Cinque Terre to Rome

We are now in Rome and I'm enjoying the warm weather. Our entire stay in Cinque Terre had chilly weather, definitely not conducive for lounging on the beach. We were disappointed that the weather wasn't better but we made the best of it. Actually the water was so choppy there were 2 drownings in the last few days of people on the rocks too close to the water. Very sadly, one of the couples was on their honeymoon and the wife died.

Our first night in Cinque Terre we enjoyed a delicious seafood dinner at one of the popular restaurants. At the table next to us we met a very friendly couple from Wisconsin - Ross and Deb. They were almost finished with dinner but we enjoyed their company so much we decided to plan to meet the next day for a hike. We met them at noon to hike to Monterosso, the longest of the hikes but extremely beautiful. We had such a fun time on the hike and took tons of pictures. We ended up spending the rest of the day with our new friends in Monterosso. On our way back to the train station we stopped off at the beach and decided to take off our shoes and wade in. Well the waves were coming in further than we expected which knocked me and Deb off our feet so we were soaked and before we knew it, the waves had washed away all of our shoes! I was so bummed my very comfortable Ecco sandals that I bought specifically for this trip were gone. Jason also lost his favorite Seahawks hat which was next to his shoes. We had to catch the train barefoot and wet!! We did have other shoes with us on the trip but I am now stuck with flip flops and Jason with Docs. Anyway, it was a very fun day and we hope some day to see Ross and Deb again.

The following day we had plans to catch the train to Pisa and then on to Rome. We decided to skip Pisa and instead visit one of the other Cinque Terre towns. That afternoon we made it to the train station to catch the train to Rome. Our train was scheduled to leave about 5 minutes after we got our ticket. We made it to the platform before the train arrived but Jason was hungry and craving McDonald's! We have only been eating the local Italian cuisine up to this point but Jason decided to try his luck and run back to get some cheeseburgers. I didn't think he would make it but patiently waited by the track, watched the train arrive and the passengers board. I saw Jason running to our track but he was about 20 seconds too late and we missed the train!! We both thought the next train would be soon but no, it was scheduled to arrive 2 hours later. So we headed into town to try to find me some shoes but that was a bust because it was siesta and all the stores were closed!! Back at the train station we ended up having to wait even longer since the train was delayed 40 minutes. We finally got on and lucked out with a 6 seat room all to ourselves for almost the whole 4 hour train ride. But the joys of figuring out the train system in a foreign country were not over. We got off at a stop too soon. It said Roma something but we needed Roma Termini. What's the difference??? Anyway we had to wait another 40 minutes for the next train. We finally made it in to Rome and of course got lost trying to find the hotel but some guys from London traveling through helped us out. We sat down to dinner at 11 pm, all for some stupid cheeseburgers!! :-) This day was hard and really made us miss home.

Before I go on to describe our first day in Rome I have to say 2 weeks is plenty long for us. We really appreciate the US in so many ways from customer service at restaurants to our own bed. We can now appreciate why people book tours, such as through Rick Steves. You don't have to figure out the train system on your own, sort through a bad map in a new city every other day trying to find your hotel or trying to find a good restaurant. Maybe we aren't quite as adventurist as I thought but this type of trip was so much work before (during the planning stages) and here. If we(hopefully when) we come back to Italy we both agree that we'd spend a week in Venice and a week in Cinque Terre, when it's warm enough to go swimming. Those by far were our favorite places but for our first time to Italy we are still glad we visited Florence and Rome.

Okay, now on to Rome. We do have a nice hotel for our last City in Italy. Not as big as the suite a few nights ago but very nice. Probably the most comfortable bed although it is still 2 twin mattresses pushed together. We had an early morning start for our tour of the Colosseum and Palantine Hill. We were both amazed at the size of the ruins. Not the height but how much acreage they encompass.

Unfortunately most of the decorations from the buildings were recycled in the middle ages. The bronze statues and decorations were melted down to make weapons. All of the important buildings were built with brick and then covered with marble slabs. The ancient city was pretty much a marble quarry when they built the Sistine Chapel and other churches and buildings. So today all you see is what is left of the brick buildings with holes from where the nails formerly held the marble slabs. The Colosseum was of course awesome! About 10 years ago part of the wood stage and marble steps were recreated which really helped visualize what it might have looked like. It was also interesting to learn that in the 17th and 18th centuries the concept of restoration was to rebuild, not preserve. Our guide pointed out some of the structures on Palantine Hill that were a mixture of ancient and modern construction.

Before we came to Rome we heard pick pocketing is a big problem but we haven't seen anything yet to make us feel unsafe. We are still wearing our money belts and have left most of our valuables in the hotel safe.

Siesta has now ended today so it's time to shop! I still want to find a decent pair of shoes for the last few days here. We may also catch the hop-on, hop-off tour bus tonight. Tomorrow we visit the Vatican and Sistine Chapel.