Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Driving day!  Up early & check out.  Sandy's turn to now get out of Sorrento the way we came in.  So much traffic.  It's stop and go, slowly, all the way through the little towns.  Thank goodness she is a good driver.  I get to look around this time.  The view is hazy -- cloudy but not raining ....... yet.  Fortunately it rained only slightly once we got on A-1.  Vesuvius is more clouded over the top than it has been, and the cliffs have eerie shadows.  The navigation on my cell phone is working today and we pretty much breeze to the Chiampino Airport outside of Rome.  It didn't take long to find the Auto Europa place, turn in the car (no problem, even though it was a day late and another dropoff point), and take the shuttle to the front of the airport where we got a taxi to our hotel.  Well, almost to our hotel.  It's on a little side alley, so she left us off and pointed.  We did feel a little abandoned, but not for long.  The Hotel Due Torri is a nice little hotel on a supposedly quiet (except for the loudmouth dog and his owner) street in the Pantheon district.  We found it quickly, rattled our suitcases over the square cobblestoned street and checked in.  Up one flight -- not too bad.  Elevator if necessary, air conditioning, small but nice room with refrigerator, TV (haven't put one on since we got to Italy!), and a small but nice shower.

We HAD to get something to eat, so we went to nearby Obiko at the suggestion of the woman at the hotel desk.  Wonderful and huge salad, bread, and pasta.  After a short siesta back at the hotel, we ventured out again.  Our map reading prowess proved shaky again as we found our way first to the Pantheon, then Trevi fountain. I was blown away by the size of the Pantheon.  I expected big, but this is HUGE!  How did the Romans build such a huge dome??  Interesting to see the two rectangular cutouts done by Brunelleshi (by special permission) to discover the materials used so he could build the dome for the Florence cathedral.  Ginny says we have to go back and see Rafael's tomb.  We will, gladly.

Trevi fountain is a must see, but not when we did!  We hit it right at "stroll time" for all the Italians and all the tourists.  It was SO crowded!  We did manage to get pictures and to admire it and that's all we needed to do.  A fellow peddling polaroid pictures of people in front of the fountain took a picture of us with Sandy's camera, then was disgusted when we wouldn't buy one of his pictures.

Speaking of which, there are quite a few people sitting on the steps of buildings with cups for handouts.  In Florence we saw several crippled people walking the streets with cups.  Then you have the musicians.  The ones in Venice who just wouldn't go away while I was on the phone with Ginny. Street corner violinists and accordion players.  A couple of musicians on the Ercolano train playing, then passing a cup.  A cellist playing Bach in front of the Pantheon.

Off to the Piazza Navona with it's Egyptian obelisk and beautiful fountain.  And, of course, its church and all the ones we popped into along the way.  Even the most humble of them are works of art.

We've covered enough territory today.  After some fruit, cheese, left over lunch, and wine, we are off to read, write, relax, and sleep.  We're in ROME!