Rome Pt 4

I am on a roll! Mainly because I don't want to be studying for my exams or completing my take-home final.

16th January 2013
After yesterday, I was just fed up with Rome and I had already visited everything that I wanted to see. I was tossing up between visiting Lido di Ostia or heading down to Naples. But people's comments on Naples seemed incredibly mixed and, as it was a last minute decision, train tickets were quite expensive. In the end, I decided to head to Lido. Lido is part of Rome and is Rome's beach and coastal area. The journey required an interchange and I still don't know if my pronounciation was so poor that no one understood me or if people were just rude, but when I asked the people who worked at the station, no one helped me. Or refused to. Actually, now that I think about it, I also had a rude experience with the person at the train station at Pisa. Finally, I found the right platform and the train. I stood out like a sore thumb. Again.There was also a random person singing (poorly) on the train carriage and everyone just ignored him.

It was a short ride and upon leaving the station, I was almost blown away. Literally. Just my luck that there were gale force winds.












Perhaps I have been spoilt by the beaches in Australia, but the beach was very ugly with brown sand. Although I did find it very interesting that there were summer huts, for lack of a better word. It seemed like a very small version of a beach house but they were all in rows.

Eventually I headed for Ostia Antica, upon Exchange dude's recommendations. Put simply, it was disappointing. It cost € 6,50 to enter and I also bought a guide for €2,50. The biggest waste of €2,50 in my entire life since it was bloody pointless and all the information was identical to the information provded on the signs at each location. Grr.










The place was so disappointing, although it would have been an amazing location for a game of hide and seek. The entire area was deserted and then it started to hail. Yes, it was hailing and my flimsy umbrella did not really provide me with much protection. Eventually I retreated back to my hostel.

The hostel I stayed at was Legends Hostel. The people who ran the place were from the Phillipines (they actually thought I was from there) and they were super lovely and super helpful. The hostel itself was so-so. There was free dinner of pizza and wine every night although it wasn't the best. The bathroom was so-so, although the shower was interesting. The water from the showerhead seemed to come out in a V formation so if I was careful, I could actually put my hand in the middle and my hand would still be dry. It was also the first hostel where I socialised properly with the people in my dorm. There was a Canadian girl called Alice from Canada who was backpacking in Europe for 6 months (she had previously backpacked around South East Asia, Australia and New Zealand), a girl who had just completed her exchange semester in Spain (who was from Brazil) and a Korean girl. They were all so lovely and it was just really nice having a talk to people's travelling experiences and ranting about Rome (and the whole 'ciao bella' among other things). At one of the free dinners, Alice and I were talking to this guy from, allegedly, a southern area of Italy who was so incredibly dodgy and also an alleged Luxembourger who was also dodgy (apparently he had a masters in economics and as a hobby, he drove people's cars to other countries. It honestly sounded like some black market thing). But it was really lovely and the girls were nice and respectful. I guess if I was paranoid, I would have felt a little hesitant about the fact that there weren't any lockers in the room, but honestly, perhaps I was too trusting, but I never carried my important documents (i.e passport and a lot of cash) with me and left it in my hostel room. Whoops. It was all good though.) I also picked it because the location was good and reviews weren't bad.

My Overall Thoughts
Rome was disappointing. So incredibly disappointing. It was one of the cities that I was most excited to visit and yet nothing seemed to be interesting.I believe it was a variety of different factors that resulted in my dissatisfaction; the people on the streets, the fact that I got lost, the gloomy weather/ rain/ hail and generally, the vibe of the city. I don't believe I mentioned it previously, but another thing that frustrated me to no end was the traffic. Traffic and traffic accidents are notorious in Rome and I can completely understand. There is something quite frightening when you literally have to bolt across a road because the cars just don't slow down. Not even a little bit. In fact, I was convinced they actually accelerated. And if they did stop for you, it was literally 30cm away from your legs. I was so scared of crossing any roads and only crossed if there was someone else crossing at the same time, and even then, I made sure that I was on the other side of the person (so the other person was closest to the approaching car). One of the hardest roads was right in front of the Monumento a Vittorio since you needed to cross 4 roads.

Not mine.

Would I re-visit?
No.

Rome Pt 3

15th January 2013
Today was the Vatican! Exchange dude also recommended that I climb the dome. Which I didn't, but more on that later.

I had every intention of taking a short cut to the Tiber River and then to enter the Vatican. Oh boy. From Day 1, I had this issue where I could never end up where I wanted. I'm not entirely sure why. Actually, that is a lie. I could always end up back at my hostel because I knew this one long route and every time I deviated from it thinking, "oh yes, I think I can go down this one instead, it will take me there faster'. Nope. I would get lost and resort to retracing my steps to follow the long path. The problem was, I wasn't even entirely sure why I got lost at least 5 times a day. My sense of direction was completely off and everytime I thought I was heading north, I was almost certain to have been heading in every other direction which was completely bizarre. In every other city that I visited, I had never truly gotten so lost to the point where I wasn't even sure which direction I was heading. I always knew roughly where I was. Perhaps it was the streets which just curved everywhere or the little laneways or roads that weren't documented on any map. I don't know. Or perhaps my mounting frustration got the better of me. [/rant for now]

Finally, I made it to the river and crossed to Castel Sant'Angelo before eventually making my way to Vatican City.











