Here are pictures from Day 2: http://www.flickr.com/photos/link774/sets/72157603646787206/
Today was our day to see really old stuff from ancient Rome. It was a beautiful, sunny day which was perfect for walking around outside. We started out by heading to the Colosseum, which was quite impressive. We got the audio tour, which I think was pretty worthwhile. They pointed out things that we wouldn't have noticed and told stories about how the Colosseum was used.
We were really hungry, so we abandoned the pretense of trying to find a non-touristy place and just went in the first place that looked good. We both got pizza for the first time on this trip, and it was quite tasty. It took us quite a while to get our bill, so to kill time we were looking around and spotted a piece of paper that was posted above each table (see photos), that appeared to be describing some kind of game. Do any of you Italian speakers out there know what they're talking about? I think it means that if you get your bill to work out to be the specific highlighted amount, the 'game' is free, whatever that means. It seems like that would be a relatively simple task.
After eating, we headed to the Forum, which is right near the Colosseum. This area has lots of great ruins of what used to be the center of Rome. We saw the remains of the Basilica of Constantine, which was quite impressive. Check the photos to see Kellian next to the ruins to get a sense of the scale.
Other interesting sights included the Temple of Julius Caesar, which was surprisingly small, and the House of the Vestal Virgins. We were hoping to see Palatine Hill, but were running out of time and decided to head on to see the Pantheon before it got too dark, since it was closed last night. The Pantheon was quite amazing: it is a huge dome with an open top. The floor is slanted to allow the rainwater to drain out. Another interesting fact: the artist Raphael is buried there.
After an exciting day of looking at old stuff, we decided to hit up a gelato place. I was quite surprised that we made it for this long without having any. We went to Giolitti, which is one of the more well known gelato joints in the city and we could see why.
Tomorrow, we will look at the National Museum of Rome.
Italy Trip Day 1 - 2007-12-27
Here are pictures from Day 1: http://www.flickr.com/photos/link774/sets/72157603651247373/
Kellian and I left Boston at 6:00PM EST and arrived in Rome at around 10:00AM Italy time, which is 6 hours later than EST. Despite our plan to sleep on the way there so we were rested when we arrived, we didn't have much luck falling asleep. After getting our bags, we headed to the train to get from the airport to Rome.
The train was completely packed, we ended up crammed with our luggage near the doorway along with an older Italian couple. The Italian man got into an argument with the conductor about his ticket which was pretty amusing.
After arriving at Termini, the train station in the middle of Rome, we made our way to our hotel, Hotel Madison. It had a fairly decent although small lobby. The staff at the front desk told us that our rooms were not yet available, but that we could leave our bags in the lobby if we wanted to. I was a bit concerned at first, because they had a sign up saying that they weren't responsible for bags left in the lobby, but Kellian reminded me that we didn't really have anything of value in our bags anyways. All our money is with us, I have my camera, and the front desk took our passports (I have no idea why).
So we decided to leave our bags and head out to find some food. Looking at my trusty Rick Steves' Rome 2007 Guide Book which was our main guide for the trip, we decided to head to one of the restaurants he recommended in Piazza de Republica near Termini.
Unfortunately, the place we had selected was a bit too fancy given that we had just gotten off of a plane (Kellian was wearing pajama pants), so we decided to wander a bit to see what we could find. We stumbled across what turned out to be a really nice find: it was a small establishment that had a bar that served panini in the front and a small room in the back that served some reasonably priced entrees. Lots of locals were there, so we felt like we found a legitimate place for our first meal, which ended up being quite tasty.
Refueled we headed back to the hotel for a nap. The room was quite decent, it was clean and in good condition. We slept until around dinner time and decided to take Rick Steves' Night Walk Across Rome, which starts in Campo de Fiori and ends at the Spanish Steps. With the help of the front desk and the tourist's information booth, we figured out which bus we needed to get on and headed on our way. Unfortunately, we quickly realized that we had no way of figuring out what stop we wanted to get off on because they weren't announcing the stops. I resorted to jumping out of the bus to look at the sign at every stop, which must have looked pretty insane. Eventually a nice Italian gentleman helped us figure out where to get off.
