorated by Raphael from 1508 or so until his death in 1520, his assistants finishing the final room thereafter.  The colors are so vibrant and the scenes depicted are brought to life.  It’s extraordinary.

After the Raphael Rooms we saw the Borgia Apartments containing art a bit older from 1492 to 1494 and including the first European depiction of a Native American.  What’s interesting is that such sinful depravity (at least by papal standards) occurred in the apartments that succeeding popes did not wish to live nor work in them and instead build new apartments.  Another really neat thing about the Borgia Apartments was the elaborate depiction of real objects meant to fool the eye like statuary, alcoves, etc.

While I’m not a huge fan of most contemporary art there were a few (relatively) recent works that I enjoyed seeing by folks such as Vincent Van Gogh and Salvador Dali.  After that we got some water and Addison a Coke and went to the restroom before going into the main event, the Sistine Chapel.

Wow!  It is something to behold.  Not a small room by any means, the entire chapel is covered from floor to ceiling (and of course the ceilings themselves) by amazing art by Michelangelo (and some prior murals done a couple of decades earlier that are no slouch either!).  Even with a throng of tourists packed into the chapel and the guards amusingly announcing over the PA system “No photograph.  Be quiet.  Shhhhhhh!” quite loudly the impact is not lessened.  The three of us took some time and sat on the benches found on the perimeter.  Of course The Creation of Adam, depicting God creating Mankind (the fingers touching painting) is impressive, as is the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden.  Both form part of the ceiling, painted between 1508 and 1512.  What really struck me, however, was The Last Judgment, painted much later between 1535 and 1541.  An amazing work of art covering an entire end of the room.  The whole affair is just amazing, an incredible act of devotion — 10 years spent in this one room by one of the best artists this world has ever seen.  4 years on scaffolding 50+ feet above the floor, lying on his back and painting the ceiling panels.

Reluctantly left the Sistine Chapel and move on through an immensely long series of halls (I swear I could see the curvature of the Earth — OK, maybe not that long, but about 1km total) containing early Christian objects like glassware, oil lamps, etc. as well as early globes and maps.

Before exiting the Vatican Museums we ate at the cafe and had some (surprisingly reasonably priced) pieces of pizza and a salami sandwich.  Addison didn’t care for his pizza but Michelle and I were quite content.  We also went through the Vatican City stamp and coin museums and a wing devoted to objects from other religions from around the world that was really interesting.  There was also a closed off wing of Roman statuary that happened to contain the famous statue of the Emporer Augustus.  Thankfully it was fairly visible to all.

Walked the 2km back to the Piazza San Pietro expecting a long (three hours plus) wait to get into St. Peter’s Basilica.  Boy did we luck out, no line other than the security checkpoint.  Siesta time tourism for the win!  Also enjoyed watching the basilica’s fashion police turn away men in shorts and women in less than knee-length skirts or bare shoulders.

Before entering the basilica we were fortunate to catch the changing of the Swiss Guard, the Vatican’s army (and smallest in the world, incidentally).  The brief ceremony had saluting and all that you’d expect.  Next we moved on into the basilica itself.

I’ll be honest here — I found St. Peter’s both overwhelming and underwhelming.  Overwhelming in it’s pure scope (in fact from the furthest length of the basilica inscribed on the ground are the lengths of all of the other cathedrals and where they end up in relation to the basilica (spoiler alert — they are all shorter).  It is massive — there are side churches and sanctuaries within the basilica itself.  The baldacchino, a towering 100 foot bronze structure that almost looks like a four poster bed seems out of place.  Gold lettering, multi-colored tile floors, copious sculpture — it was just a bit gaudy.  The overall effect was a bit underwhelming.  I guess I prefer the Yorkminsters and Notre Dames of the world — less gaudy and more stern and gray.

That said, I was still very glad we visited and a few things stood out.  The scale was impressive and the gold lettering was kind of cool.  A lady singing Ave Maria with a beautiful voice was touching (though it seemed to confuse the officials on site as to whether they should be shushing her or not).  A couple of pope’s tombs were also located in the basilica.  Finally, Michelangelo’s Pieta, even behind bullet proof glass, is amazing.

