Highlights of Week 1: The Rubik's Cube that is Roman streets

I would recommend well-padded shoes for walking around Rome. Smooth, even walking surfaces are rare. Yet most people walking around are wearing sandals, flip-flops, even platform shoes. What do they know that I don't?

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The main treat of the week was Thursday’s trip to Rome.  You probably know this already: have game plan for getting around Rome.  Have a Plan B, as well.  Those thousands of tiny alleys will get you disoriented and lost in minutes. We had a fantastic guide.  Never once did he set a foot wrong.  And he took us through Rome like thread sewing through fabric. Main road, two or three  alleys, then main road again. Then, in the afternoon, we were on our own…and it was a very different story.  We were pretty much clueless on how to get back to our original drop point. Long afternoon and long story short, we found our way to a train station and caught our train back to SM with minutes to spare.

Rome is overwhelming on first sight.  If you like that sort of thing, then you’ll find that it’s the sort of thing that you’ll like.  It’s old, messy, dirty, confusing, and ultimately, glorious!  We walked around the ancient forum and learned that there’s different levels of ancient.  We learned about the forced sacrifice of people living in what is now the forum grounds.  When they were underground, the city had grown up on top of it.  Whole neighborhoods were razed and excavated.  It’s a miracle so much has survived. 

Rome is full of incredibly monolithic buildings, some modern – some ancient. Aside from the universally revered sights that everybody knows about, we saw some interesting particulars.  They have an ice bar in Rome! A bar where everything – floor, tables, chairs, etc. is ICE. It’s a small place in an alley, invisible unless you already know it’s there.  Near that, up another alley, is an ancient building with a modern ice cream shop.  They even have smoothies.  Here they call it centrifugati.  I’m much rather order a centrifugati than a smoothie.  Another place I wanted to get into was the architecture school.  

That’s the third school I saw in Rome; an elementary school, the school of architecture and a school of theology.  James, our guide, knows a priest there who’s from Houston.  We joked about how the weather there and here is the same, so we should feel at home.

Even walking short distances in Rome is a major workout.  Sidewalks are uneven, broken, cracked, narrow. The cobbles, cubes of basalt, are uneven.  Even through my thick Reeboks, I could feel the rocks.  It’s really hard on your ligaments and ankles. I recommend walking slowly.  That way you can keep an eye on who’s walking around you and the gradient of the ground.  The part of Rome we were in is not exactly hilly, but there are a lot of stairs/steps and inclined walkways.   

Another good thing to do is to take pictures of your walking path. Take a picture of what’s in front of you and behind you because things look different when you’re going the opposite direction.  If you’re in Rome in the hot season, sunglasses, sunscreen, and hats are indispensable.  An East Indian gentleman was selling hats at our first sight, the basilica across from the Museum of Rome. I bought mine for 10 euros, but I should have haggled him down to 5 or less.

I will write more on Rome later, as well as post pics.  Mini-me is very slow lately. I may have to load pics in a separate post.