Travel Diary

November 6, 2000 8:01 (PST) 5:01 (GMT+1)

I sit on a train. I don't know where it's going, but we're moving and no one else has got our seats. The good thing is that I have a new passport. Sure, we missed our train, but hey, we caught another one. Sure, we don't know where it goes, but still...it's moving.

How did this all start? Let me go back a day.

Yesterday was Sunday. We got up around 7am and we were quite hungry. Misty was slow getting up, and I didn't think she wanted our chocolate covered raisons, so I ate the last package myself. It wasn't much--more than Misty had but still not much. I then took a shower in the curtainless tub. The tub had a shower nozzle on a fixture. You sort of had to make your own shower. It was fun, though a little crazy. Once my showering was done, we packed our things and headed out. Our next lodging would be directly in Rome.

This time we found the Metro with no problem. Of course, we did have to drag our luggage several blocks and then onto the train. That was a crazy sight. There we were: two traveling tourists, pulling our little suitcases on wheels down some street in a cozy town outside of Rome. On the Metro, we saw our first incident. A loud argument broke out in a group. Two police officers happened to be on the same car and rushed to investigate. Soon after, the train arrived at the next stop and one lady was led away. It was our first view of a caught and captured pickpocketer. We exited at "Termini" Station. This was the Metro station next to the train station and would be our new epicenter. We walked down a few blocks still dragging our luggage along and found our next hotel/hostel. We didn't have a reservation, but they had a room available. The place was called "Fawlty Towers," a name that didn't exactly conjure images of room service and friendly doormen. No, this place was small and on the 5th floor. A buzzer opened a gate to get in and we then saw the "elevator." It was very small and you could see the mechanics and cables that operated it. The sign said only three people max. I wasn't going to be riding in that. Misty didn't seem to mind so she offered to ride up with the luggage. What a true hero, she was. Though it didn't look unsafe, I really couldn't see any reason for us both to get wiped out on this trip. Someone had to live to tell the tale to future generations.

We weren't able to check into our room at the time but they did have a computer with an Internet connection, so I logged on and checked the Pleasanton Playhouse web site back home. The results were good, though not great. I had been cast in a show that I had auditioned for; however, it's wasn't the role I really wanted. But we weren't going to let a bit of bad new affect our trip. I vented for a few minutes (with Misty's permission) and then began to enjoy the adventure again. After that, we put our bags in a safe room and went out for a while. On our way to the metro, we witnessed another "incident." Shouts were heard as we noticed a whole group of people chasing down a man. Fortunately, a man in the group was fast enough to catch the thief as the police were nearby to settle things. From the looks of it, the man stole a coat and got caught. It appeared to be another one of the "Gypsies." We had heard to be careful of valuables because the gypsies were everywhere and trained to steal from birth. Apparently, it's quite true. There is one thing we learned about being a gypsy, and that is if you're going to steal, train to fun fast.

We exited at the Coliseum again and then went to the Palentine Hill. This I believe was the old home of the Caesars and quite nice, er, it must have been nice in its time. It was a bit run down when we saw it, and I'm sure the neighbors complain about it lowering the local property value. I'm talking about the current neighbors, not the neighbors back in 100 AD. I think if you complained about the Caesar's house back then, they killed you by "Foundatioicide." That's where they bury you in the ground and build a house on top of you. No, our guide never mentioned that, but I am sure it just slipped his mind.

The Palentine Hill was HUGE! It was also quite amazing. It's hard to describe it all, but that's why I took pictures. If the pictures don't give you enough info, then buy a ticket and visit! I can't do all the work here! HELP ME HELP YOU!

After Palentine Hill, we journeyed over to one of the sights of Roman Baths. They were a little ways down the road, yet it felt like miles since our feet were so darn tired.

We paused before entering and had a gelato bittori, or maybe gelato bissini or something. I don't know what the second word was, but the first word was ice cream, so the second word was most likely meaning cone. If someone tells you otherwise, please slap them and say, "Don't argue with me; my friend actually went to Italy!" Don't think before doing this, just do it.

