taylweaver (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
taylweaver) wrote2006-07-16 01:20 am
taylweaver) wrote2006-07-16 01:20 am
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All roads lead to Rome...
... the only question is, how long does it take to get there?
So here is a trip update from me and![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mbarr.
Our trip began with a two-hour delay in the airport, and another hour and a half on the plane before we took off. The airline messed up and the seats we had reserved together were no longer together - but thankfully, after trading seats three different ways, we were good to go. We also found that the Alitalia staff was really pleasant - both before we boarded - when the couldn't help us - and on the plane, when they managed to find Matthew a kosher meal after forgetting his (and no, it was not so good... but we had it.)
We landed, went through passport control, skipped the baggage claim (hooray for hiking backpacks) and we were on the Leonardo Da Vinci Express to Termini Station in Rome in no time. About an hour later, we had found our bed and breakfast - and found out we had to rush if we wanted to get kosher food before the store closed - this was around 2:15, and the stores closed at 3:30. Oh, and did I mention there was a taxi strike? (there may, in fact, still be one). Good thing our hotel was close to the train - but the Jewish Ghetto (a.ka.a. the place to buy kosher food) was not. So much for seeing the Vatican (our original plan for the morning) - we lost that to our flight delay - we barely made it to the Ghetto neighborhood in time to buy shabbat food!
The good news is:
a) while at the food store, someone gave us a phone number - and let us use his phone! - and we got Shabbat meals - after buying the food, of course - but now we have lunch for the trip to Florence
b) we learned that the Sistine Chapel closed at 1 pm on Friday anyway, so we would have spent hours (that's what we hear) in line for the Vatican Museums and then not gotten to see the star attraction anyway. The current plan is that we will at least hit St. Peter's Bacillica on Tuesday afternoon (in the Vatican but not part of the museums) when we get back - and hopefully the Vatican Museums as well.
Anyway, we got a very quick - as in we were rushing too much to see it - tour of the Colliseum neighborhood while on the way to our food - and began to learn our way around. We also managed to find a Sim Card formbarr's phone about an hour and a half before Shabbat. People around here are very helpful, by the way - many people offered directions - even if it took three or four tries to find the store!
Over Shabbat, we went to a syanagogue near the top of Termini Station - we are near the bottom - and would you believe the station is 20 minutes long! We missed Ma'ariv - we got there at the end of the 18 minutes - it was that quick. Thankfully, we made it to shul during the shmoneh esrei this morning, so we got a good dose of Nusach Italki. It's amazing how it is familiar yet different, and how many lines I recognized from high holiday services and other random places.
Friday night, we went to dinner with a family who lived two blocks from where we were staying. They are Sefardi, and the father is from Israel, the mother from Tripoli. They have five children, four of whom were around. Most of the family speaks fluent Italian and Hebrew - and also a bit of English - so I was able to get by very well, andmbarr got by okay also - with a bit of translation from me and from the other guest - an Australian guy who is studying in Israel, but right now is studying a bit in Italy. He has some interesting perspectives on Judaism - somewhere in the general area of modern Orthodox/Chovevei/somewhat egalitarian. We had some interesting conversations.
The family served some interesting foods - dinner was a spicy fish appetizer followed by some sort of meat and potato dish - the meat was inside the potato - apparently, a Libyan specialty. We ate lunch with them too, and that was a mix of dishes - meat, chicken, lamb...
After our shabbat nap, we took a walk around the neighborhood and got to see some random ruins that were fenced off - and adorned by some rather cute sleeping cats! Too bad we couldn't take pictures of them on Shabbat. We then returned to shul for mincha/seudah shlishi/ma'ariv - and shared seudah shlishi with an Achva group that had been to Spain and was going to continue on to Israel.
Tonight, because of the taxi strike, we decided not to venture too far out. Instead, we are hoping to turn in at a reasonable hour (yeah, right) so we can get an early start on the Colliseum in the morning tomorrow, catch a train around noon, and hit the Uffizi at 3 pm - because we have a reservation.
