Tony and Liz's Travel Adventures: August 2013

St Peters Square and the Vatican City

We groaned at the thought of having to leave Zurich at 7 in the morning. It meant setting the alarm for at least 30-45 minutes giving us enough time to shower and ensuring everything was packed and not leaving anything behind (a situation like the time I left my USB hanging over a mirror at Morocco House Hotel in Cacablanca....the USB with all our ID and passport information, flight details, accommodation and photos and a whole heap of other personal information that meant quite a lot to us). However at this point in our travels, 6 months in, we were quite proficient and had 'bag packing' down to a fine art. (Wonder if there is a skills set or TAFE Cert III in Bag Packing?? - we would have it blitzed). It was still dark as we made our way to the station walking along Limmatquai and the lake.

All good, except for the fact that we had a disturbed and virtually sleepless night caused by the noise from a couple of bars and restaurants near our accommodation.

All night partying in Zurich

It was either that or the ladies of the night were trying to attract attention for their trade. Even with all the goings on it was a bit sad to be leaving Zurich. The city was welcoming and friendly and we made the most of the time we spent there.

But catching an early train meant we could get in some much needed shut eye. This also meant missing out of some of the most beautiful scenery yet and this was something Tony and I were not about to do considering it was our last look at Switzerland. Please let me rephrase that – “it was MY last look at Switzerland” (meaning - guess who got the shut eye?).

Heading due south the train trip would be around 4 hours before we change over in Florence then another change in Milan for the rest of the trip to Rome. The first part of this leg of the journey we travelled through Lugano and Como with many smaller places in between before we reachedFlorence. From there it’s through to Bologna (where we would be heading to after Rome), then Florence and finally Rome for a couple of days.

The next part of our plan is for a short stay in Naples with the highlight of going on a day trip to walk through the ruins of the famous Pompeii – the ancient city buried below Mt Vesuvius which erupted in 79 AD. Then it’s back to Rome, back to the same apartment for a couple more days before we head north again to Bologna, Venice then into Germany and beyond.

On this part of the trip we weren’t surprised to see that this border region between Switzerland and Italy has some of the most beautiful scenery particularly around Lugano.

Lake side scenery near Lugano

For some reason I honestly thought we had reached Italy. Probably because of the marble quarries we were passing, signs written in Italian, the style of buildings, and the agriculture but we could be excused from thinking we were already in Italy as we later found out that Lugano is actually in Switzerland with most of its population Italian speaking. This was really interesting but not surprising when you consider the number of countries/languages that border on each other in Europe.

Marble quarry

According to the printed information on our Eurail ticket we were supposed to arrive into Florence at 10.50am (emphasise SUPPOSED) and our departure time from Milan was scheduled for 11.20am – giving us 30 minutes to get our luggage off the train then find the Platform No. we were leaving from.

Shouldn’t be a problem except THE TRAIN WAS RUNNING 25 minutes LATE !!…..leaving us with only 5 minutes to unload luggage and find the platform from where our next train leaves.

We had no idea why the train was running late. We weren’t given an explanation (and generally passengers never are) but we could only suppose the train crew had been in Zurich the night before at one of those loud bars or restaurants (or with the ladies…) and catching up on lost sleep LOL !!!

Now you will recall in our earlier blogs that one of our biggest gripes with European train travel was for us having to get from one platform to another, especially when there are dozens of platforms at major Central stations. Florence was no exception. OK…so these platforms were on ground level. But because the train was late this was a MAJOR obstacle we had to overcome.

We had to “think fast....very bloody fast” without panic setting in and we had to do a couple of things. The first was to grab our luggage and get to the train door so that as soon as it stopped and doors opened – so that we were out of there. The next was to quickly work out, on-the-hop, which platform our train to Rome was leaving from and then….run like bloody hell to the train at Platform 89 or whatever it was…trying to overtake ALL the other passengers attempting to do the same AND get to the same (OUR) train. Usain Bolt would have been proud of us.

