We got our first official snowfall of the year today. I love snow. If I don't have to leave the safety of my home. I can drive perfectly well in the snow. It's the other idiot drivers on the road I worry about. I often tell my children to be careful when they are traveling, whether by bicycle or car or even walking, not because I think they might be careless (although, watching Luke zip thru traffic on his bike freaks me out) but, because other people can be careless. In the days of increased traffic on the roads and people who insist on either texting or talking on their phones while driving, it is far less safe than it was back when I was zipping thru traffic on my own beautiful blue ten-speed.
Just the other day, when I was commuting to work, I noticed a man merging onto the freeway in his car. He was talking on his phone (it was in his left hand blocking his view of the freeway he was merging onto) and I could tell he was going to head right into my lane...where I would be in his way in my car. In his back seat were two dogs. One of the dogs, a German shepherd who I could only see the top of his head to his muzzle, was peering out the window on the rear driver's side. As the driver headed into my lane and, directly into my car with nary a turn signal activated to alert me, I wailed on my horn. He swerved back into the lane he was trying to leave without even giving me a courtesy "oops" and, in the process, his poor canine passenger went slamming into the window he was trying to enjoy the view from. The driver continued on his way, never even interrupting his conversation.
So, this is why I dread being on the road when it snows. Two days ago, when that driver nearly took me out of the human equation, it was a lovely sunny day. Imagine what he could have accomplished in the snow.
I drove to the local "Trax" station and commuted safely to work via public transportation. I'm not a complete idiot.
As I left work tonight, at first I was walking quickly to avoid getting wet by the continual snowfall. Then I looked up. One of my favorite things about snow is nighttime. Have you ever noticed at night how quiet it is when there is snow on the ground. The world is muffled. Even when I was young I loved to play in the snow at night. I remember coming back from the family trip to Hawaii one Christmas. We were stuck in the airport in Hawaii for several hours because there had been snow in Seattle and they had trouble allowing us to land in the airport. When we finally got back home, I had been up several hours already. But it was nighttime and there was snow everywhere. One of the heaviest snowfalls I can remember in my youth. My next door neighbors and I grabbed our sleds (which were rarely used in Washington) and spent the entire night sledding. Roads were empty of cars and full of snow. It was amazing.
So, tonight I walked out of my hotel and suddenly noticed the snow coming down around me. I could see it in the streetlights and neon of the hotels and office buildings illuminating the flakes as they fell. For one brief moment I was young again and felt that same wonder. I paused my steps and looked around. And smiled. It wasn't too cold as everyone who came into the hotel had been complaining about. It was perfect. Not quite enough snow on the ground yet to cause that complete peace of a heavy snowfall but, beautiful just the same. I walked the rest of the block to the Trax station much slower and enjoyed the white world around me.
Of course, now I have to commute back home from the Trax station. I hope those idiots are all safely tucked in their beds...
Friday, November 9, 2012
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Goodbye Rome
Each place we stop, with the exception of Venice, I have felt is my favorite place.
I loved Varenna, Menaggio, and Bellagio. Of course, these may still be my favorite because I spent the most time here. I feel a little nostalgic when I review the pictures I took there. I remember the feelings I had the first moment I stepped off the train. The sun was shining, the architecture was everything I imagined it would be, and the language was flowing freely. I had no fear. I could find my way easily.
Then there was the second day with my tour group and the weather was chaotic but we all bonded under our umbrellas and rain ponchos. I would love to go back to Varenna and wander the streets again. I would stay at the youth hostel in Menaggio again. I would go back to Bellagio and climb the hills and back alley ways and probably even walk farther than I did before to see what I could find.
Castelroto was really wonderful with it's German feel and first snow of the season but I don't know that I would go out of my way to visit there again. Venice was not my favorite place at all. If I were to come back to Italy by myself (which, the plan is to return), I would not go back to Venice. I've seen Venice, I don't need to see it again. BUT, if I returned to Italy with someone who had never seen Italy, we would have to go to Venice. Everyone should see Venice one time. This time I would venture further and not worry so much about getting lost. I would be more adventurous. I would try and find more of the waterfront and less of the canals.
I loved Verona, Florence, Siena. I adored Monterosso in Cinque Terre with it's gravely beaches, high cliffs, and gorgeous sunsets. And Orvieto was so beautiful with its rolling hills, olive groves, grape fields...all of the things I had thought Italy was. Even in the rain and wind, I loved Orvieto.
