My Trip to Italy

[ChiTownBluesFan]

Hey all.

So we got back from our big Italy trip last night. Last time we did this four years ago, I wrote up a bit of info on the trip for those who haven't been over there to get an idea of what it's like (and yes, you should go). I don't even remember what board it was at the time, or who read it back then, but thought I'd go through the process again.

My wife took at least 500 pictures, and probably a lot more. As soon as she puts them online somewhere, I'll include links to those as well.

[ChiTownBluesFan]

Part 0 - Flying East sucks

The long journey begain back on 9/10, with an overnight flight to London, a 6+ hour layover, and the flight down to Rome. We had been saving up for awhile, so bought enough miles (you could do that a year or so ago) to compliment the many we already had, and booked some Business-class trips over. This was, quite possible, the best move of the trip. Yes, the food was better. Yes, the booze was free (I don't remember them saying this on the way over, but coming back, they charged for booze back in coach on the trans-Atlantic flight, which they never used to do), the food was better, etc. But the seats made it much easier to at least try and sleep. They lied mostly flat (still had maybe a 10% angle), and it was much easier to get comfortable on them. I still didn't sleep much, being as it was only about 8 PM CT when I was trying, but there were a few cat naps. At any rate, once we got to London and had a quick coffe w/ a friend of ours there, we got to go into the British Airways club, since we had business class seats.

Oh - my - Barry. Now, my company pays for those of us who travel to be a member of an airline club. So I've been in the Admirals Club for awhile (and Red Carpet before that). And I know that the clubs have a wide range of how good they are, and that here in the US, we are about the only ones who charge for booze (I'm assuming Air Canada hasn't gone this route yet). Even managed to get into Northwests club about 10 years ago when booze was still free. But at any rate, all I expect from an airline club is a place to sit with more comfortable seats, a bar, maybe some chips and whatnot. The British Airways club had buffets of food. I wish we had been there at lunchtime, because it looked like the food was going to be awesome, but even the breakfast stuff was damng good. Plenty of beer, wine, and hard liquor. Rows and rows and rows of desktops for internet access that included headphones and power outlets in both European and US formats. Just all sorts of cool. It's just too bad the niceness didn't carry over to their smaller planes business class, where they basically make the seats slightly wider, but don't actually take out the middle seat or armrests - just have the middle seat be very very narrow. At any rate, it was another uneventful flight down to Rome. We got our luggage, got a horrible exchange rate on some US cash so we could pay our car driver, and then found out parking was a bitch at Fiumancio that day, because Alatalia was on strike or something. And since it looks like they're just about ready liquidate because their dumb-ass unions would rather have no jobs than accept a 10% loss of jobs, we're glad we didn't fly them over this time. And as our driver took us to our rental apartments, we once again realized why we wouldn't never drive in Rome. Red lights are generally obeyed, but that's about it. White lane lines are optional. Yellow lane lines are optional. Probably 95% of their intersections don't have lights, so it's a giant free-for-all. Streets are narrow as all hell, and how these guys drive w/o hitting anything is beyond me. Seriously - you think Miami is bad, just ride around in Rome or Naples once. I find the best way to get through the drive is to pay close attention to the scenary going by, and to close your eyes going through intersections. Anyway, travel day ended with a local restaraunt and my re-introduction to carafes of house red wine. The fact the US only sells wine by the glass so they can rape you for a few more bucks is just assinine.

[ChiTownBluesFan]

Part 1 - I thought building on top of a cemetary was a bad thing?

So the trip started off with three full days in Rome. Day one was about touring the catacombs underneath the Vatican. What? Yes, the Vatican is built on top of a Necropolis that also allegedly included the remains of St. Peter. Now, you don't get to really see those bones - you're pointed to look in a room and through a hole in the other corner where a glass box of some sort holds something that may be bones. My wife set it was bones, I just saw the box. At any rate, aside from whether that's St. Peter or not, the rest of the tour was extremely cool. You are walking through a buried necropolis right under the Vatican. They actually can't excavate anymore, because to do so could potentially cause the Basilica to, well, collapse. Still, what's down there is cool. Other than that, the first day was about adjusting to the new time zone, and exploring some restaraunts in the area. This first day was our actual 10th anniversary, so we went to a place recommended to us by some people my wife knows, and they chose well. Sat outside under an awning and watched it rain like crazy. Two big bouts of rain, the first was w/o wind, so we were fine under the awning. Then lightning hit somewhere within our block and turned the power off for about 1 minute, and the rain started up again, this time with wind. Chased most people inside - we along with the other table of Americans nearby just stayed out and dealt with a little misty rain under the awning and kept eating. All in all, a good time and one of only two days we had rain the trip.

