What a nice day in Rome and two unexpected but amazing
visits with New York City Friends. I started my day doing the usual computer
work and then headed into the city to meet my friends the Meekel family. I
worked for Lyn at her real estate management firm several years ago. It was so
wonderful to see her, her husband and daughter here in Rome. They are going on
a Mediterranean cruise tomorrow from Civitavecchia, Rome.
So I didn’t expect there to be much of adventure to reach
their hotel which is up near the Borghese Gardens but this is Italy and one
should never, ever be surprised that things don’t go as planned so I’m just
glad I had left myself so much time to get there.
I went outside the apartment which is on Viale de
Trastevere, the main road in this area of Rome with easy access to the main
city by tram number 8. So today I did as
I have been for a week and half and got my bus ticket at the café and waited
for the tram on the platform which is in the middle of the street. Now I should
have been tipped off right away that something was amiss because cars were just
zipping up and down the tram track area like it was their own personal race
track and so many taxi’s whizzing about. Well I, not thinking much of it, sat
with a group of people for close to a half hour and saw only 1 tram and it was
going in the wrong direction. Hmmm, I thought, could it be they went on strike.
Well the German women next to me said it was probably just an accident that is
causing the delay. So me being the good New Yorker I am, I picked my but up off
the bench and went on my merry way walking. I walked and walked and walked
passing through Piazza Travstevere where I am sure I saw Billy Joel with a
women talking to a limo driver. It looked just like him and his American accent
was what first made me look in his direction. Anyway, I looked for a few
moments and then just went on my way, again, like a good New Yorker. So then I
crossed the bridge and was in Argentina square in no time and then just headed
up town past the Pantheon, the Fontana di Trevi and so on until I reached the
Spanish steps which I climbed and then took a few turns here and there and one
and half hours from when I first got my feet moving in the right direction I
arrived at the Hotel Savoy which is so lovely and in a part of the city
occupied by the most incredible mansions and palaces.
Met the Meekel’s in the lobby and we headed out to lunch. We
walked and talked a bit and they caught me up on life in the city and how their
little cat was doing after her eye surgery (well, thank goodness) and in no
time at all we were back at the top of the Spanish steps and Lyn found a lovely
outdoor restaurant and they so kindly treated me to a wonderful lunch and great
conversation.
It’s so nice to be able to share one’s travel experiences
with friends. So after lunch we walked
around and made our way to the Trevi Fountain where I took pictures of them
throwing in a coin and then off to walk some more.
We got down to the area where you head over to the Coliseum
and we stopped for gelato, again such a kind treat by Lyn and she shared her
yummy cherry gelato and I gave her some of my lemon. I love people who
share! Lyn by the way is an amazing
Italian cook, her mother and father is from Sicily.
So we walked to the ruins and then it began to rain. One of
those sunny, summer kind of rains so it only lasted a few minutes and we took
cover with some other tourists by one of the ancient walls.
We made our way to the Coliseum where there where tons and
tons of people but it were still easy to enjoy the view of such a spectacular
creation.
I still had things to see before I left Rome today so I left
them at the Forum to explore and I headed to the Coliseum Metro station. And
once again, I found a crowd of people just standing and waiting and not
entrance to the Metro open. This very rude older women would answer me when I
asked if I could go to the Metro she just glared at me, I guess she was
stressed or just didn’t understand a word I said but a young man explained they
were on strike. Alas, the mystery of the missing trams explained. Apparently
from morning until 5pm last night there would be no public trains/trams, etc.
throughout all of Italy. The whole country was affected and later last night
when I told Rossella at dinner I asked if they go out and protest somewhere
with signs and such or do they just stay home and relax. She said no protesting
just relaxing. So really what is the point if you’re not going to take
advantage of the time and be out where people can see what your message is and
what you are protesting? So really, it’s a time for workers to just take a mass
vacation day! Ah, Italy, so, so interesting and maddening at the same time.
