After a brief detour into Middle Earth, I’m back with the next installment of my Peru travel journal, featuring my tour of the Sacred Valley of the Incas on the final day before my scheduled hike of the Inca Trail.
Super wide panorama taken in the Sacred Valley of the Incas.
The day began with an early morning bus pickup in front of my hotel. We made a brief stop at the Plaza de Armas to transfer to a larger bus. Unlike my previous day’s trip to Maras and Moray, the bus for this tour was packed, and the man sitting directly in front of me had body odor of epic proportions, which was a helluva way to spend an entire day. It was so bad, in fact, that the two British women sitting directly across from him abandoned the tour about halfway through and caught a bus back to Cusco (it wasn’t until I tried moving to their seat that I realized how much worse they had it than me). Thankfully, the man left the tour after the next-to-last stop of the day, so I wasn’t forced to endure the smell for the long journey home.
Anyway, after a couple of brief stops at a local market and a scenic outlook, we made our way to the magnificent, sprawling Inca ruins at Pisac. I still marvel at how the Incas were able to build these large cities on top of and into the sides of mountains–it’s every bit as impressive as anything the Egyptians accomplished–and I would see many more examples of Inca greatness on this day and along the Inca Trail, proving that there’s much more to see in Peru than just Machu Picchu.
The Inca Ruins at Pisac
After our tour guide finished his presentation, we were free to explore. I started to climb up toward the highest buildings but I did not have time to make it all the way to the top, so I settled for the plateau beneath the final climb, where I enjoyed this spectacular view:
Panorama taken at Pisac. I felt that too much of the image would be lost with a straight crop, so I left it in this state, which is kind of a neat effect.
At one point I encountered a woman in a New York Yankees hat and thought, “Cool, a fellow tri-stater.” I gave her a smile in greeting but she just gave me a dirty look. Perhaps it was my Philadelphia Eagles hat. 🙂
The next stop on our tour was the actual town of Pisac and its market that featured, among other items, many of the hundreds of varieties of potatoes cultivated in Peru. While in the market I bought some things for my wife and bartered with a merchant for a hand-carved stone chess set depicting the Incas versus the Conquistadors.
After Pisac we stopped for lunch. Actually, I was dropped off at a restaurant to eat by myself because everyone else on the bus had apparently booked with a different tour company and were eating elsewhere. I didn’t mind, though; it was relaxing to sit outside and enjoy a quiet lunch by myself while a band played Peruvian tunes on windpipes. It was a nice place with a good buffet, totally worth purchasing the lunch option as part of my tour.
The outdoor cafe where I had lunch (buffet to the left).
After lunch we made our way to the Inca ruin of Ollantaytambo, another impressive, large complex, complete with ground level buildings and terraces leading up to more buildings on the top of the mountain.
The Inca Ruins at Ollantaytambo
Across the street from the complex there is a mountain with the face of the Inca god Wiracochan carved into its side, as well as Inca storehouses built into the mountain. These and the other ruins on the Sacred Valley tour are nearly as awe inspiring as Machu Picchu itself. If you can only take one local tour from Cusco, this is the one to take.
The mountain across from the ruins featuring the carved monument of Wiracochan, the storehouses (to the right of the face), and some other ruins.
After our guided tour and some free time we returned to the bus for the ride home (this is the point where Captain McStinky left us, so I had a pleasantly smell-free ride back). Before returning to Cusco we made a stop in Chinchero to view the church and had some nice sunset views of the countryside.
Chinchero Sunset
I finally got back to my hotel in the evening. It was too late to meet my uncle for dinner given how early we had to be up the next morning for the bus ride to the Inca Trail, so I went out to a place nearby and had some pizza, half of which I brought home to have for breakfast in the morning. Then I finished packing for the hike and tried to catch a few hours of sleep before my 4am wake up call. In retrospect, scheduling an all-day excursion the day before the hike was probably not the best idea because my subsequent lack of sleep would come back to haunt me later, but that’s a story for another day.
Stay tuned for Part 4, which will cover the first day of my Inca Trail hike. In the meantime, follow the link below for more photos from my tour of the Sacred Valley.
When we left off in Part 1, I had arrived at the Hotel Rumi Punku in the early morning and proceeded to collapse in bed. I awoke from my slumber in the afternoon and explored the hotel grounds. The Rumi Punku is designed in an open air format similar to a motel with a courtyard in the middle, but calling it a motel does not do it justice. I found it to be quite gorgeous, and for roughly $80 a night, I couldn’t have asked for more.
