Leaving Croatia and The Eternal City

Our taxi ride from Opatija to Trieste was quick and easy.  Doing border control from a taxi was much simpler than the train (and apparently if you are on a bus you have to get off to be processed), the customs person didn’t even open her window, just waved us through….a bit scary really since I had just seen the sign that said taking dairy products across the border was prohibited and I had a backpack filled with dairy!!

First thing we needed to do when we got to Trieste Station was buy our tickets to Rome.  The person behind the counter sat there reading a magazine and ignoring us!  We were used to being in lines and being called when the person was ready but this one looked like she would never call us so we walked up.  She begrudgingly closed her magazine and printed our tickets, we had to ask for details such as platform, reserved seats etc, this was also strange as most of the ticket sales people would print out the entire itinerary and then explain it to us.  Turned out the first part of our journey was on a local line so no reservation was possible.  After our CroatiaRail experience that made me nervous but it turned out okay as the train was almost empty when we got on.

Of course the second thing I needed to do was find a toilet.  I left Nathan with all the bags except my handbag as I have learned never to go to the toilet without my wallet.  It is a VERY rare toilet in Europe that is free!  I walked into the (free!!) Ladies and got my first surprise….no toilets!  Every cubicle had a ceramic hole in the ground….ugh!!  No choice, I need to go!!  The floor was wet and there was nowhere to hang my bag, trying to keep the cuffs of my jeans off the floor plus hold up my coat and bag while balancing over this hole was a challenge!  Luckily my leg muscles have been getting a huge workout during this holiday and were up to the task!

So mission accomplished I went to leave the cubicle….turn the lock, click….door is still locked….turn it the other way, click….door is still locked….turn it back the other way…lock spins and spins and spins but door is still locked.  No gap to crawl under….no gap to climb over….I’m trapped in this freaking toilet!!!  I started shaking the door and trying to rattle it open…I can hear someone drying their hands but they are ignoring me!  So I try the Microsft approach, hold the handle down, push outward while spinning the lock and on one of the clicks the door opens and I am free!  My hands were shaking though and my heart was racing….I had visions of being trapped there forever!

In the meantime Nathan was outside the toilets fending off JW’s…random?

We got on the train and got comfortable, the train did fill up very fast but we had seats so I was happy!  The conductor came along (don’t try and evade fares in Europe, there are conductors on every single train!) and gave us a fright!  Apparently in Italy when you catch a train on a local line you must buy your ticket then take it and have it validated before you get on the train!  We had no idea as this was our first trip and the woman that sold us the tickets said nothing.  He warned us that it carried a fine of €30pp but since we were obviously tourists and had no idea he would just give us the advice and not fine us….just goes to show that we are at the mercy of others when we don’t know the local customs!

The 2^nd train had reserved seats and was an Italian tilt train!  Super fast, super comfortable…we were in Rome in no time!

Out of the station, into a taxi (hmmmm…thought the fare was a bit high but had nothing to compare it to til the return trip was €8 cheaper!) and we checked into our hotel then walked straight back out to go and visit the Colosseum, a short 10 minute walk away!

The Colosseum didn’t disappoint but the way the tours were handled did!  There were two lines, one for normal entry which was a mile long, the other for guided tours which was very short.  The hawkers out the front told us that the guided tours would cost €5 each on top of the ticket but we could go straight in!  Sold!  So we got in there and then were told that it would be about 45 minutes until our guide would be ready…..fail!!!!  We wandered around a little but stayed quite close to the guide meeting point as we figured we had paid so we may as well get the tour.  Our group ended up being quite big and I have to say, not many of them seemed happy….one small group even went and complained at the end as the tour consisted of us being given small mobile phones that had terrible reception and the guide with poor English and a very thick accent guided us from one random picture (large photo’s) and told us random stories for half an hour….we didn’t even get to go to any area that we couldn’t have done on our own!  So lesson learned, pay the extra €5 and skip the line then guide yourself around, you’ll enjoy it a lot more!

As we hadn’t really orientated ourselves, we decided that dinner close to home would be a good idea and went to a little café/restaurant near our hotel.  The service here was brilliant and we couldn’t believe how cheap everything was!  We were starving so we ordered a Caprese Salad to share for starters, a Quattro Formaggio pizza to share, then for mains I got Lasagne, Nathan got Canneloni and we shared a glass of Lambrusco and the whole lot only cost us €32!  Amazing!!  The waiter seemed to take great pleasure in bringing our food, he even brought over extra olive oil and balsamic for our salad before we asked!