After the basilica I convinced Addison that we needed to climb to the top of the basilica’s dome.  It was a pretty brutal climb — over 500 steps and some of those were cheating — the walk four steps up a slight slope then a tiny step up kind.  After about 200 steps we came out on the roof of the basilica just under the dome and were able to catch some views of Rome and the basilica’s facade’s statuary.  As it was starting to spit rain we continued up into the dome.  The first part was impressive as we were standing above the apse and could look directly down into the basilica well over 100 feet below.

The climb thereafter was not fun — as it is climbing in a hollowed space along the shell of the dome the walls were not perpendicular to the stairs.  Very disorienting.  The final bit was a very narrow stone spiral staircase where we had to turn our large feet (13 and 15) sideways and cling to a rope in the center so as to not fall.

The view from the top was nice, but not as nice as I expected — mainly because Rome is not a city with skyscrapers and other easy to spot buildings as no building can exceed the height of the dome.  It was still neat, however, seeing the Altare della Patria, the Torre della Milizie, and other central Rome sights.

On the way back down we were held up by a college age lady texting on her phone while going down tricky spiral stairs.  Is it bad that I was kind of, OK really, hoping she’d fall?  Not get seriously hurt, mind you, just reminded that texting while descending ancient stairs is a bad idea.  Made it to the bottom in one piece, met back up with Michelle, and headed back out to the entrance to Vatican City where we caught a cab back into Rome.  We had intended to walk but, it being a bit past 5p and us all being tired, we decided to head back to the room for siesta.  Along the way honking erupted and the cabby explained that Italy had just beaten Sweden in Euro Cup ’16.

We aren’t really good at the whole siesta thing as we awoke at 9p.  Headed to the restaurant across the small courtyard from Hotel Bolivar named Ristorante Santa Cristina al Quirinale.  It had pretty charming decor.  I had pasta carbonara — pasta with bacon and egg — that was amazing.  Addison had filet mignon that he enjoyed with some roasted potatoes that were very delicious.  Michelle didn’t fare so well, however — she ordered prawns but they came out whole (those soulless black eyes looking at us!) and, while bigger than she expected, proved difficult to eat.  On top of that the apple pie she ordered for dessert had almonds (she doesn’t do nuts) though Addison’s chocolate cake was tasty.

Addison headed back to the room while Michelle and I grabbed some gelato (well, I did — she just had some hot tea) and watched Spain versus Turkey.  Then we walked down to see Trajan’s Column, Altare della Patria, and the forum lit up.  Headed back to the room just before midnight and she went to bed while I blogged until about 3a.

Awoke at 7a with an upset stomach.  Managed to eat breakfast at the hotel, this time eating some yummy croissants.  We finally headed out about 10a, walking past (and showing them to Addison for the first time) Trajan’s Column, the Altare della Patria, and Trajan’s Market.  The area had a few more people than we saw during the night but it still wasn’t nearly as crowded as I imagined it would be.

We strolled down the road toward the Colosseum, stopping to take pictures and gawk at the amazing ruins in the Forum from time to time (Michelle and Addison would argue it was all the time).  Arrived at the Colosseum about 11a and found the situation to be a bit confusing.  As with the Vatican the area was crawling with people with official looking badges that offered tours that let you skip the line.  While I have no doubt that is (mostly) true, we had read it was better to go with the official English tour.  Problem was we didn’t see a way to get tickets for that without standing in the long line.  I circled the Colosseum once (and maybe taking a few pictures along the way) while Michelle and Addison sat on some fallen marble column turned bench but failed to find anyone that could help us.

Then I remembered some other advice we had read that a short walk away was the Palatine entrance to the Forum and there a combination Forum + Colosseum ticket could be purchased and Colosseum tours made.  As it was noon we decided to go for a 3p tour.