The main courtyard of the hotel.View from the roof of my hotel.
Although some might balk at the basic amenities of the rooms, and the fact that the heat does not turn on until after 5 pm (I was there in winter, which is the preferred season to hike the Inca Trail for the best chance of avoiding rain, though it didn’t work out that way for me, but that’s a story for another day), my room was perfectly fine to use as a base of operations: I had hot water 24 hours a day (not always the case in Cusco hotels), a flat-screen TV, and a safe, not to mention a free American-style breakfast every morning and 24-hour access to coca tea in the lobby.
If you’re looking for a five-star hotel, you’ve come to the wrong place, but I was very pleased with everything the hotel offered and will definitely return if I ever find myself in Cusco again. The Rumi Punku primarily caters to Inca Trail hikers anyway, so for those of us preparing to spend four days in the wilderness, staying here was practically the lap of luxury, and I was very grateful that the hotel would be storing my luggage free of charge for the four days I would be away on the trail.
After touring the hotel I headed into the city of Cusco. I first visited Dos Manos, the travel company that was arranging our Inca Trail hike. I paid for the balance of that trip as well as for two other excursions they were arranging for me. For an extremely low fee, I would be taking a half day tour the next morning and a full-day tour the following day (lunch inclusive) to visit Inca ruins and some other sites in the Sacred Valley of the Incas and the surrounding area. I would be taking these tours on my own because Uncle Kipp had already been on the tours.
One of the alleys I traversed on my way to Dos Manos. Notice the original stone construction on the walls. Much of Cusco was built on top of original Inca and colonial construction. Stray dogs like the one pictured were everywhere in Peru, running around solo and in packs.
Dos Manos was an uphill walk from my hotel, which led to my first experience dealing with physical exertion and the high altitude. It was a little difficult to breath and my heart was racing a bit, but overall it wasn’t too bad. My doctor had prescribed some Diamox for me but I had decided to try going without due to some of its side effects, which would later prove to be a mistake when I was climbing to over 13,000 feet on the Inca Trail. At this time, however, the altitude effects were minimal so I thought that I would be okay.
Following my visit to Dos Manos I backtracked to the hotel and then made way toward the beautiful Plaza de Armas in the center of the city, an easy ten-minute walk from the hotel. I was supposed to meet Uncle Kipp for dinner but he wasn’t feeling well, so I was on my own. I walked around snapping photos and dodging the incredibly aggressive merchandise peddlers (they will follow you all over the plaza). By the end of my stay I had learned that the best way to keep the peddlers at bay is to avoid eye contact, never stand still, and turn in the other direction when you see one approaching.
The Plaza de Armas
I wound up at a cozy restaurant overlooking the plaza called the Bagdad Café, where I had an excellent dish of beef, onions, chili peppers, rice, and fresh cilantro. There was also some type of stewed tomato, which I would normally not eat, but everything was so good that I mixed it in (it would not be the first time on this trip that I would consume a previously taboo food). They also served me the best glass of blended orange and pineapple juice I’ve ever tasted.
View of the plaza from my restaurant seat.
After dinner I walked around the city in search of a churro (alas, I would never find one on this trip). Instead, I discovered a tasty Peruvian fried dough pastry topped with syrup called a picarone that I found in a hole-in-the-wall joint on my way home. I also tried a popular soda called Inca Kola, which looked like Mountain Dew but tasted more like vanilla cola.
That night I had intended to get to sleep early since I had an early wakeup for my first excursion outside of the city, but those plans were thwarted when I stumbled onto Braveheart on television, and it was actually in English. Yes, I’ve seen it dozens of times and have the blu-ray at home, but I was weak. Thus began my six days of Walking Deadness (I would not get another good night sleep until I returned from the Inca Trail).
The next morning a small bus picked me up in front of my hotel for our half-day tour of Maras and Moray. There were only a handful of us on the bus, which was nice. We first stopped in the town of Chinchero to see a demonstration of the process of cleaning and dying alpaca wool for garments. They provided us with complimentary coca tea while we watched.
Local women demonstrating their craft.