Sadly this was the only good meal that we managed to get in Rome, seems most of the places in the area we were staying had a focus on cheap ingredients and dodgy tactics to get you to spend more than you intended to.  We knew to look out for these tricks as we did quite a lot of research before we got there but we still expected the food to be of good quality.  One of my meals was made with meat that was so old that the rancid smell made me nauseous!  Another pasta dish looked and tasted exactly like Heinz Spaghetti in tomato sauce from a can.  Certainly not what we were expecting!!

On the other hand the desserts were excellent wherever we went….Gelati, Cannoli, Tarts…all winners!

Day two and we decided to do one of the Hop on/Hop off bus tours that take you past all the most famous sites.  We thought this would be a good way to orient ourselves and figure out what we really wanted to see.  The tour took a couple of hours and then we decided our first stop would be The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  This is a beautiful building and area and we were touched by the level of respect they show for this tomb.

Another terrible meal for afternoon tea though!  We ordered 2 bruschetta’s, one with pepperoni and another with olive paste….and got one with sliced capsicum instead of pepperoni!  I asked the waiter if this was correct and after yelling and arguing with the other waiter who took our order he whisked off the plate and brought back the capsicum bruschetta with a couple of slices of salami plonked on it….hmmm…better than nothing I suppose….we scraped off the capsicum and ate it.  Nathan also ordered a Limoncello as he has been determined to try all the local alcohols.  It was lovely!  So tart it gave the inside of my mouth goosebumps but with a satisfyingly warm afterglow :)

The strangeness continued with this café when we went up to the counter to pay the bill.  The original waiter wouldn’t speak to us anymore and just ignored us so we had to wait for the other waiter to come back, he then asked us what we wanted…um we have finished eating and drinking and would like to pay our bill!

At that point it started raining so we decided to go back to our hotel.  It was starting to get a little late though so we didn’t feel like we had wasted the day.

Day three we woke up to glorious blue skies and sunshine again!  This was my favourite day in Rome!  We had our list of places to go and things to see, Nathan had plotted our course in Google Maps and we still had a time left on our bus ticket so we didn’t have to pay!

Our first stop was the Trevi Fountain and it took my breath away!  It is so big!  It towered over everyone and the level of detail and crystal clearness of the water was just amazing!

Second stop was the Spanish Steps.  They were building some temporary seats about half way up them and had the area taped off which spoiled the view a little but we still climbed all 138 steps to the church at the top…the view from up there was spectacular! 

Third stop was the Parthenon.  Nathan was quite disappointed to find that the Parthenon was now a Catholic Shrine to Santa Maria, I think he would have loved to have seen the original Parthenon but they changed it back in around 700AD ;)

Last stop for the day was going to be Vatican City.  We stopped for a coffee to recharge and then began the long walk along the Tiber river across the amazing bridges including the Angels Bridge.  The statues on these bridges are stunning, I know I use this word a lot but there is nothing else that describes them so well!

The only bad part of this bridge are the street sellers.  They really are a blight on the landscape with their cheap and nasty wares, fake bags and wallets, sunglasses, cheap knockoffs of everything! 

Finally we made it to Vatican City and decided to go to St Peters Basilica first.  The security checks only took a few minutes and then we were in.  What can I say but stunning again!  The paintings, the marble statues, the mosaics, the ceilings, walls and floors….every inch of this place had something amazing to look at.

On to the Vatican Museums as you must go through them to get to the Sistine Chapel.  The Museums meander for what seems like kilometres….room after room of amazing sights; tapestries, paintings, statues, carvings…..history in pictures and then FINALLY! the Sistine Chapel.  This Chapel defies description….every inch of the walls and ceiling are filled with images….the painting is so lifelike the walls look like hung silk drapes are covering them, the ceiling is covered in images that I have only seen in pictures before…it was hard to understand why this was such a feat until I saw it with my own eyes.  There was no spiritual feeling here like at Notre Dame but a huge respect for the man that created the artwork.

Another ordinary meal brought the day to a close and an easy morning this morning as we had a leisurely breakfast before packing up and heading back to the train station.  So here I am, sitting on another train, writing another blog and looking forward to arriving in Venice in a couple of hours.

What oh what is Venice going to give us!?