We wandered around a portion of the Forum for the next couple of hours.  It was amazing and the beautiful weather only enhanced the experience.  We first saw ruins of an aqueduct then the Severan complex complete with a stadium.  They did have some stupid “art” installation with metal words in some of the ruins (like “LOSER” in the stadium) — what the heck is that crap?  Anyhow, despite that, really cool stuff.  There was a vineyard that remained from before the ruins were set aside as a park that was very picturesque.

Heading down toward the Via Sacra we passed the Arch of Titus — very impressive with neat carvings of soldiers and the like.  Just before that there was a spring coming out of the hill in a very cool (temperature-wise) room that was well shaded — a welcome respite from the heat.  Along the Via Sacra were several temples and other ruins, and even some foundations of buildings from 9th to 7th century BC — a time when the area was under kings before the Republic had been founded.

As it was about 1:30p and we hadn’t eaten we reluctantly cut our Forum visit short and climbed to (modern) street level and went to a nearby restaurant that managed to be decent despite being a bit expensive and touristy.  We ate below the main floor and the walls were painted with Roman diners eating and drinking.  What was weird is they were almost depicted as ghosts or at least not wholly corporeal.  I had a salami and provolone panini, Michelle a club sandwich, and Addison a hamburger.

Headed to the Colosseum about 2:30 and got through the line and security check fairly quickly and waited a few minutes for our tour.  The tour guide was a very short Italian woman who spoke decent English.  As there were other groups and the distance from the guide could be a bit far she gave us all little radios to listen to her through.

The tour was interesting.  We learned several things, like eight servants would operate a lift that could lift elephants and other large animals from the holding pens below and onto the main floor.  Also, when people were defeated the spectators would shout “jugular” if they were to be finished (by a swift blow to the neck) or “mitte” (I think, was hard to understand) for mercy.  It is unknown, however, how the Emperor would indicate his final decision — the thumbs up / down is a Hollywood fiction.  Sand was used on the Colosseum floor as it could soak up the blood and be raked or swept away between events.  We also learned that competitors would be in the dark for as many as three hours before being sent to the main floor to fight and it was right there at the doorway that most died as they would be blinded by the sunlight and the gladiators that had already adjusted would mow them down.  Harsh!

The Colosseum was built by the Flavians (three emperors — a father and two sons) on some land that former Emperor Nero owned.  Thus it is more correctly the Flavian Amphitheater but Colosseum stuck.  Building it was a shrewd political move as it demonstrated the Flavians’ power, was presented as a gift to the people, and reinforced their rule (as people could see first-hand how those that broke the law would be dealt with).  The Colosseum held events about a hundred days a year and had a canvas roof that could be extended out over the entire Colosseum with a complex rope system.

We also learned that the Colosseum had free tickets with numbers on them, the numbers indicating which arch should be entered through.  Seating was segregated by class and, for the lower classes, gender, with lower class females having the highest up (worst) seats.

After the guided tour was over we visited the gift shop and walked around a bit on our own.  Pretty amazing that so much remains despite being picked over for centuries for stone (the Vatican raided it often for building material) and the occasional earthquake damaging it.  We also filled up our water bottles at one of the many public fountains on the site.

We finally headed out and back to the hotel by 5p.  Michelle in particular was getting miserable — she and Addison were pretty burnt and tired.  A man doing the “engage in friendly conversation and ask for a high-five before moving in to scam money” on Addison had to be sternly told to leave him be.  Ugh.

After a siesta until 8p Michelle and I headed out for a bit.  Addison stayed at the hotel and slept as he didn’t feel well.  Michelle and I ate at the very near Ristorante Petrucchi where we had phenomenal garlic bread and I had spaghetti alla bolognese (spaghetti with meat sauce) while Michelle had cheese pizza.  Both were great.

Then we walked through Piazza del Quirinale to Trevi Fountain, a fairly short walk from the hotel.  Despite it being very crowded (to be expected, it was a summer Saturday night and the weather was amazing) it was still really neat and relaxing.  Michelle and I sat for nearly an hour just enjoying it and saw a number of people tossing coins into the fountain by facing away from the fountain and throwing them over their shoulder as is tradition.  The fountain, having been through a recent restoration, looked amazing.  We were particularly struck by its size and the little details like carved bushes and little grottoes that really made it seem like a coast inhabited by mythical sea creatures.  Despite being a bit cliche, highly recommended!