Day 2 was a trip out to Ostia Antica, which was an old port town along the old Tiber river (which is still there, it's just changed course in the last two thousand years). Unlike Pompeii was was just buried almost all at once, Ostia just fell into disrepair and time (and purposeful burials of the city) eventually buried it. Now, it's an excavation a lot like Pompeei or Herculaneum is, although about 3 times as large as Pompeii is. What's amazing to me is that this town was basically abandoned and scavanged for building materials (apparantly, the Leaning Tower of Pisa was built completly out of building material from this town) is that it's still pretty intact, and although there isn't as much in terms of artwork and whatnot, you can still see the front of taverns and shops and the 'refrigerator' pots they used to keep things cool. We also got to eat lunch with a bunch of
archiaologists, and they are an odd bunch, although still very nice.

Day 3 was all about the old Roman Forum, Colussium, etc. We didn't get a lot of chance to check out the Forum on our last trip, as we only had one full day in Rome for sightseeing, and sort of stumbled into it at the end of the day. The Forum isn't nearly as well preserved as some of the cities like Ostia, Pompeei, or Herculaneum. You have to pretty much use your imagination to picture entire buildings (excpet for those where they built on to the ruins that were still there). However, what you do realize is how much more stuff like this there would still be to find under modern Rome. Apparantly, when they built the subway system there, they had to dig WAY down for the tunnels to make sure they stayed underneath all the old Roman ruins just in case, and is also why they only built two lines. And the Colussium is cool, no matter how much you've been there. It's amazing to think this thing has been there more or less intact for just about 2000 years, and the only reasons it's in the shape it's in (except for the floor) is because it was looted for building materials. Hell, nowdays, a ballpark lasts almost 100 years and it's a miracle.

[ChiTownBluesFan]

Part 2 - I think the mosquitos have developed steath technology

Day 4 was taking Eurostar up to Venice, about a 4 1/2 hour trip. I really wish we had trains like this up here - I would use it for things like trips to St. Louis, for example. We just don't have the infrastructure for it - although I wonder if that'll change with the continuing rise of gas prices (all trains there seem to be electric - I don't know about the intercountry trains, tho). But the seats are nice, everyone one has a power outlet, and the bar car is reasonably priced. And no worries about being delayed by thunderstorms. Anyway, the trip up was nice, and the hotel we stayed at decided to upgrade us to an apartment because of the construction going on oustide (we had rented a suite, because it was all that was left), and as a bonus, the apartment came with a small clothes washer. Which, since we only brought clothes for about a week, we knew we needed to wash at some point, so that was quite nice. However, what we found out is NOBODY over there has a dryer. Everything is line dried, because apparantly, nobody has the electricity to run a clothes dryer. Maybe they're using it all for trains, but my guess is the infrastructure just can't handle it. Which does make me wonder how much energy we use as a nation just because we can. Don't get me wrong, I'm not giving up our clothes dryer, but we definitely take engery for granted here.

So days 5 through 7 were all in Venice. Just a beautiful city, and very unique. You do really get used to the fact there are no cars, and are a little disappointed when you leave. We met a guy from New York named Rocky (no joke) who had been in Vencie for 10 years, and he recommended a couple places for us. He also recommended a local specialty of cuttlefish. Now, I had seen it elsewhere, but hadn't tried it. This stuff is black. I mean inky black. It doesn't look like it'd be good at all, but it is suprisingly tasty, although the sauce is nothing you want to get on your clothes. Sort of lobster-like in texture and similar to lobster, crab, etc in taste (at least the same ballpark). But it is one sacry looking dish. Also had a grilled eel, which I expected to be much different than it was - it looked and tasted just like a fairly strong fish.