We then entered the Roman Baths. There wasn't much left to indicate that bathing had taken place there. There were a few areas with mosaic tiles still on the floor. One area even let you walk over the tiles. I found that to be a bit weird. I would think the tiles would wear out quicker with people trampling over them every day for the next 2 thousand years; then again, we didn't have a book or guide to let us know what the deal was there. Could be, the tiles are only open for walking over every 20 years or so. Or could be, they were made in China. If they start handing out tiles during future visits, then I would go with my latter theory.

We did rest a bit at the baths. While we couldn't bathe there, we could sit down and that was a welcome treat. The weather was fabulous and it was an awesome day for sightseeing.

Our rest didn't last long as we needed to get back to the hotel to check into our room. We were quite starved by that point. Our only food besides the ice cream was a small sandwich and a drink we had after booking our hotel room.

Back at the hotel, we got our room and just collapsed for a bit. I transferred my pictures to the computer and Misty napped. After that, I went to use the Internet again. I entered a little into my diary and checked the US news. Though I wanted the results of the presidency, the race wasn't over yet. My timing was a bit off. I also logged onto Instant Messenger, but it was 9am back home on Sunday. Not a lot of people chimed me.

I then got Misty and we went to look for food. We wanted good food. Good Italian food! Our book recommended Bruno's so we headed over to the restaurant. It was only a few small blocks away. The service wasn't bad; it was in fact nonexistent. In fact it was closed... Maybe Bruno didn't work on Sundays or maybe Bruno was deceased. Either way, we had to look elsewhere.

It's too bad our book doesn't inform you of bad restaurants, because the one we picked out at random wasn't good. The service was good, but the food was not. My soup was just chicken broth and my spaghetti was nothing worth writing in my diary about. Yes, I know, I am writing my diary about it, but NOT cause it's worth it! After dinner, we were too tired to travel further, so we returned to the hotel. Sleep came quickly.

I didn't sleep well though. I was too anxious about getting up the next day. So I awoke several times wondering if it was 6:30am yet. During the night, I also noticed that the rain was back again. We got up at 6:30 and checked out. We had been hoping to exit the hotel around 7am to make it to the Vatican before it opened, but we had to wait until 7:30 to check out We left our bags there so we could just pick them up and get on the train later. Our next stop was the Vatican. There were only two things I needed to see in Rome, The Coliseum and the Sistine Chapel. We got up early just to be able to make the trip to see the Sistine Chapel.

First, it was back to the Metro. The Metro was extremely crowded. It's a good thing that public transportation is so widely used. It's a bad thing that it's so crowded when we're on it! Yet, we were getting used to the thick mob of people that crammed into the open doors. It wasn't that we felt claustrophobic in such spaces; we just had to be concerned about pickpockets. One little girl and her brother boarded a crowded car. She looked about eight, while her brother must have been six. You could watch her eyes dart around looking for an opportune moment to pilfer a purse or wallet. She then tried to move into the crowded car further, but the crowed was too thick, and no one seemed to want to let her by. It appeared that everyone was on to who she was and what she was about. At the next stop, she and her brother raced off the car quickly, probably looking to find another moment to steal or getting away because she just got something.

We then got off the Metro. Ugh--a few blocks early! Boy our time was running out and quick, so we had extra walking to do. It also began to rain a lot more heavily. Good news was we had two umbrellas. Bad news was that they were in our luggage at the hotel. This was about the time I noticed my passport was missing. I had usually carried it everywhere, but somehow it wasn't with me. I figured that it must be in my main bag at the hotel. It just had to be. So, I tried not to worry about it as we traveled to the Vatican.

We did meet one of the many umbrella salesmen that cover the street when it rains. It's funny, as soon as the rain starts in Rome, these people are everywhere selling umbrellas! We bought an umbrella (We now have 3 of them) for the grand price of 12,000 Lire about $5.50 US.