So that's all for now - a lot to say considering we haven't seen the sights yet (except as we ran past them).
We will see when there is time for future updates.
So here is a trip update from me and
mbarr.Our trip began with a two-hour delay in the airport, and another hour and a half on the plane before we took off. The airline messed up and the seats we had reserved together were no longer together - but thankfully, after trading seats three different ways, we were good to go. We also found that the Alitalia staff was really pleasant - both before we boarded - when the couldn't help us - and on the plane, when they managed to find Matthew a kosher meal after forgetting his (and no, it was not so good... but we had it.)
We landed, went through passport control, skipped the baggage claim (hooray for hiking backpacks) and we were on the Leonardo Da Vinci Express to Termini Station in Rome in no time. About an hour later, we had found our bed and breakfast - and found out we had to rush if we wanted to get kosher food before the store closed - this was around 2:15, and the stores closed at 3:30. Oh, and did I mention there was a taxi strike? (there may, in fact, still be one). Good thing our hotel was close to the train - but the Jewish Ghetto (a.ka.a. the place to buy kosher food) was not. So much for seeing the Vatican (our original plan for the morning) - we lost that to our flight delay - we barely made it to the Ghetto neighborhood in time to buy shabbat food!
The good news is:
a) while at the food store, someone gave us a phone number - and let us use his phone! - and we got Shabbat meals - after buying the food, of course - but now we have lunch for the trip to Florence
b) we learned that the Sistine Chapel closed at 1 pm on Friday anyway, so we would have spent hours (that's what we hear) in line for the Vatican Museums and then not gotten to see the star attraction anyway. The current plan is that we will at least hit St. Peter's Bacillica on Tuesday afternoon (in the Vatican but not part of the museums) when we get back - and hopefully the Vatican Museums as well.
Anyway, we got a very quick - as in we were rushing too much to see it - tour of the Colliseum neighborhood while on the way to our food - and began to learn our way around. We also managed to find a Sim Card for
mbarr's phone about an hour and a half before Shabbat. People around here are very helpful, by the way - many people offered directions - even if it took three or four tries to find the store!Over Shabbat, we went to a syanagogue near the top of Termini Station - we are near the bottom - and would you believe the station is 20 minutes long! We missed Ma'ariv - we got there at the end of the 18 minutes - it was that quick. Thankfully, we made it to shul during the shmoneh esrei this morning, so we got a good dose of Nusach Italki. It's amazing how it is familiar yet different, and how many lines I recognized from high holiday services and other random places.
Friday night, we went to dinner with a family who lived two blocks from where we were staying. They are Sefardi, and the father is from Israel, the mother from Tripoli. They have five children, four of whom were around. Most of the family speaks fluent Italian and Hebrew - and also a bit of English - so I was able to get by very well, and
mbarr got by okay also - with a bit of translation from me and from the other guest - an Australian guy who is studying in Israel, but right now is studying a bit in Italy. He has some interesting perspectives on Judaism - somewhere in the general area of modern Orthodox/Chovevei/somewhat egalitarian. We had some interesting conversations.The family served some interesting foods - dinner was a spicy fish appetizer followed by some sort of meat and potato dish - the meat was inside the potato - apparently, a Libyan specialty. We ate lunch with them too, and that was a mix of dishes - meat, chicken, lamb...
After our shabbat nap, we took a walk around the neighborhood and got to see some random ruins that were fenced off - and adorned by some rather cute sleeping cats! Too bad we couldn't take pictures of them on Shabbat. We then returned to shul for mincha/seudah shlishi/ma'ariv - and shared seudah shlishi with an Achva group that had been to Spain and was going to continue on to Israel.
Tonight, because of the taxi strike, we decided not to venture too far out. Instead, we are hoping to turn in at a reasonable hour (yeah, right) so we can get an early start on the Colliseum in the morning tomorrow, catch a train around noon, and hit the Uffizi at 3 pm - because we have a reservation.
So that's all for now - a lot to say considering we haven't seen the sights yet (except as we ran past them).
We will see when there is time for future updates.