After the demonstration I twisted my ankle badly walking down the steps to where they were selling their goods. My first thought was that I had just screwed myself out of the Inca Trail, my entire reason for coming to Peru. Thankfully, there wasn’t any real damage, though I did walk with a limp for a while and remained in some pain for most of the rest of the trip.
Following Chinchero we had a long ride to our next destination, the Maras Salt Mines, which are actually a series of evaporation ponds that apparently have been in operation since Inca times.
The Salt Mines of MarasOur guide was kind enough to snap a photo of me in front of the salt mines.
Our next destination was Moray and its famous circle terraces. Moray is thought to have been an Incan agricultural station due to the large increases in temperature the further down into the circles you descend. The Inca steps used to climb down the massive circles were built into the sides of the terraces as jutting stones in order to maximize the available farming surface.
The main circle terraces at Moray.
By the time the guide stopped talking, we only had fifteen minutes before the bus was to leave, which was not enough time to climb all the way down and back up, but I decided to give it a go and race down, figuring it would be good practice for the Inca Trail. I made it about two-thirds of the way down before turning around and running all the way back up, seriously huffing and puffing by the time I reached the top.
The smallest of the three main circular depressions at Moray.
On our way back to Cusco we drove through the town of Maras. Most of the buildings in town are old colonial structures still in use. We didn’t stop, so I snapped this photo from the bus. It turned out to be one of my favorite shots in spite of being almost an afterthought.
Maras: woman in the street.
We arrived back at Cusco in the mid-afternoon. The bus dropped us off in the Plaza de Armas and I walked back to my hotel to freshen up before my scheduled meeting with Dos Mano that evening, where they would be briefing us about what to expect on the Inca Trail hike. I met Uncle Kipp there; it was the first time we’d seen each other in the two days since I arrived. We listened to the briefing and they gave us our rented sleeping bags. They also provided us with the large duffels that our personal porters would be carrying on the trail. The personal porters cost us an extra $100, but it was the best decision we made–there was no way I would have made it through that trail if I was carrying all of my own belongings. I’ll elaborate more on that when I get to the hike itself.
Later that night, after a brief stop at my hotel to drop off the sleeping bag and duffel, I returned to the main plaza to meet Uncle Kipp and his friend Yuri, a resident of Cusco whom my uncle had met and befriended during his stay. We met Yuri’s family and we all went out for a nice dinner to a local joint where I had some tasty chicken and my first glass of Chicha Morada, a sweet drink made from purple corn.
After dinner I headed home and did some preliminary packing for the Inca Trail before heading to bed. The next morning I would be waking up even earlier for an all-day excursion into the Sacred Valley of the Incas, which I will be covering in Part 3. In the meantime, you can find more photos from Cusco, Maras, and Moray at the link below.
I’ve decided to take a break from recounting my travels around Europe last year to write about my trip to Peru while it’s still fairly fresh in my mind. So, without further ado…
Part 1: Preparation and Flight
After my trip of a lifetime to Europe last year, I was not planning to take another major vacation anytime soon, but then my frequent travel buddy, Uncle Kipp, called me with an offer I couldn’t refuse: the adventure of a lifetime. He was planning to hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu at the end of August and asked if wanted to join him. It took me a whole ten seconds to make that decision: there was no way I was going to pass up a chance to visit the famous Lost City of the Incas. And so, less than a year after seeing the Colosseum and Forum of Rome, the canals of Venice, the palace of Roman Emperor Diocletian in Split, Croatia, and the medieval walled city of Dubrovnik, Croatia (aka King’s Landing for Game of Thrones fans), I would be visiting Inca ruins all across Peru, culminating in the majesty of Machu Picchu.
My ultimate destination.
Preparing for this trip was daunting on a number of levels. Not only did I have to pack for ten days abroad and all that entails (including getting through paranoid security at airports), but I also had to pack for four days of roughing it in the wilderness. On top of that, Uncle Kipp was heading down to Peru two months before my arrival, so I would be flying alone for the first time in my life—and to South America no less!
I purchased everything I thought I would need for the trip, including a sleeping bag liner, hiking boots, water purification tablets, a flashlight headlamp, hiking pants that could convert to shorts, wool socks for the cold nights, leg warmers (sounds silly, buy they came in handy under my light hiking pants), and various other items. I even broke down and bought my first tablet PC, mainly because I wanted to be able to back up my photos out on the trail without hauling along my heavy netbook. The web site of our tour company did a good job of listing items we would need for the hike but my extra research, which included reading the blogs of people who had completed the Inca Trail—helped even more.
