Guest Blogger- Rome, Assisi and Siena

Hi.  I’m Tom’s dad.  I asked Tom if I could write a post for his blog and he consented.  Not sure where this will go, but here goes.

My wife, Debbie, and I had the pleasure of spending 12 days in Italy, most of them with Tom.  It was great to have Tom as a tour guide and event planner.  Here is the good, bad, ugly, surprising and disappointing.

First the good, (maybe not in order):  (all of these have pictures unless noted)

1)      Spending 12 days with my lovely wife of 34 years in the Eternal City.  Getting away with the one you love is highly recommended.

2)      Linking up with our son Tom.  He was a great tour guide.

3)      Seeing the Pope

4)      Riding Segways down the Appian Way.  Sure beats walking those cobblestone paths and great history where saints and centurions tread.

5)      The Pantheon.  My third trip to Rome but my first trip to see this magnificent structure.  Still wondering how it was all done.

6)      Siena – the former basilica is magnificent, the views are great, the square (where The Amazing Race went) is beautiful

7)      Assisi – to walk on the same streets and stones where St. Francis trodded is a humbling experience

8)      Meeting up with Tom’s friend Roland

9)      The weather – we thought it was warm (65-80 degrees), the Romans thought it was cold when it got down in the 60s) (pictures will show blue skies)

10)   Eating outside – even though the food was not good (see below), enjoying it outside was great

11)   Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel – especially with our tour guide

12)   Aperitivos – pay 10Euro and get a drink (beer, wine, mixed drink) and all you can eat aperitifs.  The aperitifs were cold but not bad and included:  pizza, bruschetta, eggplant, pasta, rice dishes, bread and other things.  (no pictures)

13)   granita di caffè – frozen coffee with cream.  A must stop when you get near the Pantheon in Rome.

14)   Beer, wine and coffee – all very good.  Lots of Cappuccinos in many restaurants.  See the big one in a café by the Colliseum.

Next the bad (again not in order) (no pictures here)

1)       We were accosted by a conductor on a train.  Our ticket was a generic ticket from Rome to Siena, meaning we could travel on any date or time within 30 days.  Unbeknownst to us, we were supposed to validate the ticket in a machine before getting on the train.  When the conductor came to check our ticket, he railed on us for not having it validated and told us that we would have to pay a 50 Euro ($65) fine.  I explained to him that we didn’t know that and that we are sorry and this was our first trip on the trains in Italy.  He didn’t but any of that and persisted on wanting 50E.  The tickets were not even that expensive.  He wanted cash, I told him I did not have 50 E, he asked if a I had a credit card.  I told him no (I was not telling the truth but he was becoming a bully).  We were approaching a station so he had more tickets to check before reaching the station and went away.  I thought it was over but it was not.  At the next station we took a risk.  Tom took the tickets, ran into the station to try and get them validated.  Debbie stood at the door of the train and would not let it close waiting for Tom to get back on the train.  We heard the whistle, but no Tom but the train can’t move as long as the door was open.  Another whistle, but no Tom.  Finally after holding the train for what seemed to be 1-2 minutes, Tom jumped back on the train with the validated tickets.  Again, I thought this would satisfy the conductor if he returned.  But it didn’t.  The conductor came back.  We showed him that the tickets were now validated.  He now yelled at us that the tickets were not validated in Rome where we got on and insisted on 50E.  I told him I didn’t have it but I did have a credit card.  I did not want to go to jail.  I opened my wallet and showed him I only had 35E.  He said give him 5E and we would be square.  I did that and he went away.  He really didn’t want me to use my credit card since that would be a receipt.  He wanted cash which he would have pocketed.  I was paid back for my lying about not having a credit card when it rained that night, the only time on our trip.

2)      The food.  Ok you say, you are in Rome and should get good food.  But I would contend that Italians who live outside of Rome would say that Rome has bad food.  Not only that, but the service was lousy.  Since there is no tipping, service does not matter and it shows.  One of my major complaints was the lack of variety.  If you want Italian food, no problem.  If you want something else, good luck.  In most of the major cities I have been in, one can find a variety of food including Chinese, Japanese, Italian, French, Indian, American and a whole other host of varieties.  On our last day there we went searching for an Asian restaurant just for some variety.  We had to walk several blocks but ended up in a Korean/Philippian restaurant that was packed with Koreans and Philippians and when we left there were a line of others waiting to get in.  The pasta was chewy and sometimes almost hard.  Maybe I am just used to soft pasta.

The ugly

1)      A pyramid in Rome (see picture).  Somebody had more money than they knew what to do with it so that put up this misplaced structure.

2)      The decadence of former Popes.  Yes their decadence helped fill the Vatican Museum, but many of them were not good persons.  The current Pope is resetting the image of being a servant of the people.

3)      The litter and graffiti – it’s a big city so this was expected (see picture with my wife in it)

4)      Almost being pick pocketed – I felt the hand headed into my pocket and almost caught it but it was jerked before getting into my pocket.  There was nothing in there but my bus pass

5)      Smoking – there seems to be a lot of it over there and it’s allowed in many places where it would be banned in the US

The surprising

1)      In a grocery store they use scanners as they shop and at the end put the scanner in a cradle which prints out a receipt and the customer walks away.  The shopper first scans his/her frequent flyer card which is attached to a credit or debit card.  I mentally calculated how much the stores save using these and I think it is considerable.  (see pictures)

The disappointing

1)      Gelato – I tried several flavors in many shops.  I did appreciate all of the flavors and availability, but none of the flavors “popped”.  I prefer ice cream.

2)      The walking – we took the bus and Metro a lot but even the closest stop could still leave several blocks to walk to the site we wanted to see.  This was especially true in Siena and Assisi.

Thanks Tom for letting me share my thoughts, hopefully your audience will enjoy the guest blogger.

Thanks Tom for letting me share my thoughts, hopefully your audience will enjoy the guest blogger.

Getting away with the one I love.  Yes that is the Coliseum in the background.

Linking up with our son Tom.  He is pointing to his room at his school in Rome.

Seeing the Pope (the guy above the rest in the white)

Riding Segways down the Appian Way and a sample of the cobblestone streets.

 

The Pantheon.  That is a hole in the concrete ceiling.  Supposedly amazing when it snows.  Probably won’t be there when that happens.

 
Siena – the cathedral, views and square where the Amazing race was run.

Assisi – Church of St. Francis, Tom and I enjoying a Cappuccino.  Those are real doves with St. Francis.

Meeting up with Tom’s friend Roland.

Eating outside.

Vatican Museum – not sure about this version of the baby Jesus

granita di caffè

 
Supersized cappuccino

Part of ugly – a pyramid in Rome – just because one has money and wants to build something completely out of place

Part of ugly – graffiti (Debbie is really not putting up more graffiti, she is trying to remove some)

Surprising – these are a bank of scanners that can be used by shoppers to save checkout time.

Tom here! Thanks for the post Dad. I’m in Campania, hanging out and seeing ancient stuff. I’m going to throw on some of my photos from Assisi, Siena and Rome, and then we can start fresh after I get back from Campania. We're hoping/not hoping for an eruption from Vesuvius (there is scheduled to be one in the next 20 years) so maybe I'll have some really fun stuff for you. Keep your eyes on the news if anything funky happens.