We also got to walk though the Basilica in St. Marks, and go up in the tower in that same square, which gives some incredible views of the city. What was a little amusing that day is you could see the city sink a little. As the high tide came in, the water was bubbling up through cracks and sewers and left a few areas under a few inches of water. It's not widespread - the square itself was still 90% dry - but it's still a little odd seeing water bubble up like that, and realize it's a daily thing.
While we were there, we also went to Murano for the glass factories, finally found a painting for over our fireplace (a watercolor from a local artist), and just in general enjoyed the very relaxed feel of the city. Rome is great for the ruins and history. Venice is just awesome all on its own. Except for one thing - mosquitos. Now, being a water city, it's reasonable to expect mosquitos there. I get that. But these damn things - you never saw them, never heard them, never felt them - all of a sudden you're covered with welts. After 24 hours, I had at least 20 bites from my left shoulder down to my left hand, and at least 50 bites overall. And I only saw maybe half a dozen mosquitoes the entire time. So clearly, at least in Venice, they have apparantly developed steath technology. The only thing I can be greatful for is that it was quite cool while we were there (mid to upper 60s for highs), so they probably weren't as bad as they could have been.

Finally, day 8 was our Eurostar trip back down through Rome to Pompeii. Rained the entire way down there, which since we were travelling that day anyway, worked for us.

[ChiTownBluesFan]

Part 3 - I'm supposed to take a dump in *that*????

Our original plan was to do Herculaneum and then Pompeii. Then we changed it to Herculanem and the Naples Archeology Museaum. Then between the fact my wife's knee was acting up a little, the blisters on our feet were forming blisters, and me killing my back taking a dump, we decided to.......

Wait stop - go back - what's this about my back? Yes, apparantly, there are a lot of public toilets in Italy that are basically a hole in the floor. Still ceramic, they grooves to stand on so you don't slip, and then you just squat and do your thing. Really makes you appreciate US toilets. So after going back out to get some TP from the wife (who always has a little travel container on her - something that is pretty much required in Europe), I did what I had to do. Unfortunately, the dimensions of the room and whatnot led to some contortion needed when it came time to clean things up as it were, and well, I just wrenched my entire middle back. But on the plus side, my aim was impeccable.

Anyway, between the back and all the above, we went back to our original plan. We didn't make it to Herculaneum last time, so it was neat to see a LOT more buildings that were completely intact, since the pyroclastic flow from Vesuvious buried the buildings from inside out and bottom up, as opposed to falling ash which was so heavy after awhile it just collapsed roofs in Pompeii. It's also a much smaller city, so you can get through it in just a couple or three hours. This left us with the afternoon to go back to Pompeii.

Last time we were in Italy, we took a day-long tour to Pompeii from Rome which, in between the three-hour each way bus ride, the horrible lunch, and the required stop by a furnature store on the way back, we only got a few hours there, which meant we saw maybe 1/3rd of the city. Now, there was some cool stuff we saw last time - their forum, some casts made of the pockets where people died, some cool frescoes and wall paintings, etc. But when we got back and my wife went a little Pompeii crazy, she bought some books and we saw how much we really missed. So we tried to find a lot more of that this time around, just wandering around on our own w/ a map. The colluseum they have at Pompeii isn't nearly as big as the one in Rome, certainly. But in a lot of ways, it's more impressive. Because the town was buried and left undisturbed for as long as it was, it's complete. The floor isn't built over all the rooms and tunnels as in Rome, so you can walk right down into the middle of the ampitheater. It's very cool. They also have to theaters right next to one another - a big theater and a small one (or, Broadway and off-Broadway as we called them). Got to tour the brothel (where the stone 'beds' are still in place, along with some interesting artwork), and some of the houses that still had very cool paintings and whatnot. If you ever get to Italy, you really have to get to Pompeii. Anyway, one last nights sleep and a final train ride back to Rome.

[ChiTownBluesFan]

Part 4 - Well that's............underwhelming

So to end our trip, we had a couple more days in Rome. After the wife spent the afternoon on Sunday after getting in from Pompeii shopping and me catching up on news via CNN International, on Monday we took a Segway tour of Rome - or at least the area around the Colusseum and the forum. I had done a Segway tour at Epcot before, but being the US and all, they had speed limiters installed on them so you could only go so fast. Not so with these. And, they were the newer model, so you more lean left and right to turn instead of using one of the handles. We took about a 3 hour tour of the area, and one of the more fun spots was the Circus Maximus - there's not much there now, but it was a 300,000 seat arena for chariot races and whatnot. Now, of course, it's just a long sqaure hole in the ground with slopes. But because it was wide open, you could really let the Segway go w/o hitting anything. It was pretty damn fun. And standing in place certainly isn't great on the feet, but it's *so* much better than walking. I think once we had to give the Segway up and we had to start walking again, I was pretty much done with the vacation. Course, we still had one day left. After lunch, we took a trip to Trevi Fountin which, while cool, is a lot newer than most things in Rome (and we threw our coins in to 'ensure' a future trip back to Rome), then found a local family place for dinner which may have been my favorite meal of the trip - and possibly one of the cheapest (quick slices of pizza not included).

