London, Paris, Rome--Made Easy

by Taylor Hart

  But on the way to the airport, the taxi driver was complaining because none of the trains were running on time and therefore there was more traffic to the airport.

  As we took off for Rome, I watched Paris disappear beneath us and thought, It was not my city of love.

  Sigh. Kind of sad for me. But I know part of the experience was colored by the pickpocket incident. Another part was colored by the fact it was dreary and gloomy the whole time.

  I thought London would be dreary and gloomy. Eek. Beep. No.

  London was marvelous. Fabulous.

  Paris …was not.

  Sigh.

  Our spirits lifted after getting to Rome and taking a taxi to our hotel, the Hotel Nazionale.

  The taxi service is great—if you get the ones clearly marked Rome Capital with the maroon logo on the side. You have to go to the taxi stand, it’s clearly marked. But it is a set rate of 48 euros to get you to Rome city center.

  There are many con artists trying to entice you into riding with them. Tell them firmly NO and keep walking.

  It’s great because you barely mention the rate and they tell you, yes, the 48 euro set price. That is the guy you want.

  Then off to Rome, straight to our hotel through winding, old town streets. It was funny because I looked over and asked, “Is that the Vatican?” Because it literally emerges out of the city block.

  The cab driver was like, “Yes, oh sorry, yes, there it is.” But there was a line a mile long and a big wall around it.

  Our hotel was beautiful and everyone was very friendly.

  Once we checked into the hotel, we spent some time trying to decide how we wanted to go about seeing the sights. Up until that point we’d decided not to book formal tours, but we were tired and in Rome there was a lot to see.

  The tours allow you to skip to the front of the lines and Rome is packed, so we decided to book an individual tour of the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and the Vatican for the following day. It cost us about 350 euros, but as you’ll read below, it was worth it.

  Gelato

  Rome was hot and sunny and lovely, so gelato is a must. Right around the corner from our hotel was a place called Giolitti’s Gelato. Mmmmm. So good! Make sure you buy the ticket first without standing in the line. As you might suspect, we stood in the line first. You don’t stand in any line; you push your way to the counter and shove your ticket up there and call out what flavors you want.

  After our first serving of gelato, we wandered around the streets of Rome and came to the Spanish Steps. It was under construction and so I was slightly disappointed we couldn’t walk them, but we kept walking and ran right into the Piazza del Popolo. It is a landmark square, the city’s northern gate, and I could imagine how intimidating it was back in the day. Poseidon was there with his three-pronged spear.

  It was fun. Rome’s streets are small, but they didn’t feel as claustrophobic as Paris’s did. But they were thronged with people. Of course cars, scooters, bikes, work their way through with everyone else.

  I didn’t feel as hurried as we were in Paris. The caveat was we were there during the Euro Games 2016, so maybe Paris was just … extra busy.

  But people were out and happy and relaxed. My husband and I took precautions not to carry a lot of money on us. I put a credit card and euros and my phone in my bra, and he took euros in his money belt.

  That’s it.

  Paris taught us to travel light.

  So we wandered around, then went back to our hotel around 5:30 and had a siesta. We had been informed that dinner doesn’t start to be served until 7.

  It was great. Our hotel has large windows that open, and we lay on the bed and rested. I watched BBC in English and he nodded off.

  It was like both of us were finally able to get a breath and relax after being so vigilant in Paris about not getting pickpocketed.

  For dinner we ate at Poldo e Gianna Osteria. It was okay. The service was good, but the food wasn’t that great. I got lasagna and it was cold. Nasty. Tasted like it was a day old.

  Breakfast was included with our hotel, and after eating the lasagna I was hoping it was going to be good. This is a creature comfort, and it is stuff we worry about when we travel, right? This is why I’m telling you … so you know what to expect.

  After dinner, and after we’d gotten our second round of gelato—which was fabulous—we decided to take another walk and ran smack into the Pantheon.

  It was so delightful because, once again, the structure just pops out of the ground at you. I really did feel like I was on a movie set or something. We were walking through some narrow streets with shops and poof! Into a clearing and there it is.

