Previously posted as part of the Travel Pod Series "Furry Beard Hops the Pond" on Friday, March 28, 2014
On the rails again... first from Arona back to Milan, then to the capital of Italy. First up, the Milan train station: a huge, beautiful, historic station. As with other parts of Europe, there were lots of people smoking, but here we got to buy some fresh juices. We're still adjusting to the fact that Europe apparently doesn't believe in breakfasts, so the juice is certainly a help.
After taking some great pics, we head out to catch our next train to Rome, a high speed rail that travels 250 km/hr (about 150 MPH). We travel through the country, alternating between countrysides, towns, and tunnels through mountains. We see beauty in many places, but also a good amount of run down, "wrong side of the tracks" vistas. Graffiti is quite commonplace in the urban areas, so much so that it seems to be one continuous piece of art in many places.
But the vineyards and country homes we pass are so picturesque that they overshadow the urban blight. We eat our leftover pizza for lunch, catch some Zs, and work on another blog entry.
We arrive in Rome, and hop on the Metro, following the directions our host gave us. We get off the Metro and head topside, but, uh, how do we get to the next place she said to go to? Oh, we walk a mile now, uh, ok. So we roll our bags for a mile to get to a major piazza where many buses and above-ground rails meet.
We find the next bus we should take, but it's not leaving for another 25 minutes. No problem, we need the rest after that long walk. We grab a drink, and then hop on the bus when it's time for it to head out. We get about three stops, and then, well, the bus is on fire, so everybody off! Apparently the engine is completely overheated, so no bus for another thirty minutes.
Well, we decide to walk the rest of the way, another mile or so. We're getting our workouts today! We arrive, sweating and tired, to an awesome apartment and a gracious host. After resting for a few minutes, we head out to start seeing the sites of Rome!
The route we set out on is suggested in Rick Steve's Rome guide book. We started our "Piazza Tour of Rome" in the Piazza de Popolo, a huge square with an obelisk, Michael Jackson and a man floating on thin air, just ask Neil! Our tour continued to the Spanish Steps, but we only managed to climb a few before we headed to the next stop.
Trevi Fountain was next on our list, the tradition here is to throw a coin in the fountain to ensure that you return to Rome. Maria decided to try her luck at it. This fountain was HUGE, and basically built into the side of a building.
We were both ready to eat, luckily one of Neil's coworkers gave us a restaurant list before we left. The place on the agenda for tonight was right near Piazza Navona, where we were headed. Neil worked his magic to find the address and we made our way into a tiny place with homemade pasta. Neil had tortellini with meat sauce and Maria tried the gnocchi with a red basil sauce. Then it was onto a gelato place. We were warned to avoid any of the ones with neon signs, but this one was definitely authentic. Two scoops each and the pistachio was our favorite.
Piazza Navona was beautiful, with 3 fountains, more giant statues, and another obelisk. Super tired, we went to Campo de Fiore, our final point on the map. We weren't feeling up for anymore sightseeing but our directions to the apartment were from this final place. This town square was the most run down out of all our places so we weren't really sure why it was included but we went there too.
We got to have another confusing bus ride back, but luckily this one didn't catch on fire. Time to rest our legs and our eyes!
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