So I hoped on a bus (they were working) and it took me to
the Borghese Gardens where I walked for an hour. I really love this place and
it’s their equivalent of Central Park and such a great place to get away from
the noise and hustle and bustle of the city.
The park was packed with locals walking dogs and playing
with children and there is even a cute little train that takes you around. I
didn’t hop on because I wanted to walk a bit. Yes, even after all that walking,
I still wanted to explore by foot. I found the zoo, which is really great but
was closing so I only saw the parrot, deer and some chickens from outside the
fence of the zoo but they have giraffes, brown bears, wallabies, etc. It’s
really rather big for such a not so large park.
So then I found the Globe Theatre which sits amongst some
trees and is a replica of the Globe Theatre in London and although I could only
see the white outer walls with brown stripes it looked pretty impressive and
they have Shakespeare in the Park in the summer, what fun.
And then I made it to Athena’s lake and temple and found
these kids playing on an old, large tree that had fallen over. It was so nice
to see kids just running and playing and not with a video game in their hands.
I eventually made it over to the expensive restaurant in the
Park. It’s really very beautiful what must have been a mansion century or so
ago. I looked at the menu and you don’t even want to know what a bowl of pasta
costs there but I did see people in their outdoor area eating so I’m sure it’s
very popular.
I took some great shots of the city as the sun was beginning
to set. They have a great lookout point at this part of the park which is
directly above Piazza del Popolo.
I headed down the hill and reached the Piazza below in no
time and saw a church I hadn’t been in so of course I stopped. This was the Santa
Maria del Popolo church which is really very beautiful inside and just as I
walked in mass was starting so I stayed. It was a very brief mass, only about
15 minutes but it was to celebrate a saint’s day but I checked online and I can’t
figure out which saint as there are several for yesterday and the priest spoke
so fast. But it was nice to be there and observe mass for all the saints days
celebrate yesterday.
My friend Reesa, from New York was also coming in to Rome
yesterday so I had her hotel name and address which was just a few blocks from
Piazza Del Popolo so sought out The First Luxury Art Rome hotel and when I
walked in the lobby was so surprised to see such modern décor an lots of modern
art including a life size porcelain cow with lots of old telephones attached to
its back. You’ve got to love modern art.
The front desk attendant knew Reesa but said she had just
left for dinner so I wrote her a note, in case I didn’t see her and headed out
the restaurant the women said she was going to. I got to Alfredo’s (known for
their fettuccine Alfredo) and didn’t see her so I was just about to leave but
something told me she was probably lost on the way so I waited a moment and
then saw down the street this small women asking directions so I headed toward
her and when I got close enough she just screamed. I knew she wasn’t expecting
me so it was so exciting to see her.
We chatted at the restaurant for about 15 minutes and caught
up a little about the cruise she had been to and her travels and then I had to
rush back to the apartment because Rossella was making dinner for my last night
in Rome.
Rossella is a great cook and she made this pasta dish by
taking the really small tomatoes cutting them in halves, putting them in a very
hot pan with headed olive oil (very important she said to have the oil really
hot) and then she put some fresh basil tore up and quickly placed the lid on
it. It stayed that way for about 15 – 20 minutes when Luisa came home from
work. In a few minutes the pasta was cooked and she tossed it with this sauce
and put in some hot pepper flakes and it was fantastic!!! Just so delicious so
maybe someday when I feel adventurous I’ll make it myself. It looked so easy
but for us non-cookers nothing is really easy not even boiling water.
So we had a really nice dinner with together with Rossella’s
boyfriend Arturo and it was the perfect evening to end a really nice week with
this incredible family and just great, great friends. And as I will miss being with friends and Rome, I know it's time to leave because my trusty map is in tatters, a sure sign you've seen a lot and had a great experience. And I look forward to another visit in the future to (1) see my dear friends (2) go back to the park to visit the zoo when it's open and do the little train and (3) come in summer to see Shakespeare in the Roman park!
