Rome April 2002

 [late March 2002, Rome, Italy]

We returned to Italy in 2002, this time to celebrate Easter in Rome. And so we did. We stayed at the Hotel Teatro di Pompeo located near the Campo de' Fiori (field of flowers). The hotel is built over part of Pompey's Theater where Caesar was assassinated.

The Campo has both a wonderful outdoor market and a statue dedicated to Giordano Bruno who was burned at the stake by the Vatican and is still today his name is revered as a pioneer in free thinking within the church.

MONDAY 25 MARCH - Stroll the neighborhood. Vino & formaggio near the Pantheon. Nap. Dinner at Ditirambo. Wonderful food and great service. Sue had Patate flan, tonnarelli con pepe and goat cheese, artichoke puree (like a flan) and apple cake with orange sauce.  Steve had pureed fava beans con gambaretti; malfatti (ricotta gnocchi) con squash blossom and agnello con herb crust. The wine was a Vino di Nobile from Avignonesi.

TUESDAY 26 MARCH -- Vino & formaggio at Vineria on Campo di Fiori for pranzo. La Monserrato for dinner. Food OK (seafood a specialty) but service terrible. Steve had bigoli pasta followed by roasted turbot with patate. Sue had Shrimp risotto. Wine was a white, Nozze d’Oro (Tenuta Regeali?)

WEDNESDAY 27 MARCH - Took train from Roma to Napoli on our way to Pompeii. Chatted with a guy from Queechee, VT on the way down. Lesson learned: even with first class get a reserved seat. Train was packed and we had to sit in the dining/cafe car the whole time (as did a great many others). Ofr course that didn’t stop the cafe attendant from yelling at people for taking up space and not buying anything.  Anyway we had our return reservation so that was fine.

Once in Naples, we proceeded to get on the wrong train. Sort of. We took the train marked Pompeii but we really wanted the train for Sorrento, the blue line (not the green line), which would have dropped us right outside the Pompeii Scavi (ruins). (Also note that the new city has only one “i” at the end.) We weren’t aware that there was in fact a New (neovo) Pompei. Rick Steves’ guide did say to get on the blue line to Sorrento. Anyway, we were less enthusiastic than Rick was about the Circumvesuviana which runs from Naples to the Pompeien ruins. The station is well marked for passengers coming from either the Garibaldi or centrale stations but one is clueless as to where or how to get a ticket (ask somebody) and then you find yourself down in this dank cold railroad platform far from any servizi (toilettes) or food vendors. Just sit in the cold and hope you get on the right train.

Well we didn’t. But we might a nice young fellow from Texas who was on break form his school in Ireland and was travelling around Italy on his own. So the three of us got off at the next station (when it dawned on us we were heading way out of the way) and proceeded to backtrack and before long found ourselves in Pompeii. 

We three explored the ruins together but after about an hour or so we had to say goodbye to John if we were going to get back to Naples in time to make our train back to Rome. What a place. Sue and I both remarked that one simply cannot appreciate the enormity of these ruins without seeing them. I had no idea they were so vast. It’s definitely on our priority list for next year to spend a bit more time rambling around those streets.      

Our return to Naples went off without a hitch. Along the way we met a couple of academics from Wisconsin (I think) staying in Sorrento before moving on to Tuscany. Americans are travelling indeed.

In Naples we had a bite to eat before our train left. Once aboard we settled into the very comfortable seats (riservato this time) and struck up a conversation with a businessman sitting across from us who was on his way  home to Firenze. He spoke very little english and we spoke a bit of Italian so together we managed to visit for a bit. 

Took a taxi from Rome’s Termini station to our hotel and ate dinner just up our little street at Arnaldo’s. Steve had pureed verdura zuppe (OK) followed by vitello con gorgonzola -- asparagi was way overcooked but that seems to be the trend with greens here. Sue had tagioni con pomodoro with aglio. Again OK but not great. Followed by vitello arancia and a verdura misto gratin which was not good at all.  Wine was a Rosso di Montalcino, Campo ai Sassi, 99 -- thin with little else going for it. I wonder if this is an indication of that year or just that wine. 

 Anyway not many people eating that evening but a couple of tables away were two seminarians, one from Puerto Rico and one from Seattle. The both appeared quite sophisticated and spoke Italian very well -- and the one from PR at one point lamented that what the media in the US needed was something else to take the place of the ongoing focus on the stories of abuse of young children by priests. Then it wouldn’t be of much concern. What broke it for both of us was when one of the fellows lighted a cigar and commenced to stink up the entire room. Horrible. It got so bad that Steve finally asked him to put it out. He wasn't happy about it but he did put the foul thing out. Lesson learned. There seemed little concern by these two future priests for the well-being of anyone else in the room and not even a hint of courtesy or even an attempt to apologize. 

outside the hotel getting her bearings

cafe watching

Roman Forum