Rome: Day 4/The Amalfi Coast (November 22, 2009)

On our last morning in Rome we decided to finally visit the Pantheon. Since we could see it from our hotel window I guess we always felt that we would be able to drop by any time. On the way out of the hotel I was finally able to capture some photos of the glass chandeliers which had been amusing us all week. They just look so much like octopus! I'm guessing they feature Murano glass and they are quite nice, but they do look like something from the sea. :)

After a quick stroll across the piazza we soon found ourselves stepping inside the Pantheon. Even though we had visited it before, it was still awe inspiring. Although it was once a pagan temple, it is now being using as a church and it definitely gives you a reverent feeling. It is one big room that would be quite echoy except that everyone talks in whispers out of respect for the church. The ceiling is beautiful and in the very center is an open hole to let in light. Of course, it can also let in rain and it is quite fun to be inside during a downpour. If you look closely you will see drain holes in the marble slab flooring directly below the hole.

The walls are very elaborately decorated and are covered with all sorts of beautiful marble. Below is a picture of the main entryway.

We were very lucky that we visited when we did. Since it was Sunday morning, the Pantheon was set up for a church service and as we left we noticed that they were closing off the entranceway so that the churchgoers wouldn't be disturbed during the service. Below, a small organ was set up near the front of the chapel and we assumed that it would be used during the service. It was quite a nice looking old organ.

When we left the Pantheon we waited a bit in the piazza until Woodley's mother joined us. Near us stood this nice looking horse who was patiently waiting. There are several of these horse drawn carriages around Rome but we have never tried one.

After meeting up with Woodley's parents we hopped into their car and set out to navigate our way out of Rome. Since the Roman streets don't follow any particular grid this can be a bit of a challenge. Fortunately Woodley did an excellent job of map-reading and we were soon on the A1 highway heading  south!

Rome has a very nice highway system called the autostrada on which you can travel quickly throughout the country. However, you must pay to use the highway system and the amount you pay is relative to how far you have traveled on the highway. When you get on the autostrada you pick up a ticket which you must carefully keep safe somewhere until you are ready to exit. When you exit, you present it to the ticket agent and they let you know how much you need to pay. Apparently, if you are so unfortunate as to loose your ticket, they assume that you have traveled the farthest possible distance on the autostrada system (say all the way north and then all the way south again) and charge you accordingly.

Each time you get off the highway you must pay the toll which means that on most trips, you want to stay on the autostrada for as long as possible. Since you normally would not want to get off the highway to visit local towns for food or restroom breaks, the Italians have provided a network of Autogrill, the equivalent of rest areas along the autostrada. At the Autogrills you can find basic food items, maps, gas, and restrooms. Unfortunately, the quality of food is not very high and there are not many options. But still, they are fairly evenly spaced and it is quite nice to know that there is an easy solution if you do need to make a stop.

We took the A1 Autostrada all the way south to Naples and then headed over to the Amalfi Coast Drive. Sadly it was quite hazy and the hours of daylight were rapidly dwindling as we started the drive but we enjoyed the view as much as we could until it got dark.

One of the things that amazed us was the use of the steep hillsides for farming. The coast is somewhat similar to the Big Sur Coastline in California but while the land around Big Sur has been only sparsely developed (as most of it has been reserved for state parks), every possible space on the steep Amalfi Coastline has been used to provide food or housing. The very steep cliffs have been transformed into a series of narrow terraces on which grapes and citrus trees are grown. During our visit the groves of citrus were apparent mostly because they had been covered with black fabric to prevent birds from accessing the fruit. In the photo below you can see the black coverings in the bottom left corner.

Like the Big Sur Coast road, the Amalfi Coast road is very narrow and curvy. At times it takes you high above the water so that you can get an excellent view down the coast and at times you drop down into a town right at the level of the ocean.

It is amazing how the houses appear to be built right into the edge of the cliff  and some seem about to fall off.

When we reached the city of Amafi we decided to stop for a snack and a look around. After a bit of maneuvering we found a parking spot down by the water. There was a lovely boardwalk going out into the ocean with charming lamp posts! It looked like the perfect spot for a romantic stroll.

We headed away from the ocean and strolled into the city via one of the many narrow streets. Soon the street opened out into a square facing the local cathedral. It was beautifully decorated with differently colored stones and mosaics. The visitors to the local sidewalk cafe appeared to quite enjoy staring up at it.

