A travel day was on
tap for today, with the Eternal City of Rome being our final destination for the
trip. But our train wouldn’t be leaving until late afternoon, so we still had a
decent amount of time to explore Florence a bit further. That meant that the
Duomo would be a top priority since we hadn’t visited it yesterday other than
walking by to view the exterior. The rest of the itinerary while in Florence
didn’t call for anything other than walking around, shopping, and taking in the
atmosphere of the city. It was a pace that seemed to suit everyone fine as we
meandered towards the end of the trip.
We started off with
the Duomo. A couple of years earlier, Will and I nearly lost Ryan in our ascent
to the top of this magnificent dome, as the climb was getting the best of him
and we pressed on ahead so as not to miss the sunset. Well, I suppose the
memory of that struggle stayed with us because we opted out of climbing the top
of the dome again. Instead, this time, we would opt for a hopefully more
manageable climb of neighboring Giotto’s Bell Tower. It didn’t rise quite as
high as the dome, but it still offered about as a good a view of Florence and
the surrounding Tuscan countryside, and selfishly in the case of me, Ryan, and
Will, we just wanted to try something a little different this
time.
The climb to the
top didn’t match the level of exhaustion that the Duomo did, but it still packed
a punch. There was no race to beat the sunset this time around, however, so we
went at our own pace. It was a clear, sunny day, so there was ample of the
Tuscan countryside to see in the distance, with Florence’s signature rooftops
catching our immediate gaze. The view from atop the Duomo or Giotto’s Bell
Tower is unmistakably Florentine.
Upon our descent
from the tower, it was time for a lunch, and a quick and lazy search brought us
right back to where we ate lunch yesterday…Yellow Bar. We even got the same
waitress, resulting in embarrassed smiles as we copped to being typical
Americans in such a rush that we didn’t have time to sit down to enjoy a good
Italian lunch. Except…we were actually in kind of a rush once it came time to
catch our train to Rome. After lunch, we spent the rest of our dwindling time in
the city taking in the shops and markets of the city. When it was time to go, we
had trouble hailing a cab for everyone, so only some of us got a cab to the
train station while others raced frantically through the streets of Florence.
We needn’t have
worried too much about missing our train, as we had to wait at least a little
while once we got there before boarding. This time around, there would be no
cold storage traveling. We had learned our lesson on reserving train tickets
after the Milan-Florence debacle, and we had reserved seats for Florence-Rome
almost immediately after our mistake. The trip to Rome would
be made in complete comfort, traversing the scenic middle third of the country
as we went. Only thing was there seemed to be a bit of a frenzied atmosphere
about the train, and at one point, what sounded to me and Will like soccer
Ultras (hooligan Italian soccer fans basically) made their way through our
train. Will was wearing a Manchester United sweatshirt at the time and I
wondered aloud to him if he ought to take it off to possibly prevent any
trouble. I doubt very seriously it would have come to that, but a few United
fans had been knifed on a trip to Rome a couple of months before and there was
just something about this crowd of people that was intimidating and I didn’t
want to disturb them any further.
A lot of classic
images come to mind when thinking of Rome. The Colosseum, the Roman Forum, St
Peter’s and the Vatican…the cradle of Western Civilization, the Eternal City.
It’s truly one of the world’s greatest cities. A feast for the senses can be had
here with a rich helping of food, culture, history, etc. That said, if you’re
arriving by train, the first impression of this iconic city can be terribly
misleading. At least by the area surrounding it, which has a filthy third world feel to it,
as though it’s the slum of the city. Upon arrival, we hailed taxi cabs to our
hotel that wasn’t too far away. After unloading there, we came back towards the
station – I forget why – and walked around a bit, figuring out our plan for
dinner. It was in this walk around the station that we seemed to veer slightly
off course into the least attractive part of Rome, and those of us who hadn’t
been here before were not immediately impressed with Rome. Ryan, Will, and I
worked quickly to get us back on course and raise our families’ opinions of the
city, which had seemed to sink quite low in just a matter of
minutes.
We eventually found
our way back to a more charming side of Rome and scouted out ristorantes. Will
didn’t have any reservations squared away this evening, which meant the twelve
of us would have to come to an agreement. That’s always fun. People darted back
and forth across the street, checking out menus and wait times. Ended up
settling on a spot that was cozily tucked away in a basement somewhere. Not a
huge space, but big enough to hold our large party.
This being New
Year’s Eve, there had been some talk of heading to the Piazza del Popolo, which
is one of Rome’s main piazzas for public gatherings, and the main spot to gather
on New Year’s Eve. The warm atmosphere of our ristorante, however, put this idea
on the backburner. After another long day, it seemed much more appealing to just
stay sat where we were and enjoy each other’s company in a low key setting. The
wait staff’s joyful disposition only added to the experience, and our female
contingent didn’t think they were bad looking either. They even gave us free
champagne as midnight approached and celebrated wildly with us and the other
patrons as we bid adieu to 2007 and wondered what 2008 would bring. It had
gotten off to a good start if nothing else with good food and good
company.
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