Birds on Heads

If I know anything about storytelling, the bulk of the story should build up to a climax somewhere near the end. If I know anything about life, high points are hard to plan and rarely occur where you'd expect. Coincidentally, my last day in Rome was, in terms of the flow of a story, anti-climactic.

I made a promise to myself and broke it by saying that I would revisit the Colosseum and take a walk through the Forum. Is that something I will regret? That remains to be seen. But I still had plenty that I could do that didn't require money or planning.

I took a walk across the river to Campo de' Fiori which was bustling with people looking to purchase whatever there is to purchase at a street market. Plenty of fresh produce, spices, trinkets, presumably off-brand bags and hats without brands, etc. It was all radiating out from the very ominous and Assassin's-Creed-esque statue of Giordano Bruno. In an attempt to seem more learned than I am, I discovered that Bruno was a 16th century jack-of-many-ologies who wrote poetry, math equations, and theorized that stars were suns that could possibly be surrounded by planets that may or may not harbor life. You know, typical things we all do nowadays.

I grabbed a bite to eat at a small restaurant on the perimeter of the square. Hopefully, by now, you have picked up on the fact that I don't tend to expound much on my food experiences. As I mentioned before, I rarely take pictures of my food, so I don't feel that writing about it would be very interesting. It also comes around to the reason I travel at all, which I'll talk about more in a moment. Or you can refer to my previous comments on that subject from my trips to Tokyo and Hong Kong. Whatever works the best for you, my dearest of broski.

After my nondescript meal, I traveled north to Piazza Navona. I had heard the name Navona many times, and noticed that there would be a "Christmas market" there during my stay so I thought I would take a look. Unfortunately for me, the market was not there. This most likely had to do with me visiting the square on a Monday, but I can't be too certain as I don't make a habit of memorizing the operating hours of seasonal markets in cities that are 5,700 miles from my house. However, there was an ongoing event as I entered the square. The event did not have a name, but I gave it a name - Ucelle Sulle Teste (or Birds on Heads). Believe me when I tell you these are not at all the only photos I have of this event.

After getting my fill of the borderline Hitchcockian affair, I explored even further north to the Corte Sumpera di Cassazione. Turning the corner onto a street that lead directly to the Supreme Court building was more stunning than I expected it to be. Even with the facade of the building being about a quarter of a mile away, the architecture was no less imposing. There is the saying "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." I don't think I could live my life as impressively as these people build.

At this point, I had reached the limit of what I could feasibly fit into my sightseeing schedule. All I had left was my walk back to the apartment which did pass by Castel Sant'Angelo. Unfortunately, I did not have the time or energy to see it like I would have liked. But I had no regrets at that moment.

This is the third year I have made international travel plans. Each year, I found myself in slightly different circumstances, with slightly different motivations. There isn't much to my life, in all honesty. I spend a third of my life asleep, a third of my life at work, and another third doing everything else. The problem is that I frequently slip into the habit of turning that last third into a recurring YouTube-filled nothingness. My day to day emotions are dictated almost solely by how work went that day or what music I happened to be listening to, rather than being influenced by what I do in my spare time. As that becomes the norm, I inevitably ask myself what I'm doing with my life. Then I book a trip to Rome on a whim. I tell myself that it's just something I do every year, and in a way that's true. But it also just coincides with a time when it's a means to happiness. But it's not as depressing as this whole paragraph has made it out to be.

From a different perspective, I've spent these last three years reworking my life as a whole. As I said before, I don't travel for food. And I've asked myself what exactly I do travel for. To tell the truth, I'm not sure. It sure as hell isn't for the 14-hour flights sitting in seats that I barely fit in. There are so many moments where I stand still and think "This is it. This is why I do this." On this trip, like all of my others, I definitely had a lot of moments like that. Perhaps it's all about the feeling I get standing on a sidewalk, on a back street with a name I don't know, seeing how the daily lives of all the people who walk that street every day have shaped the scenery into something beautiful that they don't even see anymore. Perhaps it's knowing that at any given moment, I share almost nothing in common with the people around me except that we are in the same place at the same time. Perhaps it's just the occasional change of scenery. But I think the most accurate and unsatisfying answer is this: I like it.

I hope that gave you some philosophical blue balls or something. Until next time, [insert something inspirational].

A Dome and a Giant Leaky Faucet

A combination of staying out late to take night photos and that past unpreparedness for the cold led me to another night of rough to no sleep. The result was another late start, which for taking photos is a problem since the sun sets in Rome at about 4:30 PM this time of year. Regardless, the day got started.

Now, I know you're reading this thinking that I'm some kind of genius. A savant without any of the socially detrimental drawbacks. A modern day Albert Einhorn. To prove how down-to-earth and not-a-renaissance-man I truly am, let me tell you how hard I failed at getting a cab. 