We were hungry again so we turned to out trusty Rick Steves' Rome 2007 Guide Book to try to find a restaurant in the area. Unfortunately, the ones that sounded good were closed, so we just decided to wander again. We were fortunate enough to find a cute little place with about 8 tables in it. It looked to be family run, with a goofy looking, Kramer-like fellow with glasses and a short, plump older woman waiting tables. We had a great meal, complete with ricotta pie and tiramisu for dessert.
After eating, we headed out on our night walk. We got a bit of a late start, but people were still out and about. We walked from Campo de Fiori to Piazza Navona, which was one of my favorite sites from my last visit to Rome. Unfortunately, the Four Rivers Fountain was closed for maintenance. The Piazza was set up for Christmas and New Year's festivities with carnival booths all over the place. After that, we headed over to the Pantheon and then to the Piazza Colonna. The Trevi Fountain was our next stop, which was quite nicely lit for nighttime viewing. Finally, we made our way over to the Spanish Steps. This was the end of the walk, so we took a cab back to our hotel because the subway was closed.
That brings us to the end of the first day, tomorrow we plan to look at the Colosseum, the Forum, and the Pantheon.
Kellian and I left Boston at 6:00PM EST and arrived in Rome at around 10:00AM Italy time, which is 6 hours later than EST. Despite our plan to sleep on the way there so we were rested when we arrived, we didn't have much luck falling asleep. After getting our bags, we headed to the train to get from the airport to Rome.
The train was completely packed, we ended up crammed with our luggage near the doorway along with an older Italian couple. The Italian man got into an argument with the conductor about his ticket which was pretty amusing.
After arriving at Termini, the train station in the middle of Rome, we made our way to our hotel, Hotel Madison. It had a fairly decent although small lobby. The staff at the front desk told us that our rooms were not yet available, but that we could leave our bags in the lobby if we wanted to. I was a bit concerned at first, because they had a sign up saying that they weren't responsible for bags left in the lobby, but Kellian reminded me that we didn't really have anything of value in our bags anyways. All our money is with us, I have my camera, and the front desk took our passports (I have no idea why).
So we decided to leave our bags and head out to find some food. Looking at my trusty Rick Steves' Rome 2007 Guide Book which was our main guide for the trip, we decided to head to one of the restaurants he recommended in Piazza de Republica near Termini.
Unfortunately, the place we had selected was a bit too fancy given that we had just gotten off of a plane (Kellian was wearing pajama pants), so we decided to wander a bit to see what we could find. We stumbled across what turned out to be a really nice find: it was a small establishment that had a bar that served panini in the front and a small room in the back that served some reasonably priced entrees. Lots of locals were there, so we felt like we found a legitimate place for our first meal, which ended up being quite tasty.
Refueled we headed back to the hotel for a nap. The room was quite decent, it was clean and in good condition. We slept until around dinner time and decided to take Rick Steves' Night Walk Across Rome, which starts in Campo de Fiori and ends at the Spanish Steps. With the help of the front desk and the tourist's information booth, we figured out which bus we needed to get on and headed on our way. Unfortunately, we quickly realized that we had no way of figuring out what stop we wanted to get off on because they weren't announcing the stops. I resorted to jumping out of the bus to look at the sign at every stop, which must have looked pretty insane. Eventually a nice Italian gentleman helped us figure out where to get off.
We were hungry again so we turned to out trusty Rick Steves' Rome 2007 Guide Book to try to find a restaurant in the area. Unfortunately, the ones that sounded good were closed, so we just decided to wander again. We were fortunate enough to find a cute little place with about 8 tables in it. It looked to be family run, with a goofy looking, Kramer-like fellow with glasses and a short, plump older woman waiting tables. We had a great meal, complete with ricotta pie and tiramisu for dessert.
After eating, we headed out on our night walk. We got a bit of a late start, but people were still out and about. We walked from Campo de Fiori to Piazza Navona, which was one of my favorite sites from my last visit to Rome. Unfortunately, the Four Rivers Fountain was closed for maintenance. The Piazza was set up for Christmas and New Year's festivities with carnival booths all over the place. After that, we headed over to the Pantheon and then to the Piazza Colonna. The Trevi Fountain was our next stop, which was quite nicely lit for nighttime viewing. Finally, we made our way over to the Spanish Steps. This was the end of the walk, so we took a cab back to our hotel because the subway was closed.