When the morning of my flight finally arrived I hopped on a train to Newark airport. NJ Transit makes it easy to get to the airport via train—just one switch to get on the monorail that takes you directly to your desired gate. In spite of a 20-minute train delay, I arrived in plenty of time and breezed through security, a far cry from my experience getting to JFK airport and through their security for last year’s Eurotrip (and much cheaper as well). I’ll never fly out of JFK again if I can help it.
The plane from Newark landed in Miami around 6pm, where I had a five-hour layover before my flight to Lima, Peru. After getting through security and checking in, I passed the time by eating dinner (though I was disappointed at how early so many of the restaurants closed in such a major airport) and watching the Eagles Monday night game in one of the airport bars.
On the overnight flight to Lima I wasn’t able to sleep so I watched a couple of movies and a documentary on Machu Picchu (seemed appropriate). I had to go through security twice in Lima because I went the wrong way the first time and they wouldn’t let me pass through to the right gate without going through security again (ah, the joys of air travel).
The hotel where I would be staying had arranged for a driver to pick me up at the airport in Cusco, Peru, but my flight from Lima was delayed by about an hour. I was able to get a hold of the hotel on my cell phone before takeoff to let them know I would be late, but I think the driver ended up waiting the whole time anyway, so I gave him a tip of 20 Sols for his trouble, which I believe was much more than he was accustomed to receiving. The driver took me through the city of Cusco, pointing out several areas of interest before turning up a narrow street that led to the place I would be calling home for the next three days (and for two more days after the hike): the Hotel Rumi Punku.
The door to my hotel, featuring an original Inca entryway.
The staff greeted me, took me to the lobby, and gave me a cup of coca tea while I was waiting to check in. The tea is supposed to help with altitude sickness—Cusco sits at over 11,000 feet, making it the perfect place to get acclimated to high altitudes before embarking on the hike (or so I thought, but more on that later). It was a good thing that I liked the tea because I practically lived on the stuff for the next ten days. I would have loved to have brought some home but, alas, the coca leaf is illegal in the United States (over the pesky technicality of its use in the manufacture of cocaine).
After finishing the tea and checking in, I went to my room and, exhausted from more than 24 hours on the road and in the air, promptly zonked out, eternally grateful that the hotel allowed me to check in so early in the morning. My first foray into the city would have to wait a few hours.
Stay tuned for Part 2, which will cover, among other things, my visit to the main plaza of Cusco and my first excursion outside of the city to some Inca ruins. In the meantime, you can check out this video montage of my entire trip.
I wrote this four years ago. You may think it naive but, for many reasons, my belief in its spirit was renewed last night. Or, to quote another Beatle, “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.”
Beautiful Day
I wake up on November 5th, 2008
And look out the window.
Dark clouds loom overhead
But my eyes see a bright blue sky.
I open my front door
And walk into the morning.
A chilly rain beats down
But my skin basks in the glow of a blazing sun.
In the words of Harrison: It’s been a long cold lonely winter
But here comes the sun
And I say it’s all right.
Is this possible?
Can we as a people change
A bitter frost
Into a warm summer breeze?
This installment of my travel journal covers Days 9–11 of my 2011 trip to Europe…
After returning to Florence from my three-night trip to Rome, there was little time to rest as I had to turn right around the next morning and hop on a train to Venice. I was slightly apprehensive about this trip because I was going alone. It can be nerve-wracking enough traveling in a foreign country whose language you don’t speak when you’re with a group, but going by yourself kicks things up notch. However, I would have regretted passing up the opportunity to see Venice during what could likely be my only trip to Italy, so I booked a hotel, bought a train ticket, and off I went. I picked a good day and time to go as the train was not overly crowded, allowing me to have my own section of seats for most of the three-hour trip.
I arrived in Venice that afternoon and stopped by the information area to buy a city map. I had decided, since it’s not a huge city, that I would walk everywhere rather than dealing with the water taxis. As I would soon discover, however, Venice is a maze of narrow streets and alleys. I would get lost or turned around several times during my two-night stay there.
The view from my hotel
I eventually made it to my hotel and, after getting settled in (and getting my room changed because my original room had a strong, strange smell), set out to do some exploring. I was quite hungry by this point so I stopped for dinner, where I had mediocre lasagna served by a not-quite-pleasant waiter.
