Ann's Guide Life

Getting around the City by Subway is easy, but not necessarily easy on the eyes. The subway is honestly the most unflattering I’ve ever seen. Brussels and Paris caters art on the way to your next station. But perhaps I’m unfair in my judgment of Rome’s subway culture, since the trains themselves are sprayed in modern art.

 

 

 

One stop we made was at the Colosseum. Honestly, I didn’t think I would enjoy the place as much as I did, but the Audioguide really made a difference.

 

 

 

The feel of the place is a bit haunting, especially if you think of all the people who fought for their lives here, and died, all for the spirit of entertainment. What is more, imagine all the animals they kept under the stage in stone cages, in the dark, cramped up together, only to be let out in the beginning of the Games as a kind of appetizer. Now it’s empty and looks rather innocent, like a labyrinth. A labyrinth with walls covered in blood…

 

 

 

Well it is still life left in these stones, not what you had expected perhaps, but still there is some ;)

 

 

 

So it's kind of sad thinking of what is left, and that the monument has been “recycled” in other buildings, for example, St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican State. Ok, so it’s nothing new to recycle building material but I idealistically wish that they hadn’t plundered the Colosseum.

 

 

Well, the stones are pretty nice in the walls of the Basilica, don’t you think?

 

When packing for Rome, in August (the big vacation month here, for the locals). DO NOT forget, toothbrush, deodorant or shampoo… it might take you three days to find a supermarket with full stock, or a Pharmacy open during holiday days. Not to recommend for your traveling companion or your personal hygiene.

 

 

When finding a beautiful building with military men/vehicles outside – DO NOT cross the street to admire the house closer. It might be the Russian Embassy… and the military men might find your activity suspicious.

 

 

 

 

When walking in central Rome DO NOT enter random beautiful courtyard gardens, they might be private and have Asian Gardener Watchdogs… with big hoses.

 

 

 

 

When eating in Rome, DO NOT put anything on the table: hats, sunglasses, shawls or cameras… this upsets the waiters. And DO NOT dear to ask for a tooth pick directly after finishing your food… the waiter might misunderstand you and angrily blurt out the total of your bill and then get insulted when you look confused. And when he realizes he has misunderstood he might get even more upset and destroy your whole dinner experience.

 

 

 

 

When going to the Vatican, DO NOT believe the sales men outside that say you show too much skin. They look like they just want to sell you clothes, trust your instinct DO NOT buy more clothes because they don’t know anything about the dress code in the Vatican. If your shoulders and knees are covered, it’s enough! The rest just makes you sweat.

 

 

 

 

This requires some background. I love the whole restaurant experience. The setting, the mood, the menu, the personalities and of course the food! In my world I expected something from “the lady and the tramp”.

Imagine my chock after a couple of days here when I realize that not is it possible to find anything even close to this but it is more than rare to find good quality food and polite service minded waiters.

We encountered clearly rude men, even insulting men, inconsiderate men, raising their eyebrows and looking down their noses men – perhaps that was covered by rude and insulting men? Or perhaps I am pampered in Crete and cannot compare the two places?

Lucky for Rome that it has some golden spots and some gentlemen left. When it comes to food, that is! Go see Mamma Angela’s Trattoria, the first place we went to and the best! Or just skip eating in Rome and go past GO and directly to Crete.