11th Dec
We woke up a sleeping cabbie and took the one and only cab at the
Pantheon taxi rank at 6.30 am to the train station. Thunders snort of rumble in
the northern hemisphere while the ones at the equator snort and snap. Anyway, it
was our first thunderstorm in Rome but thankfully the roads were clear at
that hour. It took us €10 and 5 minutes to reach Termini.
We took the first ES Italia train ( #9428 ) bound for Milan to Florence
from binari ( track ) 4 at 7.30 am. The bin number was only displayed on the
board minutes before departure so we had to be alert for new information. The
anticipative migrating crowd looked away from the departure board and jerked into decisive action the moment
information changed to white ( confirmed bin ) and we followed suit.
We had reserved seats at carrozza ( car ) 6 seats 21,28,23. No worries about
the number because we sat together facing each other.
It was a bumpy ride along flooded fields all the way north. We reached
Florence’s Santa Maria Novella station
at 9.30am, an 1 ½ hour ride. The rain has not caught up in Florence but the sky
was grey. Near Mercato Central, I bought a leather back pack for €30, a
lambskin belt for €15, cow-hide belt for Pat €20 and lots of biscotti. We would
have bought more had it not been for the day-bag that grew heavier with each
purchase.
Florence historic central is sort of miniaturized and we checked into
Hermitage Hotel ( on foot ). We had booked the hotel ( triple €150 ) because it
was minutes from Uffizi, our main interest of the day. Lunch was at the river
restaurant across River Arno, near Vecchio, which was unexceptional with an
equally uncommunicative waiter.
Hermitage Hotel had made a free booking for the Uffizi that comes with a
priority code . We did not use the privilege and saved €4 ( per person )
reservation fees. That meant paying only €6.50 for the entrance each. The exterior
façade was deceptively so-so but the works and corridor of the Uffizi are
fantastic. However, I couldn’t enjoy some of the works due to low light
condition at certain galleries, probably to protect the works. We left shortly
after sunset and looked for sustenance. Help came from Ristorante Buca Poldo
where we had fantastic Tuscany food ( gnocchi, vongole, ravioli,wine,café and sides ) all for a bill not exceeding €60.
It’s then back to Hermitage Hotel where we enjoyed Ponte Vecchio from
its rooftop garden and the cool crisp air.
12th Dec
We have enlisted the help of
Beppe from digilander.libero.it/volante94 to bring us out of Florence to Pisa. He had
earlier taken care of Alvin and his family earlier and came highly recommended
because of he spoke English, was wickedly funny and a great driver.
Prior the our trip, he had also helped me settle earlier problems regarding lodging arrangements in Rome so we took to
each other like old friends. Our first stop in the morning was a Gothic church
in Prato and there, we shamelessly sampled mounds of Prato biscottis from
Antonio Mattei. We also sat out an
anti-government protest at a nearby café discussing the merits of expresso.
A short ride and we ended up in Lucca. We started our walk through the
old city from the city gates. Lunch was 3 pizzas on biscuit crust and fruit
tart at Da Gherardo, in front of the Piazza Anfiteatro for about €30.
It was the most low carbohydrate and delicious pizza I ever had so far.
Finally we headed west for Pisa. It was a smooth ride and we reached Pisa
at 2.45pm. We had more photo shoots around the leaning tower and loitered
around its surrounding vicinity for about an hour. At about 3.45pm, we made our
way south for Rome.
The Tiber had swollen somewhat because of the rain but Beppe was
constantly being updated about traffic and weather conditions so we made good
progress. We reached Rome just in time for a sumptuous dinner at Dal Paino ( Via Parione ).
13th Dec
Back in Rome, skies cleared up after days of rain and the Tiber has subsided somewhat . A barge was still
trapped under Ponte Sant Angelo and
trash stuck on branches of trees indicating the last highest water level .
The destination of the day was St
Paul Outside-the-Wall. San Paolo
Basilica ,reachable by Metro, was a short walk from the Metro station. It has
an extensive façade and an equally impressive interior. Paintings on the walls depict Paul’s
conversion on the road to Damascus and his subsequent trip to Rome. We saw the
brick end of his sarcophagus and his prison chains, stirring great emotions. A
pilgrim group made a grand procession into the church just when we were about
to leave. Resonant guitar music and singing pulled us back and we hovered
around to see a mini service of dedication and prayer, causing lumps to well up
in our chest.