After dinner I continued exploring. I quickly got over my initial apprehension and welcomed the ability to move about at my own pace without worrying about other peoples’ needs or schedules. Don’t get me wrong, I still prefer to have company when I travel, but my two days alone here—just flowing through the city at my leisure and letting the magic of Venice wash over me—were the most relaxing of the trip. It helped that I didn’t have to worry about bus or train schedules (or, in this case, boat schedules). There’s something to be said for just walking everywhere, and Venice is the perfect city for doing that, being entirely pedestrian (e.g., no motor vehicles or bicycles allowed), even if you do get lost occasionally.
A typical canal with multiple bridge crossingsThe Grand Canal
Eventually, I encountered a gondola crossing. Since I was unlikely to take a full gondola ride by myself, I figured this little crossing would at least give me some of the experience, so I stepped aboard and handed the ferryman a fifty-cent coin as visions entered my head of the dead paying Charon to cross the River Styx.
My Gondola
Later that night I came across a lovely little tea room along a side canal, where I enjoyed some vanilla-scented Darjeeling and warm apple cake while Big Band jazz played in the background—the perfect prescription for a chilly October evening. On the way back to my hotel, I did some shopping and called my wife (I wish she could have been with me in this romantic city) before calling it a night.
The Tea Room
The next day I did a good seven hours worth of walking, taking lots of pictures.
Looking across the lagoon at the island and church of San Giorgio Maggiore
Part of my day was spent looking for this pizza place called Al Vecio Canton that had been recommended by Wikitravel. Speaking of which, Wikitravel is a great source for finding good restaurants, things to do/see, and places to stay, and provides valuable advice on how to get around. I had just discovered the site on this trip and wound up using it a lot.
Anyway, I walked around in circles for about an hour searching for Al Vecio Canton. At one point I stopped at this café with a similar name thinking it must be the place, but the pizza did not look appetizing so I left. Just as I was just about to give up, I decided to enter a hotel on the chance that the front desk manager might know the place. Thankfully, he did, and proceeded to draw a line on my map from the hotel to the restaurant. His directions were perfect and I finally arrived. It was basically a hole-in-the-wall pub in a narrow alley, as the picture below shows, the kind of place that the average tourist would likely walk right on past without a second glance. For me, however, after a long search bordering on obsession, it was like gazing on the Holy Grail. I sat down and ordered a beer and a pie called the Diavolo, which was topped with spicy salami similar to pepperoni, but with a bit more zing. It was delicious, the best pizza I had anywhere on the trip, and totally worth the effort to find it.
The pizza place—definitely eat here if you go to Venice
After lunch I made my way to St. Mark’s square. The lines to see the monuments were long so I decided to just walk around and take in the ambience, which included dueling orchestras around the square (and areas crowded with both people and pigeons).
St. Mark’s Square
From there I moved on to other areas of the city. At one point I encountered a bizarre art exhibit. Most of the paintings were too risqué to share in mixed company (such as depictions of superheroes having sex with each other), but to give you an idea of the exhibit’s weirdness, here’s a sculpture that sat out front:
Sculpture in front of bizarre art exhibit
I visited some other exhibits around the city and also wandered into an old church where a man was tuning a harpsichord in preparation for a performance that evening of Vivalid’s Four Seasons. I considered returning for the performance, but more on that later. I completed my walk around the city and made my way back toward the hotel, visiting the Tea Room again on the way. I also stopped at the Ponte degli Scalzi bridge to take some night photos of the Grand Canal.
The Grand Canal at night
When I got back to the hotel I relaxed for a while, decompressing after a long day of walking. At the last minute I decided I’d try to make the Vivaldi concert. However, because I was running late, I didn’t have time to properly refer to the map, so I wound up taking some wrong turns. I finally made it to the church but just missed the beginning of the concert, so I decided to take a nighttime stroll along the shore looking out toward the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. On the way home I decided to take in a bit of the Venice nightlife with a detour to a square full of restaurants and pubs where the local college students hang out. I stopped for a drink and some food before heading home again. It was quite late by this point and the walk home through all of the narrow alleys and empty squares was a bit creepy—perhaps not the best time to be wandering alone with my eyes fixed on a map, but I eventually made it back to the hotel.