A little further along the street we found a cute little bakery where we stopped for a drink and a snack.

They had the most delicious lemon cake. The part I liked best was the tart lemony glaze covering the cake. Woodley's parents bought one cake which we spit into 4 pieces - one for each of us. We liked those pieces so well that we ended up buying another cake to take home with us!

Another feature of the bakery (and indeed it seemed a popular item around the town) was very very large bars of nougat candy. In the photo below you can compare the size of the nougat to the size of the pastries. I would guess that the nougat was at least 6 by 6 by 12 inches.

After our refueling stop we continued on the coast road. Before long the sun had set and we headed away from the coast to the city of Herculaneum where we were planning to spend the night. We made it safely to the hotel where we had a delicious dinner before falling fast fast asleep.

~ElizabethRose~

Rome: Day 3 (Visiting the Zoo!)

On our third day in Rome, I was suffering from a bit of a cold so we decided to take it a bit easier and head over for a relaxing stroll in the second largest park in Rome, the Villa Borghese Gardens. According to Wikipedia it is 148 acres. They are filled with walking paths, beautiful trees, and delightful gardens. We found a nice bench and sat down to read our book, Prince Caspian, of the Chronicles of Narnia.

As Woodley read to me I enjoyed watching the pigeons search for food in the fall leaves scattered over the street. From time to time a gust of wind would come up and send more leaves falling down upon us. It was such a delightful afternoon!

All too soon we finished Prince Caspian and decided to set out and head over to the Rome Zoo which is on one edge of the gardens. We had visited it last time we were in Rome and were excited to see the animals again.

After buying tickets, we started strolling and quickly discovered some adorable monkeys who were putting on quite a show for us.

There really seemed to be no shortage of monkeys at the Rome zoo. A little while later we came upon a great big circular area that was home to a huge gathering of monkeys. There were so many, all doing different tasks and activities, that we could have easily stayed there and watched them all day. Around the outside of the circle was a wide border of mulch where the monkeys sat grooming each other and looking for grubs.

And in the center was a raised area that they could climb up to which had a variety of ropes, swings, perches, and toys for them to play with. As we watched, I noticed two mothers carrying small babies on their backs! Eventually I began to wonder just how many of them there were. I did a quick count of the ones I could see from my vantage point and ended up at 60. Because there were so many on the other side that I couldn't see, I'm guessing there were at least 80 monkeys in that area. I've never seen anything like that at a zoo before!

The animals weren't the only thing to see at the zoo. There was also a lovely display of fall color that seemed to pop up everywhere we looked.

Close to some of the most beautiful trees was the home of 3 adorable seals. Their tank was strewn with fallen leaves and they seemed to really enjoy swimming through them. They put on quite a show for us and were so much fun to watch!

Next up was the big tiger! I have to admit, he seemed a bit near. (especially as I kept thinking of the San Francisco zoo incident)

I love these little flowers! They were found on bushes all over the zoo. I looked up the name but sadly have now forgotten it.

Everyone seemed to be enjoying the fall sunshine. As we turned another corner, we came upon the elephants receiving their lunch. The way they use their trunks is really impressive!

Close to the elephants lives the two hump camel.

And a strange bird with very bright colors!

Our last stop at the zoo was to visit the ring-tailed lemurs. They have always been one of my favorite animals. I love their stripy tails and playful personalities. I just wish you could have one as a pet... :)

Upon leaving the zoo we strolled back through the Borghese Gardens. I just love these fun trees! They always remind me of something out of a Dr. Seuss book!

It was such a lovely afternoon for a stroll. The sunlight filtering through the leaves of the trees was delightful and it was fun to be out with all of the Romans who were clearly enjoying the park just as much as we were.

As we were approaching the edge of the park, we were surprised to see an area closed off for a bike track. There was a ramp set up that formed a start gate and then there were a series of ramps and hills in place for the bikers to ride over. They appeared to be practicing for a race that would happen later in the day. We sat down on a nearby wall and enjoyed seeing how high they could jump! That was a very exciting way to end our visit to the park!

One last glimpse of the beautiful fall leaves:

As we exited the park, we came out  to a terrace from which there was an excellent view of the entire city. As you would expect in such a beautiful place, a painter had set up a canvas to capture the scene. It made a very romantic picture.