Just as we got to the back carriage of the Rome bound train the Conductor blew his whistle then yelled in Italian “All aboard” waving madly at everyone at the same time. We were frantic and just jumped onto the last carriage heaving our luggage up the stairs – and bloody breathless. We made it and within half a minute, people still scrambling onto the train behind us, it pulled out of the station !! When we looked up at the Carriage numbers we had jumped onto No. 12. Our reservation was in Carriage 4. There were other obstacles too! With people still pushing behind us, we had to manoeuvre our bags (on wheels) through the narrow aisles running over peoples feet and into other peoples luggage – thankful we’d made it by the skin of our teeth – still breathless.

This experience was to become our first lesson in learning Italian swear words and we quickly came to recognise F**K YOU in Italian. No, actually it was from hearing it on World Movies on SBS and knowing what it meant.

Mental Note to Self: "Hmmm, this would be a handy word to know for later in our travels in Italy".

But that’s not the end of it….when we got to our reserved seats there was some “Tosser” (and his girlfriend) who made himself at home in OUR WINDOW seats all stretched out with the recliner back and magazines and refreshments ready to go. The seats are 4-berth and the only thing they had not done was to put their feet up on the opposite seats. Giving us the “death stare”, perhaps thinking that would deter us and we’d move along, when clearly there were no other seats available ….this guy grumbled and swore under his breath (not in Italian) when we showed him our tickets with the correct Carriage and Seat numbers. He had no option but to move along. Funny thing was… after trying to give us the “death stare’ earlier he couldn’t even look at us or out at the views during the whole trip but instead having cryptic conversations with his partner (in his best Australian accent - shame to say after all).

When the train arrived at Milano Centrale on schedule and “Sunshine” and partner made a hasty departure that could only be compared to how quickly we got on that train earlier. Not as good as our Usain Bolt efforts…LOL !!

Milan to Rome: Boarding the train we secretly had our fingers crossed that our next travelling companions we would much more friendly and accommodating than the ones we had just encountered.

A BIG SHOUT OUT TO..... Elaine and Smitty, from Austin, Texas who were on their way to the Amalfi Coast. We had plenty of laughs and conversations our our travels that the time just seemed to pass so quickly. Pleasure to have met you folks and for making our journey enjoyable.

Benvenuti ROMA !! We had finally made it to Rome and on our first observations the city is best described as a living, breathing museum – just incredible!

Roma Termini

We had to get our bearings and find our accommodation. This was easier said than done. Most Tourist Information Centres in big cities at least give away Free Maps. Not here. So we settled for one of those laminated, plastic coated ones that folds out to about 3 x 3 ft wide bought at a newsagent for 3 Euro. Did we look like tourists checking out the map??? Hahahaha! Only for a little while!!!

This map was so detailed it showed every laneway, viale, plaza, ponte, piazza, parco, ruins and just about every conceivable monument marked in such small print...and written in Italian, that I thought my eyesight had deteriorated by at least 50% since we left Australia.

Thankfully it was only the map and I blame it in part to the “plasticised coating” for the reflections that played with my eyes. The small details also created a problem with finding our way to our apartment at Da Marta e Alida on Largo di Sant Alfonso. On our first attempt we managed to find the street and the archway that led through to the back of a church but couldn’t find the number of the apartment block. So we back-tracked around the block for about another 500 metres or more on Via Cavour only to find that we were only about 2 street numbers and 10 metres from where we needed to be….ie. at the front of the church with our apartment directly across the laneway. We are thinking of renaming our Blog from Tony and Liz’s Travel Adventures to something more appropriate like Tony and Liz’s Travel “Hit & Miss-Adventures “.

The Apartment Block,
Largo di Sant Alfonso, 5,
Corrodo, Roma

But just getting back to Roma Termini…we couldn’t wait to get out of there but we knew we had to revisit it a number of times over the next few days. The station concourse and platforms are just so busy and crowded all the time that touts and thieves hover day and night like moths to a light bulb!

