Feeling pretty good about offloading that extra weight we caught the #2 tram, right outside their door, north to near Piazza Mancini where we hoped to see the controversial MAXXI (Museum of the Arts of the 21st Century) which has been open only a few years. It's webpage seemed to inicate open daily but alas, not so. We arrived at about the same time as a large tour group and all experienced the same let down - closed Monday! Right!
Oh well, on the way we happened upon a small but beautiful church, the Parrocchia Santa Croce...
So, with the museum being closed, it was back on the tram to Piazza del Popolo to see if the Santa Maria del Popolo church was open. Again, not so, wrong time of day. Went to a neat little cafe near the metro and had an excellent lunch complete with some pretty darn good bruschetta. Then we went home for an afternoon of rest. At least the box of stuff was out of our hands!
After a good rest we decided to give the church a try again so off to the metro and got off at station Flaminio with a short walk over to the church. The Chigi Chapel is pretty spectacular with the works by Raffael and Bernini.
On the way home we walked along Via Cola di Rienzo. At one point there were two women, perhaps in their mid 40's walking ahead of us. There was an old man, with a cane standing on the sidewalk. He pointed at one of the women's shoes, she was wearing sneakers, and blew a loud raspberry at her! Funny, anyway we continued along Via Cola di Rienzo and found a new cafe/bar, Portofino, with a very nice seating area out on the street. Best prices we have had so far and definitely the best munchies.
Tuesday being a "no chance of rain" day (according to weather.com) looked to be a good day to wander around Trastevere... and it was. We took the #280 bus along the river to the south end of Trastevere where it was a short walk to see the Church of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere. Since we had to wait quite a while for the bus and by the time we got off we had less than an hour before the church was closed for the afternoon. Best to get help with directions, so shortly after alighting from the bus we encountered a young woman out walking her two dogs. We asked in our best Italian.. "excuse, dove chiesa Santa Cecilia?" To which she hemmed for a moment then motioned for us to follow. She took us directly to the church. How sweet is that? Even with the stop to allow one dog to take a poop, and for her to pick it up, we got there in plenty of time for a look around the church and the wonderful crypt...
... we had a good amount of time in the crypt and the church itself before they started to close up for the afternoon. Leaving the church we wandered over to the main Tratevere drag where we found an Oviesse store which is always good for a bit of a peruse. We found a white collar worker type eatery for a decent lunch then headed for the Church of Santa Maria in Trastevere, another of our favorite churches...
After visiting the church for a while we wandered around the surrounding streets before settling in at a cafe on the Piazza Santa Maria di Trastevere for a cappucino and a bit of sketching. We finished the afternoon with a walk across the river into the Centro Storico where Kris found a store selling way cool neoprene handbags. Who can resist a beautiful red bag with a bright purple interior? On to Campo de Fiori for some Grom ice cream and to purchase a new supply of the "ugly but good" cookies before catching a bus back to our hood. Got some cash from a BNL ATM (because it is a partner with Scotia Bank, so no fees) then stopped in at Portofino Caffe for a nice sit with wine and munchies before heading home. On the way home we stopped in at our local Conad grocery store for some supplies and wine. They had some excellent Chianti on sale for less than half price so we decided to stock up a bit with 3 bottles. When we got to the cashier she rang the wine up at full price. What the??? Brian says "... In sconto?" (discount)... the cashier and Brian disappear into the wine section of the store where the cashier looks at the discount sticker and tries to explain, in Italian of course, that the discount is for "customer loyalty card holders only". Brian "no capisce"! So the cashier just goes back to the cash station and asks the next customer something, whereupon customer hands her a card which she scans and, voila... discount given. A great big AHA!! Ok, thank you... where can I get this card? Cashier calls manager who directs Brian into a small office. A couple of minutes later Brian emerges with a card. Well wth a card for someone named "Priem Em...something". Anyway language differences can be fun and customer loyalty cards make excellent souvenirs. Looking at our receipt later we found that the good samaritan customer, behind us, received 40 bonus points for using her card to get us the discount. Winners all around.