On the way back to the room picked up a magnet and some gelato.  Yum!  Got to the room at about 11:15p and read up on Riomaggiore and blogged a bit before bed.

Awoke shortly after 6a and after we all showered headed up to the now familiar breakfast at the Hotel Bolivar.  Another beautiful day, this one meant for travel however.  Checked out of our rooms and grabbed a cab to Roma Termini, the main rail station in Rome.  As it was a Sunday fairly early there was little traffic and even the (we’ve read) normally bustling station was a bit quiet.

Using the Trenitalia (Italy’s national train company) booth I mistakenly purchased tickets through to Torino when we really needed to get off a bit before that at La Spezia.  I don’t know what I was thinking.  Unfortunately I couldn’t get a refund / rebook and that mistake cost us almost 55 euros total, but it really was my mistake and one I don’t expect to make again.  Our train was to leave at 9:57a and it was only a little past 9a so I took Addison across the street to McDonalds where he could get some hash browns and a Sausage and Egg McMuffin.

We stood for almost an hour waiting for our train to get a departure platform assigned.  It arrived about twenty minutes late but we finally got our platform.  Had to head through a checkpoint where we presented our ticket then we walked along the length of the train hopping on to a second class car.  Found some empty seats and settled in.  Then a guy tells us we’re in his seat.  Uh, assigned seats?  We had no idea.  Turns out we got super lucky and happened to get on the correct car and just had to move a few rows down, which was great because we didn’t want to have to struggle with luggage.  Michelle ended up sitting next to a pretty quiet man in his 40s or so while Addison and I sat next to each other opposite her.  The main thing was ensuring Michelle faced forward so as to avoid motion sickness.

The train ride was very interesting.  Leaving the suburbs of Rome and heading north along the coast to La Spezia the land was covered in farms and dotted with small villages.  The coast itself was gorgeous and the sea a deep blue.  We passed a castle right on the shore and it was neat to see so many small villages perched atop hills (so as to be easily defended) — a settlement pattern that didn’t emerge in the United States by-and-large as we were never plagued by wandering brigands and the like.

The IC train (a step below the fastest trains) moved at a brisk clip, nearly one hundred miles per hour.  When we paralleled the highway it was clear that we were going quite a bit faster than the cars headed in the same direction.  We only made 10 or so stops total from Rome to La Spezia.  After pulling out of Pisa I saw the very top of the famed leaning tower.  Hopefully we’ll do that as a side excursion once we are in Florence.

Once clear of Pisa the terrain became much more green and lush (as opposed to the ambers and olive greens near Rome) and soon jagged gray peaks were to the east.  Clouds also rolled in with even a bit of rain.  One cloud bank sat right atop a ridge and was particularly pretty.

We arrived in La Spezia around 3p and grabbed a bite to eat at a combined deli / McDonalds.  Addison had chicken nuggets, fries, and a Coke while Michelle and I had sandwiches.  I had a salami and cheese that was quite good (for train station food, that is).  Lugged our luggage up and down stairs switching platforms, bought tickets for the seven minute ride on a regional train to Riomaggiore (remembering to validate!) and awaited the train ride, which proved to be mostly tunnel with one brief view of a beautiful rocky coast.

Arriving at Riomaggiore we set off through a pedestrian tunnel that paralleled the train tracks then emerged in the valley in which the village sits.  Riomaggiore is a village in a very steep valley that used to have a stream in it.  The stream is still there, actually, but now runs underneath the main street.  In the past when the stream was still exposed small arched bridges spanned the stream allowing villagers to cross to the other side.  The tunnel emerged near the bottom of the valley.  As our room was about a third of a mile up the valley we had a very steep climb with our luggage.  Addison was great and pulled both of our smaller pieces while I pulled our larger piece, freeing up Michelle.