By now we had come to recognise them. The most common scam here is tourists are asked if they want help with directions, buying rail tickets for them or helping people with their luggage and so on in exchange for Euros. Not us, thank you.

Something to mention here - we noticed this guy at Roma Termini a couple of days in a row. He was pacing and acting like he was a commuter, looking at people’s bags, hand luggage and particularly where they would put away their wallets/purses after purchasing at the newsagent, food court or buying rail tickets. It was that bloody obvious! There has got to be a better way to earn a living.

Another interesting thing was while we were waiting at Roma Termini I overheard a couple of Russian girls talking about their dilemma of getting back home to Russia as soon as possible instead of leaving in the next 2 days. Understanding a little Russian/Polish I asked what the problem was. They had spent all their money and didn’t have the Euros for the reservation fee, but still had a valid Eurail Ticket. They only needed to change their booking and like most bookings you need money to do so. I thought maybe it was a scam but turned out they were genuine and after pleading with a kind Trenitalia Customer Service person they managed to swap their later booking for one that night. So why do I mention this? It happened that one of the girls lives in the same town, Nova Kakhovka, where my mum lived as a young girl back in the 1920s and 30s. Back then it was the "old Kakhovka" which was destroyed during the war and thereafter Nova Kakhovka was rebuilt some 15-20 kms away from its original location. It was kind of strange talking about this place to these young girls who may not have known the history....and who would have thought? Big population but still a small world. God Bless – and in Rome too – home of the Pope and the Vatican. The Holy city.

Our accommodation was in a modern refurbished flat with shared kitchen facilities in an old apartment block – really quite stylish. To get to our abode we had to first pass through 3 doors/gates. First was through the main wrought iron gate with an Intercom. The second was the large Entrance door on the ground floor. The third was a large wooden door into the flat itself. In the building grounds was a small garden and path, marble stairs which lead up to the building which had the original old façade, and once inside more marble stairs leading up to a marble lined foyer. Inside the foyer was an old elevator enclosed in filigree wrought iron and with old wooden doors leading into individual apartments….and a different key was needed for each door. The apartment block was a short walk from the station (if you know the direct route), close to supermarkets and the well-known landmarks for which Rome is famous. Just perfect for our 2-part stay in Rome.

With some time to spare this afternoon and decided to familiarise ourselves with the local area and to get a 24 hr ticket on the Roma Christiana – the big Yellow Open Top tour bus that runs from 9am to 6.30pm.

From our previous experience this was the best way to go and make use of the Hop-On, Hop-off points around the city then revisit the attractions later on at our own pace. Tick -Done!! Firstly though we stock up on some local produce and happened to find the best value double flavour Gelati at the local supermarket. Well it is local produce !!

Funny thing happened at this Supermercato too, and it relates to the cheekiness of Italian men. While we were checking out the fruit and veges one couldn’t help but notice the beautifully dressed and well-proportioned Transvestite sorting through the oranges when a man loudly pointed out and picked up one of the large cucumbers – maybe more to her liking. Couldn’t understand her comment back to this guy, but it must have been a good one because everyone around us cracked up laughing. Can only guess which body part the comment related to, or whether it was about his or hers (sic). LOL.

The European heat wave continued and on this particular day the temperature gauge was sitting on 42 degrees Celsius and we were sitting on the Roma Christiana double decker bus in the shade listening to the commentary about Roman history. It was an excellent experience and also gave us a chance to see many of the highlight such as:

The Coloseum (Colosseo)

The Coloseum (Colosseo) where men are dressed as Gladiators and charge tourists some ridiculous amount of money to have their photos taken with them. Off to the lions with them I say !!

Circo Massimo and Palatine Hill located on Belevedere Romolo e Remo.