I walked out of the door of my apartment building and stood on the curb. I waved at a few taxis which just continued on their merry ways. I figured "maybe this is a bad spot" and moved to the corner. Similar results. After about ten minutes of this I decided to just walk to the Pantheon, which was only about a kilometer away. I forget what that equates to in Freedom Measurements™. Before I can even make it 10 millifeetmeters, I notice about 10 taxis sitting on a square less than a block from where I'd been trying to hail one of them moments earlier. In my defense, I'm stupid. 

More importantly, the kind gentleman driver escorted me to the Pantheon. And even the side of the building had me in minor stages of wow. Just a few steps later and I was standing inside. And one again, I was left speechless. 

Romans don't seem to like doing things in small measures. I'm sure there have been cases of people going home from a Roman holiday in a neck brace from having to look up so much. Any of the movies, TV shows, photos, or anything you've seen of these places somehow just don't convey their size. If I wasn't starting to feel a tingling in my neck and the sun wasn't going down at top speed, I could have spent the day just staring.

Since I did need to bust cheeks to beat the sun, I dipped out and headed toward Trevi Fountain. 

I honestly didn't expect the fountain to be such a popular site. Don't get me wrong, I'm aware that it's a top attraction, but I just didn't expect so many people. It was more surprising knowing that I was visiting during the "slow season" and I still had to move people out of the way with my American Patriot Arms™. After all was said and done, though, it was an incredible sight. To think rocks just grow like that? Nature is amazing. 

Afterwards, I wandered around and made passing stops at the Spanish Steps, Piazza del Popolo, Ara Pacis, and the Basilica of SS Ambrose and Charles on the Corso (replace with Italian name later to sound way more interesting).

Spanish Steps in the distance

Ara Pacis

Sant'Ambrogio e Carlo al Corso

After lots of walking, I dropped into The Perfect Bun for the bloodiest medium burger I've ever had in my life. No complaints about the taste, though I could have done without a scene from The Cove playing out on my plate. I think that's the one about the dolphins, right? I haven't seen it. But I know it's pretty messed up. Anyway, taxi back and prep for my last day in Rome.

Trapping in Trastevere

My third day didn't begin until around 5 PM. Possibly due to the cold weather and having walked through it for two days underprepared, I did not sleep well the night before. The sun was already rising before I finally fell asleep. The late start did give me an opportunity to explore my more immediate surroundings in Trastevere.

Just across Piazza Sonnino, where my apartment was located, happened to be a Japanese restaurant. And I'm the kind of weird person who was going to eat there instead of any of the multitude of Italian restaurants in the area. I ordered some seafood yaki udon and salmon onigiri. You know, the two dishes that Italy are famous for. 

After the meal, I just walked around with no exact plan. As if the rest of my walking up to that point was any different. 

I have to say that wandering through the narrow alleyways was everything I had hoped Italy would be. While standing in place to take long exposure shots, I could just hear the sound of shoes on cobblestone and someone playing guitar in an unknown square somewhere nearby. Only broken up occasionally by the puttering of a moped weaving through crowds semi-quietly enjoying their respective evenings. 

Part of me thinks that would have been the perfect time to indulge in some authentic Italian cuisine. On the other hand, have you had yaki udon? That shit's good. 

Only two days left. Nowhere near the time I'd need to do everything is love to do. But just enough time to do what I did.

The Vatican

I thought my visit to the Vatican was deserving of a proper title rather than one of my poor excuses for a witty joke. I took a taxi from my apartment in Trastevere that dropped me off at the end of Via della Conciliazione. Stepping out of the cab, I was looking directly down the street to St. Peter's Basilica.

As with the Colosseum, my walk toward the square was interrupted multiple times by people trying to sell me tours. At the time, that was not something I really wanted. But the more they pestered, the more I began to think it might be better than trying to see everything with what little research I had actually done on the place. I decided to take one of these very aggressive hawkers up on their offer, and immediately began regretting it. She led me back out of the square, down a side street, out of the walls of The Vatican, and into a small office that was about the size of a public bathroom. It felt to me like something I could come back to tomorrow and there'd be no sign it ever existed. I felt even more wary when they said they only accepted cash, and that one of their guys could walk me to an ATM. Everything up to this point had my brain screaming to bail. But for whatever reason, I though "nah let's see this through."

In the end, it actually paid off pretty well. I and the rest of the people who should have had better judgement were directed to a legitimate guide who spoke English. And he was entertaining in the way you would expect someone who spends all day showing tourists the same thing over and over again. Plenty of pop culture references and even a joke about Chris Brown's apparent lust of lady-beating. I enjoyed the humor, as well as the wealth of information he provided.

The tour ended directly in front of the entrance to St. Peter's Basilica, directly under the balcony where the Pope would make speeches. Since I am not important enough to be given a speech, the balcony was empty, but the inside of the basilica was not. From here, I'll let the images speak for themselves, even though they hardly do justice to the scale and ambiance of a place like this.

