Roma: New Year, end of trip

It is now 2011 - Happy New Year to everyone. Over the last few days I have done quite a bit of walking around, some of it with Elena and some by myself. I have really enjoyed rediscovering some of my favorite sights, like the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, San Giovanni in Laterano and Piazza Di Spagna, while discovering some new sites. Yesterday in particular I got up early (Elena is in London celebrating New Year's with her cousin/girlfriend) and walked around until lunch. Along the way I stopped at various churches, including two spectacular churches I had never seen before: San Clemente and Santi Quattro. Both are very old churches, one of them (San Clemente) built over a pagan structure dating from the first century B.C., both with amazing art and architecture.

This morning my brother Franco arrived by train, he took the overnight couchette to come celebrate my father's 80th birthday. I happened to wake up around 5:45, which is about the time he was arriving, so I called him and went to pick him up. I have been feeling a bit off, perhaps the result of last night's celebrations? I had a lovely time with my long-time friends Pietro and Costanza, along with Costanza's sister Giulia, her husband, and the couple (a different Pietro and his wife Paola) that hosted us. There were a few other people and several kids ranging in age from 10 months to 14 years old. Romans are totally insane about their New Year's fireworks - not really organized fireworks, more a situation in which the entire city goes nuts for a good hour surrounding midnight, throwing all sorts of explosive devices from windows and rooftops. Note to tourists: do not EVER think about walking around Rome between 11:30pm and 1:00am on New Year's, lest you want to be killed by ammunition disguised as fireworks.

Anyhow, I am now totally ready to come home. It's been a long, long trip, and I have enjoyed all of it, but it is time to get back to a normal life -- no more living out of a suitcase. I miss my loved ones, and I can't wait to get back into a routine. It's been fun keeping track of my adventures, and I look forward to re-reading some of these stories in the future, once the memories have begun to fade.

Happy happy 2011!!!

Roma, the eternal city

I have to say, this trip is in fact starting to feel a bit like eternity. I have now reached that point of a vacation where laziness starts to feel like an oily film that coats everything I do. I find myself getting up reasonably early and going for long walks and bus rides around the city. It's really great even as a Roman discovering places that anywhere else in the world would become major attractions, and here they are just parts of the city.

Yesterday, for instance, I walked by a place not far from the Termini train station, a fenced-in square that included a large building with the words "Rome Aquarium - 1885", facing a small park with some Roman ruins. I had never heard of an aquarium, so I ambled in and was greeted by a most friendly doorman who proceeded to show me around and told me about the history of this building, which until 10-15 years ago was in disrepair and was being used as storage, and now is a national monument, housing some sort of architectural society. The ruins outside? One old wall forms part of the Roman wall in the 7th century B.C., the rest of the ruins are much newer, dating somewhere around the first century B.C.

This morning I went for another long walk, actually started with a bus ride to the train station, then walked around a couple of neighborhoods and ended up walking around the Colosseum, then back to Piazza Venezia and back home to meet with Elena (who by then had been up for a half hour). As much as the heart of historic Rome is very touristy, and as much as I have seen it dozens of times, it is still an amazing place. The stretch from the Colosseum, along the various Fora and on to Piazza Venezia is truly amazing. And every time they try to build something, they dig up more ruins. What a beautiful city!

A Christmas shout-out to Pietro

Merry Christmas, everyone! It's just past 9am and everyone is still sleeping. I just got up and wanted to send a shout-out to Pietro, who was supposed to be here, but because of flight cancellations in London was not able to make it. We are all really sorry to be missing you here! Many thanks to Karen for being an awesome mom and finding some good "consolation prizes."

Roma: Public health care, traffic and noise

Yesterday I was feeling somewhat better so Elena and I hopped on a bus downtown and walked around for a few hours, grabbing a "proper" pizza in Trastevere. The weather was surprisingly nice as a warm, southern wind had blown into town. When we got back in the late afternoon my parents insisted that I go see a doctor, since my cough is still not great. So my dad and I walked about a quarter mile away to their doctor's office, which is inside a regular residential building.

The doctor checked out my lungs, said I seem not to have any pneumonia or bad bronchitis, but with the holidays coming up he prescribed some antibiotics "just in case." Before the visit started my father had explained that I am not a resident of Italy and thus have no health insurance. At the end of the visit, my father offered to pay for the visit, but the doctor said "don't worry about it, it's Christmas" and gave us the prescription in my dad's name. At the pharmacy we were given the choice of buying the branded version suggested by the doctor for a whopping €1.09, or the generic version for free. We splurged on the branded version. The comparison to our own health care system is stunning.