Our room was in the Locanda del Sole.  After being seen through a small gate we checked in with the owner, a gentleman named Enrico.  He’s an older man, in his late 50s or so and balding.  He spoke English very well and oriented us to the town — where to eat and where to catch a boat that runs from town to town.  We also met sisters, one from New Jersey and the other from Germany.  Enrico showed us to our room a couple of steep flights away.  Pretty basic but clean.  The tiled floor and orange and other light colors really gave it a Mediterranean vacation feel.  After running through details about breakfast and such he bade us farewell.

Siesta time!  We slept a couple of hours from about 5p to just past 7p.  Headed down (literally!) into the village and ate at a place called the Bar Centrale that was recommended by Enrico as it served burgers and Addison really craved one.  We elected to sit inside rather than in the covered area outside.  Addison had a burger with onion rings and fried potato wedges that he really liked while Michelle and I had pizza — hers Hawaiian and mine salami.  Both excellent and we liked the crust better than previous pizzas that we’d had since arriving.

Grabbed some gelato (yes, I’ve eaten entirely too much of it — but it’s soooo yummy!).  Michelle had strawberry and Addison and I both had coffee.  There were some fairly bitter coffee beans in it that we worked around but the taste of the gelato itself was wonderful.  Satiated, we strolled down to where the tunnel from the train station came through.  We briefly went up an adjacent set of stairs to see a small plaza where youngsters were kicking around a ball.  Not wishing to intrude we went down another set of stairs to the marina.

What a pretty spot!  It is a fairly tiny marina formed by a jetty of large boulders and a sheer cliff wall.  People were leaping off the cliff and into the water fifty feet or so below.  A pirate flag fluttered in the cool evening air nearby.  The buildings, stacked unnaturally on top of each other, appear to tumble down the valley and into the water.  It is an impressive sight to behold!

While Michelle and Addison relaxed on a bench I walked along the south side of the marina and then down a walk and found the village’s “beach” — a patch about fifty feet by ten feet of small rocks.  The vegetation is interesting — cacti thriving all over.

As it was getting near dusk we decided to head (climb) back to the room.  Once there they turned in while I blogged.

After a busy day traveling it was only natural for us to wake a bit late, after 8a.  Finally staggered to breakfast about 9:30a in the main office / lobby of the Locanda del Sole — a small room with four or so tables and a bar / kitchenette area that Enrico was busying himself with.  I had croissants with chocolate, toast with jelly, and breakfast tea, all decent.  Headed back to the room and readied to leave, leaving about 10:30a.

Rather than tackle the steep slope down through town and the pedestrian tunnel to get to the train station we decided to take one of the side roads with a number of switchbacks.  What was nice about this route is it led us past the town church and a small fortification that mainly served as a watch post against pirate attacks (yes, pirate attacks!).  I walked around the fortification’s battlements some and took pictures while Michelle and Addison sat on a bench and looked out to sea — for pirates, perhaps.  Next to the fortification was the town’s elementary school, a tiny affair.

Having seen that we continued on down the hill and arrived at the station.  We all agreed that the steep route through down was the way to go — just soooo much quicker.  Stood in line at the ticket office (biglietteria) and purchased three tickets for a single ride for four euros each.  Hopped on the train to the third town (going from south to north with Riomaggiore being the first), Corniglia, as that is the only one not reachable by boat.  Once there we realized we should’ve just used our tickets to go all the way to the fifth town, Monterosso al Mare, as Corniglia was many hundred steps up and we were already running late.  We could’ve taken a bus, I suppose, but all that we had heard was that it was the most miss-able of the five so… we missed.  Took some pictures, though!

Bought three more four euro tickets, this time taking the train to the fifth town, Monterosso al Mare.  Monterosso is by far the most tourist-friendly of them all — being relatively easy to get to and having a nice sandy beach.  It is also relatively flat and spread out compared to the others.  Despite that, however, it still managed to be pretty warren-like and quite neat.  We wandered around a bit, finally choosing to eat at a place called La Beluga Blu.  We ordered bruschetta with tomato, cheese, and prosciutto ham, very tasty.  I can’t remember what Michelle had (sorry!), but my salami and buffalo mozzarella on focaccia was great.  Addison had a burger.