For our last day, we finally went and stood in line to get inside the Vatican Museum. Quick moving line, and I did think the museum as a lot cooler than I thought it would be, but the point of the tour is the Sistine Chapel. Heard so much about it, and it's certainly built up. And then you get there and well, for me, it was underwhelming. It's not that Michaelangelo did a bad job or anything. But the impression we both had up until last week was the 'God creates Adam' painting *was* the ceiling. Instead, it's just one panel out of a few hundred. I mean, when you go through the gift shops (and there are a LOT of them on this tour), you didn't realize that the posters they sell were ACTUAL SIZE (OK, maybe not really, but close). I'm sure the panel itself is probably 10X6 or probably even more, but when it's on the ceiling with so many other scenes, it just seems small. Like I said, it was just very underwhelming. We also went to an Italian Wines seminar which may seem silly on the last night there, but I was going to generaly stick with house wines anyway, so this gave us some wines to look for back here in the states.

[Moon Man]

What kind of a fucking hack posts a thread about his overseas travel?

Moon

[ChiTownBluesFan]

Final Thoughts

Italy is a wonderful country. It's defintely one of the countries I would recommend visiting if you can. However, like everywhere in Europe, you should at least try to pick up some Italian before going. Yes, you can stick with the toursty places if you don't want to bother. But to really experience the country and, for that matter, the better local restaraunts, you have to have some passing knowledge for communication, along with a book to help translate some terms. And the people there are really nice if you at least try to speak what you can in Italian - even if it's bad Italian - instead of just speaking louder and slower to they understand your English. Also CNN International is quite interseting to watch. It's a lot more balanced (IMO) view of the world, and just the fact they're speaking English is great. Sure, Sky News also works in a pinch, but they're centered on the UK, where CNNI isn't. As pointed out upthread, whenever you go to Europe, take some of the Charmin-to-go rolls with you just in case. And practicing your squatting never hurts either, apparantly. Yes, hotel rooms, restaruants, etc do have toilets, but sometimes you just get caught - although it isn't unusual at all to have toilets (more in restaraunts than hotels) that don't have seats. Also, I finally know the differnce between AC adapters and converters. If you look on your electronic device (or, usually, the brick in the AC cord), you'll see the input in volts. If it says something like "100-240V", then all you need is the adapter - the brick itself handles the conversion of volts. And most things seem to have that nowdays. If, however, the input only says '110V', then you need the converter - which is, basically, a brick. Needless to say, the adapters are much cheaper. Finally, make sure your shoes are in good order. You really don't need a car there - trains will take you everywhere, and in general, they're much better (and safer) than US counterparts. But you will walk your ass off - which helps burn the calories you put on via wine and food.

I'll try to get some links to pics later - and will hopefully just embed a few here.

[ChiTownBluesFan]

What kind of a fucking hack posts a thread about his overseas travel?

Moon

No doubt.......

[ItsOnlyTheRiver]

No doubt.......

You probably have not seen this.

[ChiTownBluesFan]

You probably have not seen this.

You're right, I hadn't, but knew Moon had been overseas as well and figured he did somewhat the same thing.

Granted, Italy not as adventurous (for lack of a better word) as Khazakstan, but still a great trip.

[skippy05]

What kind of a fucking hack posts a thread about his overseas travel?

Moon

No shit.

BTW, I'm posting a min. x min. account of what I'm going to watch in TV whilst in Memphis this weekend. Look for it Monday.

[RedBirdBrain]

Meh. Get back to me when you're able to post from a beach in Delaware.

-RBB

[Nsane2Bme]

I can't wait to see the pictures!

[MsFunkay]

italy is a nice place, but we sure met a lot of dicks