I woke up periodically on the plane throughout the night. The people behind me were talking loud and kept pushing my seat. The gal who is sitting next to me complained that they were
pushing on her seat as well. We should have said something to a stewardess. Those crotchety old Italian women were ruthless. After dinner the previous day (11PM) I proceeded to slightly move the back of my seat back so I could sleep.
That was met with a "Oohh, beh, beh" and pushes on my seat until a raised it back up, 2 inches.
Ten minutes until we land in Rome. Wow.Let the games begin. According to the pilot it's 21 degrees celcius and overcast. At least there's no rain, like I read in the forecast before I left for
the airport.
I can't believe I'm going to be seeing my friend again in a little bit! I had met Erion in Italy last September and we've kept in touch.
The plane's descending!...and landing!!!
I had a nice walk down to the baggage claim. It's always so deserted. I say that like I'm a regular here or something.
I wait at belt 8 for like 30 minutes and no backpack! Oh My God. Panic setting in. Less and less baggage rolls around. Only a trickle of people waiting.
Oh no! Freaking out I walk over to the Delta customer service baggage issues line and wait some more. To a sour faced woman I explain that I have no backpack. I fill out a baggage claim form. She slaps a little toiletry care bag on the counter and says to call them in a few hours. MAYBE it'll be here.
She lets me use her phone to call Erion who has been standing around waiting for me outside la dogana for so long. "Erion! Il mio zaino perso! La donna mi dica forse ancora in New York!!", I exasperated to an incredulous Erion.
Grabbing my pathetic toiletry bag I hurry towards and through passport control and through the open doors.
Throngs of people are waiting for their loved ones..or whoever it is they're waiting for. Where's Erion?!? My eyes scan the crowd..back and forth..as I walk. Oh where oh where?! Long story short it took about 20 minutes to find him. Sigh. What a day so far.
We exit the airport and head to his car. Boy is it warm here! I'm in a chilly Ohio one day, and the next in a balmy Italy. Gotta love it.
Driving back to his apartment we pass by and under so many old Roman aquaducts. How fantastic.
After a refreshing nap we head back out and drive over to Campo dei Fiori where we park and walk around. We check out Piazza di Spagna, Fontana di Trevi, Piazza Navona, Pantheon, and eat gelato at La Palma. What a day.
In the morning we called the airport. Still no backpack. Were told to call back later.
Hop in the car and head to the center of town. So much traffic. The hhonking of the carn horn is a very frequent occurance, as well as the uttering things in Italian that I think I best not understand.
I enjoy 'traffic watching'. Motorcycles zip around cars as they (we) are moving, and stopped at lights.
Most people on the vespas, seemingly unafraid, almost knock into car bumpers with their tires as they weave in and out of traffic.
It takes a while to find a spot to park. The little European cars are really packed in every imaginable spot. By some miracle we find a spot near the Spanish Steps.
We eat lunch at a restaurant at little table outside. It appears that every restaurant has both tables set up inside and out, with some sort of umbrellas/canopy overhead. I like.
After lunch we went for a stroll (fare una passeggiata) through Piazza di Spagna and various other streets. We wandered on over to Piazza Venezia where the mammoth Monument to Victor Emmanuel II sits.
Construction began on the monument also known as Il Vittoriano, in 1885 and was inaugurated in 1911 in honor of Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy, the first king of a unified Italy. The building contains a museum of Risorgimento, the events that led to unification. The grand views of Rome from this monument are not to be missed.
After this bit of sightseeing we tried the airport again. Once again we were told that they have no record of my backpack and to call back...at 10 AM the next day. We're beginning to see an unfortunate pattern develop.
Hungry, we ate dinner in a osteria near Piazza Navona. It was getting chilly and started to rain. But we, like many others, sat outside under the cover of a canopy awning. The fire baked pizza and vino were scrumptious!