And now we are in Rome. It's so sad to think that there are only two nights left in Rome and then this little adventure is over. For four years I have planned, dreamed, and even obsessed about this place. It has gone above and beyond my expectations. Traveling with a tour group made this trip easy. The company, Rick Steves, did all of the work: they made all of the plans, bought all of the tickets, and booked all of the hotel rooms. All I had to do was fork out the money, buy a plane ticket, and make my way here. The next time, I will make my own plans, buy my own tickets, and plot my own adventure. And I'll probably save about $3000 doing it myself.
SO, in Rome. We bussed our way from Orvieto to here, stopping only at the usual "Auto-grill" along the way to buy lunch (I had another salad with tomatoes, calamata olives, and anchovies. I bought a couple extra foccachia bread slices for the road (because the budget is tight again), and we headed on our way. Dino and the bus took us to our hotel, Hotel Sonya, long enough to get our rooms and drop off our bags, then Dino said goodbye to us all at the Colosseum.
At the Colosseum we met up with Francesca, a woman born and raised in Italy by an American mother and Italian father. Because of her American mother, Francesca had no Italian accent. She was all American. Francesca led us all over the Colosseum calling upon our imagination to recall a time when Romans cheered for animal fights, Gladiators, and death. I probably could have spent more time there to make sure I saw all that I wanted to see but we had so much more to cover and only about 4 hours to do it. The Colosseum was literally "awesome" and she reminded us of a time when "awesome" was more than a word you used to describe really good pizza. She took us from the top of the Colosseum to the bottom describing what was missing from each floor, what would have been there had it not been "borrowed" by people who thought of it as the Roman "Home Depot" and taken it apart piece by piece to help build the other ancient buildings in Rome. There were still patches of marble flooring that had been left behind only because it was not perfect marble.
We learned that marble, when lit on fire, turned into lime and was used for mortar to lay bricks. The Romans had destroyed columns and statues without even realizing what it would eventually mean to history.
We also learned that Romans were able to create these wonderful monuments that last for centuries because there was ash added to the stone in the buildings.
The Colosseum was filthy from all of the exhaust from years of automobile and bus traffic whizzing by but cleaning it off was too expensive to undertake. They couldn't seal the stone to prevent further damage because it would cause the buildings to grow mold. Francesca told us that recently there was a famous shoe manufacturer that had invested money to restore the Colosseum but she, and others, were afraid a large neon shoe would end up on the top of it as a result.
From the Colosseum we walked down the street to more wonderful ancient ruins. I will have to look over my map and my Rick Steves book to figure out exactly what other monuments we saw but I took plenty of pictures that I can review later (better do it sooner before I forget which picture was taken where). I do know we visited the Pantheon (which is where my camera battery died) and even got the pleasure of hearing an impromptu choir sing for us.
We separated into little groups (whomever we wanted to spend extra time with) and found restaurants to step into for dinner. I ordered my usual anchovy and tomato sauce pizza and consumed it all by myself. Again. While in the restaurant, I headed to the bathroom (because in Italy you need to use a free "WC" whenever you can find them, otherwise you end up paying anywhere from ,50 to ,75 euro to use the restroom) and found our tour guide, Stephanie, and Francesca having dinner. I stopped to tell Francesca about how much we all enjoyed her tour of the monuments and we ended up chatting about my love of Rome, and Italy in general. I told her that I felt like there was so much more I wanted to see, that I hadn't seen enough, which is really how I have felt throughout most of this trip. She told me that I need to remember that feeling when I have gone back home. I have no doubt that I will.
After dinner, Stephanie led us through the alleyways to the Trevi fountain. Because of the continual crowds in front of the fountain no matter the time of day or night, Stephanie had us stop for a moment so she could explain the theory of throwing a coin into the fountain: first, the coin had to be thrown by the right hand over the left shoulder (even if you were left-handed). One coin meant you would return to Rome. Two coins meant you would fall in love. Three coins meant you would stay. She didn't say stay in Rome so you had to be careful of that one.
Throughout the trip, I have had one 1 euro coin in the outside pocket of my backpack. I wanted to keep it because it had a picture of the Michelangelo drawing of man (can't remember what it is called right now but it's a cool drawing) and I really liked it. I thought that it would be great to have a hole punched in it and worn for a necklace. The first thought I had of which coin to toss in the fountain was that coin. I dug into the outside mesh pocket and found the coin AND an American nickel. Those were my two coins.