That brings us to the end of the first day, tomorrow we plan to look at the Colosseum, the Forum, and the Pantheon.
Road Trip Day 31 - 2007-08-19
Check out the pictures I took today:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10306971@N03/sets/72157601597850687/
Today I tried to get up at 6:00 in the hopes of heading over to Cedar Point, which is an amusement park with a ton of awesome roller coasters. Unfortunately, I overslept by about 2 hours and when I checked the forecast it said it was going to rain all day. Then I decided that it would be best just to head on home.
After saying goodbye to Brian, I headed out on the long, 12 hour drive I had ahead of me. I wish I had gotten an earlier start, but no such luck. I hit some traffic after I entered Pennsylvania: the road narrowed from 2 to 1 lane and traffic was backed up for about 7 miles and going at about 10-15 MPH, so I was stuck there for a while. When I finally got to the spot where the traffic merged, the car that was behind me tried to pull around and cut in front of me. Fat chance! I gassed it and got ahead of her and flipped her the bird. Not cool!
A few hours later I hit another bit of traffic caused by similar construction, but the delay was only about a half hour rather than the hour I had before. That's another cool thing about the GPS, since it gives you an ETA that is updated in realtime, you can figure out how much a delay cost you in terms of time quite easily. Yay GPS! That thing has been great for this trip.
When I was driving through New York, a cop pulled behind me and put on his lights, so I pulled over. He informed me that he witnessed me driving partly in the shoulder and that this typically indicates that a driver is drunk or tired. I informed him that I was neither drunk nor tired and would be more cautious in the future. He let me off without a ticket, which was quite a relief. My heart rate soon returned to normal.
I still had about 5 hours to go at this point, which is always an irritating point to be at in a drive. I managed to make it back to my parent's house by 1:00, where my parents greeted me.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10306971@N03/sets/72157601597850687/
Today I tried to get up at 6:00 in the hopes of heading over to Cedar Point, which is an amusement park with a ton of awesome roller coasters. Unfortunately, I overslept by about 2 hours and when I checked the forecast it said it was going to rain all day. Then I decided that it would be best just to head on home.
After saying goodbye to Brian, I headed out on the long, 12 hour drive I had ahead of me. I wish I had gotten an earlier start, but no such luck. I hit some traffic after I entered Pennsylvania: the road narrowed from 2 to 1 lane and traffic was backed up for about 7 miles and going at about 10-15 MPH, so I was stuck there for a while. When I finally got to the spot where the traffic merged, the car that was behind me tried to pull around and cut in front of me. Fat chance! I gassed it and got ahead of her and flipped her the bird. Not cool!
A few hours later I hit another bit of traffic caused by similar construction, but the delay was only about a half hour rather than the hour I had before. That's another cool thing about the GPS, since it gives you an ETA that is updated in realtime, you can figure out how much a delay cost you in terms of time quite easily. Yay GPS! That thing has been great for this trip.
When I was driving through New York, a cop pulled behind me and put on his lights, so I pulled over. He informed me that he witnessed me driving partly in the shoulder and that this typically indicates that a driver is drunk or tired. I informed him that I was neither drunk nor tired and would be more cautious in the future. He let me off without a ticket, which was quite a relief. My heart rate soon returned to normal.
I still had about 5 hours to go at this point, which is always an irritating point to be at in a drive. I managed to make it back to my parent's house by 1:00, where my parents greeted me.
Road Trip Day 30 - 2007-08-18
Check out the pictures I took today:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10306971@N03/sets/72157601590725134/
After getting a good night of sleep, Brian and I headed out for breakfast. First we went over to get his friends, Zach and Luke, who live in an apartment nearby. We headed over to Scramblers, a breakfast place nearby. The waitress was extremely friendly and the food was good. I got a bacon and cheese omelette, which was pretty good but way too much food for me.
Then we dropped Zach and Luke off and went back to play some X-Box 360. We played a bit of Gears of War online with other folks and I got destroyed. Fortunately it was team-based so even though I was getting killed a lot and not helping out much, we managed to win quite a few of our matches.