We left at noon and had great gelato outside the Metro station for a
steal at €1.50 ( 2 generous gustis ). Near Barberini, it was pizza at Via della 4 Fontane’s Circo. The waitress hurried us along and
soon we hit the streets. Someone approached us to support
an anti-drug campaign and would not let us go until we part with €5.
We checked out fountain pens at Pantheon Cartoleria and a Made -in -Italy pewter fountain pen became
mine for €47. I would have rejoiced at
this great bargain if I had not discovered that it was probably not entirely
new because of residual red ink still left in the cartridge.
14th Dec
From our apartment behind the Pantheon, we covered Campo de Fiori, Palazzo Ricci and Santa Maria inTrestervere
in 3 hours. Claude Lebet’s violin shop
at Palazzo Ricci was closed for the day, causing much disappointment to Hope. The atmosphere across Ponte Sisto in Trestevere
became less touristy and more real. All its colorful lanes , fodder for more
photo shoots, led us to S Maria inTrestevere. It was a moment of prayer and
reflection in the sanctuary. Off S Maria, we became the first customers of the
day at the corner ristorante. We couldn’t say no to the extremely friendly
manager and lunch was the full works with antipasti,primo,second,contorto etc.
The bill was round down to €60 because he couldn’t find small change.
From Via G Indundo, Ponte Sublicio,we search for the road (at the end of
Via Marmorata ) that leads up the hill
to Piazza di Cavaliari di Malta. Hugging the leftmost lane, we puffed up and
were greeted by 2 heavily armed guards near the gate. 2 other tourists were peering into the
keyhole and we tried to loosen things up by putting up touristy behavior –
maps, cameras and queuing up. The metal
plate around the keyhole was rubbed clear of rust by the nosy oily noses of
tourists peering into the keyhole. Behind the keyhole, St Peter’s Basilica was
framed up by trees lining the driveway. It
was just that to see and what more with guards nearby toting machine guns, we
went northeast by Via de Sabina. Among
the tangerine trees, the view from Parco d Alessio of Vatican city and Rome
downtown was as good as that from Capitoline Hill.
Down the hill at Santa Maria at Cosmedin, we queued behind Japanese
tourists to put our hands in the mouth
of truth / nostrils. Northwards to the
Pantheon on Ponto Sisto, we gawked at city town council workers trying to
dislodge a boat among debris near Isola Tiberina. It was a monumental task and I declared that
photos opportunities of them at work would be available the next few days.
6 km and it is time to retire for the day. ZaZa pizza opposite Sant
Eustachio café was recommended by the landlord and we concluded the pizza
was a good choice to end the day with.
15th Dec
Plans for Anzio had to be shelved today because of forecasted bad
weather. The wet weather program is to stay
downtown and shop. This was not a very good idea because Rome is not very good
for walking in the rain ( slippery cobbles, no sidewalk or shelter ). Anyway,
we revisited St Peter’s Basilica simply because it is nearby and sheltered. We
had to detour using Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II since Ponte Sant Angelo was
closed due to a barge that was lodged under.
It was 10am and there was hardly any queue at St Peter’s Basilica. The
same couldn’t be said at 12nn when we left. Scores of people huddled in the
rain waiting to enter.
Lunch was near a small bar off Viale Vaticano. We were charged an extra €2
for non-existent pane which the staff
meekly reimbursed us when quizzed about this item.
Impulse buying became worse in rainy weather and the loot was mostly
made walking along Via Cola Renzo – chocolates, leather goods, gelatos etc, an
indirect result of trying to seek shelter. Walking south to Campo Marzio
Roma,we noted that the crystal encrusted fountain pen is sold €2 lesser than
the stall in Coin. To cut losses, we bought 3 more pens ( for Claire, Anissa,
myself ) which came in incredible
packaging.
That night, the Euro rose against
the Singapore dollar and shopping zeal sizzled immediately. Thrift mode will have to be kicked in
tomorrow. Museums will certainly be a cheaper option for the credit card.