The fountain was as crowded as Stephanie had predicted, and finding a spot that wasn't already occupied by 20 other tourists waiting to have their picture taken was a test of patience. Jump in, jump out.
Since my camera battery had died in the Pantheon, I asked Bruce and Renee to take my picture with their camera in front of the fountain, tossing the coins in. I can't wait to see how it turns out.
From the fountain, we hiked the 15 minutes back to our hotel. Tomorrow is the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museum. Afterwards, I'm hoping to be able to find my way back to the Trevi fountain and the many other fountains I saw along the way so I can get the pictures I didn't get taken when my camera battery died. I don't want to waste one minute of the 36 hours I have left in Italy.
I would compare Rome to my experience in Seattle. Cars rushing up and down the streets, city buses zipping by, people pushing and shoving for a place on the sidewalk, big buildings (although far more historical than the ones in Seattle), and the usual tourists. I love big cities. I love the sound of them and I have always loved the architecture. You can get in your car and travel an hour to a beautiful, quiet countryside, but come back to the excitement and wonder of the city. This is definitely something I would like to research further.
Until then, I am once again sharing a room with my strep-infected tour roomy, Pat. Since she is coughing is hacking up all sorts of ick, I have pressed the earplugs firmly into my ears and hope they manage to block out the sound. I'm a little concerned because I was able to hear the church bells from down the street even with the earplugs in. That does not bode well for my night....
I loved Varenna, Menaggio, and Bellagio. Of course, these may still be my favorite because I spent the most time here. I feel a little nostalgic when I review the pictures I took there. I remember the feelings I had the first moment I stepped off the train. The sun was shining, the architecture was everything I imagined it would be, and the language was flowing freely. I had no fear. I could find my way easily.
Then there was the second day with my tour group and the weather was chaotic but we all bonded under our umbrellas and rain ponchos. I would love to go back to Varenna and wander the streets again. I would stay at the youth hostel in Menaggio again. I would go back to Bellagio and climb the hills and back alley ways and probably even walk farther than I did before to see what I could find.
Castelroto was really wonderful with it's German feel and first snow of the season but I don't know that I would go out of my way to visit there again. Venice was not my favorite place at all. If I were to come back to Italy by myself (which, the plan is to return), I would not go back to Venice. I've seen Venice, I don't need to see it again. BUT, if I returned to Italy with someone who had never seen Italy, we would have to go to Venice. Everyone should see Venice one time. This time I would venture further and not worry so much about getting lost. I would be more adventurous. I would try and find more of the waterfront and less of the canals.
I loved Verona, Florence, Siena. I adored Monterosso in Cinque Terre with it's gravely beaches, high cliffs, and gorgeous sunsets. And Orvieto was so beautiful with its rolling hills, olive groves, grape fields...all of the things I had thought Italy was. Even in the rain and wind, I loved Orvieto.
And now we are in Rome. It's so sad to think that there are only two nights left in Rome and then this little adventure is over. For four years I have planned, dreamed, and even obsessed about this place. It has gone above and beyond my expectations. Traveling with a tour group made this trip easy. The company, Rick Steves, did all of the work: they made all of the plans, bought all of the tickets, and booked all of the hotel rooms. All I had to do was fork out the money, buy a plane ticket, and make my way here. The next time, I will make my own plans, buy my own tickets, and plot my own adventure. And I'll probably save about $3000 doing it myself.
SO, in Rome. We bussed our way from Orvieto to here, stopping only at the usual "Auto-grill" along the way to buy lunch (I had another salad with tomatoes, calamata olives, and anchovies. I bought a couple extra foccachia bread slices for the road (because the budget is tight again), and we headed on our way. Dino and the bus took us to our hotel, Hotel Sonya, long enough to get our rooms and drop off our bags, then Dino said goodbye to us all at the Colosseum.
At the Colosseum we met up with Francesca, a woman born and raised in Italy by an American mother and Italian father. Because of her American mother, Francesca had no Italian accent. She was all American. Francesca led us all over the Colosseum calling upon our imagination to recall a time when Romans cheered for animal fights, Gladiators, and death. I probably could have spent more time there to make sure I saw all that I wanted to see but we had so much more to cover and only about 4 hours to do it. The Colosseum was literally "awesome" and she reminded us of a time when "awesome" was more than a word you used to describe really good pizza. She took us from the top of the Colosseum to the bottom describing what was missing from each floor, what would have been there had it not been "borrowed" by people who thought of it as the Roman "Home Depot" and taken it apart piece by piece to help build the other ancient buildings in Rome. There were still patches of marble flooring that had been left behind only because it was not perfect marble.
