WALK. At least, that's what Rik has convinced me is the only option. As I've said, Rome is HUGE. The streets are huge, the ruins, speckled throughout the city are HUGE, and the monuments are HUGE. The map, is deceptively small. It fits in your pocket!
There are tons of busses, and to add to the intimidation, they aren't numbered 2, 6, even 34. They're called 492 and 517 and the like. And there are no maps on at the bus stops. Just a linear depiction of where the bus goes with the names of the stops. So if you are going somewhere, you just have to find the bus that has that stop, or suck it up and buy the 6 euro bus map. Which seems equally confusing.
There is a metro, but it only has about 15 stops throughout this great city. There is also a tourist bus, which stops at the same 15 stops (?!?)
So last night, Rik says we should have dinner in pretty Trastevere, and it would be much faster to walk.
Much faster meant about an hour and 15 minutes.
Holy crap.
Now, I like to walk. I often walk to SOHO from 27th street. It's nice. Takes about 1/2 an hour. But I really don't want to walk for over an hour after I've spent the entire day walking. So I finally say, "Rik, I think you're mistaken about how big this city is." He finally agreed.
Rome is awesome. But I've decided that it would be much more awesome on a Vespa, which I am not inclined to try to rent.
Anyway, we saw St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican before I pooped out again. Did I mention how HOT it is? You totally don't realize it. It's a very dry heat, you don't even sweat. All I know is that I am drinking water, water, water, and I hardly have to pee. And that's sayng something. All of a sudden, I fell light-headed. And then it's too late. Of course, then you have to walk home...
Trastevere was really nice... my favorite part of Rome so far. It's a more residential neighborhood tucked away from the grandeur of ancient Rome, with lots of cute shops and restaurants. It's the kind of place I might like to live if I were here.
Rik leaves tomorrow, which means that all day tomorrow will be dedicated to shopping to quelch my sorrow.
Gelato of the day: Caramelized fig (holy SHIT!) and zabaiglone.
1 comment:
Drinking and not peeing and feeling faint and light-headed? Equals dehydrating. Been there and done that. Salt your gelato and everything else you are eating and perhaps drinking. What's the Italian equivalent of Gatorade. ILY, Mom
Post a Comment