16th Dec
Our wet weather program for the day was the Capitoline museums. 5 hours
and hundreds of stone busts and statues in Palazzo di Conservatori and Palazzo
Nuovo, I was glad to be out enjoying the Teatro di Marcello. It looks like a
mini Colosseum from the exterior and the approach from the slope near
Capitoline brings the best feature out
of the Teatro.
We checked out the Marmatine prison ( free with donation ) where Paul
and Peter was said to have been imprisoned. The Metro took us to Ottaviano
where we looked for Musicarte ( Via Fabio Fassimo ), hoping to look for violin
bric-bracs. Unfortunately, it looks like a boutique shop for purchasing violin
and we ended up with nothing.
Dinner was again at Dal Paino which has become my favorite trattoria
because of the food, price and closeness to the apartment.
17th Dec
Operation Shingle was the operation Allied forces carried out at Anzio
and we were eager to see the Anzio beachhead museum and British cemetery
nearby. The train ride ( €3.20 one way )
from Termini to Anzio took slightly more than 1 hour. Meanwhile, I impressed
Pat by validating the train ticket at a platform’s non-descript validating box
( among emergency box, tissue dispenser, ticket dispenser – thanks to Flickr
and tripadvisor.com ) just before hopping onto a waiting train. I took care to
alight at “Anzio”, after “ Anzio Colonia” as pointed out by oneTA poster since no arrival announcement are made
in the train.
Anzio station was not what we expected and it had a hard- to-read area
map outside. Indeed as in any town away from the capital, no one spoke English
and “Parla Inglese lei?”,“Mi dispiace” and “Grazie” were insufficient to get us
going. Relying on prior preparations using Google Earth and a compass , we
stumbled upon the beachhead museum. It
was a Thursday and not opened to the public but the caretaker took pity on us
and we had the entire museum to ourselves, that sweet man. There was a very
human aspect to the exhibits which was extremely touching.
We headed towards Anzio town central but it was hard to locate because
of the lack of human activity. At 3pm, we had a sumptuous lunch at a well
patronized beachside trattoria .At the marina, we watched fishermen selling
their day’s catch and a glorious sunset.
The British cemetery was nowhere to be found. Besides, I did not wish to
be locked up inside the cemetery after dark – an adventure best avoided. Then,
it was back to Rome by the 5.30pm train ( hourly ).
18th Dec
The original plans was to see the aquaduct using the Archeobus. Since
the service to this stop has terminated, we used the Metro and went down to
Subaugusta, a 30 min ride. From Google Earth earlier, we mapped out the
relative location with reference to Subaugusta and moved southwest until we hit
the Aquaducts. It was easy to see from afar since the housing estate suddenly
gave way to great space and greenery.
The aquaducts off Subaugusta was complete and stretched beyond the golf
course. It was very beautiful, majestic and an engineering marvel. There were plenty of golfers and joggers in
the vicinity so we did not feel too alone. My fellow companions had to tear me
from the place and we moved north to a playground and ruins. Across Via
Lemonia, we rested our feet at SG Bar at Via Claudio Appia and had the cheapest lunch in Italy, €13, with 2 primos , 1 dolce and coffee. Language
was no barrier and we made friends with the boss , waitress Silvia, and
received free T-shirts because we are “friends from afar”.
We continued our journey from Metro station Gioli Agricola and stopped
by Colbi Albani. It had a wild sort of look for a park with farm houses.
Actually I had forgotten why we made a stop here. If the sunset did not chase
us away, a black man hounding us to
buy hats in the deep wilderness did make us run all the way back to the main
road. The entire place was a disappointment but the thoughts of making friends earlier
more or less made the day.
19th Dec
The Shopping Bus #100 was a free service to encourage Christmas shopping
downtown. At the Tritone area, we did frantic last minute shopping since it was
the last day for us in Italy. From the back of Spagna, we stumbled upon Villa M
Medici and enjoyed peace in the park
with the shopping madness below the hill. Lunch, off Popola across V L Savoia ,
was the biggest heap of carbonara ever at €8!
Fast forward the shopping and
then it was pizza at Da Baffetto because
it was mentioned in DK Top 10. The crust is thin enough but the soggy middle
made us miss the pizza at Lucca. Service was brisk but not unfriendly. The last
purchase in Piazza Navona was Santa
hanging on a rope ladder, which will be look great outside our glass balcony on
the twelve floor somewhere in Singapore.