The thing about travelling in low season is the significantly fewer people at attractions. But I forget that when I read travel guides or articles on the internet because everything mentioned waiting in line for hours simply to enter. Yes there was security and I breezed through it without any hassle.








Perhaps it was my increasing disappointment with Rome or perhaps the attractions really weren't special. But St. Peter's Basilica was so underwhelming. It was somewhat impressive upon immediate entry, but the further I walked, the more meh it became. Especially when I looked at the painting inside the dome. I couldn't help but compare it to the one in Florence which was infinitely more impressive. And it was because I was so apathetic towards the cathedral that I didn't even bother climbing up to the dome, even though it would have been perfect due to the absence of queues. At every major attraction in Rome, I was listening to my audio guide and even that didn't make anything interesting which was so surprising.

I ended up wandering outside the Vatican and I laughed when I saw a Durex (condom) machine a mere 50m from the church.


I stumbled upon a local market and bought some fresh fruit. My plan for the rest of the day was to head back to Tiber River (not via the route that I took to get to the Vatican) and to explore more of Rome on the other side. Boy was I wrong. So I walked in a straight line, down this one road that I was certain would take me to the river.

I eventually ended on a road that looked like this.


Note the absence of a footpath
I walked past a lot of gated mansions with - I kid you not- armed security guards outside the gates. Whilst I was walking up the road that did not have a footpath.

I walked to the point where there weren't any shops and it was purely residential homes. And I could not find the bloody river. I was lost in that residential area for 2 hours I believe. It didn't bother me too much since I knew I had plenty of daylight left and there was no way that I would have walked out of Rome. My peak of frustration was when I finally found a road that looked promising and then ... it curved, and curved some more because the road was more a crescent than anything. So basically I ended up in the same direction where I started, but further down. Finally, by some miracle I stumbled upon some students and I followed them becauase I presumed that they would be heading towards the main road. And that assumption was correct because I finally found the main road and after taking 2 more roads, I finally reached the river. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord.

I crossed the river.  By the way, the bridge that I crossed wasn't even on the map that I was issued at the hostel; it was that far south. Truth be told, when I crossed the river, it was one of few times where I felt unsafe. There was not a soul to be seen and the area just had a dodgy feeling. Feelings reminscent of West End of Atlanta with the double locks and barred verandas.


Hmm.

But I knew that if I followed the river north, it would take me back to where I wanted to be.

Just did some quick Googling of the area: Testaccio (well more the fringe of that area)

[...]the border between the poverty of squats and homeless hiding and living on the banks of the Tiber, an area all but safe where illegal activities occur daily (they are probably the only activities occurring at all), and the richness of the inhabitants of the residential area of Testaccio

 Apparently there are a lot of amazing restaurants in the area.

The further I followed the river (or stream of dirty water), the 'richer' it became and the buildings became nicer.


Tiber Island

Naturally, upon reaching the central part of Rome, I got lost. Again. Again.  The most frustrating day. The upside is that I saw more of Rome than I would have ever seen if I didn't get lost as I was off the beaten path. Plus, I have a lovely story to tell. Sort of. The armed men still freak me out a little. Also, I listened to Taylor Swift's album on repeat and what I discovered was that after every 2 songs, there was a song that was actually decent! I fell in love with 'The Last Time'. (Just listened to a live version. Oh dear this one part. Though I actually think it is the guy and not Taylor. Wait, I'm not sure. And what is she wearing?!).

And a rough map of where I walked (although I did get lost so I am not entirely sure what happened when I was on the lower left hand side of the map).

Just for clarification, the white ellipse is where the main attractions are located. It's hard to say how far I did walk, but it is in the vicinity of 25km.

When I was in the US, I did gain some weight (probably 5kg) but I lost it all when I went to Europe which isn't surprising considering I didn't really eat and walked a lot.

Rome Pt 2

14th January 2013
Exchange dude had highly recommended that I visit Capuchin Crypt.

It contains the skeletal remains of 3,700 bodies believed to be Capuchin friars buried by their order.

It was creepy (human remains used as art) but also incredibly underwhelming and I left the place so disappointed.


Upside to the torrential rain. 

Roman Forum



I went to the Coleseum again with the intention of entering it. Since I was travelling in low season, the line was only 10 people long, but when I actually got there, I just lost interest. And that was basically how I felt the entire time I was in Rome. I ended up wandering around looking at all the attractions listed on my map.

I don't have a photo of it without me there. Also don't want my face on the internet either hence the cloud.

One of the places that I always wanted to visit since I was in primary school was Bocca della Verità and it was really awesome, probably the highlight of my trip to Rome. I also visited the church attached and spoke to the guy (or more accurately, the guy started to talk to me) and then we somehow got onto the topic of the Australian bushfires.










Exchange dude had also recommended that I visit this 'amazing' restaurant, an alleged hidden jem. Oh it was hidden all right. I had actually tried to locate it the night before and couldn't find it. I tried again and there was no one there. Literally.






Super fast, but I was worried the owner/ waiter/ chef would actually catch me.

The pasta was homemade and it was lovely, but I also picked without thinking. I ordered a cream based pasta sauce which was so rich and sickening after a while. I only ate 1/3 of it. Also, one my biggest gripes / cultural shock with Europe was a) the fact I had to pay to use bathrooms (although I usually got around this by not going to the bathroom or visiting a Maccas) and b) that water is not free! The idea of "tap water" isn't, I guess, really a big thing and I kept on forgetting about that.