We started to get hungry again, so we went over to La Paloma for some sopapilla's, which at this place are kinda like enchilada's but made with a flakey dough. It reminded me of cornish pasties in England, but with cheese and mexican flavoring.
Then we went back to Brian's place and played some Need for Speed, which was awesome. I love driving games and the graphics were incredible in HD. I was completely blown away by the realism. I wasn't much competition for Brian, so he had me play some of the story mode which was fun. I might need to get one of these if I ever have a big wad of money burning a hole in my pocket.
For dinner we headed over to a pub that Brian and his friends frequent. Zach came along and we met up with another friend. The place was nice, but we arrived there 1 minute after they stopped serving the dinner menu, which was annoying. We got some appetizers instead which were pretty tasty. I got some BBQ wings with this Guinness BBQ sauce which was good, though I think I would have preferred the buffalo sauce instead.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10306971@N03/sets/72157601590725134/
After getting a good night of sleep, Brian and I headed out for breakfast. First we went over to get his friends, Zach and Luke, who live in an apartment nearby. We headed over to Scramblers, a breakfast place nearby. The waitress was extremely friendly and the food was good. I got a bacon and cheese omelette, which was pretty good but way too much food for me.
Then we dropped Zach and Luke off and went back to play some X-Box 360. We played a bit of Gears of War online with other folks and I got destroyed. Fortunately it was team-based so even though I was getting killed a lot and not helping out much, we managed to win quite a few of our matches.
We started to get hungry again, so we went over to La Paloma for some sopapilla's, which at this place are kinda like enchilada's but made with a flakey dough. It reminded me of cornish pasties in England, but with cheese and mexican flavoring.
Then we went back to Brian's place and played some Need for Speed, which was awesome. I love driving games and the graphics were incredible in HD. I was completely blown away by the realism. I wasn't much competition for Brian, so he had me play some of the story mode which was fun. I might need to get one of these if I ever have a big wad of money burning a hole in my pocket.
For dinner we headed over to a pub that Brian and his friends frequent. Zach came along and we met up with another friend. The place was nice, but we arrived there 1 minute after they stopped serving the dinner menu, which was annoying. We got some appetizers instead which were pretty tasty. I got some BBQ wings with this Guinness BBQ sauce which was good, though I think I would have preferred the buffalo sauce instead.
Road Trip Day 29 - 2007-08-17
Here is a map of today's drive:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&saddr=Little+Rock,+AR&daddr=Reynoldsburg,+OH&sll=35.40423,-93.25298&sspn=1.325286,2.581787&ie=UTF8&z=6&om=1
Check out the pictures I took today:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10306971@N03/sets/72157601523422801/
Today I drove from Little Rock, Arkansas to Reynoldsburg, Ohio to see a long-time friend of mine named Brian. We met about 12 years ago playing X-Wing vs. Tie fighter together online: we both flew for the same squadron (a group of folks that competed together) and have stayed in touch ever since. I'd never seen him in person before, so I was looking forward to that.
After saying goodbye to Steph I drove for about 12 hours to arrive in Reynoldsburg by 10:30PM. Brian showed me around his place and then told me that he had to go back to work for a bit to take care of a few things. He works for Victoria's Secret doing IT support and offered to show me around the distribution facilities they had just built. Of course, I was quite eager to see it since I love seeing manufacturing and other types of automation.
Unfortunately, I couldn't take pictures in the facility, but it was really cool. There were these high-tech conveyor belts going all through the building. Brian informed me that they were completely electro-magnetic which makes them quiet and very energy efficient. Also, each section of the belt has rollers that can be activated to slide the item on that section to one side or the other. Combined with the overhead barcode readers at various points in the belt, it allowed specific items to be delivered to different areas across the building.
After getting the grand tour and seeing Brian fix up a few broken workstations, we headed back to his place to play Gears of War on his X-Box 360. The game is a first-person-shooter and is quite fun. I was very impressed by the image quality the system could put out (1080p) and how nice it looked on his TV. He even has surround-sound speakers for the full effect. Very cool!