  It was huge. The square around the Pantheon was filled with lovely people hanging around and eating at different shops, and there was a fountain. I thought about how this was probably how the Pantheon was all those years ago—the center of it all.

  It was dirty. Trash everywhere. But there was a guy on an electric guitar playing the theme to Titanic, and for some reason this made me so happy. People were breaking out into dancing.

  We walked back to the hotel hand in hand, and I realized we were smiling. It all felt so right and magical again, and I was looking forward to the guided tours tomorrow.

  9

  Tours in Rome

  Yes, I thought, like most of you will, “I’ll research and research and then go on the trip armed with my Rick Steves book and it will be amazing.”

  Here’s the thing, the whole reason for this book: it sucks to try to research and research before the trip.

  Yes, it’s fun for a bit. And I do recommend the Rick Steves books—they rock and are awesome resources. But if you are doing three cities like we did in a short span of time, you’re not going to remember everything and it freakin’ stresses you out. Then you kind of give up, paralyzed by so much information.

  Plus, the sites really didn’t mean much to me until I was there to take in the majesty of them. So just book a tour.

  Thursday, June 16

  We booked a tour with the tour company Love Holidays.

  We started the day early, getting up at seven and getting ready, then going to our included breakfast buffet, which was nice. It was a marvelous buffet, full of fruit, cereal, pastries, a juice machine, and assorted pastries.

  Then we caught our ride at 8:15 and went on the tumbling, winding streets of Rome to meet our guide at the Colosseum.

  She was an American who had been in Rome for five years. Of course that meant her English was native, and it was wonderful! Her knowledge of history was enormous and she gave us a history lesson for the next three hours and the Roman Forum.

  The coolest thing about the tour was that she could relate all the history of the world. Yes, the world—to Christianity and the rise and the fall of the Roman Empire.

  The Colosseum

  It is worth it. Go! It is huge and enormous and there are still so many things left in the bottom of the Colosseum that show what life was like back then.

  Gladiators fighting it out.

  Juvenal believed you could give the people a circus and bread and they would be happy.

  The Roman Forum

  It’s worth it, but you must have a guide. There’s so much history. Our guide told us all about what happened at the Roman Forum and about Julius Caesar and his death and Mark Antony and Octavius and Cleopatra. Without a guide bringing it to life, it’s just a bunch of ruins.

  I never understood it all before, but she made it come to life. When you’re touring, it all comes to life. Christ’s death. The Roman Empire. The Colosseum. Nero—how he went crazy and his bathtub made out of a rare red marble is in the Vatican Museum.

  Fascinating.

  Vatican City

  In the afternoon, we switched tour guides and then toured Vatican City, the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica. The lines to get in the Vatican were huge. Because we had a tour, we got to go right in and get started.

  W
ow—again!

  It’s like nothing you can imagine, and it is so beautiful and imperfect and awesome how they accomplished all of it.

  This year, 2016, had been declared as Jubilee Year by the Pope. So at St. Peter’s Basilica, they had one holy door you could walk through, and the Catholics believe if you walked through it you got absolution for your sins.

  Thus, there was a long line. It was interesting to note that a parade of people were waiting to walk through. Even though I’m not Catholic, I do have to say it was quite the experience walking through the doors.

  The Cathedral is in Baroque style similar to St. Paul’s in London, and beautiful. There is another, a first sculpture by Michelangelo. It was interesting to note that our guide pointed out the difference in Michelangelo’s first art and then the art he put on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and then, twenty-seven years later, when he was commissioned to do the last judgment on the wall.

  Get a guide. Just do it. Because there is so much information, it’s impossible to make sense of it all without a guide.

  Pompeii

  On Saturday, June 18, we took the Green Line Bus Tour to Pompeii.

  When we got to the buses, we paid for our tours. It was 123 euros per person. This included pickup from hotel and drop-off to hotel, the drive to Pompeii, lunch, and a tour of the ruins.

  During this drive we did a bus tour of Naples and spent about twenty minutes on the Tyrrhenian Sea, which was so beautiful. It was interesting because off in the distance we could see what appeared to be an American aircraft carrier and a destroyer. For some reason, it made me feel safe.

  Our tour guide spoke English and Spanish, so she would flip back and forth between the two languages.