The line to the Vatican Museum was already quite long when we reached it. It was about 9am. You have to walk down the block from the Vatican to reach the entrance to the museum where the Sistine Chapel is. Although the line was long, it did move quickly. We finally got in and paid our money. Since the chapel was at the end of the long, long museum we needed to travel quickly to see it in time. So we gave a quick glance to the priceless works of art, snapped a picture here and there, and gave a quick "oooohhh" and "ahhhh" at a few things.

The works were amazing though. The details were exquisite. Finally we hit the Chapel! Pictures, videos, and talking weren't allowed inside the Chapel. The ceiling was a work of art. While I didn't exactly lose my breath looking at it, I did appreciate how famous and impressive it was.

After that, we had to head over to the Vatican St. Peter's Cathedral. The line wasn't too bad at all. We entered through some special Jubilee door that isn't used very often. I thought it would be great! But, the door opened to the same place that the regular doors opened to. It sort of reminded me of a car with four doors. And the driver just picks one not to use except for every 25 years. Sure it's neat... uh , I guess.

Now St. Peter's is HUGE! It's just plain big. Inside are statues, pillars, candles (on candle things), and much, much more! Fortunately, this place allowed pictures. A few other religious places didn't, which was disappointing to say the least. I'm not sure what their reasons are. Possibly, they may feel the places are sacred and that God doesn't like pictures. Misty suggested that the Sistine Chapel no picture rule was perhaps because they didn't want the flashes to ruin the art work, or also they wanted to have the sole right to the pictures for their profits? Who knows? It seems a bit strange since it was the People who gave their money to the church they ought to be able to take pictures.

Our time was diminishing quickly at the Cathedral, so we caught the Metro back to the Hotel. That's when I checked my bags to find my passport... Uh OH!! It wasn't in any of my bags! This was bad. This was very bad. This trip only had two (2) vital things to really be careful about: the plane tickets and the passport. Well, I let the second thing slip. I wasn't sure if our little one-week trip was going to be extended for a while. The hotel people were helpful and we were soon taking another metro train to get to the American Consulate. We had hoped our previous Metro ride would be our last, but nope. We got on the crowded car once again. We found the American Embassy and that was swell. Yet it wasn't the right place. We needed the consulate. Luckily, it was next door. It was also closed until 2pm. Our train to Venice was at 1pm. This was a huge problem. We decided to have lunch and wait for 2pm. A nearby place offered lunch outdoors in a glass enclosed place. We decided to try it. We liked it a lot. The service was good and the food was finally great. Outside it was raining, but we didn't care. We were finally having a great Italian meal. We finished the meal with gelato for me and tiramisu for Misty.

Next it was on to the embassy, er the consulate. The line was short and we waited. After having our bags checked and saying bye to our cameras for a bit, we got in. The people were very kind and helpful. We feared that we'd have to wait a full day before getting a new passport, but they said it only would be an hour. This was really great news! During our wait, we met another American couple who also needed a passport due to water damage. We spoke with them for about a half hour. They were very nice people. It's funny (in an ironic way), but many of the friendliest people we've met have been from America.

We checked back at the office and my passport was ready! I was rolling again. It was raining outside when we left, but I didn't care! I had my passport! Nothing could go wrong now!!

Something did.

Side note: Our trip wasn't full of maladies. Don't think that. But there were a few glitches along the way. Maybe they even happened for a reason. At least that's what Misty says. I usually then ask her what the reason is. She doesn't usually know. I of course don't know either. I guess good answers are hard to find, but back to the story.

We checked out of the hotel and went to the train station. It was quite a challenge to figure out which platform to stand on, which train to take, and which car to sit on. I was beginning to almost miss the Metro. Even with the gypsy children with their cute little shifty eyes.

In time, we boarded a train. It seemed like the right one. It left the station.

Last EntryNext Entry