The lovely scene that was being painted:

On the way home, we once more passed by the Spanish Steps. This time they were quite crowded - so much so that it was actually quite hard to get through.

The neighboring streets appeared to be completely taken over by pedestrians although a few cars were valiantly fighting their way through.

And on the corner, in the midst of it all, a roast chestnut vendor. We saw many stalls of this nature throughout Rome and it was quite fun to imagine eating roasted chestnuts for the holiday season. Sadly, we never got around to trying them before we left. Maybe next time...

~ElizabethRose~

Rome: Day 2

We began our second day in Rome with a stroll down to Trevi Fountain. The fountain is so lovely but we always hurry by it because of the crowds of tourists and the pushy "rose men" who try to "give" away roses to any women they happen to see. Of course, if you accept a rose from them, they then ask for payment. It becomes quite annoying because they often pressure you quite strongly to take the rose and won't take no for an answer. Our way of dealing with them is to not look directly at them as we are walking by and then to say "no" very clearly as we keep moving. I think Rome would be a much nicer city if you didn't have to worry about being harassed like that all over town. 

For breakfast, we stopped and picked up hot sandwiches from a sidewalk cafe and munched them as we walked along.

I thoroughly enjoyed looking in all the shop windows we passed by, especially this one which was full of delicious looking cheeses.

Before long, we found ourselves at the Spanish Steps. They were surprisingly empty - I suppose because it was a week day. We climbed up to the top of them and on one of the level areas noticed one of the rose men heading our way. We started our usual tactic of looking away and heading in a slightly different direction but when he got about halfway to us he turned away, hunched over, and started moving away at a rapid pace. We were pleasantly surprised but wondered what was wrong with him. When we got to the top of the steps, we saw the reason for his odd behavior - a pair of policemen on duty were heading up the steps on patrol. We watched him as he continued to jog in the opposite direction while trying to hide his bunch of roses. I was glad to know that the Roman police don't condone the harassment of their tourists.

We really didn't have any specific aim to our walking, although Woodley is very familiar with the layout of the city and was able to guide me around easily. We just took our time and enjoyed strolling and viewing the sites.

On one small side street I noticed this interesting purple plant in a window box:

A little further along the same street, I noticed these interesting shutters. I had never seen any that folded out before!

Our last tourist stop for the day was Trajan's Forum. We picked up an audio guide and enjoyed running around the building - which apparently used to be a big market. Perhaps because of the time of year and perhaps because there are so many other exciting ruins to see in Rome, the forum was practically deserted. Since we had the place almost to ourselves, we ran around poking our heads into the different stalls, trying out various staircases, and all sorts of fun imagining what it must have once been like to go shopping there.

By the time we finished exploring the market area I was feeling quite tired - I had started developing a cold and we decided to head back to the hotel so I could rest a bit.

In the evening we made our way over to Rome's Opera House where we saw Tchaikovksy's Swan Lake Ballet. It was a beautiful production and the opera house was stunning. We had picked up tickets earlier in the day but we had no idea where in the theater we would be sitting. When we arrived, the ushers pointed us up the stairs and another usher guided us to a door in a long hallway that wrapped around the theater. When we opened the door, we stepped into a tiny room covered with red tapestry. There were coat hooks on one wall and a mirror on the other wall. Immediately in front of us was another doorway which led out into a box. There were already another couple in the box. We were a bit confused and checked with them to make sure we were in the right place - we didn't want to disturb them if it was supposed to be a private box. They explained to us that there were 6 seats in each box and that we were in fact in the right place. Since they had already taken the 2 chairs at the front edge of the box, we selected the 2 chairs at the back which were more like tall bar stools. Due to their height, they allowed us a fairly decent view of the stage.

It was so fun to look out and see the rows of boxes around the beautiful opera house! The ballet was also beautiful. The costumes were beautifully constructed and many were quite sparkly. The dancing was also amazing - the male lead in particular did some very high jumps. :) Overall we enjoyed Swan Lake more than Sleeping Beauty, but we think that was probably because the choreography of Swan Lake was so much better. Now, if we end up seeing The Nutcracker in Seattle this holiday season we will have seen all 3 of Tchaikovsky's ballets in less than 2 months! What a treat!

~ElizabethRose~