Wednesday was a get up early day to catch the train to Naples, or Napoli as they would say here. Well not so much as a "get up early" as "get out of the apartment relatively early". Our train reservation was for 9:10 am on one of the newer "fast" trains. We hit nearly 300 kph and it was a quick 1 hour 10 minutes from Rome Termini to Napoli Centrale. Nice. We had done some research on how to get to our hotel but there was a whack of new construction outside the terminal and everything we thought we knew went out the window. To our luck, Brian ran into a couple of english speaking women, who now live in Italy, who were also looking for information. They were kind enough to let us join them since we were all going to the same metro station. Once out of the Universita metro station one of them asked a local who gave directions to the Via Mezzocannone. From there it was easy, but as we walked along and turned the required street corners the streets got narrower with more trash and much more graffiti. Turning the final corner we passed by a small piazza crowded with young people (we were right beside the large university) who seemed to think nothing of mass littering. Beer & pop bottles and other crap strewn around. Sidestepping numerous piles of dog poop we finally entered a courtyard over which hung a banner announcing our hotel. Could this grotty looking place be it? It looked so nice on the web! We noticed a small sign pointing towards an alcove with an elevator to the hotel on the second floor. Oh well, onward & upward, so we crammed ourselves into the tiny elevator and stepped out into the foyer and beautiful little lobby of the Decumani Hotel de Charme. Much relief! It was only 11:00 am with checkin not until 3:00 pm so we asked if we could just leave our overnight luggage while we went out. "No problem sir... but wait, we do have one room available right now. It is an upgrade but we will give it to you for the same price and you can checkin now" Sweet!
After a brief rest we headed off. Our mission for the day... Pompeii... but first some lunch. We went into a pizza place near the metro where Brian just had to try a pizza with "mozzarella, cream, corn & ham". Never had a pizza with cream or corn before. Messy, not bad but probably won't try again. Then it was back onto the metro to Napoli Centrale to catch the Circumvesuviana train to Pompei.
Now, this train is the grottiest little piece of crap four car train we have ever been on (even counting India)! Ok, some people might think quaint or some other nicer word... but no, it's not! Packed in like sardines it's hard to imagine what this must be like in the much busier, hotter times of the year. To top it off, it's a pick pocket bonanza - maybe that's why they keep it this way. After about half way when some of the regular commuters (poor buggers) got off we managed to grab a couple of seats across the aisle from each other. Next stop the two seats across from Brian opened up and two American guys plopped into them. These guys and their wives, who were still standing near a door, were fully "into the experience", boisterous, having fun etc etc... BUT not paying attention. A couple more stops and one of them suddenly stands up patting his front jeans pockets and exclaimed "my wallet is gone... they got it out of my front pocket".
This is a mistake too many men make! We learned that lesson years ago when Brian had his front pocket picked in a small Mexican town market. All they need is a small scrum with a bit of pushing and shoving. Front pocket is not the answer!
His wife asks if they got his passport whereupon he pats his open shirt pocket. Lucky it was still there. Only credit cards and a fair bit of cash. This guy was the perfect target. Hauling luggage, totally distracted and stuck in the scrum by the door. Frankly, it's a bloody shame that the authorities turn a blind eye to this but it is a well known fact about Naples. Be Aware!
Anyway, Pompeii. This place is huge. We spent about 3 hours just wandering around the ruins and saw but a fraction of it. Lots of interesting bits of detail but most of it is just reconstructed walls to give you a feel for the size and grandeur of the place....
Occasionally you catch a glimpse of some architectural or artistic detail but most of the really good stuff has been moved to the National Archaeology Museum in Naples.
Back on the train to Naples. Kris snoozed a bit but Brian figured that if we both fell asleep we'd likely be picked clean and wake up naked! As we took the metro back to the hotel we looked at the map and seeing that the metro stop looked to be about 4 blocks from the waterfront decided to wander down there to see if we could find a good seafood restaurant. Well, we must be in the wrong part of Naples for that. Moving further away from Corso Umberto, the same thing as this morning... nothing favorable to mention and it appeared that the waterfront was blocked by a freeway and high fencing. Clearly a light, or maybe even heavy, industrial area. We worked our way back up towards Corso Umberto thinking that this whole experience might not be worth the time and money! We crossed over the main drag and continued up the Via Duomo (maybe that has promise) then turned into an alley like side street that looked interesting. Well, we sort of lucked out. We had wandered right into the Centro Storico (Historical Center) and things started to get a whole lot more interesting within a couple of blocks. We even stumbled upon the neat Largo Corpo di Napoli and it's beautiful statue...