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&saddr=Little+Rock,+AR&daddr=Reynoldsburg,+OH&sll=35.40423,-93.25298&sspn=1.325286,2.581787&ie=UTF8&z=6&om=1
Check out the pictures I took today:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10306971@N03/sets/72157601523422801/
Today I drove from Little Rock, Arkansas to Reynoldsburg, Ohio to see a long-time friend of mine named Brian. We met about 12 years ago playing X-Wing vs. Tie fighter together online: we both flew for the same squadron (a group of folks that competed together) and have stayed in touch ever since. I'd never seen him in person before, so I was looking forward to that.
After saying goodbye to Steph I drove for about 12 hours to arrive in Reynoldsburg by 10:30PM. Brian showed me around his place and then told me that he had to go back to work for a bit to take care of a few things. He works for Victoria's Secret doing IT support and offered to show me around the distribution facilities they had just built. Of course, I was quite eager to see it since I love seeing manufacturing and other types of automation.
Unfortunately, I couldn't take pictures in the facility, but it was really cool. There were these high-tech conveyor belts going all through the building. Brian informed me that they were completely electro-magnetic which makes them quiet and very energy efficient. Also, each section of the belt has rollers that can be activated to slide the item on that section to one side or the other. Combined with the overhead barcode readers at various points in the belt, it allowed specific items to be delivered to different areas across the building.
After getting the grand tour and seeing Brian fix up a few broken workstations, we headed back to his place to play Gears of War on his X-Box 360. The game is a first-person-shooter and is quite fun. I was very impressed by the image quality the system could put out (1080p) and how nice it looked on his TV. He even has surround-sound speakers for the full effect. Very cool!
Road Trip Day 28 - 2007-08-16
Check out the pictures I took today:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10306971@N03/sets/72157601515870268/
Today we had to check out of the cabin at Devil's Den, so everybody packed up and headed back to Justin's house. For lunch we decided to go to a hamburger place that Justin likes called Wes's BBQ. The food was quite tasty and the service was surprisingly good for a place where you seat yourself. The waitress remembered who ordered what even though there were 7 people in our group and we had ordered at the counter.
I drove to and from the Wes's in Justin's Geo and managed to scare the hell out of both Amber and Mandy who feared for thier lives with all the lurching and stalling that was going on. I though I had the hang of it, but I think I need a bit more practice.
We saw this tremendous spider near Justin's front door (see photos). I'm surprised I hadn't noticed it before, it was really quite large. Its discovery drew a crowd of kids from the neighborhood.
Since Justin's family would be staying at his house and things would be a bit crowded, I decided to bid farewell to Fayetteville and head over to Little Rock to visit Stephanie who was house sitting for her parents.
She showed me some of the sights in Little Rock like the Clinton Library (which was closed by the time we got to it) and Little Rock Central High School. After that we decided to grab a bite at a pizza place in town. They had a very tasty deep dish pizza that was similar to the type I got in Berkeley with Paul. This crust was even better though, I think.
When we got back to Steph's parent's place, we hung out for a little while with her mini daschunds which were adorable. At first they were barking quite a bit but eventually they calmed down and sat on my lap. They are named Bailey and Riley. Bailey snuggled down between Steph and I, which was pretty cute.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10306971@N03/sets/72157601515870268/
Today we had to check out of the cabin at Devil's Den, so everybody packed up and headed back to Justin's house. For lunch we decided to go to a hamburger place that Justin likes called Wes's BBQ. The food was quite tasty and the service was surprisingly good for a place where you seat yourself. The waitress remembered who ordered what even though there were 7 people in our group and we had ordered at the counter.
I drove to and from the Wes's in Justin's Geo and managed to scare the hell out of both Amber and Mandy who feared for thier lives with all the lurching and stalling that was going on. I though I had the hang of it, but I think I need a bit more practice.
We saw this tremendous spider near Justin's front door (see photos). I'm surprised I hadn't noticed it before, it was really quite large. Its discovery drew a crowd of kids from the neighborhood.
Since Justin's family would be staying at his house and things would be a bit crowded, I decided to bid farewell to Fayetteville and head over to Little Rock to visit Stephanie who was house sitting for her parents.
