Il Primo Giorno

The first day is finished. It didn't begin terribly promisingly, but after a late start we were finally underway.

We went to bed, and almost immediately to sleep, at about 10 last night. But we were both awake again at about 3.30, and again at 5.30, and again at 8. Breakfast here only starts at 8.30, so at that point we got up. But we both had headaches, and I also felt weirdly unwell. I couldn't put my finger on it: mild - very mild - nausea, lethargy, sometimes hot and sweaty, sometimes cold and shivery, and this bad headache. Breakfast was bread and croissants and a bowl of melon, and the melon was good, but I couldn't eat much else. They offered some of mamma's home-made tiramisu, but it was a bit much at breakfast, even for Stephen. The proprietor, Martina, chatted with us about suggestions of where to go and what to do, but although we concentrated and tried to remember, a lot of the specifics were lost on us.

After breakfast we came back to our room and kept trying to make a plan, but all I wanted to do was lie down and close my eyes. This was not how I wanted this holiday to begin! I was annoyed at myself and embarrassed and sorry for Stephen, but he was very understanding. So I just slept. And then I woke up again at 10.40, and I was fine. It must have been jetlag, I guess. I've never had it affect me like that before. On our England trip I was fine from Day 1. Maybe the longer stopover helped then, or a different time of day for the flights (we had a 7-hour break in Abu Dhabi that was actually overnight, so although we didn't actually get much sleep we were resting at the right time of day.)

So because of the lateness, we decided to have a quiet day, just locally. We went out to find a local laundromat and supermarket that Martina had mentioned. Eventually we found them, and we made our way back towards the B & B. There is a big park nearby, Villa Borghese, where locals like to sit and relax, and which has a marvellous art museum. The museum requires bookings, though, and we decided that rather than make a plan based around a visit whose timing we couldn't control and might not even be possible, we'd walk through the park and make a booking for when we come back to Rome, right at the end of the holiday. We're spending two nights here before flying out, so that gives us a full day. For goodness sake, don't let us forget we have to go to the Borghese Museum between 9 and 11 am on the 30th September!

We left the park out the back way then to go and find a Vodaphone shop to buy SIM cards for this trip.

[That was weird. I just went to the window to see what the loud noise was that had been going on for 2 or 3 minutes while I was typing the above. It was hundreds of Vespas driving past. Not fast, just driving at 20-30km/hr (there were so many they couldn't go any faster) but noisily. Many had passengers. They weren't gang-like, just people on Vespas. It continued for 1-2 minutes more. At the end, following the pack, there seemed to be a cameraman, as well as an ambulance with lights going. A club outing? A regular circuit? I can hear them again now, I think - close, although not on the street below. All gone now.]

Anyway, as I was saying, we criss-crossed the local streets behind the park, looking for  Vodaphone.

Street market (foreground veges are eggplants)

On the way we found a farmers' market and a bit of a flea market. We had a chat with a fruit seller (wonderful!) and bought some fruit: juicy plums and peaches. We asked about some other strange fruit, and it seems they were some kind of fig. She insisted we try some other tiny little juicy fig-like fruit, and also some grapes. I don't like these kinds of things, but I took them to be polite, and they were okay. Almost good. I can see how people might enjoy them. Anyway, we were now only a couple of streets from the Vodaphone shop, and we didn't get lost. This story is going to be too long and boring to tell you all the details, but we couldn't get SIM cards then because we hadn't thought to take our passports, The plan was to go back to Villa Borghese and finish wandering through the park, and on the way there we found a nice little cafe where we could have panini for lunch. It was now about 2pm. After we'd eaten, they also gave us some fruit to try that we'd never seen before (it was from Cyprus): it looked like flattened dried bananas, but you eat the skin and all, and then spit out the pips that are about the size of small peas.

We walked back to the park, and took a train (not a real one - for Chch people, it was like the Toast Rack in the Botanic Gardens; I don't know what else to call it) around the park to the other side. It didn't do a circuit, so after we got out to take a photo across the city to the Vatican (I think - no English commentary, so I was guessing) we couldn't get back on unless we paid again. But the map told us we had come at least 270 degrees around the park, so it wouldn't be that far to walk back to the accommodation. Which was good, because it was now around 4pm, and time for a rest.

Villa Borghese

I don't know whether it's surprising or not, but I couldn't get to sleep, so after a while I sat up and fiddled around with this computer and my phone to try and get my photos sorted. Stephen slept on till after 5, and then we headed out again. We planned to try another Vodaphone shop, and then make our way, somehow, to Circo Massimo, or the Circus Maximus, where the Ancient Romans used to have chariot races. Near it, on the way in, our driver had pointed out some ruins, that are used to stage operas sometimes, but which looked as if they would be lovely when lit up at night. So we started with Vodaphone, bought SIMs, which could be activated after an hour, then headed off in the general direction of Circo Massimo. On the way we passed the Piazza Venezia, a monument to King Victor Emmanuel II, the National Museum, then we found ourselves looking down at part of the Forum, clear of people because of the lateness of the hour. We took a wrong turn a bit after that, and crossed a river halfway. We were taking photos of the ruins of what looked like a fairly Romanesque bridge, when we realised that this river must be the Tiber. The Tiber - Caesar's river! Well, okay, not the Rubicon, but even so... the Tiber! The map called it Fiume Tevere, so I'm pretty sure that's right.  Anyway, we figured out we were wrong to cross the river, so we turned back and very soon we were in sight of the CM. We walked along the length of it, but couldn't find the ruins we were looking for. Instead, we had to make do with the lights coming on on the Palatine ruins. This will be visited again in the daytime, but for now, it just looked magnificent.

Circo Massimo with Palatine behind

We got a taxi back to the B & B from there, passing the Colosseum on the way. We came back to the room, freshened up, changed our shoes and went out again to find somewhere close by for a simple, cheap meal, like a pizza. Our driver yesterday told us we were in a good area for eating. It's mostly business and government offices around here, with shops too of course, but it means that the restaurants are good. Not the cheapest, but not too expensive either. He added that they're not tourist restaurants, they cater to locals, so they have to be good.  We found a suitable place for us, one block over and two down, and had our first genuine Italian pizza. Nice, although I had thought it might be a bit herbier.

Palatine Lights

I'd also just like to let you know: I'm thrilled at how my Italian is working! I've been teaching myself on an app called Duolingo for the last 3 years, and I got to the end of the course just a few weeks ago. In that time I never actually met an Italian person to speak to, and although I could listen and repeat on the computer, my desktop doesn't have a microphone, so there was no checking or feedback on my speaking. But looking for the laundromat this morning, talking to the fruit seller, ordering lunch and dinner - people understand and reply in words that I can understand! It's amazing! I feel almost as comfortable in Italian after 3 years learning in a vacuum, as I do after 11 years of Vietnamese in Vietnam.

Okay. Time for bed. It'll be interesting to see how we sleep tonight. Buonanotte!