We finally take the train from Florence to Rome... but because we weren't thinking about the fact that this is a big holiday weekend (everyone takes off on Nov. 1 for All Saints Day, and heck, the Italians figure if there gonna take off on a Friday they might as well extend that through Monday!) the only seats left on the Eurostar are in first class, so we have to buy them. Apparently, everyone and their grandma is going to Rome for the weekend.
"Just bend over and take it," I tell Matt, who swears at the ticket machine when he sees the price.
We get to Rome in the ugly gray drizzly afternoon; I don't understand why all train yards look so unbelievably grim and depressing, but they do. We get on the little subway and in two stops we are at Barberini station and come up into Rome by the Fontana fountain. We aren't sure where to go so we stand a minute to look at the map. Pretty soon another old man with a spiffy hat and walking cane stops to ask if we need help. Our hotel is right next to the Trevi fountain and he tells us how to get there. I don't know what it is about these old Italian guys but they sure like to stop and help, they are not in any rush to get anywhere, like everyone else in Rome seems to be.
We finally find the Trevi fountain and the gobs of people standing there taking pictures, and of course, throwing in money. I did throw my coin in, so I guess that means I will be coming back to Rome. We both wondered what they did with all that money with the millions of people throwing coins in it every year. I looked at it and said, "You know, with all those coins you would never have to pay for another espresso or gelato for the rest of your life!" Then I wondered when they clean the fountain -- turns out they drained it and cleaned it on Monday, and when we walked past it that morning, all the money was cleaned out as well. Who knows where it goes.
Our B&B, The 3 Coins, is around the back end of the fountain, almost within spitting distance. We walk up 3 flights of stairs to the B&B and check in. Our rooms aren't ready yet so we leave our luggage and go out to the street and poke around a bit. I stop to get another gelato and then find a place to eat.... again.
We go back to the room in a few hours because we are tired and then go to our room which is on the 4 floor. We decided to share a bath this time to save some money, the hotels in Rome are really, really expensive, especially if you want to stay in the popular areas. We get to our room and discover it is perfect....if you're a munchkin from the land of Oz! Seriously, I think it was a closet that somebody tried to make a room out of. It wouldn't have been bad except for the fact the ceiling sloped down quickly to one side. If I was sitting up in the bed on the far side my head was almost touching the ceiling. I was pissed, so I went down to talk to the lady as nice as I could and asked if there were any other rooms. Of course, it was booked solid, so we were stuck with the Hobbit Room.
Here was my pivotal moment.... I could piss and moan for the rest of the trip, or I could get my "mind right" and suck it up and enjoy Rome anyway. I let myself whine for 5 minutes (Matt thinks more like 15 minutes) and then accepted my fate.
I turned to Matt, "I need to go get a good dinner. And lots more wine!" So we did.
On the plus side, we had a TV in the room again, so we could watch soap operas and MTV in Italian! For some reason, music videos look even more ridiculous in a foreign language.
Next edition... St. Peter's and shopping and we master the railway system.
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