Well, like clockwork we called the airport first thing. What a surprise!! They told us they don't have my backpack, but to call back at 4PM.
There's rain. And lots of it. I pulled out my monocular and checked out the street views from the window.
When the rain let up a bit we left to find a place to eat. So many cars and people/tourists. Even with all the rain. We snickered at the tourists we drove by that were wearing brightly colored rain ponchos.
We found a restaurant and a parking spot right next to it. What luck. It's on a narrow side street. We sit outside at a canopy covered outdoor restaurant, beside a couple from Australia that we chatted with.
Actually, I did most of the chatting as Erion isn't very fluent in English. It sure felt good to be able to chat and express myself normally, in English, with this couple.
For lunch we shared a bottle of vino, at some bruschetta and I had a plate of gnocchi. That satiated my hunger, but I was now craving museums. I was still without my lost lugggage which held all my guidebooks. I felt lost. This is day 3 without my books guiding me to the top sites that I bookmarked.
For a couple days I tried telling Erion that I wanted to go to some crypts. Either I wasn't saying the word right and he didn't know what I was saying or he knew what I was saying, but was playing dumb because he's not into crypts. I don't know which is more hard to believe.
We ask the waiter (cameriere) if he could recommend a good museum or two in the vicinity. Yes, indeed. He suggested a couple. So with the rain having slowed dramatically at this point we walk on over to il Museo Napoleonico.
The Napolean Museum is comprised of 13 cozy rooms which house paintings, sculptures, furniture and other pieces from the period. It wasn't a large museum, yet it was interesting and had some nice artifacts.
From there we headed up the street and steps to Musei Capitolini. The Capitoline Museums are a group of art and archeological museums in Piazza del Campidoglio on top of the famous Capitoline Hill. The history of the museums can be traced back to 1471.
The museums hold many marble busts and statues. One of which is the famous Dying Gaul. The ancient Roman marble copy is of a lost Hellenistic statue from about 220 B.C. by Attalos of Pergamon to honor his victory over the Celtic Galatians in Anatolia. The Dying Gaul became one of the most celebrated works to have survived from antiquity. (Not in photo above).
After the museums we continued down Via del Teatro Marcello. We stopped near the ancient Theater of Marcellus (it looks like a mini colosseum) and phoned the airport again. Get this, my backpack is in Venice!! What is it doing there?! Erion, who's been my liason, told them to fly it to Rome! They had told him that we told them yesterday that we wanted it to go to Venice! So, we left it that they were to fly my backpack to Rome. We were to call back tomorrow at 9AM. I'm getting sad at this point. Would I never get my stupid luggage?!
Erion tried his best to cheer me up as we walked over to the Pantheon. The Panteon was originally built as a temple around 27 B.C. The doors are open, so we head inside. It had rained a lot so there is a puddle of water in the middle of the floor, under the large oculus. It's roped off. I take photos. We grab a pew and sit for a bit to unwind. I'm still reeling from the ongoing backpack fiasco.
We go to the mall and I buy myself some clothes and other necessities. Oh, and gelato, which I suppose can count as a necessity.
For dinner we head out with Erion's friend, Arildo, to the restaurant from last night with the good pizza!
Our hotel was on the island of Lido, a short water taxi ride away.
Rimini..full of beaches and nightlife. A short ride away from the old hilltop town of San Marino.
Using Rome once again as our home base we explore Ostia Antica and Orvieto.
My flight was overbooked and the next flight into NY wasn't until the next day. The airlines put me up in a hotel in Ostia.
I call up Erion from the airport and he later meets me at the hotel. We walk down the street to the beach and enjoy a beer at a cozy outside bar
while watching the sun set over Italy.
I wanted to call my brother and ask him how he liked his cubicle at work right now,
but unfortunately I forgot his number back at the hotel.
I part with Ostia and Italy. I take photos of Ostia Antica from the bus as myself and others are shuttled back to the airport to
begin our journey back home.