  The bus stopped two times to use the toilet. The first time you could buy a snack; at the second stop they were trying to sell you seashell necklaces made locally.

  Then on to Pompeii.

  When we got there, we walked what seemed like forever to this Italian restaurant. We got pizza for an appetizer, pasta plates, and then had a choice of meat and potatoes or fish and this potato roll.

  Of course my husband picked meat and potatoes, and it was the much better meal. (It’s a running joke between us on this trip that whatever he picks is good and I’ll end up eating half his meal.)

  The fun thing was that during the meal they randomly sat you by people in the tour. So we got to meet some people from Singapore, and a lady from Johannesburg, South Africa. It was fascinating to hear about their lives and their countries. I have decided I never want to visit Johannesburg because it sounds so dangerous. Singapore sounds interesting. Strict, small, but interesting.

  One of the funny things was that when we started eating, a guy started playing a guitar and singing really loud Italian music. So loud, it was pointless to talk and we all ate. Later, we decided this must be a tactic to get everyone to eat quickly and get out of there.

  The pasta was good. My fish was terrible, so my husband kindly shared with me. Then a fruit bowl. Also, drinks weren’t included.

  Then, the ever-present problem of trying to find a toilet. We found one in the restaurant, but there was no toilet paper. This is why I suggest you walk around Europe with toilettes in your purse or backpack.

  Pompeii was interesting. Our tour consisted of all of us getting this audio plug for our ear and then following the guide around. She spoke in English and in Spanish, so she’d repeat herself in the other language. It was crowded and hot.

  I actually found the most distracting thing for myself to be that I didn’t bring in a bottle of water with me. I thought there would be water inside of Pompeii. And there was, but not the buying kind. There were fountains where people would take their water bottles and fill them up.

  The tour was around 2 hours, in heat, and I didn’t know when it was going to end and I kept worrying I needed to drink before I got back on the bus because I didn’t want to have to potty and not have a place to go.

  So—I suggest—if you do a tour like this, once you hit Pompeii, you buy water and drink!

  Okay, so that’s probably my own issue—the potty finding, drinking issue.

  I will say Pompeii was cool. It amazes me all they can deduce from uncovering an ancient culture. There were gladiators there. Games, theaters, political propaganda.

  Brothels. Lots of brothels. And the direction of the brothels were marked by phallic symbols carved into the walls and roads. Yes, you read that right. Phallic symbols in the road, pointing the direction to the brothels.

  Sick. But I tend to be more of a prude.

  Of course, like most of Rome, the statues they uncovered in Pompeii were all nude. And lots of penises and breasts. Europe has a strange thing for that.

  Our guide showed us the spot where the virgins were sacrificed. Weird.

  It was interesting to see how they lived, but in the end, I was disappointed they were so decadent.

  Okay, that’s the honest truth. That’s my view of it.

  But was it worth the trip out? For me, I probably would have rather done a full-day trip to Naples and hung out at the beach. It was pretty, though: you could see the top of Mt. Vesuvius and you had the shoreline.

  There’s something about the beach. Maybe it was because it was the end of our excursions, but it was a long day.

  The absolute best part of the day for me was meeting the people on the tour bus. I talked to everyone around us.

  Another family was there on a Make-a-Wish Foundation Tour for their son, who was 17 and had cystic fibrosis. His wish? To go to Rome.

  It tugged at my heartstrings this family was here for that, and the family educated me about the disease.

  At the end of the day, we hit one more restaurant called Osteria. It was amazing!

  I do recommend Hotel Nazionale, partly because it is within walking distance to a lot of sites and felt very safe and was clean.

  10

  Getting Home

  All I can say is that after the plane touched down in the good ole USA, I did shed a tear. I was so happy to be home, I made my husband blast “God Bless the USA” all the way home from the airport.

  When I got home, I played with the dog and kids, took a shower, and started the laundry. Finally, I got on my knees and gave thanks for all that we have, for this great nation and the people who have set up such a great system of government.

  Traveling was a blast!

  But being home is the best.

  Hope you enjoyed the book and find it useful for your first trip to London, Paris, and Rome!

  Cheers!