The next day I caught an earlier train back to Florence so that I would not miss the last bus up the hills to the villa, but things did not go entirely smoothly. More on that and my ill-fated trip to Cinque Terre in the next installment.
This installment of my travel journal covers Days 5–8 of my 2011 trip to Europe…
Following our adventures in Florence and Lucca, we hopped on a train the next morning for Rome. We arrived in the afternoon and, after settling in at our hotel, walked straight to the Colosseum, which I had wanted to see since I was a kid. It’s every bit as magnificent as I had imagined. Walking around this ancient marvel of engineering, in the very footsteps of the citizens and rulers of the greatest civilization of the ancient world, is an amazing experience. Pictures can’t really do it justice, but here are a few anyway…
This view of the Colosseum really gives you a sense of how much the structure dominated the cityscape of ancient Rome.Colosseum Interior PanoramaThe surviving original facade of the Colosseum
In all, I must have taken a good 300 pics of the Colosseum that day alone. My only regrets were that I neglected to take any video and that I never made it back to the Colosseum at night. After our tour of the Colosseum, we ate at a nearby café in its shadow, pulled in by one of the aggressive greeters stationed in front of all of the restaurants. The merchants are very aggressive all over Rome, particularly in the street shops. If you walk away from them they’ll chase you down the street. Anyway, we called it an early night as I was still suffering from some jet lag and lack of sleep. Before bed I took this photo from our balcony:
Rome at Night (long exposure shot)
The next morning we embarked on an all-day walking venture around Rome. First we stopped at the Basilica of St. John Lateran which, I was interested to learn, is the actual official seat of the Pope, not St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. We also took another walk around the Colosseum, where we encountered these dudes:
Centurion of Rome anachronistically talking on his cell phone…
When the guys in the photo above flagged us down and offered to pose with us, we said, “what the hell?” Little did we know that they would wind up charging us 30 Euros (ten for each centurion) for the privilege of taking pictures with our own cameras—no mention had been made of charging us beforehand. So word to the wise: either avoid these guys or negotiate a fee before letting them take any pictures.
Next, we made our way toward the Roman Forum but we had trouble finding the entrance and wound up walking all over the place, touring some of the other forums and buildings in the area.
Forum of AugustusVictor Emmanuel II monument
After stopping at a café for pizza and a beer, we finally found the Forum’s entrance. The Roman Forum is a sublime experience, especially if you can allow yourself to imagine what it must have been like in its glorious prime: the magnificent buildings, the hustle and bustle of citizens moving to and fro. The self-guided, recorded tour helps transport you to that era by explaining everything that you are seeing. I highly recommend the tour, otherwise you’re just walking around looking at a bunch of pieces of marble and stone.
The Roman Forum: Arch of Septimius SeverusThe Roman Forum: Temples of Saturn and Vespasian and Titus
The tour is so comprehensive that if you actually stopped to listen to every description of every site, you could easily spend an entire day in the Forum and the adjoining Palatine Hill, but we only had the afternoon until they closed, so I had to rush through some things and skip others. At one point, I made my way to the Temple of Venus and Rome, where I had a spectacular view of the Colosseum.
The Colosseum viewed from the Temple of Venus and RomeA closer view of the Colosseum
I don’t think people realized that they could go up there because I was the only person around, so I just sat for a while admiring the view, snapping photos, and appreciating that oasis of tranquility in the middle of Italy’s most famous and heavily visited city. I walked inside the temple, where, again, I was completely by myself. It was a nice, quiet place to sit for a few minutes and decompress from the stresses of travel, and would have been a perfect place to eat lunch or do some writing.
Temple of Venus and Rome (self-timer photo)
Before leaving I grabbed a stone from the ground that was actually a fallen piece of the temple structure and brought it home for my stepfather, who had requested a stone from Italy (I also brought a piece of one of the other forums home for him). I eventually made my way back to the Palatine Hill, where I rejoined my uncle and we continued our tour, which lasted another couple of hours, including a walk through the very underground corridor where Caligula is thought to have been assassinated.
The Hippodrome of Domitian on the Palatine HillWide view of the Roman Forum from the Palatine Hill
When the Forum complex was getting ready to close for the day, we rushed back to the entrance to retrieve our collateral for the audio tour listening devices (my uncle had left his passport and I my driver’s license), so we didn’t get to complete the tour (I wasn’t able to see the Circus Maximus, though it is little more than a grooved field now anyway).