On the down side, Rome is riddled with traffic, and there is a ton of noise, at least in some parts (such as my parents' apartment). The bus back from downtown took an hour, a ride that normally takes at most half an hour. This is probably due to Christmas shopping, but traffic in general is pretty horrible around here -- though fortunately public transport is great. And I brought plenty of earplugs to combat the noise when I am sleeping...

Traveling through Tuscany

After spending the night in Lucca we walked around town for a couple of hours -- Lucca is one of my favorite towns, and if it didn't happen to be so close to Pisa and Florence, it would probably have a lot more tourists. The city, surrounded by ramparts, has a wonderful collection of old buildings, towers, churches and other great sights. Even in the rain, it was quite enjoyable.

After grabbing a couple of sandwiches for the road, we drove on through the hills of Tuscany toward Volterra. Along the way, we spotted some great sights, including a spectacular ancient tower atop a large rock. Anyhow, I thought Volterra was mostly unknown to American tourists, but Elena informed me that it gained significant notoriety through the movie/book "Twilight." The town is nestled atop a fairly high hill, with commanding and breathtaking views over the Tuscan landscape. We walked around Volterra for a couple of hours, but the shops were closed (lunch break) and the town is not so large, so we headed over to Siena.

Siena is also a beautiful city, most famous for the "Palio," a horse race pitting the best representatives from each section of town, which takes place in Piazza del Campo, a large square that is unique because of its shape, and because it slopes down to one side, a bit like an amphitheater. The shopping in Siena is also pretty amazing, though we showed significant restraint.

After a few hours in Siena we took off for Rome, and arrive there around 8:30pm. My beloved Rome! Chaos, traffic, noise, ... and yet, whenever I arrive, I feel so at home it is uncanny. Elena, having lived here for almost a full year back in 2008-2009, also feels the same way. My flu had gotten worse, and after a quick dinner I took my temperature -- a whopping 102.4. My lungs also felt like absolute shit each time I coughed. I am hoping it's not a relapse of the pneumonia I had a couple years ago. This morning I feel much better, but I will probably go see a doctor this afternoon nonetheless. For now, Elena and I are taking advantage of semi-decent weather to go for a stroll downtown.

Driving through Italy in the rain

After a couple days of visiting relatives, Elena and I left Milano yesterday morning, with the goal of meandering at a leisurely pace down to Rome. The weather has been pretty crappy, it rained most of the time. We drove down to Parma, then headed west toward La Spezia but left the main highway and wound our way through a road that follows what used to be the Roman "Via Aurelia."

At one point we saw a sign for an archeological site that I'd never heard of, called "Luni" or "Luna." Luna is the word for "moon," and in fact this is the site of a town that was dedicated to the Roman God "Selene." The site is not exactly overwhelming, the highlights being the ruins of an amphitheater dating I believe to the 5th or 6th century, as well as some floor mosaics.

We then drove down to Lucca, a lovely Tuscan town that is less well known only because it happens to be very close to Pisa and Florence. We found a small but nice hotel, then had a great dinner at a local restaurant, marred only by the fact that I feel like crap with a bad cough and sore throat (it had to happen sooner or later). Also, it's been raining steadily, which takes a bit of the fun out of it, but Elena and I are having a great time. Today we plan to explore a few Tuscan towns on the way to Rome.

From Moroccan poverty to Milanese opulence

Yesterday afternoon Elena and I went to downtown Milano. This time of year things are bustling in what is one of the most amazing shopping areas in the world. I was surprised by my own reaction to the stark contrast between the poverty and simplicity I had seen in Morocco. It's a long, long way from Milano's Galleria to Morocco's Medinas. We paid 5EUR for a small paper cone of roasted chestnuts, similar in size to the paper cones of roasted nuts I could by in Morocco for 2Dhr (less than 0.2EUR). It was hard for me to stop thinking about the people with whom I had just spent over a week, for whom a single item from a typical shop window could have fed a family for a month.

Nonetheless, Milan's main shopping area is quite spectacular. It was nice being outside, especially since we were both wiped out tired. The combination of sleep deprivation and massive overeating was taking a toll on us, and the freezing air was a welcome change.

Later last night and pretty much all of today we spent our time visiting various relatives. It's been nice seeing cousins, uncles and aunts. Tomorrow morning we are off, driving south toward Rome with no specific plans but a vague notion that we will stop in Siena and San Gimignano (neither of which has been visited by Elena), find a place to sleep somewhere, and reach Rome by dinner time.