We learned that marble, when lit on fire, turned into lime and was used for mortar to lay bricks. The Romans had destroyed columns and statues without even realizing what it would eventually mean to history.
We also learned that Romans were able to create these wonderful monuments that last for centuries because there was ash added to the stone in the buildings.
The Colosseum was filthy from all of the exhaust from years of automobile and bus traffic whizzing by but cleaning it off was too expensive to undertake. They couldn't seal the stone to prevent further damage because it would cause the buildings to grow mold. Francesca told us that recently there was a famous shoe manufacturer that had invested money to restore the Colosseum but she, and others, were afraid a large neon shoe would end up on the top of it as a result.
From the Colosseum we walked down the street to more wonderful ancient ruins. I will have to look over my map and my Rick Steves book to figure out exactly what other monuments we saw but I took plenty of pictures that I can review later (better do it sooner before I forget which picture was taken where). I do know we visited the Pantheon (which is where my camera battery died) and even got the pleasure of hearing an impromptu choir sing for us.
We separated into little groups (whomever we wanted to spend extra time with) and found restaurants to step into for dinner. I ordered my usual anchovy and tomato sauce pizza and consumed it all by myself. Again. While in the restaurant, I headed to the bathroom (because in Italy you need to use a free "WC" whenever you can find them, otherwise you end up paying anywhere from ,50 to ,75 euro to use the restroom) and found our tour guide, Stephanie, and Francesca having dinner. I stopped to tell Francesca about how much we all enjoyed her tour of the monuments and we ended up chatting about my love of Rome, and Italy in general. I told her that I felt like there was so much more I wanted to see, that I hadn't seen enough, which is really how I have felt throughout most of this trip. She told me that I need to remember that feeling when I have gone back home. I have no doubt that I will.
After dinner, Stephanie led us through the alleyways to the Trevi fountain. Because of the continual crowds in front of the fountain no matter the time of day or night, Stephanie had us stop for a moment so she could explain the theory of throwing a coin into the fountain: first, the coin had to be thrown by the right hand over the left shoulder (even if you were left-handed). One coin meant you would return to Rome. Two coins meant you would fall in love. Three coins meant you would stay. She didn't say stay in Rome so you had to be careful of that one.
Throughout the trip, I have had one 1 euro coin in the outside pocket of my backpack. I wanted to keep it because it had a picture of the Michelangelo drawing of man (can't remember what it is called right now but it's a cool drawing) and I really liked it. I thought that it would be great to have a hole punched in it and worn for a necklace. The first thought I had of which coin to toss in the fountain was that coin. I dug into the outside mesh pocket and found the coin AND an American nickel. Those were my two coins.
The fountain was as crowded as Stephanie had predicted, and finding a spot that wasn't already occupied by 20 other tourists waiting to have their picture taken was a test of patience. Jump in, jump out.
Since my camera battery had died in the Pantheon, I asked Bruce and Renee to take my picture with their camera in front of the fountain, tossing the coins in. I can't wait to see how it turns out.
From the fountain, we hiked the 15 minutes back to our hotel. Tomorrow is the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museum. Afterwards, I'm hoping to be able to find my way back to the Trevi fountain and the many other fountains I saw along the way so I can get the pictures I didn't get taken when my camera battery died. I don't want to waste one minute of the 36 hours I have left in Italy.
I would compare Rome to my experience in Seattle. Cars rushing up and down the streets, city buses zipping by, people pushing and shoving for a place on the sidewalk, big buildings (although far more historical than the ones in Seattle), and the usual tourists. I love big cities. I love the sound of them and I have always loved the architecture. You can get in your car and travel an hour to a beautiful, quiet countryside, but come back to the excitement and wonder of the city. This is definitely something I would like to research further.
Until then, I am once again sharing a room with my strep-infected tour roomy, Pat. Since she is coughing is hacking up all sorts of ick, I have pressed the earplugs firmly into my ears and hope they manage to block out the sound. I'm a little concerned because I was able to hear the church bells from down the street even with the earplugs in. That does not bode well for my night....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)