That night we headed out for dinner at a restaurant called Zodiac, located high on a hill overlooking the entire city. On our way there we could not find a cab so we decided to walk, thinking “how bad can it be?” Well, it turns out that the restaurant is WAY up the hill, and the only way up there is to walk up a steep, dark, winding highway with little-to-no shoulder. Thankfully, we found a cab at the foot of the hill and avoided this arduous climb. We were already so wiped out from an entire day’s worth of walking that I don’t think we would have made it, or, if we had decided to push through, it would have taken us most of the night to even get up there. Even with the cab it took us a long time to get to the top, but we eventually did and, despite feeling somewhat underdressed, we had a great meal while enjoying this spectacular view of The Eternal City:
Rome
After dinner we had a cab drop us at the subway stop that would take us back to our hotel only to discover that the subway system had closed at 9pm! Apparently The Eternal City closes early. After some walking we eventually found another cab and made it home.
That night and into the morning we had some heavy rain, which resulted in our subway stop being flooded and closed. We weren’t sure how we were going to get to the Vatican, but we were fortunate to run into some nice Italian men, and a Brazilian woman who spoke both Italian and English, so she was able to translate their instructions for us to find the next subway stop. She then walked with us to the stop. A little side note on subways in Rome: you will often encounter people on the trains begging for money, something to consider if that sort of thing makes you uncomfortable.
Thankfully, the weather cleared up when we made it to the Vatican. Outside the walls I couldn’t help noticing all of the people standing around selling tickets to the museum or offering guided tours. It reminded me of scalpers outside sports stadiums and I made a comment to that effect. One of these men overheard me and took great offense, shouting out, “I’m not a scalper, sir, I help people!” Well okay, then.
St. Peter’s Basilica viewed from the Via della Conciliazione
We entered the grounds with the intention of visiting St. Peter’s Basilica, only to discover a massive line winding all the way around the circular inner courtyard area. So we went back out to the scalper area and booked one of the Museum/Basilica combo tours that would enable us to bypass most of the lines. It was worth it as the guide, engaging and knowledgeable, added much to the experience. I also met another couple on the tour who live right near me in Central Jersey; small world.
Vatican Museum CourtyardVatican Museum Map Room: Can you hear the Indiana Jones theme?
Part of the tour included a visit to the Sistine Chapel, which is kept dark and cold, and where photos are prohibited. In fact, the guy from the aforementioned couple was kicked out of the chapel when he was caught snapping photos. I managed to snap a couple of covert photos by holding the camera at my hip and pointing it at the ceiling. This one didn’t come out too badly considering the lighting conditions and my inability to properly frame the shot:
Sistene Chapel
The chapel was not quite how I’d envisioned it–I had this vision in my head of a tall, grand, domed structure, but it’s actually smaller and more intimate feeling than that. Still, it’s an amazing site when you consider the work that went into painting it. Following the chapel we made our way to St. Peter’s Basilica, the interior of which is pretty awe inspiring regardless of your religious leanings.
St. Peter’s Basilica interior
After leaving the Vatican we decided to walk along the Tiber toward the Trastevere district of Rome to eat at this restaurant called Meo Pataca, which had been recommended by a Roman native friend of my department manager at work. It was a much longer walk than expected but Trastevere is a nice neighborhood to visit, full of character with its narrow cobblestone streets and medieval houses (I later found out that both Sergio Leone and Ennio Morricone grew up in that neighborhood, so it’s pretty cool to know I walked those same streets).
The Tiber
I’m pretty good at reading maps and I have a good sense of direction, but we still had a hard time navigating the maze of streets that make up Trastevere. At certain points we considered giving up and just eating at one of the other restaurants we passed, but I was determined to find Meo Pataca. Finally, we did, but we arrived at a locked door and it looked dead inside. We thought the restaurant no longer existed and almost left, but we decided to walk around the building and look for another entrance. I’m glad we did because we wound up having a fabulous meal at an authentic restaurant frequented by the locals of Rome rather than tourists, well off the beaten path. There was one other group of Americans who found the place and we sat next to them and had a good conversation, but most people were Italians, and little English was spoken by anyone, including the restaurant staff. It was one of the best meals of the trip—and the best atmosphere, complete with a lady singing Italian songs backed by a roving group of acoustic guitarists.