After basking in the beauty of the interior, I wanted to see more. It was time to climb the Cupola. Are you ready for a Padraig Dow Traveler Pro Tip? A PDTPT, if you will? When it comes to climbing to the top of the dome at St. Peter's, there are two options. You can either climb the stairs all the way to the top (€6), or you can take the elevator (€8). But don't be fooled. The elevator option will take you from the ground floor to the base of the dome, but you will still need to climb the stairs from there to the top. I am not exactly in Olympian shape, and just climbing the dome itself is quite challenging. I would not recommend it for anyone who has problems with tight spaces, as many of the stairways are very narrow, as are the multiple spiral staircases that seem to go on forever with room for only one person at a time. For me, it was a lot of work. But the pay off was excellent.

After climbing down and taking one more look inside the basilica itself, I headed out. I grabbed a bite to eat at an Italian staple, McDonald's, then took a taxi back to Trastevere.

Rome Away From Home

Let me preface this by saying that I did a lot less research for this trip than I did for my previous ones. It has become some kind of traveling tradition that I book my excursions during a time of personal turmoil. I was hitting a snag in the job department, which somehow translated to the "fuck it" mentality of buying a ticket across the world (again). Bringing that back around, I had plenty of time on my hands once I hit a low of barely working 16 hour weeks. You would think I'd spend that time planning that non-refundable trip I would be going on in a few months. You would think that. And you'd be wrong for thinking that. Way to go, genius.

I'm sorry. That was harsh. We cool? We cool.

I did actually spend a bit of time finding points of interest and saving them to a map, but that was about it. From what I hear, Rome has a very efficient and somewhat reliable public transportation system. With that information, I decided to ignore it and opt to take taxis everywhere. Or just walk. If your goal is to see all of the ruins, monuments, and The Vatican, Rome is surprisingly compact.

From my rented apartment, I walked a short distance through some side streets that I'm sure had names, but the lack of any street signs prevents me from ever telling you what those names were. I came face to watery face with Tiber River, or the River Tiber if you want to be all proper about it. I happened to reserve an apartment very close to a small island in the river called Isola Tiberina. And I wouldn't be the travel blogger you expect me to be if I didn't go into detail about how important Isola Tiberina is... oh look at the time.

Let this guy sing you a song about its importance.

On the other side of the river, I continued a short distance to the Portico d'Ottavia (Portico of Octavia for the uncultured). Directly to the east was Teatro Marcello. Both were equally intriguing and awe-inspiring, given that they were the first ruins I had seen so far during my exploration of Rome. I don't intend that to mean that they were uninteresting by comparison to some of the larger sights and sounds of the city. Unlike some of those larger sights, neither Portico d'Ottavia nor Teatro Marcello required any ticket for admission. Simply walk around and take in the history however you see fit. The best way would probably be to read some of the information plaques posted around the area. Advice from me to you that I did not follow at all.

Via del Portico d'Ottavia 

Teatro Marcello on the left, Temple of Apollo Sosiano on the right

Another short stroll north and I came to the Altare della Patria. Let me tell you a little something about myself. There are two things that I love, but cannot do due to lack of training and proper funding: architecture and pissing off an entire city. The Altare della Patria began construction in 1885, took 40 years to complete, is the largest single monument in all of Rome, and (at least) was incredibly hated by the general public. Criticism ranges from its ridiculous size to the fact that it looks like a giant typewriter. All of that just adds to why I love it so much. The name translates to Altar of the Fatherland, and was made to commemorate the unification of Italy under Victor Emmanuel II. Toward the end of its construction, the tomb of the unknown soldier was added to the sight.

Alter of the Fatherland

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

I did some additional roaming and found myself at the end of a long street with the Colosseum at the very end. Instead of walking straight, I turned to my left into a restaurant called Wanted. If you're at all interested, online reviews for the place are mixed. I ordered the lamb burger with roasted potatoes. My review is that the food was okay. Not mind blowing, but definitely not anything to complain about. Well deserving of its 2.8 rating on Google. And since I don't take pictures of my food, have a photo of what I saw before I entered instead.

View of the Colosseum down Via dei Serpenti

Right here is where I typed out a long and thorough explanation of why I hate the people walking around major tourists sites trying to sell anyone all manners of useless garbage. I deleted all of that so I could just tell you to say "No" to anyone who attempts to talk to you. "Hey my friend. Are you from America?" No. "Buddy, are you going to the Colosseum?" Nope. "Amigo, do you ever think it's weird that the show Scooby Doo tried to sell Daphne as the attractive sex symbol, but almost everyone these days is drawn more to Velma?" No, sir. That fact that the answer to all of those questions is an indisputable "yes" is none of their business. And they won't be getting my money.

Probably the Colosseum. I'm no historian.

I spent the time exploring the exterior of the Colosseum and the Arco di Constantino (Arch of Constantine, Jesus learn Italian already). I decided not to go inside simply because I was already tired at this point, and I made mental plans to return a few days later to do all of the interior snooping. I also thought it would be a cool idea to go back to my apartment, rest a bit, and come back to take some sick nasty night shots. And that's what I did. See for yourself below.

Arco di Constantino on the left, Colosseo on the right

She big.

And that's the gist of my first day in Rome. Stay tuned for more gists.