Rome Trip Day Two: March 6 2006
We woke up at a few minutes before noon. The babysitter had been polite, she didn't come down to knock on our door. R quickly got dressed and went to the bank we saw yesterday. I stayed at home with Max. After a long time R came back with bad news: the bank did have favorable rates (1.21), but the machine was broken. They didn't know when it can be fixed. R was given directions to one after another bank, each of which either did not offer the service, or had broken machines. It was like a linked list of bad nodes. We were frustrated. Nothing works. We are feeling the cultural shock now. Having lived in both China and the US, it's hard to imagine a place where many aspects of life are harder than both places. We uttered a few unkind words about Rome.
R did find a pharmacy (called "Farmacia" and marked by a green cross here), which sold him 4 bus tickets. Our new plan is to go to the change place across the Colosseo again, and then go on to lunch. We exchanged another $100, and took #3 bus across the Tiber river into Trastevere. We were walking on a random street, and R saw a bank. He went in and had a lengthy talk with the teller. I got hopeful. However when he came out, he didn't make an exchange. He thought the rate (1.2355 plus Euro5 fee) is too high. I told him this is the best "working rate", so he went back in and make a transaction. Yes! Now we can cross out "cash" from our list of worries.
We walked past a small grocery store and bought some oranges and strawberries. Peeling the oranges with numb cold fingers was not fun, but the oranges themselves tastes good.
Finally we arrived at the restaurant I picked: "La Tana dei Noiantri", whose "lengthy menu promises all the best of Roman cuisine". I was so excited, but they are closed: it's already 3:05pm. We tried another cafe nearby. The kitchen was closed. I could cry. It's a cloudy, cold, windy day, with a high of 48F. (The average high for this time in Rome is 60F.)
The next cafe was open. The heating was really turned up. We settled into comfortable seats. I sweared I could sit there for the whole day. Five drinks and four sandwiches (only cost Euro17.5, trastevere is a cheap neighborhood) later, we felt our HP and MP were full again. With renewed stamina and courage, we left the cafe.
Speaking of our list of worries, right then the top one was called "power supply". Before our departure R bought an adapter, but it didn't fit the outlets in our apartment. The two cylinders on our adapter were too thick for the outlets. Now as we wandered in the streets, R found a lamp shop. The owner told us that our adapter is "German format" and sold us an adapter that converts German style to Italian style. Our luck had turned. Thinking about the unexpected internet connection at our apartment (the owners didn't mention it at all, but we read about it in the guestbook, and sure enough there's an unconspicuous grey cable in a corner), I felt excited. I could write my blog while in Rome!
We walked for some more. We visited the Pantheon and the Piazza Navona. Both are huge and grand. The Pantheon is particularly impressive. I couldn't imagine how the huge dome could have been built nearly 1900 years ago. It has remained the largest dome until last century. R set up his tripod in the large open space in Piazza Navona, to take a few pictures of the fountain in twilight. I hid in an alley with Max from the harsh wind.
Having learn the lesson the day before, we arrived at Lilli, a restaurant "run by an ex-footballer", a little after 7pm. However its doors were locked. Two local women told us that it didn't open until 8pm(!), and pointed us to another restaurant. We ate two plates of proscuito, drank red wine, had lamb, pork, and pasta. We left satiated. After a short stroll, we got on an bus and went home.
R did find a pharmacy (called "Farmacia" and marked by a green cross here), which sold him 4 bus tickets. Our new plan is to go to the change place across the Colosseo again, and then go on to lunch. We exchanged another $100, and took #3 bus across the Tiber river into Trastevere. We were walking on a random street, and R saw a bank. He went in and had a lengthy talk with the teller. I got hopeful. However when he came out, he didn't make an exchange. He thought the rate (1.2355 plus Euro5 fee) is too high. I told him this is the best "working rate", so he went back in and make a transaction. Yes! Now we can cross out "cash" from our list of worries.
We walked past a small grocery store and bought some oranges and strawberries. Peeling the oranges with numb cold fingers was not fun, but the oranges themselves tastes good.
Finally we arrived at the restaurant I picked: "La Tana dei Noiantri", whose "lengthy menu promises all the best of Roman cuisine". I was so excited, but they are closed: it's already 3:05pm. We tried another cafe nearby. The kitchen was closed. I could cry. It's a cloudy, cold, windy day, with a high of 48F. (The average high for this time in Rome is 60F.)
The next cafe was open. The heating was really turned up. We settled into comfortable seats. I sweared I could sit there for the whole day. Five drinks and four sandwiches (only cost Euro17.5, trastevere is a cheap neighborhood) later, we felt our HP and MP were full again. With renewed stamina and courage, we left the cafe.
Speaking of our list of worries, right then the top one was called "power supply". Before our departure R bought an adapter, but it didn't fit the outlets in our apartment. The two cylinders on our adapter were too thick for the outlets. Now as we wandered in the streets, R found a lamp shop. The owner told us that our adapter is "German format" and sold us an adapter that converts German style to Italian style. Our luck had turned. Thinking about the unexpected internet connection at our apartment (the owners didn't mention it at all, but we read about it in the guestbook, and sure enough there's an unconspicuous grey cable in a corner), I felt excited. I could write my blog while in Rome!
We walked for some more. We visited the Pantheon and the Piazza Navona. Both are huge and grand. The Pantheon is particularly impressive. I couldn't imagine how the huge dome could have been built nearly 1900 years ago. It has remained the largest dome until last century. R set up his tripod in the large open space in Piazza Navona, to take a few pictures of the fountain in twilight. I hid in an alley with Max from the harsh wind.
Having learn the lesson the day before, we arrived at Lilli, a restaurant "run by an ex-footballer", a little after 7pm. However its doors were locked. Two local women told us that it didn't open until 8pm(!), and pointed us to another restaurant. We ate two plates of proscuito, drank red wine, had lamb, pork, and pasta. We left satiated. After a short stroll, we got on an bus and went home.
posted by moira at 7:03 PM
4 Comments:
Did not expect that you have time for the blog in Rome. Have fun.
"but the oranges themselves tastes good"
Fnt, don't put every comment there. I just feel this might be faster than emails.
Why not try some travel log in Milk Bottle style? ;-)
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