After lunch we wandered around a bit and visited the pharmacy.  Pharmacies in Italy all have these cool animated LED green cross signs.  Headed back to the harbor and purchased three one-way (south) hop-on hop-off tickets on the boat for fifteen euros each.  We waited a bit for the boat to arrive, intending to take it to the fourth town, Vernazza.

Vernazza is often described as the most picturesque of the five towns as it has a small beautiful harbor and a nifty watch tower.  I’d agree with that.  Their gelato, on the other hand (at least at the place we had)…  Michelle had strawberry, Addison coffee, and I mixed the two (maybe that is why I didn’t like it, haha, that’s pretty messed up taste-wise).  While we were eating our gelato we watched some construction going on.  What was cool was that they had this small motorized tread-based thing to haul materials with and used a motor to lift items through the second (third, to us Americans) story window in a bucket.  Vernazza is also interesting in that it is on a peninsula and even deep in town we saw a grotto with water beyond.

Hopped on the boat to Manarola, second of the towns (skipping Corniglia, of course, as it has no access to the sea).  Manarola by far had the coolest harbor features.  Just after getting off the boat (and having the gangplank buck up a couple of feet when I was on it due to a big wave) we went through this narrow cleft in the rock and emerged in the harbor proper (the boat being too big to enter).  The harbor had a few row boats and boats with small outboards in it but by far the coolest thing was a small clear deep cove that people were jumping off of a large rock into.  In addition, a stream ran through town and emptied via a five or ten foot sliding rock type fall into the ocean.  It looked like an amusement park ride.  It being late we didn’t wander a whole bunch there.  As it was near the end of the day there were only one or two boat departures on the schedule and we wanted to be sure and catch it.  No matter, hanging out at the harbor was perfectly fine by us!

Soon the boat to Riomaggiore arrived.  By this time Michelle was feeling a bit seasick so our boat travels could come to an end fast enough.  Got some beautiful shots of Riomaggiore from the boat (and the other towns earlier, as well).  Upon landing we did some menu shopping for dinner but most of the places near the harbor were predictably seafood heavy.  Did take the time to buy some giant one liter water bottles, however, stocking up for the travel day ahead of us, at a small market store.  Riomaggiore (and indeed much of Italy) has many little stores still, with great local produce (unbelievably large grapes) on display in front to draw shoppers in.

Ended up eating at Giammi Caffe.  It was a bit of a cluster.  Addison wanted steak but they were out so he settled for a ham and cheese sandwich.  Michelle and I wanted pasta with mushrooms but they were out of those too!  She ended up with pesto pasta which wasn’t that great and I ended up with ham and cheese tortellini with “meat”.  I have no idea what kind of meat — that matters, people!  While we were there they were playing a TV station with an Italian rapper’s video on it.  Very, very odd.

On the way up to our rooms we got some gelato at Bar Centrale.  Addison, unfortunately, dropped his and declined to get more (we offered, honest!).  Bought some Riomaggiore magnets and headed back to the room.  I got restless and made a solo trip down to the marina shortly before dark.  I managed to see Wales defeat Russia 2 to 0 and Slovakia and England tie at 0.  Once back up I talked with our neighbor Suzzane from New Jersey.  She is traveling about Italy with her sister from Germany.  We mainly talked about travel and she told a neat story about their travels in Croatia to find their ancestors’ town. Wrapped up the day with a small amount of blogging (mainly summarizing the day).

In hindsight I wish we had schedule another day for Cinque Terre.  A truly remarkable place, five incredible towns that manage to exist within — and even enhance — the natural beauty of the place.  Each town (well, we didn’t go to Corniglia but I’m sure it does as it is the hilltop one) managed to feel distinct yet each had the most incredible features, almost as if say the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Walt Disney World was made real.  Honestly, it was almost too incredible not to be by design…