Palatine Hill with Circo Massimo in the foreground

Spanish Steps

- The Spanish Steps

- Santa Maria Maggiore
- Terme di Diocleziano
- Piazza Venezia
- Catacombes
- The Tiber River
- Castel S Angelo
- Arco de Constantino

Arco de Constantino

- St Peter’s Square & Basillica
- the Vatican City

- The Roman Forum

- Trevi Fountain
- Victor Emmanual II Monument

Monument of Victor Emmanual II

Tiber River with Castel St Angelo in the background

And many, many more but the one that amazed us the most was overlooking the cordoned off areas and looking down below the level of the street in a relatively modern part of Rome.

Here archeologists were excavating and brushing and sifting through the ruins underneath the main street of Via Nazionale. Here we saw steps and arched doorways probably about 7-9 metres below the road surface – only now being exposed to the air since who knows when.

Unearthed -new excavations

The city seems to be in a continuum of reconstruction/restoration whereby many of the ancient buildings have been fortified and scaffolded to stop collapse and decomposition and protect them from further breakdown.

More Scaffolding

Terme di Diocleziano (Baths of Diocletian)
with scaffolding

Everywhere you seemed to go there was always something “new” to see ie. monuments, statues or fountains that usually aren’t marked on the very detailed maps.

In this city “new” means very old or ancient and for us Aussie folks it takes a while to absorb because there is absolutely nothing like this in Australia.

Santa Maria Maggiore

After a couple of exhausting days in the heat and taking in the sites we arrived back at the apartment just as the sun was setting, the foyer, hallway and entrance to the flat didn’t have any lights and it was getting dark fast. We hadn’t found this to be a problem before except on this particular night. Earlier I mentioned that the building we were staying in had an old façade, marble foyer and old wooden doors. Soon after our arrival that’s when the panic struck !!

After fiddling around with the key in the keyhole wondering why the door would not open, with Tony still jiggling and fiddling some more, then a lot more…..the key broke in the key-hole – snapped right off and here he was standing there gobsmacked holding only half the key in his hand - the rest and most important part was stuck in the key-hole.

In the very limited light, both of us were trying to see if we could get the short end of the key out with the other part of the key. Should we ring the Manager? We hadn’t used Italian public phones before. TJ went down the road while I stayed in the dim thinking of how we could get into the apartment. Tony tried the number. It rang out a couple of times – no answer. Stress levels rising!!! It wasn’t until he came back to the apartment block and tried to open the front door of the building with the other keys and realised….. THE WRONG KEY WAS BROKEN IN THE WOODEN DOOR – it was the front door key that broke and NOT the apartment door key. It still didn’t solve the problem – there was still an obstruction in that key hole. It was getting darker, there was no-one else around and we even knocked on the neighbours door without any response. We didn’t have anything sharp that would shift the key out. If only we could do this then we would have some hope of getting inside our abode using the right key.

Like on most uncalled for situations and mishaps during our travels – I always have my camera at the ready. This time was no different. I took a photo of the key-hole, and just like the camera flash (and the only light in the foyer) my brain engaged and I came up with the idea of using the stem of my earring to edge out the rest of the key out of that little hole. I didn’t really care if I’d wreck the earring. We were buggered after a big day and frustrated at what was happening here. Within 2 secs I had the end of the earring grab into one of the cuts on the key and with careful precision slid the key out of the hole and falling onto the floor. This time Tony put the right key in the right key hole. What a friggin’ relief. Yes, we are in the Holy City and my faith brighter than ever.

We couldn’t get in contact with our Italian-English speaking Nepalese Manager before we left but left him a note outlining what happened together with the pieces of key and some Euros to cover the cost of replacement.

We will be back to Rome, to this apartment in 4 days. Hopefully he has a bright new shiny key for us (with any luck one that glows in the dark !!)

Tomorrow we head for Naples and on to the wonders of Pompeii. Till then .......

Liz and Tony