By this time it was starting to get dark and we were starting to get hungry. Mostly little standup pizza places but soon we came across a larger piazza with an actual restaurant and while sitting there we verified that we'd come almost full circle and were only a few blocks from our hotel. An excellent meal with a couple of glasses of wine later we headed back to the hotel where we had one of the best sleeps of this trip. Things were looking up.
Thursday after a decent breakfast in the hotel we checked out. Since our train back to Rome wasn't until 5:10 pm, they let us leave our luggage there. We told the receptionist that we were going to take the metro to the Museum stop to go to the National Archaeology Museum (NAM) at which point she exclaimed "No, you must walk... it is not far" and promptly pulled out a map to show us. She also pointed out a small church that we should see on the way.
So, off we went on foot, up the street from our hotel...
... must say, looked a little better after a good night's sleep! At the top of the street we were right back in the middle of the Centro Storico. We passed by many interesting looking antique refinishing and other craft shops on the way to the museum. The first entrance we came across for the NAM turned out to be just an exhibit showing the many types of historical artifacts they encountered while digging the new metro stations along Corso Umberto. Very interesting by itself, but not part of the museum. Into the main museum we go.
This is a fabulous museum. We focused on just 2 sections: ancient Roman sculptures and Pompeii.
Great array of sculptures. Some of them huge...
... and stunning displays of frescoes, mosaics and artifacts (pottery, glassware, etc) from Pompeii...
For some sculptures and paintings it was fun to imagine a dialog going on. For example, for this sculpture...
- Sculpture Guy, looking off camera: "What did you say? Where's my penis? Wait, It was here a second ago!"
- Another guy off camera: "Hey, what's that in your hand?"
- Guy in upper right corner: "Hey, come on you guys. Why do I always have to do the naked ironing?"
We finished our walk with a stop at the Duomo, then back to the hotel to pick up luggage, to the metro to Napoli Centrale, fast train to Rome and before we knew it we were back in our apartment. Whew... a good trip to Naples after all and all wallets intact. Bonus!
Friday, it was time for another try at the MAXXI. This time it was open. A fabulous ultramodern building with some excellent exhibits, but at this time we found most of the temporary exhibits boring and uninteresting. Just as well there are no pics allowed! Not much else to say about this day. Wandered down Via Corso, mediocre lunch at a sidewalk cafe in front of the Pantheon. Nice evening to sit out at the Gran Caffe Mazzini for a few drinks and munchies.
Saturday we decided that after several visits to Rome, it was about time we "did" the Forum. Long slow lineup to get tickets (it's not even the busy season yet!) and lots of school children groups even on a Saturday. Bought the audio guides but they were of only limited use. However, this is a neat place to wander through as the shear size of the still standing columns gives a real feel as to how it must have been here in it's heyday...
A couple of hours of looking about followed by some sketching and it was time for lunch. Took a bus up Via Corso to get close to the Pantheon and one of our favorite restaurants La Sagrestia. Bruschetta, Carfioli alla Romana, Pizza Pescatore. Very nice. Followed by an ice cream at Gelateria del Teatro on Via dei Coronari. Even nicer.
Sunday, the eve of our departure, was a day to visit the Trevi Fountain...
... to toss in a couple of coins to ensure a return trip someday. Hey, it has worked every other time we have been here so why not this time? Followed that with a last wander through the Pantheon, Piazza Navona and Campo de Fiori. The places we thought we'd go to for lunch were all closed so time for another random pick, this time along Corso Vittorio Emanuele III. Decent bruschetta (always have to try that), salad and a pretty good sausage and mushroom pizza. Then it was time to head home and get ready for tomorrow's departure.
Later, it was time for one last "Roma" evening out at a sidewalk cafe. We chose Portofino. Very nice!
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