The Trastevere district of Rome was full of narrow cobbled streets and outdoor restaurants, such as the one partially visible to the left.
The next day we decided to fit in a few more sites before our train was scheduled to leave, including the famed Spanish Steps, The Trevi Fountain, and the Pantheon, which is really an amazing building with the way the natural light of the sun illuminates the interior courtesy of a hole in the domed ceiling.
The PantheonPantheon Interior
After the Pantheon we stopped for some more delicious gelato at a place that had been recommended by the same friend of my manager and then headed back to the train for the long ride back to Florence. We arrived at the villa that night and had dinner with our housemates—one of the few nights when almost everyone in the villa was together. I was exhausted after the Rome trip but there was no rest for the weary, for I needed to pack for my solo trip to Venice the next morning, which I will be covering in the next installment.
This installment of my travel journal covers Days 2–4 of my 2011 trip to Europe…
Picking up where we left off in Part 1, we finally arrived at our villa in the hills of Tuscany, which would serve as our base of operations for the next two weeks. There were 15-20 people sharing the sprawling villa, though we would separate into smaller groups for our excursions around Italy. Most of the rooms had already been claimed but I was able to secure a nice room on the far end of the villa with decent view.
View of a Tuscan sunset from my bedroom window
That night we all walked up to the only restaurant in the area for dinner, which also served as a meet and greet session since I had not previously met most of my villa mates. They were all very nice; it was a good group. Dinner was delicious, a spicy bacon pasta dish. I also had my first taste of Italian prosciutto that night, and it was amazing, nothing like the overly salty prosciutto we have in America. I ate a ton of it during our two weeks in Italy.
The restaurant/bus stop where we spent a lot of time
I left the restaurant early by myself to go to bed since I had been awake for a good 28 hours by this point. It was cold and windy during the walk back to the villa and I began to wonder if I had made a mistake by not packing a heavier jacket, but those worries would prove unfounded as the majority of the weather we experienced during the trip was beautiful, even into November. I got back to the villa grounds, which was surrounded by a wall with a gate that could only be opened by an electronic key. I had a key, but could not figure out where to use it because it was pitch black, so I wound up having to press the call button to the caretakers, an old couple who spoke no English. After a few minutes of back and forth talking and not understanding each other, they finally let me in and I went upstairs and collapsed in my bed.
I woke up the next morning at 3:45am and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I decided to catch a Tuscan sunrise.
Tuscany at dawn looking toward Florence in the distance
Later that morning we took a small, rickety bus down the hill into Florence, where we spent the entire day visiting the historic center and the area along the Arno river. The highlight of the day was our long climb to the top of Giottio’s Tower, affording us views like this:
View from the top of Giotto’s CampanileAnother view from the top of the tower
After the tower we walked along the Arno river, had lunch, and crossed the famous Ponte Vecchio, a medieval bridge with shops built along it.
Ponte Vecchio
After that we did some grocery shopping and headed back home for a dinner cooked by one of our villa mates. The next day we hopped on a train (the first of many during our stay) for Lucca, a walled, medieval city.
Lucca city wall
It took us a while to find the historic center, but we eventually did, and climbed a tower for some amazing views.
View from the top of the tower we climbed in Lucca
We visited a few cathedrals, including one where I gave money to a man who I thought was collecting for entry to the church only to realize later that he was just a beggar. Oh well, you live and learn. For dinner we made our way to the circular main plaza at the center of the city where I had a tasty lasagna dish, topping it off with a stop for gelato (we rarely went a day without getting gelato from somewhere).
Panorama of main plaza in Lucca
That evening we returned to Florence too late to catch the bus so we had to take a cab (the last bus for the hills leaves around 6pm, so if you want to stay out later, you’re screwed). Once again, our driver had no idea how to get to our villa and got lost, so my uncle showed him a picture of the bus stop closest to our villa on his camera, which did the trick. Unfortunately, the driver forgot to return the camera and my uncle was unable to retrieve it from the cab company after numerous calls. Fortunately, he had his iPad to tide him over for taking pictures until he could purchase a new camera.
We eventually made it back to the villa and, after some socializing, I began packing for our three-day trip to Rome, which will be covered in Part 3. In the meantime, you can follow the links below for more pictures from this part of my trip.
Michael Rappa 