She showed me some of the sights in Little Rock like the Clinton Library (which was closed by the time we got to it) and Little Rock Central High School. After that we decided to grab a bite at a pizza place in town. They had a very tasty deep dish pizza that was similar to the type I got in Berkeley with Paul. This crust was even better though, I think.
When we got back to Steph's parent's place, we hung out for a little while with her mini daschunds which were adorable. At first they were barking quite a bit but eventually they calmed down and sat on my lap. They are named Bailey and Riley. Bailey snuggled down between Steph and I, which was pretty cute.
Road Trip Day 27 - 2007-08-15
Check out the pictures I took today:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10306971@N03/sets/72157601478467994/
Today we got a pretty late start. Justin whipped up some of his fantastic omelettes as well as some fried eggs for breakfast, then we just hung around for a bit deciding what to do. Joe and Corey headed out to Fayetteville to take care of some work and grab some groceries. Justin and I decided to go check out some of the caves around Devil's Den Park. Mandy's foot was hurting, so she wasn't really up for a hike and Amber decided not to go.
The trail was well marked and nicely kept. They had a lot of neat steps made of of stone and such. There were several places where we had to go uphill for a while, but it wasn't too bad. I'm not much of a fan of hiking unless we are headed somewhere interesting, and fortunately we were headed for a cave!
The first cave we got to was Devil's Den cave, which looked pretty cool. Unfortunately, our flashlight was not nearly bright enough to navigate with any ease. We went in about 50 feet and decided to come out. It was so dim that we had to proceed very slowly, so getting to the end of the cave would have taken a very long time.
We hiked along the trail a bit and came to several crevasses which were pretty cool. One was relatively short and you could see the light on the other end, so I went through that one and Justin met me at the other end.
Next, we got to the Ice Box cave, which wis indeed quite chilly. It was a welcome break from the heat of the day. We didn't feel like venturing into this one, since the path would be difficult to navigate in the dark with a weak flashlight.
We continued along the Devil's Den trail, which looped back around to where it began. Tired and sweaty, we headed over to the pool to cool off. We swam around a bit with Mandy, Amber, and Nikki's brother Christian who arrived while we were out.
It was getting to be dinner time, so we headed back to the cabin to cook up some food. Justin made a platter of sushi ingredients and taught everybody how to roll thier own sushi, which was entertaining. They turned out pretty well! Then he cooked up some steaks in a marinade that he made, which was also quite tasty.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10306971@N03/sets/72157601478467994/
Today we got a pretty late start. Justin whipped up some of his fantastic omelettes as well as some fried eggs for breakfast, then we just hung around for a bit deciding what to do. Joe and Corey headed out to Fayetteville to take care of some work and grab some groceries. Justin and I decided to go check out some of the caves around Devil's Den Park. Mandy's foot was hurting, so she wasn't really up for a hike and Amber decided not to go.
The trail was well marked and nicely kept. They had a lot of neat steps made of of stone and such. There were several places where we had to go uphill for a while, but it wasn't too bad. I'm not much of a fan of hiking unless we are headed somewhere interesting, and fortunately we were headed for a cave!
The first cave we got to was Devil's Den cave, which looked pretty cool. Unfortunately, our flashlight was not nearly bright enough to navigate with any ease. We went in about 50 feet and decided to come out. It was so dim that we had to proceed very slowly, so getting to the end of the cave would have taken a very long time.
We hiked along the trail a bit and came to several crevasses which were pretty cool. One was relatively short and you could see the light on the other end, so I went through that one and Justin met me at the other end.
Next, we got to the Ice Box cave, which wis indeed quite chilly. It was a welcome break from the heat of the day. We didn't feel like venturing into this one, since the path would be difficult to navigate in the dark with a weak flashlight.
We continued along the Devil's Den trail, which looped back around to where it began. Tired and sweaty, we headed over to the pool to cool off. We swam around a bit with Mandy, Amber, and Nikki's brother Christian who arrived while we were out.
It was getting to be dinner time, so we headed back to the cabin to cook up some food. Justin made a platter of sushi ingredients and taught everybody how to roll thier own sushi, which was entertaining. They turned out pretty well! Then he cooked up some steaks in a marinade that he made, which was also quite tasty.
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